Lapostolle is one of the exclusive wineres in Chile. If you are travelling in the wine regions, this is the place to stay, utterly spectacular.

Prices are $500 and upwards, but it was a once in a life time experience. We used this as the base to travel to the wineres of Colchagua (don't miss Montes Winery) and Maipo valleys. You need at least three nights to really appreciate it. We toured with Robertson Wine tours who were extremely professional. I would recommend Lapostolle and Robertsons to anyone travelling in this area.

www.lapostolle.com
www.monteswines.com
www.robertsonwinetours.com

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In the middle of March every year is the Celebration of the Chilean Grape. This traditional celebration takes place in Buin which is a great venue for crafts, gastronomy, culture and folklore. Also the most prestigious vines of the country participate every year. It is a great opportunity to be in contact with the magic of wine and to enjoy activities, services and tourist circuits in one of the best rural boroughs of Santiago.

Avda. Parque O`Higgins de Buin, Santiago, CHILE.

MARIO GAVILÁN JIMÉNEZ
turisbuin@gmail.com
56 (02) 8218482

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Furnished apartments in Las Condes, Santiago de Chile.
Friendly staff,nice apartments, with two bathrooms, buffet breakfast, and amazing price

Av El Bosque y Av Apoquindo
Las Condes
Tobalada Station , one block away

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Explora en Atacama is a stunning hotel with high glass walls, huge sofas, cosy log fires and handwoven rugs. It makes a perfect base for exploring the stark beauty of the Atacama Desert, with its own riding stables, mountain bikes, saunas and four swimming pools. The guides are superb, the food excellent.

www.explora.com/atacama_theplace.php

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A full day trip from Valparaiso is the hike up Cerro la Campana. Darwin made the trip up in 1834 and declared it one of the highlights of his journey. It's a 3-4 hour, reasonably tough but non-technical hike up to the top where you will be rewarded with incredible views of the Andes (including Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas) on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Quite spectacular.

Take 2-3 litres of water, some snacks, and get there early - 9am at the latest to ensure you're first to the top. Around 8.30am the ranger will turn up and sign you in. You cannot start the climb after 10am.

Sector Granizo just past Olmue, 45 minutes drive from Valparaiso

More info and photos: corrugatedcity.blogspot.com/2008/04/cerro-la-campana-ii.html and corrugatedcity.blogspot.com/2008/04/cerro-la-campana.html

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If you want a real sense of Valparaiso's international roots, visit the three cemeteries on Cerro Panteon - Number 1, 2 and the Dissidents' Cemetery are full of British, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese and other nationalities' tombs... all with beautiful sea views. A fascinating look at the history of South America's most unique city.

Cerro Panteon - from plaza Anibal Pinto take Subida Cumming and walk up.

More info: corrugatedcity.blogspot.com/search/label/Cemeteries

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Fantastic restaurant on Cerro Concepcion - all pasta and gnocchi dishes and a great wine list. Highly recommended.

Corner Templeman/Abtao

corrugatedcity.blogspot.com/2008/04/restaurant-review-pasta-e-vino.html

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Starting from Anakena beach, it is possible to walk around the base of Mount Terevaka to Hanga Roa. It is a five-six hour walk and takes in a large number of ahus and moai, all with well preserved village remains and caves nearby.

The walk is ignored by 90% of tourists and is thus devoid of people most of the time - leaving the sites empty and silent. Perfect for getting to know the soul of the island. Take at least two big bottles of water.

Walk west along the coast from Anakena parking lot. And keep walking.

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Tiny, cosy traditional seafood restaurant nestling in the old market hall, in the centre of town. Puerto Varas has lots of good seafood fresh from the nearby coast, and caught by local fishermen, and this is up there with the best.

Intimate, popular with locals and excellent value for beautiful fish and pisco sours. The coffee is very ordinary as often in Chile, so stick with the very good wine.

Market Hall, on Del Salvador and San Bernardo. 2 mins up from the lake front

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A great laid back vegetarian and local food cafe, relaxing, comfy sofas, teas, decent espresso, juices, pastries, great cake, soups, and light meals. Good place to read the paper, plan your excursions or wind down after hiking. In fact there are lots of good cafes and eating places in this up and coming frontier tourist town.

Arturo Prat - opposite the church and facing the Plaza de Armas

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Earlier this summer I rented an apartment in Santiago's downtown, a fully equipped place at a walking distance from the main streets, transport, tourism attraction and shopping centres.

A really affordable place for anybody who want to stay just a little or a long time in Santiago. It's cheap and it worth more then you pay for. The building is brand new and includes all services like doorman, elevators, laundry, gym, spa and pool.

Santiago 710
Zenteno 138, Santiago Centro

www.santiago-apartment.com/

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This is a stunning national park up in the Andes in the north of Chile, next to the Bolivian and Peruvian borders. Crystal clear lakes reflecting snow capped volcanoes, wildlife such as vicunas and eagles and so peaceful! A perfect place.

