Gastronomic experience | Chile

Arrival at Santiago airport and transfer to your hotel to drop-off your luggage (see extras for an Early check-in).
Lunch in a restaurant at the Central Market (included). Departure with your English-speaking guide for a city tour of Santiago: The tour starts with the Constitution Square. You will then cross the Presidential Palace, LaMoneda, to arrive at the Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins Square, on the main avenue of the capital, “La Alameda”. On the Plaza de Armas, you will find the Cathedral of Santiago. Heading East, you will pass the Balmaceda Park and walk along the Mapocho river; you will see the old train station, the Estación Mapocho, built by Gustave Eiffel and today a cultural center, and then the Parisian style Forestal Park. The visit will end on the top of the San Cristobal Hill, to enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the city.
Return to your hotel and settle in. Dinner on your own. Overnight in Santiago.

Link to The Aubrey**** – Manarelli or Loft room

Breakfast at the hotel. In the morning, departure for Valparaiso and Viña del Mar: 75 miles (120km) north of Santiago (around 1h45 of travel on a good paved road, Highway 68). First stop on your way through the Casablanca Valley will be the Emiliana Vineyard for a tour and wine tasting. The visit will begin with a tour of the facilities, where flora and fauna co-exist in natural harmony, followed by the visit for the tasting room, where the group will taste 4 different wines, along with a choice of organic chocolates or cheese.
Continuation to Valparaiso, where you will first stop for lunch after a quick panoramic tour, and before continuing your visit in more detail. Lunch in a local restaurant (included)
Shaped as an amphitheater facing the ocean, Valparaiso was built on dozens of steep hills overlooking the Pacific and boasts a labyrinth of streets and cobblestoned alleyways, which make up an architecturally and culturally rich legacy. Declared by the World Monuments Fund as among the 100 most endangered historical treasures, the 15 old funicular lifts will allow you to discover the different “cerros” (hills) more easily in this steep cityscape. The city is nicknamed “The Jewel of the Pacific”.
Settle into your hotel, overlooking the city and its port. Dinner on your own. Overnight in Valparaiso.

Link to Palacio Astoreco***** – standard room

Breakfast at your hotel. Departure with your English-speaking guide towards the South, where you will visit Isla Negra, and Pablo Neruda’s former house, that has now been transformed into a museum. Enjoy the view and learn about the Chilean’s favorite poet. (museum closed on Mondays – no reservation possible for entry – visitors enter in the same order they arrive)
Lunch at a local restaurant along the way (included). Continuation to the Viña VIK, one of the highlights of the trip.
Viña VIK is located approximately 200 km from Santiago, with sumptuous views of the Andes. The vineyards cover over 10,680 acres and the retreat is located at the top of a hill nest to a lake, right in the middle of the vineyards. The retreat was created quite recently, and has 22 rooms in its 5* hotel, designed by artists and with an eco-sensitive design and energy system. The wine is renown as one of the best in Chile, and the gastronomy is made almost exclusively of local products.
During your 24 hours stay at the VIK retreat, you will be able to enjoy a tour and wine tasting, as well as several other activities such as horse-back riding, mountain-biking, or relaxing at the spa.
Dinner at Viña VIK (included). Overnight at Viña VIK.

Link to Viña VIK***** – standard suite

Breakfast at the hotel. Morning a leisure to enjoy the numerous activities that the domain offers.
Lunch (included) at Viña VIK. Mid-afternoon, transfer to your hotel in Santiago, in a private vehicle.
Dinner on your own. Overnight in Santiago.

Link to The Aubrey**** – Manarelli or Loft room

Breakfast at your hotel. Private transfer to the airport, with your English-speaking guide. Flight to Calama (mid-morning flight) – flight duration: approximately 2h10. Arrival in Calama and transfer to San Pedro de Atacama, located about 150km away (1h30).
Located at 1,515 miles (2438m) above sea level, San Pedro de Atacama is considered as the archeological capital of Chile. It is the main center of the « Atacamena » culture. Today, the oasis is essentially an archeological tourist-center where its buildings of clay and its small sand roads welcome visitors all year long. Arrival in San Pedro and lunch (included) at your hotel. Late afternoon (around 4pm), departure to the Moon Valley to contemplate the patterns formed by erosion and covered with a thin layer of salt, the amazing formations caused by the existence of an ancient lake and by the erosion from water and wind. In this silent landscape, you will experience one of the most beautiful sunsets that you’ve ever seen, while enjoying a glass of wine served by your guide
Return to San Pedro de Atacama around 8pm. Dinner on your own. Night in San Pedro de Atacama.

