sewell mining town

When one visits Sewel, it's like one is stepping into a different reality. The beauty of the mining toen really contrats with the bare mountains that sourround it. I really liked the trip back in time to know more about how people lived in the past in Chile. It was a great way to learn more about mining in Chile, which is a very important component of the country's economy and history.

Sewell is great industrial heritage, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed mining town with staircases for streets on the slope of mountain. You can only visit it by guided tour but it is certainly worth it. The bus takes you through the premises of the working mine of El Teniente and, as the guides are former miners, you learn a lot about the modern mine as well.

I went on this trip in July and was very, very dissapointed. I had hoped to see and learn more about the Chilean mining industry, but instead was taken on a 12 hour tour of the mining town, which was neither interesting nor educational. The tour bus drove our group into the mountains to the town of Sewell. Although a beautiful site, I would have been happy leaving after this first initial entry into the town. From there, we were taken through the mining town, which consisted of the town hall, the mining dormitories/housing, the town bowling alley, and a museum of sorts. I cannot understand for the life of me why anyone found this interesting. I was literally counting down the minutes for the tour to end. And just when I thought it was finally over, we were driven to another nearby town where we walked in a circle through, what seemed to be, some random neighborhood. We also literally spent 20 minutes staring at a soccer field where the miners used to play... When we finally returned to Santiago at 9pm!!! I was so so relived to get off the bus. This was, by far, the biggest waste of my time during my entire 8month stay in chile. I would not recommend it to anyone.

i really enjoyed touring this now abandoned mining town-now preserved (sort of) as a unesco world heritage site. it used to service workers and their families at el teniente, the largest copper mine in world. such an interesting story and a special experience to see it directly. the town contains the oldest bowling alley in chile and the first hospital to offer maternity care (fun trivia). slight annoyances are that you have to go as part of a group so it needs to be arranged ahead of time through an agency. also it was a bummer that we couldn't tour the mine-they used to allow tourists in the mines but no longer. the lunch was bad so i'd recommend bringing your own food.

While visiting Santiago on business, I pondered what to do with my free time on the weekend. After looking through the options, I choose to take a tour of the Sewell Mining Town about 2.5 hours drive from Santiago. I went with a tour (TuristTour) and I think that is probably the only way to really get something from the experience. I choose this activity over the other options for two reasons: 1) to learn a little more about the economically vital copper mining industry in Chile and 2) to get out of the city and get up into the Andes mountains. This accomplished both. Our guide, Javiera, was very knowledgeable about the history of this town built into the mountain and even was able to explain a little bit about copper processing. We were able to stroll the town (it is not often I get to tromp through snow in July), walk through a couple of buildings and eat lunch with the mine employees in the cafeteria. This World Heritage site gives a good look at the mining industry and the life of the miners. The museum treated the subject of copper with a bit of a light overview but this is probably the best approach for the average tourist. On the other hand, it does a good job of showing the importance of copper to our everyday lives. The city is pretty amazing because it is like very few places you will see anywhere else. I also found out in talking with Javiera that the mine used to be private (as some of the displays in the museum suggested) but is now part of the state-run mining operation. She indicated that the mine was nationalized in the Allende era and this is a subject that I find deeply interesting. I had a very worthwhile off-line discussion with her concerning this subject. This is a matter about which many Chileans still display quite an uncomfortable reticence. Even if copper mining is a subject that holds little interest for you, this still represents a very important aspect of both Chilean history and its current economic vitality (Javiera indicated 40%+ of Chilean GDP is related to the mining industry). Being there and walking the town is a worthwhile experience. And the scenery to which you are exposed along the way is a major bonus.

We booked our tour with the only company that provides them, VTS. We specifically booked an English tour. Once we were underway (bus had left the pickup point) we were told there would be no English spoken, and there was no English written description provided either. There were a total of 8 "English speaking only" people on this tour (out of perhaps a total of 30 people) who had all been told to come on this specific date and time as it would be conducted in English. When we tried to speak to the tour guide about this (with the assistance of someone who could translate) all he would say is "it is not my fault that I don't speak English". When we sent an email to the company after the tour to express our concern about the situation and to request a partial refund we got no response. Very poor customer service overall.The town is very interesting to see but now that a tour of the mine itself is no longer allowed the tour does not warrant a full day. Even the people who understood Spanish seemed to be milling about waiting for the tour to "move along". The stop at the little town on the way back to the pickup spot seemed to be totally pointless and a "filler". Overall, an interesting visit to a ghost mining town that warrants a partial day tour.

