South America - Santiago- Valparaiso Options

[sabrefan]

Going on the Infinity from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso in March 2017. I suspect our flight on Delta from Santiago to Atlanta will be late at night. Excursions with Celebrity after embarking and then back to Santiago airport don't look at that great.

 

Looking for local tour companies that may offer better alternatives. Also, should we stay in Santiago one or two nights before flying back to Atlanta? What is the typical taxi cost from Santiago to the airport and also from Valapraiso to the airport?

[cjcruiser27]

Did you post this on the port of call page as well?

[GottaKnowWhen]

Going on the Infinity from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso in March 2017. I suspect our flight on Delta from Santiago to Atlanta will be late at night. Excursions with Celebrity after embarking and then back to Santiago airport don't look at that great.

 

 

 

Looking for local tour companies that may offer better alternatives. Also, should we stay in Santiago one or two nights before flying back to Atlanta? What is the typical taxi cost from Santiago to the airport and also from Valapraiso to the airport?

 

 

Santiago is ok, Valparaiso much nicer place to spend a few days. It is where people from Santiago go for vacations or long weekends.

 

Check out Juan Victor Reyes at Perro Tours. We did a full day walking tour in Valpo with him, then a couple days later he provided/led a transfer to Santiago with wine tasting, winery tour, lunch, then a tour of Santiago prime spots.

 

Don't know about taxis - we had our Santiago hotel arrange our transfer. $20 maybe?

 

Stan

[4774Papa]

Did you post this on the port of call page as well?

 

We have used SouthExcursions for both of our South American cruises that ended in Valpo.

 

Their guides are excellent and you can tour Valpo, then visit a winery in Casablanca and end with a tour of Santiago.

[Bruinboy]

Just returned from Santiago. If you like wine Chilean Wine Lovers is a great way to see Santiago and the countryside, as well as a lot of local color and history. We did two days with the tour group and loved every minute of it. They picked us up from the ship (Valpo) toured the city and caught a couple of wineries and dropped us off at our hotel in Santiago. Wonderful time.

 

 

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[crusingnut]

Our cruise ended in Valparaiso and we took an all day tour from there to Santiago airport. we used Cristián Blanco with Ruta Valparaíso Tours http://rutavalparaiso.cl/sitio_ruta_index_en.htm. We traveled in a van with our luggage in the back. It was the best tour of our cruise. He speaks fluent English and is very knowledgeable. He will alter your tour to your desires. This was our itinerary;

09:00 - Meeting at the Passenger Cruise Terminal

 

09:00 - 13:30 - Tour of Valparaíso, Viña del Mar & a quick stop for a typical Chilean Hot Dog for lunch.

 

13:30 - 14:30 - Travel to the Casablanca Valley

 

14:30 - 15:30 - Wine tasting at the Indómita vinyard

 

15:30 - 17:00 - Travel to Santiago downtown area.

 

17:00 - 18:00 - Arrival at the Downtown part of Santiago. Here we will go up San Cristobal hill for the panoramic view, and drive by the historical sector of the city.

 

18:00 - 18:40 - Drop off paxs at Hyatt

 

18:40 - 19:10 - Drop off everybody else at the airport.

[ptrpanpens]

I would not miss going to the historical area of Valpariso with literally hundreds of beautiful murals and charming homes and hotels. It was one of the highlights of the trip. After that we had a quick lunch and then visited a winery before being dropped off in Santiago at the airport or hotels.

 

I could have skipped the beach areas but then I live in Southern California and we have them all over here. I would rather have spent more time in Valpariso than Santiago.

 

Just be sure to leave yourself plenty of time at the airport as it is very chaotic and disorganized.

[GottaKnowWhen]

I would not miss going to the historical area of Valpariso with literally hundreds of beautiful murals and charming homes and hotels. It was one of the highlights of the trip. ... I would rather have spent more time in Valpariso than Santiago...

 

We spent two days walking the streets of the historic district in Valpo. If I am back in that neighborhood I'll spend 4-5 days next time.

 

Walk if you are able, take your time, go with a good guide who grew up in the neighborhood.

