"In the beginning of times, God created the wonders of the World. When he was finished, however, he saw that he had many beautiful leftover pieces. He had parts of Rivers and Valleys, of Oceans and Lakes, of Glaciers and Deserts, of high Mountains and Forests, and of Meadows and Hills. Rather than to let such beauty to go waste, God put them all together and cast them to the most remote corner of the Earth. This is how Chile was born." - A Chilean Legend.
Your Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive Santiago de Chile
After our welcome reception at the airport we are transferred to the hotel. Later in the afternoon we’ll tour the bustling city of Santiago de Chile. We start with the downtown area, driving down Alameda Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago's main avenue. First stop will be at Santa Lucia Hill, where the capital was founded in 1541, which also offers a beautiful view of the city center.
Part of the historic city center is now a pedestrian area containing the city’s main commercial activity. On the Plaza de Armas, the main square, we will see young couples next to old men playing chess and businessmen having their shoes polished. The square it is surrounded by important buildings such as the Cathedral and the main Post Office, but it has the charm of a village square and will give us an idea of the local society.
We will visit Plaza de Constitucion with La Moneda, the Government Palace. Our guide will explain here the important role this building has played in the past and the present of Chile. Crossing the Mapocho River we will visit Bellavista, a neighborhood with many cultural and artistic activities.
Bellavista lies at the foot of the Metropolitan Park's San Cristóbal, the highest hill within Santiago. We will drive to the top from where will have a view of the whole city and the majestic, snowcapped Andes. Finally, a visit will be paid to Providencia, the new nucleus of the city, and the residential areas of Las Condes and Vitacura. Overnight: Hotel Fundador or Novotel, Santiago (1 night). Included: D.
Day 2: Santiago / San Pedro de Atacama & Valle de la Luna (fly & drive)
This morning after a short flight we arrive at the El Loa Airport in Calama, from where we are transferred to our hotel in San Pedro de Atacama. In the afternoon we will explore the silent Valle de la Luna (moon valley), an incredible sunset spot.
This eerie valley is reminiscent of a lunar landscape with scurrile stone formations and huge sand dunes. Following the Sunset we drive back to San Pedro de Atacama for overnight. Overnight: Hotel Altiplanico, San Pedro (2 nights). Included: B, D.
Day 3: San Pedro de Atacama / Salar de Atacama (drive)
In the morning our visit in the village includes the Father Le Paige Museum, a well-organized repository of artifacts showing the development of the Atacameño Society. There is an impressive display of mummies, which includes indigenous female with intact hair and dress.
We will leave the village and drive to the nearby pre-hyspanic fortress, Pukara de Quitor, which was restored in 1981. It is located in a canyon on a hill close to the San Pedro River. For lunch we will drive back into the village. After a relaxing break we will leave San Pedro again and make our way via Toconao to the Salar (salt flat) de Atacama.
Toconao is a small village well known for its fruit orchards and artistic work with Liparita, a white volcanic stone. Just in time for Sunset view we will go to Laguna Chaxa, the salt lake, surrounded by the world’s driest desert with the fabulous Licancabur Volcano in the background. Imagine this landscape painted in all shades of red. We will return to San Pedro de Atacama for the overnight stay. Included: B, L.
Day 4: San Pedro / El Tatio Geysers & Highland Villages / Calama (drive)
Today we will visit the world’s highest geyser field (4,300 m) at El Tatio. We leave around 04:30 in the morning to ensure our arrival before daybreak. With the first rays of Sun, the geysers start to produce powerful spurts up to 8 m high. Columns of steam give the whole landscape a mystical touch.
After this incredible start, we continue through the highlands to Caspana, one of the most beautiful Atacameñan Villages. A small museum explains their customs and ceremonies. We will continue to Chiu Chiu (the oldest church in Chile) and Pukara de Lasana, a fortress strategically located in the middle of the valley. At the end of the day we will drive to our hotel in Calama. Overnight: Hotel Park Calama (1 night). Included: B, L.
Day 5: Calama / Puerto Montt / Puerto Varas (fly & drive)
After we check out from hotel we’re taken to the Calama airport for our flight along the coastline, south to Puerto Montt. Upon arrival, we’re welcome at the Puerto Montt airport and we will shortly visit the capital of the 10th Region of Chile before we are transferred to Puerto Varas.
The City of Roses, Puerto Varas, it is located on the beautiful shores of the Lake Llanquihue with a panoramic view of the Andes Mountain range. On our way from Puerto Montt we’ll have a stop at a small nature reserve to observe native Alerce trees. Overnight: Hotel Puelche, Puerto Varas (3 nights). Included: B.
Day 6: Puerto Varas / Peulla / Puerto Varas (cruise & drive)
We start our morning with Catamaran navigation across the Todos los Santos Lake into Peulla, a small but superb settlement in the middle of the Andes, close to the Argentinean border. Here will observe the wonderful views of the surrounding volcanoes and mountains.
After lunch in Peulla and a short hike to a nearby waterfall, we return by our Catamaran to Petrohue from where we’ll drive along the Llanquihue Lake back to Puerto Varas. Included: B, L.
Day 7: Puerto Varas / Island of Chiloe / Puerto Varas (drive & ferry)
Today we will take a full day excursion to the Islands of Chiloe to encounter few of the beautiful Churches here, which are declared World Heritage Sites. These churches are examples of the successful fusion of European and indigenous cultural traditions to produce a unique form of wooden architecture.
The churches belong to a typology of common and essential features, expressed in shapes, sizes and proportions with multiple variations. They each have a facade tower, which is the most characteristic element of these constructions, holding the cross and the belfry, which served as reference for fishers and sailors.