Very interesting to see, even the part for tourists only. Gives you a good idea of the life of the workers in the past.

this was a most interesting tour. Sewell ( a unesco heritage site) was a mining company town. Mining is still conducted in the area but the town is now just for tours. there is a very interesting museum on the premises. The surrounding landscape is barren and unique.

In this amazing location, in the middle of nowhere, there is this currently empty city, where miners and their families together with north American settlers used to have a isolated but rich cultural life. Some of the buildings have been restored, like the bowling saloon. While there is worth visiting El Teniente, considered the biggest subterranean copper mine in the world.Beautiful place to spend a complete day if you get a nice tour guide to tell you the cool stories of the place.

This is an all day trip from Santiago on a private bus, but very interesting and definitely worth it. All the descriptions of the town were given in Spanish, so it helps to have your own personal interpreter (which we did). Plenty of time was allowed for exploration of the town. We enjoyed a delightful dinner late in the day, but could have been warned that we would not have the opportunity to eat earlier. We started the tour at 9 am in Santiago and didn't return till about 6 pm.

Una ciudad con historia..... Definitivamente los norteamericanos donde ponen su mano todo funciona como reloj suizo. Increible la organización, la construcción fabulosa e ingeniosa (las tejas del hospital son de los fondos de los tarros de pintura). al museo le falta un poquito de limpieza en sus vitrinas. Lamentablemente se robaron y destruyeron mucho antes de declararlo patrimonio de la humanidad por la UNESCO, por su valiosa madera. El tour lo tomamos con la empresa VTS, saliendo desde parque Arauco,a las 8:20, el valor p/p es de $40.000.- incluido el almuerzo en el club Coya, que realmente es muy malo, baja calidad y mala atención. Hay que llevar protector solar, un corta viento, y una colación para el medio día ya que el almuerzo es a las 16 horas. El guía con mucho conocimiento ya que nació en esa ciudad, muy didactico y amable.( Mario). Regresamos a Santiago a las 19.30 aproxSolo se puede acceder hasta los 75 años por la altura supongo 2.300 mts. snm

Muy recomendable. Muy interesante y lindo el lugar. El lugar donde nos llevaron a almorzar un desastre (Country Club Coya de Machali)

Apesar do passeio ser um pouco distante saindo de Santiago, valeu muito a pena visitar este Patrimonio Mundial da Unesco, e entender um pouco da cultura da mineração do país. Um cartão-postal e tanto em meio as montanhas.

A visita a Sewell foi uma surpresa.Tivemos a sorte de contar com um guia que viveu na cidade, o que tornou tudo muito mais emocionante. O acesso só é possível com empresas cadastradas (há duas atualmente) e custa uma pequena fortuna (cerca de 550 reais para dois adultos e uma criança, com almoço)Nas fotos as casas parecem mais coloridas e conservadas. Lá, de pertinho, tudo parece meio abandonado. Mas não foi difícil imaginar a vida das pessoas que trabalhavam na mina e seus familiares.Como o acesso a Rancagua era muito difícil no começo da exploração da mina (5 horas de trem), os americanos (que primeiro administraram a exploração mineral), foi criada toda uma estrutura de habitação e lazer. A cidade foi organizada para entreter os mineiros e suas famílias, mas também as famílias abastadas de norte americanos que administravam a mina.

Este campamento minero ya no tiene habitantes, pero sigue estando en buen estado! El pasado glorioso de este lugar es difícil de imaginar, ya que es muy extraño que haya habido un cine, un hospital, escuelas... toda una ciudad en plena montaña!En otoño ya está nevado, pero se puede recorrer... lo recomiendo sin duda!