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Best time
Oct-Mar
Price
From £ 7,195 pp
Ideal length
12 days
Flight time
14hrs 30 minutes
Currency
Chilean peso
Language
Spanish
Stretching from the belly of South America to its southern tip, Chile is impossibly long. This twelve-day trip explores the wealth of landscapes which lie in between, from the cosmopolitan capital Santiago to the epic Atacama Desert and northern Patagonia, while toasting its rich diversity with visits to some of the country’s finest wineries along the way.
Your luxury holiday in Chile will begin in vibrant Santiago, an eclectic mix of colonial architecture and museums. One of the best ways to get to know the city is through your stomach and a culinary Santiago food tour will have you experiencing its lively market culture, visiting a chic wine store and dining at a gourmet restaurant in the evening. Your wine shop stop is just an entrée to Chile’s excellent viticulture, so we’ll take you on an Emiliana wine tour – an established winery in Casablanca Valley, which is home to some of the country’s finest sauvignon blancs. In the afternoon, you’ll wander the jumble of crayon-coloured Valparaíso’s hillsides, a city that has long drawn admiration from writers, poets and painters.
Then it’s time to slow down and take an even deeper dive into Chile’s world-class winemaking with a couple of days at a working winery in the emerald contours of the Millahue Valley. Here, you won’t just imbibe the vintages but also get hands-on with the winemaking process, whether it’s helping to harvest the grapes or joining in with the fermentation. Make sure you set aside some time to hike, bike and explore the valley’s sun-soaked surrounds on horseback, safe in the knowledge a fresh glass of vino will be waiting on your return.
Now well-versed in Chilean wine, you’ll fly north. You might only have just managed to catch your breath back but Chile’s relentlessly beautiful vistas mean it will be taken away again, this time courtesy of the Atacama Desert. Your base is the adobe streets of San Pedro de Atacama village, where you’ll be perfectly positioned to explore this wilderness. Atacama Desert hiking is Chile at its wild best: its pearl-white salt pans, spluttering geysers, snow-dusted mountains and flamingo-filled lagoons don’t look of this Earth. Do as you please during two days in this epic landscape, whether it’s overlanding through the lunar-like vistas, trekking through the terracotta terrain or craning your neck to witness its otherworldly star-filled skies.
It’s a pair of life-affirming days you won’t think can be matched but Chile has one more trick up its sleeve. Spend your last three nights in Puerto Varas, a city known for its Germanic architecture thanks to its immigrant founders. But the proximity of Lake Llanquihue and the sentinel Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes are the real reason you’re here – to enjoy countless adventures among Chile’s Lake District in northern Patagonia. Treat it as your own natural playground as you paddle the Petrohué River, spot the world’s smallest deer (the pudu) in Alerce Andino National Park and enjoy a farm-to-table cooking experience. That’s just the tip of the Patagonian iceberg – the limit to the activities you can enjoy are as wide as the landscapes themselves.
Experience highlights
- Get a flavour for Santiago’s love affair for food on a tour led by a food-obsessed guide. Spend time wandering the Chilean capital’s markets (with plenty of tastings, of course) to really understand its rich culinary offering.
- Spend time at Emiliana, a winery which specialises in only producing organic and biodynamic wines. Enjoy a tour of its sun-dappled vineyard, while a tasting will demonstrate how the wine’s organic status is good for both you and the environment.
- Visit coastal Valparaíso for the afternoon, arguably Chile’s most visually striking city with its colourful assortment of houses tumbling down the hillside towards the ocean. Its glamour may have faded a little, but its antiquated lifts (still the best way to get around the city) take you to some breathtaking viewpoints.
- Get a first-hand look at Chile’s winemaking process at VIK Chile, where you can get a crash course in viticulture at its neighbouring winery. Participate in everything from harvesting the grapes yourself to the final fermentation process.
- Trot through the vine-filled landscapes on horseback for an intimate encounter with the sun-drenched terroir of the Millahue Valley and the Andes mountains in the distance.
- Go hiking and mountain biking in the jaw-dropping Atacama Desert. The exact tour is up to you: you can pedal the lunar-like Moon Valley, tread among beguiling salt flats and cycle through maroon-hued valleys, among other adventures. The choice is yours.
- Enjoy a life-affirming stargazing experience at Explora Atacama’s very own observatory. Under the guidance of a resident astronomer, you’ll learn about the orientation and distance of stars, as well as legendary tales from local culture, under one of the world’s darkest skies.
