We spent four days in Santiago in total. In reality, they weren’t consecutive days; there was a gap in the middle during which we flew to Easter Island. We opted to split our stay between central Santiago and the nearby wine growing area of Pirque, home of one of the world’s largest wine producers; Concha y Toro. Pirque, which is around 24 miles south of Santiago, is an easy day trip from the city, but we chose to stay overnight to extend our winery experience.

Getting There

We flew into Santiago Airport (twice). From here, there are various options to get into the city. A shared mini bus shuttle with Transvip costs CLP 8,000 (around £8). There are also two airport buses into the city centre; TurBus and Cetropuerto. We used TurBus which takes around 45 minutes and costs CLP 1,800. Buses run from outside the terminal building every 10-30 minutes.

Getting Around

We covered a lot of Santiago on foot. For longer journeys, we used the Metro, which is clean, efficient and cheap. Purchase and charge a bip! card for fares. To reach Pirque, we took the Metro (L4) to the end of the line at Plaza Puento Alto, then a taxi for last few (around 6) miles. There are guided tour options if you prefer the door-to-door treatment.

Where we Stayed

One reason why we chose to stay in Pirque rather than take a day trip from Santiago is La Calma de Rita. This unique hotel offers guests the chance to sleep in a wine barrel set in gardens where you can sip wine beside the pool. In Santiago we stayed in an apartment; Bellapart in a block with laundry and pool.

Itinerary

Day 1	Flight to Santiago Accommodation – La Calma de Rita x 2 Dinner at La Calma de Rita
Day 2	Concha y Toro
Day 3	Travel to Santiago Accommodation – Bellapart Apartment x 3 Palacio de la Moneda Plaza de Armas Santiago Cathedral Cerro Santa Lucia
Day 4	Cerro San Cristóbal (Parque Metropolitano) Cable Car Japanese Garden Costanera Centre Sculpture Park

Attractions

1	Concha y Toro
2	Palacio de la Moneda
3	Plaza de Armas
4	Santiago Cathedral
5	Cerro Santa Lucia
6	Cerro San Cristóbal (Parque Metropolitano)
7	Cable Car
8	Japanese Garden
9	Costanera Centre
10	Sculpture Park

Day 1

Flight to Santiago

Today, we fly to Santiago then travel a further 33 miles from the airport to our accommodation in Pirque. This involves a shuttle bus into Santiago, two tubes and then a taxi for the last few miles from the end of the metro line.

We reach Santiago Airport, which is basically a huge building site. We park so far out that from landing to reaching the terminal building takes 58 minutes. Next immigration. That takes care of another 52 minutes, then customs, changing money and a queue for the bus. We finally leave the airport after what feels like an eternity.

La Calma de Rita

When I planned this trip, we were going to hire a car but with both our credit cards out of action after having been cloned in Argentina, we must take public transport instead. However, our shuttle bus (TurBus shuttle to Pajaritos), tube, tube (L1 to Tobalaba/L4 to Plaza Puente Alto), taxi combo is straightforward and four hours after we landed, we reach La Calma de Rita; a quirky little place amongst the vineyards. The accommodation is a mixture of wine barrels and Patagonian shepherd carts – we’re in a pink cart. It’s quite remote (a car would have been ideal) but it has a bar, restaurant and pool, so moving isn’t really necessary.

La Calma de Rita is a strange place, balanced precariously between rustic charm and just plain grubby. Our cart is quaint and the bed is really comfortable, but I could do without the mouldy shower curtain.

Dinner at La Calma de Rita

Once we’ve settled into our cart, we spend the remainder of the day relaxing by the pool before relocating a few metres to the restaurant for a very tasty dinner.

Day 2

Concha y Toro

Our plan to tour several wineries has been pared down to just one now that we are unable to hire a car. But it is the biggie; Concha y Toro, the 5th biggest wine producer in the world.

There are various tour options, including with Santiago pick up. We book the Traditional Tour which includes a glimpse of the founder Don Melchor’s villa and gardens as well as the cellars, with wine tasting at various points along the way. The tour takes two hours and costs CLP 30,000 (about £30).

