Santiago by foot

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.

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 interesting museums ...

Taking some air in the quiet and beautiful park of Cerro Santa Lucia and its castle, with a nice view over the city ...

Visiting La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's amazing house in Santiago ...

Walking around a few preserved areas, with charming squares ...

...and various palaces and old mansions ...

Discovering cute hidden places near the center with unexpected architecture, such as Barrio Paris-Londres or Concha y Toro ...

Having lunch at Mercado central, the biggest concentration of typical restaurants in the city, and then walking through the comercial streets for digestive walk... and shopping eventually!

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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

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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:

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.
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.
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.

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