Santiago de Chile’s Outskirts

Valparaiso and Viña del Mar

An excellent highway about a hundred kilometers long leads to the coast through the valleys of Curacavi and Casablanca. The countryside is beautiful and there are several typical Chilean restaurants serving good local food along the way.

Viña del Mar, also known as the Garden City, has 300 thousand inhabitants and is the country’s main beach resort. Located next to the Port of Valparaiso it has a good selection of hotels and a wide variety of restaurants, a Casino, cafes, discotheques and good shops. Visitors can go for a ride in a traditional horse-drawn “Victoria” and see the town with its well-kept gardens by the sea. The past and the present intermingle in this bustling tourist center.

Valparaiso, linked to Viña del Mar, is Chile’s main port and also the site of the Chilean Congress.

The magnificent view from the numerous hills surrounding the bay of Valparaiso has long been a source of inspiration for both Chilean and foreign artists. It is undoubtedly worth going for a stroll around the picturesque fishing coves or taking one of the old-fashioned elevators up to the hills of Valparaiso with their multicolored houses and mansions dating from last century. “La Sebastiana”, Pablo Neruda’s museum-cum-house, recently opened to the public, is located on one of these hills. His most important house museum, which is filled with his collections, is in Isla Negra, Just an hour from Valparaiso, or an hour and a half from Santiago. As one of the most important ports in the Pacific Ocean, Valparaiso receives ships from all over the world. Here, they unload their cargos and load up again with Chilean goods destined for international markets.

Vineyards

In the Maipo Valley, near the city of Santiago, lies one of the country’s most important wine growing areas. This region combines the three ideal conditions know internationally as the “trilogy” necessary to produce good wine: climate-soil- vine stock.

Several vineyards are located in this area: The Concha y Toro vineyard in Pirque offers guided tours of the winery and the nearby village of Pirque with its beautiful countryside and mountain air and old haciendas with their stately manor houses. Other vineyards in the area open to the public are: Santa Rita, Santa Carolina and Cousin o Macul.

Ski Resorts

The ski resorts, which can be reached by bus or car, are located less that an hour’s drive from Santiago. Farellones-EI Colorado, La Parva and Valle Nevado are all situated on the slopes of the Andean mountains. From June to October both foreign and Chilean ski fanatics, because of the excellent slopes, good snow, nice weather and modern infrastructure, visit these resorts, as well as others in Chile.

Also near Santiago, but 145 kilometers northeast is Portillo with its traditional hotel of international fame, overlooking the beautiful Del Inca Lagoon.