Link to Hotel Cumbres*****

Breakfast at your hotel. Departure with your English-speaking guide for an archeological tour: Tulor: This ancient Atacameña village, old of about 3000 years was at its peak, inhabited by around 200 people. Over the centuries, the sand and wind have sculpted it, and today it is part of a research project, that have already allowed to clear out some 10% of the sand that was covering the site. Some of the ancient houses have been identically reproduced, using the same materials and centuries before. The Pukara of Quitor is an ancient fortress that was built in the 12th century. The “Pukara” is a complex jumble of walls and constructions, relatively well preserved over the time.
Return to San Pedro and lunch at your hotel (included). After lunch, departure to visit the colorful Rainbow Valley, with a first stop at the Yerbas Buenas petroglyphs along the way. Driving along these ancient indigenous roads surrounding the Domeyko Cordillera, where the pre-colombian civilizations left their mark, through these curious works of art of which the meaning still remains a mystery today. This ensemble of figurines was sculpted by supposedly camelid hunters, in the volcanic ashes, some 4000 years ago.
We will then reach a beautiful, fertile, valley, nicknamed the Rainbow valley, due to its multiple colors created by the different minerals in the rocks.
Return to San Pedro end of afternoon. Dinner on your own. Night in San Pedro de Atacama.

Link to Hotel Cumbres*****

Breakfast at the hotel. Departure, with your English-speaking guide, to visit the Atacama Salt Flat.
Under the salt flat, there is a salty lake, hidden by the salts solid crust. Here live three different types of flamingoes: Andean flamingoes, Chilean flamingoes and James’ flamingoes. We will then continue along the road, with sumptuous views of the Licancabur Volcano, to visit the village of Toconao, a little colonial village with picturesque stone houses and the old church of San Lucas, and where the tradition of building houses in liparite, a volcano rock is perpetuated. Continue along the road to the Chaxa laguna, where a large variety of flora has adapted to the desert climate. The fauna is mainly composed of Andean and Chilean flamingoes, as well as Andean gulls.
Visit the Jerez Valley: and the Miscanti and Meñiques lagoons, located at 4300 meters (2671 feet) above sea level, in the National Andean Flamingo Reserve, where you will have a spectacular view over the high plateaus.
Lunch in a local restaurant along the way (included). Return to San Pedro de Atacama. Dinner at your hotel (included). Overnight in San Pedro de Atacama.

Link to Hotel Cumbres*****

Departure early in the morning (around 5:30 a.m.) in a private vehicle, with your English-speaking guide, for the Tatio Geysers, located at 14,100 feet (4300m): arrival at sunrise, a time when the geysers are the most spectacular.
With nearly 80 active geysers, El Tatio is the largest place of this kind in the southern hemisphere. Because of the large number of geysers, they are not very high. The eruption of the highest geyser reaches about 20 feet (6m). It is best to visit this area at dawn because of the temperature differences (it can freeze at -4° F [-20° C]) allow us to admire the steam chimneys.
Picnic breakfast in the middle of the geysers. Continue our trip towards Caspana, beautiful village located at 3200 masl (10500 feet), with its 400 inhabitants. In the heart of a beautiful and generous valley, its particularity is its terraced agriculture.
Continuation towards the Pukara fortress of Lasana. You will be able to roam among the remains of the fortress that was built back in the 12th century, in order to protect this fertile valley. This region was dominated by the Incas, where they settled one of their most important colonies of their Grand Empire. Tupac Yupanqui was the Inca that imposed his way of life half a century before the arrival of the Spanish.
Lunch in a typical restaurant in Lasana. Continuation towards the village of Chiu Chiu. Final transfer to Calama’s airport. Return flight to Santiago. Arrival in Santiago. Dinner included at your hotel. Overnight at the airport hotel.

Link to Holiday Inn Express ***SUP

Breakfast at your hotel. Flight to Punta Arenas (flight duration: approx. 4h10). Transfer to the Torres del Paine National Park and your hotel (approx. 5h drive, no guide). The Torres del Paine National Park is located between the Andean Cordillera and the Patagonian Steppe, and gets its name from 3 granite spires: Las Torres (the Towers). The park is home to four different vegetation zones: Patagonian steppe, Pre-Andean shrubland, Magellanic subpolar forests, and the Andean desert – throughout which you will find unique landscapes, with turquoise lakes, lagoons, waterfalls and impressive glaciers.
Lunch on your own. Arrival at Tierra Patagonia mid-afternoon – depending on your time of arrival, it may be possible to do a first excursion during the afternoon, otherwise you will have access to the spa to relax, in view of your exciting days to come
Dinner included at the hotel. Overnight at Tierra Patagonia.

Link to Tierra Patagonia*****

3-night all-inclusive program at the Tierra Patagonia, including meals, excursions and accommodation, as well as access to the spa and pool.

Link to Tierra Patagonia*****

3-night all-inclusive program at the Tierra Patagonia, including meals, excursions and accommodation, as well as access to the spa and pool.

Link to Tierra Patagonia*****

Breakfast at the hotel. Mid-morning, transfer to the Punta Arenas airport, with the Tierra Patagonia shuttle (approx. 5h drive). Flight to Santiago. Meet and greet at the airport, by your English-speaking guide and driver, and transfer to your hotel.
Around 8pm, your driver will pick you up to bring you to a special restaurant (no guide). Goodbye dinner in a local restaurant, with live Chilean music (music schedule depending on day of the week- changes each month). Transfer back to your hotel (without guide, driver only). Night in Santiago.

Link to The Aubrey**** – Manarelli or Loft room

Breakfast at the hotel. At the appropriate time, transfer to the international airport, with your English-speaking guide. Assistance with flight check-in and luggage. International flight home.