Puerto Natales or Santiago?

Neither city is a beach trip. Puerto Natales sits on a cold fjord with gravel shores, fierce wind and water around 8°C, so a waterfront walk is as close as you will get.

Santiago is only a little better placed. It is inland, but the coast at Viña del Mar is a day out of under two hours, and although the Humboldt Current keeps the water cool, a paddle is realistic. In town, the big public pools of the Parque Metropolitano are an option on hot summer afternoons.

Puerto Natales does a few things well: lamb roasted over an open fire, king crab from the southern channels and stews for people who have spent the day outside, with local craft beer to go with them. The choice is narrow, though, with no market culture and many places shutting in winter.

Santiago has far more to explore. You can eat sea urchins and conger eel soup at the Mercado Central and La Vega, then pastel de choclo and completos at local counters. Modern kitchens in Lastarria and Barrio Italia add to that, and Chilean wine is on every list.

In Puerto Natales the culture fits into a single afternoon: colourful timber and corrugated-iron houses, a small museum on the Aónikenk, Kawésqar and settler history, and the old Bories cold-storage plant.

Santiago gives you two or three full days. The Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino is outstanding, and the Museum of Memory and Human Rights and La Moneda deal with the 1973 coup and its aftermath. Neruda's La Chascona, Cerro Santa Lucía and the old houses of Lastarria round it out, even if earthquakes have taken much of the colonial city.

Nights in Puerto Natales are for trading trail stories over a pint in a pub before an early bus to the park. There are no clubs, and the town goes quiet well before midnight.

Santiago keeps South American hours. Bars fill after eleven and clubs run until morning at weekends. Bellavista is the loud student and LGBTQ+ quarter, while Lastarria and Barrio Italia suit a slower evening of wine and cocktails.

Both cities are strong for the outdoors, but Puerto Natales has the edge. Torres del Paine is about two hours away, with the Cuernos, turquoise lakes, glaciers off the Southern Ice Field and wildlife on the steppe, and boats leave the town pier for the fjords of Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. The price is wind that can knock you over and a season limited to roughly October to April.

Santiago's mountains are more convenient and work in more seasons. You can hike Cerro San Cristóbal without leaving the city, go rafting in the Cajón del Maipo, or ski at Valle Nevado in winter. Getting out means crossing a lot of sprawl, and smog can hide the peaks.

From Puerto Natales, the excursions are into the wilderness rather than to other towns. The Milodón Cave and the Bories plant are close by, but Punta Arenas and El Calafate are far enough away that each needs an overnight stay.

Santiago is a much better base for day trips. Valparaíso's funiculars, painted hills and street art are about an hour and a half away, and you can add Viña del Mar the same day. The Maipo and Casablanca wine valleys and the pottery village of Pomaire make easy outings too.

Puerto Natales is safe and easy with children, and the life-size sloth at the Milodón Cave and the guanacos and flamingos along the park road go down well. The long drives, hard trails and wind suit older, active children far better than toddlers.

Santiago has much more aimed at families. There are the funicular, zoo and pools of the Parque Metropolitano, the hands-on Museo Interactivo Mirador and the playgrounds of Parque Bicentenario, and restaurants welcome children late into the evening. Hot summer afternoons and winter smog are the downsides.

You can cross the centre of Puerto Natales on foot in minutes. Beyond the town, it depends on seasonal coaches to the park entrances, a catamaran and shuttles inside it, and tours or a hire car on long gravel roads. Outside the main season, buses become sparse.

Santiago has a modern metro, with Line 1 running from the Centro through Providencia to Las Condes, and one card covers both trains and buses. Rush hour is crowded and the city is big, but ride-hailing is cheap, and you only need a car for the mountains or the wine valleys.

Shopping in Puerto Natales is practical. There is outdoor gear for forgotten kit and supermarkets for trail supplies, plus a few craft shops selling wool knitwear, sheepskin and lapis lazuli.

Santiago has much more to browse. There are big malls such as Costanera and Parque Arauco, luxury labels in Vitacura and independent design and vintage shops in Barrio Italia. For souvenirs, the workshops of Pueblito Los Dominicos sell copper, Mapuche silver and the same lapis lazuli.

Puerto Natales is expensive for Chile. Almost everything is trucked or flown in, rooms are scarce in the short season, and park entry, transfers, glacier boats and refugio nights add up quickly. Hostels, self-catering and booking early all help.

Santiago is noticeably cheaper day to day. Set lunches, market food, local wine, the metro and mostly free or inexpensive museums keep spending down. Costs rise in the hotels of Providencia and Las Condes and on shared-transport-free tours to the mountains.

Puerto Natales has no theatre or concert hall. At most you will find an occasional guitarist in a bar, or traditional dance when there is a local festival.

Santiago has a real programme. The Teatro Municipal has opera, ballet and a philharmonic orchestra, and GAM and the university theatres stage contemporary work. The Santiago a Mil festival fills the city every January, and live folk, nueva canción and rock are easy to find in Bellavista.

In Puerto Natales, relaxing mostly means a sauna or hot tub at an upscale lodge after a day on the trail, or a quiet evening watching the light change over the sound. People come here to exert themselves.

Santiago is no restful city, but it gives you more ways to unwind. There are thermal pools at Termas de Colina on the city's edge and simple hot springs up the Cajón del Maipo, from Baños Morales to Valle de Colina. In town, Parque Forestal is shaded and calm.