Savor the best of Chilean wine country in the Maipo and Aconcagua Valleys, experience the thrill of skiing fresh powder in the Andes, and explore the breathtaking scenery of the magnificent desert surrounding the northern oasis of San Pedro de Atacama.
La Moneda Presidential Palace
Day 1 – Arrival Santiago & City Tour
Welcome to Chile! Your guide and driver will meet you at the Santiago International Airport and transfer you to your hotel. After you have had a chance to refresh and get settled, you will set out with your guide on a half day tour highlighting Santiago’s most important historical sites, including the downtown area surrounding the Plaza de Armas and the La Moneda Presidential Palace. You will also pass by the Mercado Central, one of Chile’s largest fresh seafood markets and stroll by the many bustling stalls to see the tremendous variety available from Chile’s bountiful sea. You will visit the neighborhoods of República and Concha y Toro, historically home to Santiago’s high society. Continuing through the cobblestoned Lastarria neighborhood, you will walk by the Parque Forestal and pass by the Bellas Artes Museum. For a panoramic vista of the city, you will visit the top of Cerro San Cristobal Hill, 984 feet above the city.
During the tour, you will have the option to visit one of Santiago’s most famous museums, La Chascona, former home to beloved poet and Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda. The whimsical residence provides a snapshot into the life and mind of Neruda, filled with art, eccentric collections, and even his Nobel Prize.
Meals Included: On your own
Day 2 – Ski Valle Nevado
After an early breakfast, your guide will meet you in your hotel lobby to head to Valle Nevado. Modeled after the style of European resorts, the Valle Nevado complex straddles the imposing peak El Plomo, includes luxury accommodations, and has the largest skiable domain in Chile. Tickets can be purchased to connect to neighboring resorts La Parva and El Colorado. The terrain includes expansive intermediate groomers, and a smaller percentage of steep drops off peaks like Tres Puntos and Cerro Negro.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Tasting at Aquitania Winery
Day 3 – Maipo Valley Wine Tour
Your guide will meet you at your Santiago hotel this morning, and you will drive south along the foothills of the Andes to visit some of the top wineries in the Maipo Valley. Chile’s most traditional wine valley is also one of the most internationally recognized and produces many of Chile’s finest red varieties.
Your first stop will be the intriguing small boutique winery, Aquitania. Located just outside Santiago, Aquitania was born from a formidable partnership among four well-respected French and French-Chilean agronomists and oenologists. The idea was to combine the best of French vinicultural practices with the agricultural paradise of Chile to create unique, sophisticated wines. Award-winning labels such as Aquitania, Lazuli, and Sol de Sol are proof of the project’s success.
Next you’ll visit the Haras de Pirque Winery. The winery is part of a larger property which combines the owners’ two passions: viticulture and thoroughbred horse breeding. Notable labels include Equus, Haras, Elegance, and Albis. You’ll enjoy a tour and tasting of two wines as well as a bottle of Elegance.
For lunch, you will enjoy typical Chilean dishes at the Fundación Origen restaurant, nestled within the traditional wine region of Pirque. In the afternoon, you will be returned to your hotel in Santiago.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 4 – Transfer to the Aconcagua Valley
Your guide will meet you at your Santiago hotel this morning to depart to the famed Aconcagua Valley. In the shadow of Mt. Aconcagua, the valley is Chile’s smallest, but very well known as “a viticulturist paradise” for its natural balance of wind, heat, and soil diversity, Aconcagua has produced two 97-point wines – Von Siebenthal’s Tatay de Cristobal 2007 and Errázuriz’ Viñedo Chadwick 2006. Several 95- and 96-point wines are also the pride of Aconcagua.
Your first stop will be to Errázuriz Winery, one of the largest, oldest, and most beautiful wineries in Chile. Founded in 1870 by Don Maximiano Errázuriz, Viña Errázuriz is one of the most iconic in Chile and has played a crucial role in developing the country’s wine industry. Following a tour of the winery, a delicious lunch awaits in the historic casona. Next, you’ll head to Viña Von Siebenthal for a tour and tasting. Founded by Swiss lawyer Mauro Von Siebenthal, the boutique winery has produced one of the highest scoring wines in Chile. Of the winery’s six different labels, four have scored over 90 points. In the late afternoon you will arrive to your hotel, an historic Chilean casona, where you will spend the next three nights.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Blazing new trails at Ski Arpa
Day 5 – Ski Portillo
Today you’ll visit Portillo, South America’s oldest and most famous ski resort, first opened in 1948. Portillo has the ambience of a “boutique” ski resort, with limited hotel capacity, no lift lines and open slopes. Enjoy great trails, a juicy burger at Tío Bob’s, and lots of South American sunshine. The more adventuresome can explore the backcountry off “Roca Jack.”
Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 6 – Ski Arpa: Cat Skiing in the Shadow of Aconcagua
Today you’ll experience a full day of Cat Skiing at Ski Arpa. A place unlike any other in the world, Valle el Arpa is sweet music to the skier’s soul. Unparalleled vertical snow conditions and views of both Mt. Aconcagua and the Pacific Ocean make for an unforgettable adventure. In an anything-but-typical day, you’ll ski over 13,000 vertical feet of some of the best untracked powder in the world. Intermediate or advanced level of skiing experience required.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Box Lunch, Dinner
Day 7 – Santiago / San Pedro de Atacama
Your local guide will meet you at your hotel early this morning to transfer you to the Santiago Airport in time for your late morning flight to Calama, in the north of Chile. Upon arrival in Calama, your selected hotel’s representative will meet you at the airport for the one hour drive to the oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama. The quaint adobe village sits on the northern edge of the world’s driest desert. An important center of commerce for the Inca tribe and, later, the Spanish conquistadors, San Pedro now hosts visitors from around the world attracted to its archaeological and natural wonders.
Stark landscapes characterize the Atacama Desert
In the afternoon, you will embark on your first excursion to Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), aptly named for its seemingly lunar landscape. Unique rock and salt formations carved over millions of years by floods and wind appear as though sculpted by man. Perhaps the most interesting of these salt depositions is Tres Marías with its three female figures rising out of the vast landscape. Be sure to have your camera on hand to capture the changing colors of the mountains and breathtaking sunset over the Cordillera de la Sal from your perch atop the massive sand dunes.
Meals Included: Breakfast, (Lunch and Dinner also provided for guests lodging at Alto Atacama)
Day 8 & 9 – San Pedro de Atacama – Day Excursions
San Pedro is surrounded by a fascinating geological environment, native flora, and diverse fauna waiting to be explored. Don’t miss a visit to Laguna Chaxa, located in the middle of the expansive 2,000-square-mile Atacama Salt Flat, which provides a unique opportunity to observe the three species of flamingos which live on the lake. A stop in the historically agricultural village of Toconao provides insight into the traditional culture of the region. Explore Laguna Cejar, an anomalous sink hole in the middle of the salt deposits near San Pedro. Similar to the Dead Sea, the extremely high salt concentration in this lagoon allows swimmers to float effortlessly in the clear water. For an early morning excursion, set out to meet the sunrise at 4,300m above sea level as dozens of geysers burst forth from the ground in spectacular form.
If you are an archaeologist (by profession or at heart), be sure to visit the 4,000-year-old ruins of Tulor, the Inca ruins at Pukara de Quitor, and the petroglyphs in Yerba Buena. In San Pedro, the Museum Padre Le Paige provides an excellent overview of regional history dating from pre-Colombian populations to the present day. The museum is internationally known and home to some of the oldest and best-preserved mummies in the world.
Meals Included: Breakfast, (Lunch and Dinner also provided for guests lodging at Alto Atacama)
The Geysers del Tatio
Day 10 – Santiago / Return Home
You will be transferred to Calama in time for your flight back to Santiago to connect with onward travel or your next adventure.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Recommended trip combinations:
Sun and snow at Ski Arpa
This tour is available to begin every day during the months of July thru September.
Price per Person (US$):
*based on a minimum of 2 travelers
*Prices valid through September 2014. Please inquire for new rates.
Wine tasting with a view
Price Includes:
Premium Program Accommodations:
Ritz Carlton Santiago
Ritz Carlton: Situated in the prestigious Las Condes neighborhood of El Golf, location is a big advantage for the Ritz. Not surprisingly, luxury and service are top notch. The hotel has 205 lavish rooms, excellent restaurants, and a rooftop pool and spa which sits under a spectacular glass cupola and offers unbeatable views of the Andes and of the city. Embodies the consistently excellent service and 5-star amenities for which the Ritz is famous around the world.
Hotel Alto Atacama
Hotel Alto Atacama: In the shadow of the tranquil Cordillera de la Sal, Hotel Alto Atacama sits just outside San Pedro. The hotel is designed in the traditional adobe style of the region’s indigenous populations and includes a complete spa, hot springs, Yoga fields, six swimming pools, and a variety of intimate indoor and outdoor settings.
Standard Program Accommodations:
Hotel Rugendas
Hotel Rugendas: Located in the El Golf neighborhood, in the heart of Santiago’s commercial district, Hotel Rugendas was named for German painter Johann Moritz Rugendas, famous for his depictions of landscapes and cultural subjects, who traveled Chile during 1834 – 1844. The name of the hotel represents the hospitality and soul of the Chilean people which Rugendas immortalized in his art. The hotel includes a restaurant and bar which use 100% organic ingredients.
Terrantai Lodge
Hotel Terrantai: In the heart of historic San Pedro with the iconic ancient whitewashed church in view, Hotel Terrantai provides a comfortable and tranquil atmosphere for all who walk through its doors. The design is one of understated beauty, with adobe, lake rock, and aged wood construction and decorations inspired in the tradition of the original Atacameño people.
In both programs, lodging in Los Andes (for access to Portillo and Ski Arpa) will be at
Casa San Regis
Hotel Casa San Regis: A beautifully maintained 18th-century hacienda, Casa San Regis provides an authentic Chilean experience which is hard to find at the main ski resorts. This bed & breakfast style hotel is the closest to Ski Arpa Cat Skiing (about 1 hour away). The staff is warm and welcoming, embodying the best of Chilean hospitality. Large, comfortable dining and lounging areas showcase the original architecture. Includes breakfast and dinner.
