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Take metro linea 2 up Línea 3 of the Santiago Metro opened in January of 2019, its northern terminus Los Libertadores being just west of where Avenida Independencia becomes Ruta 57, which heads north to Los Andes and the border. It had previously been recommended that hitchers bus to this point to hitch here. Even then, that was not the best option, as the interchange of the last station - Vespucio Norteperipheral ring road Ruta 70 and Avenida Independencia/Ruta 57 is busy and complicated, from with traffic moving fast and there bus B18being few spots for it to stop. Ask The arrangement of the driver interchange from Ruta 70 to Ruta 57 is such that there is no spot to leave stand where that traffic will pass you on . Ruta 57 begins there as limited access, with traffic from Ruta 70 entering in two lanes to the left of lanes entering north from Avenida Independencia and west from the parallel access road (of Ruta 70 and nearby neighbourhoods. That traffic is much lighter than the traffic entering from Ruta 57) , but if you do feel called to hitch at this point there is a small, wanting spot where Calle Real Audiencia and the very end of Avenida Independencia intersect, a small strip of striped pavement giving space for a car to stop. The better option is to get a bus going to the northern exurb of Colina. They previously left from the northern terminus of the Metro's Línea 2, Vespucio Norte Station; this may no longer be the case with Línea 3 opening and Los Andes Libertadores Station being better located as a hub for such departures [please confirm!]. You could also previously flag down some buses at the junction of Independencia and Ruta 57 noted above. On the way to Colina the bus will pass a COPEC gas station to your left (it sprouts up between the north- and southbound lanes) and then a couple of hundred meters ahead of that a tollbooth (bus stopPeaje Las Canteras). Neither is ideal: Independencia/Vespuciothere is nowhere to pull over at the tollbooth (as of November 2019 the Googlemaps Streetview appearing to show such a space is out of date); most probably he while the traffic at the COPEC is relatively light, the station sees limited numbers of truck stopping, and the traffic on Ruta 57 itself is flying past and the further lane will have difficulty getting to you standing at the station. That said, you will take get a ride at either before long. Bus fare to Colina is approximately 1000 pesos (November 2018), but explain where you 're going and you may well get taken for free. You can hitch If from thereyou're offered a ride to San Felipe or Los Andes, beware! Neither are particularly good spots to be when heading to Mendoza. From San Felipe you'll need to pass through Los Andes, which spreads out over a wide area, and both are some distance west of the customs facility for trucks going to Argentina. The split in the highway to the south of Los Andes, where it heads northwest to San Felipe and northeast to the customs facility and Mendoza, is isolated and with fast-moving traffic. Instead, ask to be dropped at the next tollbooth (Peaje Chacabuco on Googlemaps, though locals I rode with had another name for it). It's about 10km south of where Ruta 57 splits south of Los Andes, away from any local Santiago traffic and with ample space for cars to pull over; a much better spot than Peaje Las Canteras or the COPEC station.
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===North, northeast towards [[Los Andes]], [[San Felipe]] and [[Mendoza]] [[Argentina|(AR)]] (Ruta 57)===
Border crossing to Argentina is quite straightforward, however, at least when coming from Chile, many trucks do their paperwork really fast and may not want to wait you. Even though in the middle of nowhere in the mountains, the border is busy so you got good chances to get a ride to Mendoza, Buenos Aires or even Brasil once you get there.
