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Santiago/Valparaiso


Valley Girl of VA
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We will be flying into Santiago and wonder how many days we should stay there as well as Valparaiso. What tours did you do in Santiago and which ones in Val[araiso. Hubby wants to get into the Andes and I'd like a winery or two, sampling food and seeing some sites. There will be about 12 of us give or take 3 more. One woman has some mobility issues so walking distances is a problem.

 

Thanks

Jane

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We will be flying into Santiago and wonder how many days we should stay there as well as Valparaiso. What tours did you do in Santiago and which ones in Val[araiso. Hubby wants to get into the Andes and I'd like a winery or two, sampling food and seeing some sites. There will be about 12 of us give or take 3 more. One woman has some mobility issues so walking distances is a problem.

 

Thanks

Jane

Jane,

We used SouthExcursions fwice in Chile for a Casablanca wine tour, transport from Valpo and tours of Santiago. Their guides were very good.

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Hi, I was in Santiago last fall, for two days before my Holland America cruise from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires. I took a day tour that Holland America offered, but in the lobby of the Sheraton Santiago there was a Truistik Tour Agency. They sold hop on/hop off bus tickets, as well as many tours. Feedback seemed good about the company from folks who did tour with them. They have other agencies throughout the city. I did the Hop On/Hop Off bus tour for one day, and another day I did a tour around the city and then outside the city to the Concha Y Toro (sp?) vineyard (excellent). If you want to do vineyards and really see the city, I would suggest at least 3 days to enjoy!

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  • 4 weeks later...
We will be flying into Santiago and wonder how many days we should stay there as well as Valparaiso. What tours did you do in Santiago and which ones in Val[araiso. Hubby wants to get into the Andes and I'd like a winery or two, sampling food and seeing some sites. There will be about 12 of us give or take 3 more. One woman has some mobility issues so walking distances is a problem.

 

Thanks

Jane

 

Hi...have been to Santiago three times staying for at least a couple of days pre Cruise each time...with regard to Tours in Santiago we found the cost to be approx $40 to $60 pp....the problem that we found in this city of 5 million plus that through the week the roads are very congested...if you are staying in a hotel along the Av Providencia?(sp))....I would thoroughly recommend using the Subway system.....it's clean, fast and inexpensive. ....the red line takes you east and west in the city and the yellow line takes you north and south.....at a approx a dollar per person each way

Your hotel can generally arrange for you to be picked up at the airport and also for the transfer from Santiago to Valparaiso

We visited the San Cristobel monument, Mercado central, the Plaza d'Armas......the Pedestrian only street......walking/shopping street (no cars allowed) and the famous Artisan Market all by using the subway....there were 8 in our group and overall we saved quite a bit of money.....if you need any further info feel free to contact me at janken at csolve dot net and I will do my best to answer your questions....Ken

Edited by bionicbeacher
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We very much preferred Valparaiso over Santiago. To us, Santiago was just another large, congested city. Valparaiso is unique. We did a walking tour. It was excellent. And we walked around on our own.

 

We did a walking tour in Santiago then went around the city ourselves on the subway. Two days was enough. We rented a car for a few days and toured the wine region. We did not find the wine area to be anything to write home about. We have visited many wine regions in various countries, including our own.

 

Bottom line. We liked Valparaiso. If we found ourselves in the area we would skip Santiago and the wine areas. Alps were only of moderate interest to us We live beside the Canadian Rockies and we have spent time int he Alps. The Andes are a little different though.

 

Another thing. Part of our two month trip was a 15 day Princess cruise. We found their excursions to be ridiculously priced-most especially their transfers. As an example, a transfer from ship to airport was about $60 each. A direct bus from the bus terminal was $3 to Santiago and I think $5 to the airport. We found the same at all of the cruise stops. The ships $70 bus tour in Falklands? We had a local take us on the same trip, private SUV, for $20. each. We met her as we came off the ship. She was a long time resident and gave us a great private tour in a comfortable SUV.

 

Of course, your mileage may vary.

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  • 2 weeks later...
We will be flying into Santiago and wonder how many days we should stay there as well as Valparaiso. What tours did you do in Santiago and which ones in Val[araiso. Hubby wants to get into the Andes and I'd like a winery or two, sampling food and seeing some sites. There will be about 12 of us give or take 3 more. One woman has some mobility issues so walking distances is a problem.

 

Thanks

Jane

 

We disembarked from a cruise in Valparaiso, later on to Santiago, over to Easter Island, back to Santiago for another day or so.

 

Santiago is a big city. People who live in Valparaiso go to Santiago when they want the Big City vibe and shopping . Valparaiso is a sea-side community. People from Santiago go to Valparaiso for long weekends and other time off. We spent 2-3 days in each city, we don't regret the time in Santiago, but the time in Valparaiso was tops.

 

No need for tours in and around Santiago, just get a subway map and guide book and go. You might want a guide in Valparaiso, a walking tour if you can manage, but at least a driving tour. Juan Victor Reyes of Perro Tours was excellent - he gave us a good day-long walking tour of Valparaiso, he pointed out the places to avoid on our free day, then later transferred us to Santiago with winery and gourmet lunch stops. Also arranged for our hotel-to-airport transfers. Good guy.

 

Stan

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  • 5 months later...

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