 

[pickypicky]

Just my two cents worth...we embarked our cruise in Valparaiso, but chose to spend a few days prior in Santiago.On day four our guide had planned several hours in Valparaiso with lunch prior to our cruise. He gave us a good overview of the city (and it is a large place), after which we were totally underwhelmed and opted to skip the lunch he had planned and go on to our ship (Infinity). Valparaiso was, to us, just a vast touristy area and not very pretty. Students had been protesting and defacing property. The port was one of the least appealing we've been to. Also the downtown area was very crowded. Everyone is different and maybe we just didn't see the right part, but, knowing our guide, I don't think so. On the other hand, we found Santiago leafy and pretty. There was a lot to experience. We had some excellent meals and felt that we "got" the Chilean vibe. We visited some gorgeous wineries on a relaxing day trip. Personally, I'd never skip Santiago for Valpo.

Edited April 17, 2016 by pickypicky

[4774Papa]

Just my two cents worth...we embarked our cruise in Valparaiso, but chose to spend a few days prior in Santiago.On day four our guide had planned several hours in Valparaiso with lunch prior to our cruise. He gave us a good overview of the city (and it is a large place), after which we were totally underwhelmed and opted to skip the lunch he had planned and go on to our ship (Infinity). Valparaiso was, to us, just a vast touristy area and not very pretty. Students had been protesting and defacing property. The port was one of the least appealing we've been to. Also the downtown area was very crowded. Everyone is different and maybe we just didn't see the right part, but, knowing our guide, I don't think so. On the other hand, we found Santiago leafy and pretty. There was a lot to experience. We had some excellent meals and felt that we "got" the Chilean vibe. We visited some gorgeous wineries on a relaxing day trip. Personally, I'd never skip Santiago for Valpo.

 

We have done the Valpo-Casablanca-Santiago trip twice and our opinion is that they are all good. We stayed on night in Vina del Mar and enjoyed that area.

[ptrpanpens]

Just my two cents worth...we embarked our cruise in Valparaiso, but chose to spend a few days prior in Santiago.On day four our guide had planned several hours in Valparaiso with lunch prior to our cruise. He gave us a good overview of the city (and it is a large place), after which we were totally underwhelmed and opted to skip the lunch he had planned and go on to our ship (Infinity). Valparaiso was, to us, just a vast touristy area and not very pretty. Students had been protesting and defacing property. The port was one of the least appealing we've been to. Also the downtown area was very crowded. Everyone is different and maybe we just didn't see the right part, but, knowing our guide, I don't think so. On the other hand, we found Santiago leafy and pretty. There was a lot to experience. We had some excellent meals and felt that we "got" the Chilean vibe. We visited some gorgeous wineries on a relaxing day trip. Personally, I'd never skip Santiago for Valpo.

 

Unless you took the funicular to the top of the hill to the historical district in Valpariso with the murals and colored houses, you missed the good part. I think it is designated as a World Heritage Site with the many many fantastic murals. Our guide said it was the essence of Valpariso and I can see why. I agree that the area around the port was not attractive but the top of the historical district was awesome IMO. You have to take a funicular to reach it so if you did not do that, you didn't go there.

Edited April 17, 2016 by ptrpanpens

[josephsschmoe]

We have used SouthExcursions for both of our South American cruises that ended in Valpo.

 

Their guides are excellent and you can tour Valpo, then visit a winery in Casablanca and end with a tour of Santiago.

 

Be careful and check recent reviews for South excursions. When we did this in 2014 we wound up with an inexperienced guide who had no local knowledge and limited English skills. Other South Excursions guides seemed to be much more experienced.

 

We assumed our encounter to be a one-time deal.

 

Several months after the trip we checked the boards and saw similar complaints to ours (with other guides).

 

They seem to be booking more travelers than they have guides for and then recruit student/teachers on an ad hoc basis when they run out of trained leaders.

 

During the 15 months since our tour, they may have gotten their situation under control.

 

If you do South excursions, call your booking representative in Vina and make it clear to her that you want a leader who has experience guiding.

[pickypicky]

We used SouthExcursions for a private excursion in Puerto Montt and were disappointed. While my online contacts with them had been very efficient and satisfactory, our actual guide's English wasn't very good and he seemed to have a set course, from which he would not deviate. Also, I had requested on my reservation, and had confirmed, lunch at a particular restaurant. Instead, he took us to a place that is obviously frequented by tour buses, where we had a sub-par meal with sub-par service while staff were busy with huge tour groups. This is the kind of experience I had hoped to avoid by booking a private tour. I had looked forward to Puerto Montt and the day just wasn't as I had envisioned. As an aside, he gave us some pamphlets and a map when he picked us up. When I noted that they were all in Spanish, his reply was "Yes, that's a problem."

Perhaps the guides that they employ in Valparaiso are better, but obviously they're inconsistent.