We start at the villa, then move on to a small vineyard, each row containing a different type of grapes. We’re invited to wander round, trying the different varieties. I’m surprised how different they taste, but then I’m no wine connoisseur. I just like wine.

Our tour allows us to taste three different wines. Then we are given a funky orange box to pack our commemorative wine glass in to take home. In our case, home is five weeks and thousands of miles away, so I don’t fancy its chances.

The tour concludes in the Casillero del Diablo, where we see thousands of barrels of wine, a fake devil and a sound and light show explaining how the legend of the ‘Devil’s Cellar’ came about.

Our hotel is four miles from literally anything, so we stock up on supplies at a local supermarket and return for an afternoon of swimming, lazing by the pool, drinking wine and eating cheese rolls and crisps.

Day 3

Travel to Santiago

We round off our time in Chile by returning to Santiago for a few days taking in the sights of the capital.

Bellapart Apartment

We have booked an apartment at Bellapart. It’s such a relief to be somewhere clean and dry away from the smell of mould of Easter Island. We have Wifi, a balcony with views across the city to the Andes, a pool and a laundry.

Palacio de la Moneda

We start our sightseeing extravaganza with a guided tour of the Palacio de la Moneda (the seat of the President). Once we have had our passports checked and been issued with passes, we visit the ground floor; courtyards, the press room, state rooms and the chapel.

Tours are free but popular. Security is tight; tours need to be booked online in advance and you need to bring a passport. (Note; although we started our day here, there is currently only one tour a day at 4.30 pm and this only runs between Monday and Thursday.)

Plaza de Armas

Then on to the main square; Plaza de Armas, a hub of activity amidst its 100 shade-giving palm trees and fountains.

Santiago Cathedral

We take a quick visit to the cathedral. This 18th Century cathedral is grand and ornate. To be honest, after several weeks in South America, they all start to look a bit alike…

Cerro Santa Lucia

Next stop is the Cerro Santa Lucia. Here, you can climb several hundred steps through various gardens to a turreted lookout across the city.

Here, we are confronted by the rather surreal scene of a family taking their cat on an outing, while a man plays the soundtrack to Grease on a harmonica.

Then we return to our apartment and have a quiet evening consisting of a swim in the communal pool, followed by drinks on the balcony while the sun sets. It’s such a good view, going out seems counterintuitive.

Day 4

Cerro San Cristóbal

It’s our last day in Chile and we’re going to the Parque Metropolitano on Cerro San Cristóbal; a park on a hill on the edge of the city.

First, breakfast from the mini market over the road. The old man buys a cake tossed in a thick coating of icing sugar and coconut. He puts it into a bag, then picks the bag up by the wrong end. The cake falls, he executes a miraculous catch, saving the cake and covering the next lady in the queue in sugar and coconut.

After we’ve finished juggling/eating breakfast, we walk to the southern edge of the park in Bellavista. Here, a funicular, which operates from its own castle, takes you 500 metres up the hill for great views over the city.

You can then climb past a series of painted crosses to a 22 metre high statue of the Virgin Mary.

Cable Car

There are a range of activities available on Cerro San Cristóbal; parks, gardens, swimming, a zoo. The must-do activity is to take a cable car across the park, which has spectacular views of the city.

Tickets for the cable car vary in price according to the day of the week. You can buy a single, return or joint attraction ticket. Details are on the website.

Japanese Garden

From here, we descend on foot to the Japanese Garden.

The garden is very pretty and also has great views across the city, including the Costanera Centre – the tallest tower in Latin America.

Costanera Centre

We continue our way down the hill and head for the Costanera Centre, where you can take a lift to the top for ‘the best view in Latin America’. Tickets cost CLP 16,000 (around £16) between Friday and Sunday and CLP 12,000 between Monday and Thursday. The centre contains not only the tallest tower in South America, but also the largest shopping mall. We purchase some lunch and walk to the sculpture park.

Sculpture Park

The sculpture park isn’t spectacular. But it is free has some interesting pieces and is a pleasant place to sit and have lunch in the shade.

Then, we walk the final 2.5 miles back our apartment (not my idea). In the evening, we get a takeaway and have dinner on our balcony with a view.

• Trip taken: February 2019
• Updated: April 2023