Santiago Private Tour review

[Fa-Li]

We were in Santiago for a few days before a land tour, and I spent time on these boards to get some ideas, so I wanted to come back and recommend the company/guide we used in case that helps anyone else.  I know a lot of cruisers end up looking for a guide pre/post cruising out of  the nearby port.

 

I booked with Privatetours.cl  https://www.privatetours.cl/index.html   The little form on the contact page of their website seemed to have a glitch, so I just emailed directly info@privatetours.cl and got an answer within hours.

 

Esteban is the contact person and he was wonderful.  Their website has a bunch of tour suggestions, many of which suited our purposes (we wanted one day of city tour and one day of wineries, there are many other options too).  When I asked about the ones that appealed, he was quick to ask about particular preferences - favorite wine, how we felt about funiculars, etc - and then suggested a personalized itinerary that was ideal.  Pricing was very reasonable and paid through a link online to confirm booking.  For just two of us, two full days with guide and driver and all admissions, it was about $900

 

The day before our first tour, Esteban reached out to confirm again and to offer tips for safe navigation through the airport and to see if we had already arranged transportation.  We had, but if needed he had people who could help.  

 

The first morning, when we came down to meet our guide in our hotel lobby, she was already there about 15 minutes early, which was so nice to not have to worry.  Jeanette was our guide and it turned out she had worked in guest services on Royal Caribbean cruise ships for many years - an immediate bond!  We had a driver and a super clean Mercedes van to take us around, so we had Jeanette's full attention the whole time.  Cold water was available, and the cooler was nice to have when we had leftovers from lunch and when we bought chocolate that we didn't want to melt.  

 

All through the first day, out in wine country, Jeanette got to really know us so that she added stops that we would enjoy that day and tweaked the plan for the next day in the city to be perfectly suited to our tastes.  It was awesome.  The tours at the wineries were conducted by their guides, and we had been booked into the highest level of each of them.  This meant a private tour at Santa Rita, where Jeanette stayed with us, and a small group second tasting with a sommelier at Concha y Toro, where she waited for us.  We would not have known to book those particulars and they really added value.  

 

Jeanette was a wealth of information and we learned so much.  She is also available to book on her own, though I don't know how that would work as far as driver/van set up.  If anyone wants her email I can share it.  

 

I am happy to answer questions about the exact things we did/saw/ate, but I figure most of us are just looking for a place to start and a reliable company to work with so I'm not putting all those details in this first post.  If you have time to spend in Santiago and its surrounding area, lucky you!  We loved it!

Edited February 15 by Fa-Li

[ScotsLady]

7 hours ago, Fa-Li said:

We were in Santiago for a few days before a land tour, and I spent time on these boards to get some ideas, so I wanted to come back and recommend the company/guide we used in case that helps anyone else.  I know a lot of cruisers end up looking for a guide pre/post cruising out of  the nearby port.

 

I booked with Privatetours.cl  https://www.privatetours.cl/index.html   The little form on the contact page of their website seemed to have a glitch, so I just emailed directly info@privatetours.cl and got an answer within hours.

 

Esteban is the contact person and he was wonderful.  Their website has a bunch of tour suggestions, many of which suited our purposes (we wanted one day of city tour and one day of wineries, there are many other options too).  When I asked about the ones that appealed, he was quick to ask about particular preferences - favorite wine, how we felt about funiculars, etc - and then suggested a personalized itinerary that was ideal.  Pricing was very reasonable and paid through a link online to confirm booking.  For just two of us, two full days with guide and driver and all admissions, it was about $900

 

The day before our first tour, Esteban reached out to confirm again and to offer tips for safe navigation through the airport and to see if we had already arranged transportation.  We had, but if needed he had people who could help.  

 

The first morning, when we came down to meet our guide in our hotel lobby, she was already there about 15 minutes early, which was so nice to not have to worry.  Jeanette was our guide and it turned out she had worked in guest services on Royal Caribbean cruise ships for many years - an immediate bond!  We had a driver and a super clean Mercedes van to take us around, so we had Jeanette's full attention the whole time.  Cold water was available, and the cooler was nice to have when we had leftovers from lunch and when we bought chocolate that we didn't want to melt.  

 

All through the first day, out in wine country, Jeanette got to really know us so that she added stops that we would enjoy that day and tweaked the plan for the next day in the city to be perfectly suited to our tastes.  It was awesome.  The tours at the wineries were conducted by their guides, and we had been booked into the highest level of each of them.  This meant a private tour at Santa Rita, where Jeanette stayed with us, and a small group second tasting with a sommelier at Concha y Toro, where she waited for us.  We would not have known to book those particulars and they really added value.  

 

Jeanette was a wealth of information and we learned so much.  She is also available to book on her own, though I don't know how that would work as far as driver/van set up.  If anyone wants her email I can share it.  

 

I am happy to answer questions about the exact things we did/saw/ate, but I figure most of us are just looking for a place to start and a reliable company to work with so I'm not putting all those details in this first post.  If you have time to spend in Santiago and its surrounding area, lucky you!  We loved it!

Thanks for this information .

 

How did you get from the airport to your hotel?  What hotel did you stay in?

 

Irene

 

[Fa-Li]

5 hours ago, ScotsLady said:

Thanks for this information .

 

How did you get from the airport to your hotel?  What hotel did you stay in?

 

Irene

 

 

We were ultimately joining a tour with Tauck, so they arranged a greeter and driver for us.  They were with a company called Southbound Travel, the phone number given to us was +56 9 9639 1191

The company Esteban suggested if we had not had something prebooked was called Transvip and they have a counter just after baggage control.  If we had asked ahead of time, he would have simply booked someone for us I believe.

 

The main advice from all sides was do not go with any of the "pirate" drivers who will accost you and try to take control of your bags.  

 

Our hotel was the Singular Santiago and it was lovely.  Very comfortable and quiet room, great bathroom.  The staff was overwhelmingly wonderful.  Good restaurant onsite (we only ate breakfast there) and nice little rooftop bar.  Very easy to walk from there to many sights, including the central Plaza in one direction and Pablo Neruda's house in the other.  Just around the corner was a pedestrian area with many, many wonderful restaurants and a colorful street scene.  

[ScotsLady]

7 minutes ago, Fa-Li said:

 

We were ultimately joining a tour with Tauck, so they arranged a greeter and driver for us.  They were with a company called Southbound Travel, the phone number given to us was +56 9 9639 1191

The company Esteban suggested if we had not had something prebooked was called Transvip and they have a counter just after baggage control.  If we had asked ahead of time, he would have simply booked someone for us I believe.

 

The main advice from all sides was do not go with any of the "pirate" drivers who will accost you and try to take control of your bags.  

 

Our hotel was the Singular Santiago and it was lovely.  Very comfortable and quiet room, great bathroom.  The staff was overwhelmingly wonderful.  Good restaurant onsite (we only ate breakfast there) and nice little rooftop bar.  Very easy to walk from there to many sights, including the central Plaza in one direction and Pablo Neruda's house in the other.  Just around the corner was a pedestrian area with many, many wonderful restaurants and a colorful street scene.  

Thank you