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I recently flew from Asunción to Santiago (Chile), and when I arrived at the airport, I discovered that the money exchangers there do not buy Guaranies (Paraguayan currency).

I've been checking around town, but I haven't yet found a place that will exchange my Guaranies for Chilean Pesos.

Where can I trade my Guaranies in Santiago?

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    From some research online, it sounds like AFEX is your best bet. However, on their website it doesn't seem to allow it. Give them a yell and let me know if they do, and if so I'll change this into an answer.
    – Mark Mayo
    Apr 27, 2013 at 2:22
  • The best bet would probably be sending yourself a money transfer using Western Union and just picking it up in Chile.
    – Karlson
    May 8, 2013 at 16:04
  • I ended up finding a guy who was traveling to Paraguay, so problem solved. But I'll check out a few places recommended here so I can mark down an answer. It'll make a good story for the blog anyway (:
    – user82
    May 9, 2013 at 13:24
  • I checked around at currency exchanges in Las Condes. No luck. There's a bunch of money changers in the downtown area that are famous in the area, so I'm going to give them a shot.
    – user82
    May 13, 2013 at 16:23
  • While cleaning out my bag, I discovered some more Guaranies. Looks like I'll be making a trip out to centro soon!
    – user82
    Jul 7, 2013 at 5:30

2 Answers 2

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There's a place in Santiago that is famous for having lots and lots of casas de cambio, which is located on Agustinas near Paseo Ahumada, about 2 blocks south of Plaza de Armas:

Intersection of Paseo Ahumada and Agustinas

Along Agustinas, you will find lots and lots of places that exchange money:

Money changers along Agustinas

If anybody in Santiago is going to buy Paraguayan Guaranies, you'll find them there.

Unfortunately, the day I was in the area to take these photos was Sunday, so everybody was closed up for the day (oh, by the way, almost everywhere in Santiago is closed on Sundays), so I wasn't able to stop in and ask.

An alternative approach would be to go on traveler and expat sites like Couchsurfing and InterNations and see if anybody in Santiago is traveling to Paraguay and wants to buy your Guaranies... but I think a trip to Agustinas would be more exciting (:

Safety

This part of Santiago is not exactly dangerous, but it's not the safest part, either. Pickpocketing and snatch-and-run crimes are fairly common in this part of town, so when you come out here, you might want to leave your valuables at home, and don't bring HUGE amounts of cash with you.

Agustinas is about 2 block away from a Metro station, or you can hail a cab in the street if you don't want to walk a long distance after walking out of a currency exchange.

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You may have to use other methods of converting to Chilean Peso from Paraguayan Guarani.

The only exchange place I found listing the currency for exchange is Casa de Cambio JCTOUR.CL.

You can look at the listings on Casas de Cambios en Chile page to see where they are located.

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