Inside the temple stands a Basilican plant and three naves from which only the one located at the center reaches the background wall, while the two at both sides go up to a thin wall where the sacristy takes place and the room where liturgical objects are found. The naves are separated by wooden columns, which are mostly set in stones.
Presently there are over 60 Churches in Chiloé that correspond to this typology, and are know as School of Religious Wooden Architecture of Chiloé. Sixteen of these churches - the most representative and best-preserved ones - are considered National Monuments in Chile and as mentioned, listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. We will return to Puerto Varas late in the evening. Included: B, L.
Day 8: Puerto Varas / Punta Arenas / Puerto Natales (fly & drive)
In the morning we leave for the airport in Puerto Montt to board our flight to Punta Arenas. Our new guide meets us at the Punta Arenas airport and later will assist us to board on a shuttle to the small city of Puerto Natales.
Our shuttle service, along an extremely scenic & astonishing route, will depart at 16:30 hrs and reaches the hotel in Puerto Natales around 22:00 hrs. En route we visit the Magellan penguin colony at Otway Sound (November - March). Overnight: Hotel Indigo, Puerto Natales (1 night). Included: B.
Day 9: Puerto Natales / Torres del Paine NP (drive)
Early in the morning we depart from our hotel in Puerto Natales for Torres del Paine National Park. On the way we will stop at the Milodon Cave Natural Monument. A short path leads us to the cave (30 m high and 200 m deep) where the nearly intact remains of a prehistoric animal called a Milodon (Mylodont), a type of enormous ground sloth, were found.
After this first ‘break’ we continue towards Cerro Castillo, while we should constantly watch the sky because very often one can see large groups of condors. A little further on we will reach Lake Sarmiento and have the first complete/panorama view of the impressive Paine Massif, as we enter the National Park. From now on one wonderful view after another will enliven our journey.
We can make frequent stops for photographs. Guanacos will accompany us during the first part of the day, as they are mainly found in the park entrance area. Declared a protected Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978, the Torres del Paine National Park (in the Chilean Patagonia) it is renowned as one of the most beautiful, unspoiled and remote places of our Planet.
Its attractions reside on its spectacular mountain range, lakes, flora and fauna that make this place an ideal destination for observation, exploration and adventure. We will visit Nordenskjold and Pehoe Lakes, the Paine River’s Salto Grande (big waterfall) and in the afternoon, the Grey Lake area. Overnight: ‘Hosteria’ Lago Grey, in the National Park (1 night). Included: B, L.
Day 10: Torres del Paine / Puerto Natales (drive)
We will have the whole day on to discover and explore this incredible National Park. In the morning we will embark a small boat for about 1.5 hrs navigation on Lake Grey. Starting from the Hosteria Lago Grey we will move close to the glacier of same name. The boat will take us first to the right extreme of the glacier and slowly in front of the glacier and to its left extreme.
It is an incredibly beautiful journey. A Pisco Sour (whiskey) with ice from the glacier will warm us up during the trip back to the Hosteria. Later in the afternoon we’ll drive back to Puerto Natales. Overnight: Hotel Indigo, Puerto Natales (1 night). Included: B, L.
Day 11: Puerto Natales / Punta Arenas / Santiago (drive & fly)
After breakfast we are transferred to the airport to board our flight to Santiago. Upon arrival in Santiago we meet our guide and are transferred to our hotel. Balance of the day is at leisure. Overnight: Hotel Fundador or Novotel, Santiago (2 nights). Included: B.
Day 12: Santiago / Valparaiso / Santiago (drive)
Early in the morning our guide and driver will pick us up from the hotel to travel west toward the Pacific Ocean, passing the agricultural valleys of Curacaví and Casablanca before reaching Valparaíso, the main port of Chile. Valparaíso's picturesque appearance is enhanced by the surrounding hills that appear to dive into the ocean.
This was once the most important maritime destination of the Pacific coast before the Strait of Panama was opened to navigation in 1914. We will visit here the Historic Quarter (WHS) area and the hilly neighborhoods for a better understanding of the past of Chile’s most flourishing city of the early 20th Century.
Traveling north along the coastline of the bay we will reach Viña del Mar, the area’s most famous and visited seaside city, home to many parks with huge trees and palms that give it the well deserved name of 'Garden City'. We will return to Santiago in the late afternoon. Included: B.
Day 13: Santiago / Homebound
After what was an outstanding Cultural and Natural exploratory tour of ‘best of Chile’, we leave with our hearts and minds filled with long-lasting memories, as we are taken to the airport for our flight back home. Included: B.
Price includes:
- Hotel accommodation as mentioned or similar
- Meals as per itinerary (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner)
- All transfers, tours and sightseeing by private AC car, minivan or bus
- All the boat rides as mentioned in the itinerary
- Entrance fees to all Sites, Museums and Performances as mentioned
- Services of local English speaking guides
- Road taxes, parking fees, drivers’ wages
Price does not include:
- International flight tickets and airport taxes
- Excursions not included in the itinerary
- Visa fees and any kind of insurance
- All Domestic flights (est. USD: 450.00 / CAD: 540.00)
- Personal expenses, such as bar, laundry or phone bills
- Any drinks or beverages with meals
- Tips or other such costs
- All other services not mentioned
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
- High season (Oct – Apr) USD: 2,575.00 / CAD: 2,575.00 - per person in - Double occupancy. Single supplement USD: 1000.00 / CAD: 1050.00
- Low season (May – Sep) USD: 2,325.00 / CAD: 2,440.00 - per person in - Double occupancy. Single supplement USD: 740.00 / CAD: 780.00
Also see tour packages in:
South America
Chile
Cultural Journey
National Parks
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