- Paddle from the mouth of the Petrohué River towards Cochamó on a thrilling seawater kayaking trip.
- Try your hand at fly fishing in the Petrohué River, where you’ll be taught how to fish in its salmon and trout-rich waters and hopefully landing a few bites throughout the day.
- During your stay at Hotel AWA try a farm-to-table cooking experience, Chilean style. Pick fresh produce from an organic garden, before whipping up your own local dish.
Experience highlights
Go on a walking tour of Santiago's markets, as much a place for locals to socialise as they are to pick up their daily produce
Get a taste for the country's famous vintages at an upmarket wine store in the city
Enjoy an evening meal with a view at Mestizo restaurant which overlooks Santiago's Bicentennial Park
The French-inspired grandeur of La Rêve Boutique Hotel is a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of Santiago
Enjoy a tour of Emiliana, a winery that specialises in organic and biodynamic wines
Explore the tangle of rainbow-hued houses that decorate the hillsides of Valparaíso
Spend three nights at Vik Chile, a world-class wine retreat that sits snugly in the emerald beauty of the Millahue Valley
Horseback rides among the vineyards, with the snow-dusted mountains overhead, are among the many experiences on offer at Vik Chile
No stay at Vik Chile is complete without a tasting of its finest tipples
Fly north to San Pedro de Atacama, staying on its outskirts at the adobe-style boltholes of Explora Atacama
The Atacama Desert is a heavenly tapestry of salt plains, geysers, snow-speckled mountains and endless moonscapes
Treat the Atacama Desert as a natural playground, where you can cycle through its glittering salt plains
There are plenty of hiking trails in the Atacama Desert, including one that follows in the footsteps of the Inca in the Valley of the Cacti
Explora Atacama has its own observatory and with the desert one of the best stargazing spots on the planet
Soak up staggering views of Osorno volcano from your lakeside room at AWA Hotel in Puerto Varas
The Lake District in northern Patagonia is a patchwork of glacial lakes loomed over by snow-capped volcanoes
Go on a thrilling kayaking adventure along the Petrohué River
Even if you're not a fishing enthusiast, trying to catch your own salmon or trout in the Petrohué River is a fantastically raw experience with the Chilean outdoors
Take part in a cooking lesson using produce picked from AWA Hotel's own organic garden
Request your tailor-made itinerary to Chile's wild & winelands
Where you’ll stay
Le Rêve Boutique Hotel, Santiago
A grand nineteenth-century mansion, the Gallic grandeur of Le Rêve Boutique Hotel fits very snugly among the leafy boulevards and other grand houses of Santiago’s Providencia neighbourhood. Its ivy-covered exterior hides a homely feel inside where the understated elegance is matched by a tranquil atmosphere – invaluable for a city hotel. Handily, it’s close to all of Santiago’s must-see landmarks, as well as many museums and gourmet restaurants.
VIK Chile, San Vicente de Tagua Tagua
Lording over eleven thousand acres of sun-soaked vineyards in the Millahue Valley, VIK Chile is a titanium-topped retreat with one hell of a view. Of course, wine permeates every aspect of a stay here, whether it’s premium tastings or soaking in a wine bath in VIK’s spa but it’s far more than that. There are so many opportunities to explore the surrounding countryside, from hiking to horseback adventures and everything in between. Millahue means ‘place of gold’ in indigenous Mapuche – VIK certainly feels that.
Explora Atacama, San Pedro de Atacama
Blending in seamlessly with the raw beauty of the Atacama Desert, this luxury oasis is surrounded by a divine chocolate box of natural wonders, including salt flats, volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and sand dunes. Its adobe-style desert retreats pay homage to the indigenous architecture that’s befitting of the area, while Explora Atacama is far enough away from San Pedro de Atacama to benefit from the dark skies that make this wilderness one of the world’s premier stargazing spots.
AWA Hotel, Puerto Varas
Fronting the serene shores of Lake Llanquihue, AWA Hotel in Puerto Varas delivers gasp-worthy views of Osorno volcano from every single room. Its ambitious stone and glass design is striking enough to draw you in but not so much as to take away from the epic landscapes it looks out onto. It’s more than just a handy base for exploring the Lake District’s great outdoors; its restaurants deliciously taps into the local seafood scene with its tasty roster of fish dishes.
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