What a great tour, recommended! We went to Santiago, Chile for a visit and we decided to get out of the city and see the countryside and the seaside cities of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. The hotel pick up very timely and very comfortable van. The 1-1/2 hour trip to the coastal cities was through beautiful valleys surrounded by foothills of the Andes. Our guide provided interesting commentary. He had a great sense of humor. Our tour stops offered panoramic views, interesting historical sites, and the beauty of Chile's Pacific coast. There were frequent bathroom stops, which is always good on a long trip (9 hours). The restaurant that we ate in Vina del Mar had spectacular views and delicious sea food. We loved the tour, which was the highlight of our trip to Chile.
A very average coast tour of Valparaiso & Vina Del Mar We were picked up slightly early from our hotel (which suited us, as 10am seems a little late to be starting an 8-9 hour tour). Our guide Sebastian spoke good English and provided lots of good information enroute. We were expecting a wine tasting at a winery in the Casablanca Valley, but only got a small plastic cup of grape chicha at a roadside diner, which was extremely disappointing as the wine tasting was going to be a highlight for us (and the chicha was not nice at all...) We then drove to Valparaiso and stopped at Pablo Neruda's house - the entry fee was not included and very little information was provided, we were left to our own devices.The driving tour of Valparaiso was OK, but I think we spent a little too long in the car when we could have walked some of the interesting streets. We stopped twice, once at the port (nothing interesting to see there unless you are a ship spotter) and a lookout overlooking the port - which didn't add anything to the tour. At each stop, we were left to walk around by ourselves, with no advice or timeframes for the stops given. Lunch was at a tourist hotel overlooking the water - nice view and the food was good, but very expensive and we would rather have been given other options, especially to eat some of the local street food that the guide had talked about. Vina Del Mar was average - just a cold, windswept beach. Would rather have spent more time exploring Valparaiso on foot. The guide also spent a huge amount of time on his phone while driving - not very safe and also excluded his guests to a certain extent. A lot of the calls/messages seemed to be to the tour agency offices, which really should not be necessary while driving a tour group around and there was also a lot of checking of Instagram and Facebook, which was entirely inappropriate and unsafe while driving. Overall, good to see some of Valparaiso, but the lack of a winery visit and the ability to explore some of the more interesting areas saw us come away a little disappointed. Average at best unfortunately.
Would definitely recommend to others Vanessa was our guide and she was one of the best guides I have had. Her English is great and interacted with us with no problems. We had a small group of 4, it made the experience even better. We all got along great. Stop were adjusted as needed because it was a rainy day, but we saw and walked much of the very colorful and amazing hills of Valparaiso. Went to Vina del Mar for such as the Castle of the Sea, offering great views and really good food. Made a couple of stop around after lunch and then headed to a winery in the Casablanca valley. Price was great for being all day, covering all the tolls, parking and stops. Only extra was lunch, souvenirs, and if you wanted a wine tasting, it was extra. Go and hopefully you get Vanessa.
James MackenderTravel Expert in Peru and Chile
Maria BarcielaTravel Expert in Argentina and Chile
Oxana ProtchenkoTravel Expert in Argentina and Chile
