Visit Chile - private tours
All the tours I provide are described below. The visits of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar can be taken separately, or put together for a full-day tour.
French version of the site here.
Walking on the colorful cerros (hills) Alegre and Concepcion, one of Unesco's World Heritage sites ... Climbing up to the cerros within the typical old ascensores (elevators) ... Discovering the Museo a ciel [...]
Admiring one of the only two Rapa Nui's moais that can be seen out of Easter Island ... Visiting the Palacio Rioja, a small palace inspired by Versailles ... Walking through the beautiful park of the Quinta Vergara palace ... [...]
Admiring the ocean and breathing fresh air on the costal road ... Visiting Horcon, the most typical fishermen's village in the area, and eating some fresh and delicious seafood ... Observing pelicans and other wildlife on the way ... [...]
Visiting Pablo Neruda's most famous house at Isla Negra ... Driving along the scenic coastal route between Valparaiso and the village of Laguna Verde ... Discovering some interesting constructions on the way ... Observing hundreds of [...]
Discovering the Barrio Civico, the heart of the city, with beautiful buildings such as the presidential palace, La Moneda ... Taking the pulse of the historical Plaza de armas, the very center of Santiago, with the catedral and several [...]
The tours described above are just a sample. As I provide private tours only, I can adapt the program according to your wishes: add a few stops, avoid other things... you tell me! For example, in Vina del Mar, it's possible to visit the [...]
Images of Valparaiso's region
About your guide
A
26-years old French journalist, I left France and my job in 2006 and fell in love with Valparaiso, its region, and... one of its inhabitants. Since 2007 I stopped working as a journalist, and set
up these guided tours.Contact: visiter.valparaiso@gmail.com
Tours and visits
Links
Clichés about Chile
I've asked many people around me (family, friends, colleagues from France...) what they
know about Chile. Or maybe I should say: what they think they know. Cause most of them have the wrong idea about this country. Let's correct the most
common clichés I've heard about Chile:
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Chile IS NOT an exotic country: The climate is very different all
across the country: in the north, the Atacama is the dryest desert in the world. In the center, where half of the Chilean population lives (Santiago, Valparaiso, Viña del Mar: my region),
there is a mediterranean climate. Further south it gets colder and rainy (oceanic climate), and in the far south of Patagonia, it's almost a polar climate. Of course, there are exotic fruits
such as papaya or mango, as well as cactus and palms, but nor jungles neither tropical landscapes. Because Chile is stuck betweem the high Andes and the cold Humboldt's stream in the Pacific
ocean, that provide a climate quite different from the rest of South America.
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Chile IS NOT a Third-world country: It's a developing country, the
richest in South America. Chilean people are, for instance, more involved in new technologies than French people (in my opinion). Whereas it's one of the countries in the world with the
biggest differences between the rich (quite few but really rich and powerful) and the poor (about 20% of the population, according to oficial datas).
-
Chile IS NOT a dictatorship: Although Pinochet just died one year ago, I bet many people still think there is no stability in this country. This is absolutely wrong. Pinochet lost the
elections in 1989, and since then a left-center coalition rules Chile through a stable and free democratic system.
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Chile IS NOT a coffee producer: Many people think it is, because most
of south-american countries (Brasil, Colombia, Venezuela...) are very imporant producers. But it seems that the very specific chilean climate doesn't allow for the production of coffee.
- Chile IS NOT the godfather of chili con carne: This very famous dish is even hard to find here: it comes from the south of the USA, mainly Texas and New Mexico. Chili is the name of the spice, it's not related to the country.
