Safety in Chile: what overland travellers should know
Our summary of the country advice published by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Viaggiare Sicuri) on 19 August 2026.
Safety
- Vehicle hold-ups — Violent car robberies are common and have their own names: "portonazos", where the driver is blocked near home, and "encerronas", where a moving vehicle is boxed in. Serious crime, homicide and drug trafficking have all risen sharply, with organised networks behind them, and expensive vehicles are targeted at any hour, with threats and violence against the people inside.
- City crime — Many districts of metropolitan Santiago, the historic centre included, carry a high risk of theft and robbery day and night, with Alameda, Parque Bustamante, Baquedano, Plaza Italia, Barrio Bellavista and Lastarria singled out; walking around the city after dark is strongly discouraged. Daylight robberies of foreigners have also happened in Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, and elsewhere it is better to keep out of the outskirts of any large city. One common trick is to throw a liquid over you — paint, eggs, guano — after which accomplices step in to "help" and take your passport and valuables.
- Minefields near the borders — Because of minefields, marked though they are, do not head into the northern border zones with Bolivia and Peru, or the mountainous border areas with Argentina, unless a local guide is with you. There are also minefields in the far south, in the Bahía Azul area of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and further south on Isla Nueva, Isla Picton, Isla Deceit, Isla Freycinet and Isla Hornos.
- Southern state of emergency — Araucanía and the provinces of Biobío and Arauco have been under a state of emergency since October 2021, after years of violence: work vehicles and buildings set on fire, public employees intimidated, and three Carabineros murdered in April 2024. The violence stems both from indigenous land claims and from organised crime, so take care and follow how the situation develops locally.
- Earthquakes and volcanoes — The whole country is at high seismic risk and holds three of the ten strongest earthquakes ever recorded; the 2010 magnitude 8.8 quake also brought a devastating tsunami. Check the emergency exit signs where you stay and, on the coast, work out the tsunami evacuation route in advance. Chile has around 2,900 volcanoes with 80 active, Villarrica in the centre-south being the most active of all.
- Summer wildfires — In summer the country is increasingly hit by fires that long drought and strong winds can blow up to a huge scale. Follow local instructions to the letter when that happens.
Before you rely on this
This is our summary of advice written by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Italian travellers, published on 19 August 2026. We summarise in good faith, but we cannot guarantee it is accurate, current or complete, and we take no responsibility for decisions made on the basis of it. Rules change without notice and are applied by officials at the border, not by websites. Always read the original source and the travel advice your own government publishes for Chile before you travel. GuideMeet has no way of checking whether an individual guide meets any standard mentioned here — ask them directly.
Source: Viaggiare Sicuri — Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, updated 19 August 2026. Last checked by GuideMeet on 2026-09-20.