Chile surprises every traveler who expects less. The Colchagua and Casablanca valleys are producing some of the most exciting wines in the southern hemisphere. The Pacific seafood culture rivals anything in the world. And Chilean Patagonia — Torres del Paine and the fjords — is, quite simply, one of the most spectacular landscapes on earth.
What makes Chile so rewarding is the variety packed into a ribbon of a country. In ten days you can taste Carménère at its source in Colchagua, eat your way through Santiago and Valparaíso, walk among the world's clearest stars in the Atacama Desert, and wake up to the granite spires of Torres del Paine. Few countries pack that much into a single itinerary, and Chile does it without ever feeling rushed.
Santiago has quietly become one of South America's most exciting culinary cities. A new generation of chefs is cooking with native Andean and Pacific ingredients no one outside Chile knew existed five years ago. Pair Santiago with a day in Valparaíso — the dramatic Pacific port city with its bohemian hills and street art — and you have a perfect urban opening for a longer Chilean trip.
Chilean Patagonia, and especially Torres del Paine, is the trip travelers describe as 'the most spectacular place I've ever been' more often than almost anywhere else we plan. The lodges that sit inside or right at the edge of the park make all the difference; guided hikes calibrated to your pace mean even non-hikers come home feeling they actually saw it. We treat Patagonia as the centerpiece, not the afterthought.