The Best Valparaiso Tours from Santiago

Accompanied by a friendly and expert guide, you’ll be picked up from your Santiago hotel in an air-conditioned minivan before traversing the beautiful landscapes towards Valparaiso. After 2.5 hours on the road, you’ll arrive in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed city where you’ll stop and admire numerous landmarks and places of interest including Plaza Sotomayor, home to the imposing Chilean Navy Headquarters. Next you’ll be transported to Valparaiso’s summit courtesy of the El Peral elevator. Stroll along the picturesque promenade of Paseo Yugosalvo, marvel at the façade of the Baburrisa Palace, and wander down colourful streets. Later, take the city’s oldest elevator to the top of Cerro Concepcion, a vertiginous hill with stunning views. Ride back down to the financial district to discover the oldest stock exchange in Latin America, then continue to a traditional tavern to enjoy delicious local cuisine. Refuelled, head to the city’s port area for a boat tour around the bay. After returning to dry land, enjoy a refreshing beer or coffee in a popular local bar before you’re taken back to Santiago.

Soak up some of Chile’s mouth-watering wines and the beautiful scenery of Valparaiso during this full-day winery and sightseeing small-group tour. After an early morning pick-up by air-conditioned minivan from your Santiago hotel, you’ll proceed through the scenic outskirts of the city into the vineyards of the Casablanca Valley. At Emiliana Winery, nestled in one of the country’s finest wine-producing areas, you’ll get a tour of the wine-making operation and learn about the symbiotic relationship between local plants and livestock. You’ll also get to sample some of the winery’s latest vintages, accompanied by local cheese or chocolate. Next you’ll move on to Valparaiso where you’ll check out Sotomayor Square and Anibal Porto Square before taking a ride in the Queen Victoria Elevator to enjoy the bohemian buzz of the city’s Cerro Alegre and Concepción areas. After lunch in a local eatery you’ll explore the town’s lighthouse before catching a ride back to Santiago where you’ll be dropped off back at your hotel.

Driving west to the coast from Santiago, passing through the central wine-producing valley of Casablanca framed by a wonderful mountain backdrop, the ocean will come into view as your arrive in Valparaiso. Here you’ll climb up Cerro Florida and arrive at the former house of the poet-diplomat Neruda, containing some eye-catching original artefacts and furniture. After, you’ll wander around Cerro Concepción and Cerro Alegre, marvelling at the steep winding streets lined with small and brightly painted houses. Making your way back down the hill using one of the iconic “funicular” elevators, at the bottom, it’s just a short walk to the main square, ‘Sotomayor’, which houses the Monument for the Heroes of the Pacific War and the National Navy headquarters, and is right next door to the historical port district. Next you’ll head to the fashionable neighbouring coastal city Viña del Mar, stopping en route for lunch at a seaside restaurant. The tour ends with the return journey to Santiago.

This 2.5 hour cycling tour takes you into the heart of Casablanca’s cool-climate wine valley in Valparaiso Province. The tour begins in the city of Valparaiso, so guests traveling from Santiago will need to make their own way between the two, meeting in Plaza Sotomayor during mid-morning. From here you’ll be accompanied by an expert guide (known as ‘green gurus’) to the family-owned Kingston Vineyard where you’ll get to know each other and your bikes for the day (La Bicicleta Verde offer the only bike tour experience at the vineyard). When ready, you’ll begin pedalling through Casablanca, weaving between the vines and soaking up the views before ducking into a shaded cove for a wine sampling provided by your guide. In the afternoon you’ll dismount your bike to discover the other side of wine, exploring the vineyard’s innovative cellars and learning about the unique wine making process. Out in the courtyard you’ll enjoy more wine samples before the tour comes to a close early afternoon. Your guide will then give you tips for where to head for lunch and also neighbouring vineyards you may want to visit independently. Tired and want a siesta back at your hotel? Your guide can also call a taxi so you can head back to Valparaiso or show you how to catch a bus to Santiago.

Starting in Santiago and ending in Lima, this hop on, hop off 19-day tour takes in a wide number of fascinating destinations along the west coast of South America. Among them will be a stop-off in the magical Chilean port city of Valparaiso, known for its steep funiculars and colourful clifftop homes. You will travel between places on a comfortable, air-conditioned coach, with stop-offs for refreshments. The price of the tour includes all transport between destinations, plus bike hire in Santiago and a sand-buggy excursion in Nazca. As well as visiting Valparaiso, other highlights of the trip include exotic wildlife spotting from your coach, trekking in the majestic Colca Canyon, a Moon Valley Sunset Tour in Bolivia, and an Urban Discovery tour of Lima.