Nearest town is Putre, about 3 hours from the city of Arica in northern Chile.
www.gochile.cl/eng/Guide/ChileNationalParks/Lauca/Lauca-1.asp

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Every new year, Valpo is home to the biggest and best fireworks display in South America.

Over a million people from Chile and abroad descend on the city for one huge party. Hotels need to be booked by October at the latest (prices 3-5 times normal) and reconfirmed at least 3-4 times in December to ensure they're honoured.

The fireworks used to be only in Valparaiso but now stretch 20-30km all the way along the cost to Con Con. The display lasts almost half an hour.

The best place to watch them is on Cerro Concepcion and Alegre where the police are out in force making it the safest area to be.

youtube.com/watch?v=jZnkUdb5Q34

All over Valpo

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Beautifully presented and amazing artifacts from Central to South America. It is quite small so you don't need long.

www.precolombino.cl
Plaza de Armas metro.

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Ok, this is actually in Vina del Mar, Valpo's more modern sister city a ten-minute drive up the road. However, Cerro Castillo is a must visit for anyone interested in the history of this part of Chile.

The area is known as Cerro Castillo because:
-it's a hill
-there are numerous old houses built like castles

It's a quiet residential area - no cafes, no restaurants, no toilets - but is Vina's poshest address. Some of the houses are spectacular -tudor houses nestle next to gothic mansions and there are the eponymous castles dotted around the place, the most notable being the local police HQ. The Presidential Palace is also to be found on Cerro Castillo.

It was on Cerro Castillo that Chile's wealthiest families from Santiago and Valparaiso had their seaside residences in the country's most elite Balneario. It shows in the architecture.

At the foot of the hill is the Club Arabe-Siria and opposite is the Castillo Wulf, now the town council. Also just around the corner is the Cap Ducal, a restaurant and hotel right on the water and shaped like a cruise liner.

The new Sheraton is also at the foot of the hill.

From the new Sheraton or Castillo Wulf and Cap Ducal there are steps or a road leading up to the hill. From the other side, there's access from the beginning of Calle Valparaiso.

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Valparaiso is a city designed for exploring on foot, albeit feet wrapped in sturdy shoes. Its winding roads, beautiful little alleyways and stunning views await the intrepid explorer.

The Sendero Bicentenario is a self-guided walking tour of the entire city.

The easiest and most popular part of the tour is around Cerros Concepcion and Alegre - the ex-British and German enclaves with the city's finest architecture, hotels and restaurants - but it's well worth exploring other parts of town as well.

You'll be treated to incredible views of the city and the ocean at pretty much every turn.

You should be careful not to wave around expensive cameras in some areas, especially behind the Matriz Church, but overall the city is safe and welcoming.

www.senderobicentenario.cl/index_eng.html

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Chilean Naval museum with some interesting exhibits, a bit OTT nationalistic at times but aren't most military museums like that?

The scale models of the ships are cool and the building itself is quite interesting.

It costs about 50p to get in.

Cerro Artlilleria at the top of the Acsensor of the same name. Avoid the restaurant at the top of the funicular-not good...

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My wife and I are keen wine drinkers. We have travelled extensively most of the major routes of the established wine growing regions - New Zealand, Napa, Bordeaux, and South Africa (the Stellenbosch region is simply fantastic).

I have to say that there are always new things to learn and new experiences to be had. After cruising South America with the Holland America Line we landed and Valparaíso and spent three days visiting these two extensive valleys.

Casablanca is within easy reach of the port and is best known for its cooler sea breezes which encourages excellent pinot noirs and sauvignon blancs.

We were treated to a wonderful lunch with the Villard family and went on to Casa del Bosque, and the Veramonte wineries. All were first rate.

The Maipo Valley is where the cabernet action is and world-famous names such as Concha y Toro and Almaviva reside.

We were guided by Tim Robertson of Robertson Wine Tours who proved outstanding in his knowledge and choices.

We wish we had had a chance to stay a little longer and check out Chchapoal Valley. We stayed at La Hacienda Los Lingues which was excellent, if a little expensive.

Will definitely be going back for more. Enjoy.

www.villard.cl
www.loslingues.cl
www.robertsonwinetours.com

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For 1000 pesos (£1) you can take a 30-minute boat trip around the harbour. On sunny days, you get beautiful views back to the city and the hills.

You also get about as close to a fully functional port as you will anywhere in the world and get to see a dry dock and the local battle ships up close and personal. If you're lucky, you'll see sea-lions sunning themselves on the decks of fishing boats that they have commandeered. For 10,000 pesos (£10) you can hire a whole boat for yourselves.

Muelle Prat, down by Plaza Sotomayor

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The best chefs in Chile are Peruvian and Peruvian restaurants can be found all over the country. One of the best in Santiago is Puerto Peru, on the corner of Condell and Santa Isabel (border Providencia/Nunoa).

The Pulpo al Olivar (octopus with black olive dressing) is divine and the Seco de Cordero is excellent as well. Most items on the menu are very good and the Pisco Sours are some of the best in Santiago.

Highly recommended.

Condell/Santa Isabel
www.puertoperu.cl

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