If you’re looking for an easy, rewarding, delicious, and physically beautiful trip to take, I whole-heartedly recommend a week in Chile. This isolated country that somehow manages to stay under-the-radar has so much to offer yet makes covering all the bases still simple enough for the casual traveler.
This guide will show you everything you can see, do, and eat with just a week in Chile. Where all you can go, all the cute animals you can see, and all the wine and pisco you can consume. Enjoy!
My week in Chile
For my own week in Chile, it was mandatory that I cover all the bases: wine tasting, hiking in the Andes, checking out Chile’s two biggest cities, learning some local history, exploring Chile’s rugged coast, and bonus points if any of the above involved alpacas and/or penguins. (Spoiler alert: they did!)
My week in Chile both started and ended with a half day, with the entire trip coming to a full 7 days in Chile. In that time, I did everything I set out to do but still had plenty of downtime for passing time on my terrace (drinking wine), leisurely strolling the city streets (on my way to drink wine), and getting plenty of sleep (because wine).
Here’s everything I got up to with a week in Chile to show you how you could spend the same amount of time here.
One week in Chile: Day 1
After landing in Santiago, grabbing transportation into the city, and settling into our rental apartment, we headed straight for Mercado La Vega Chica for lunch.
Check out Santiago airport transfers here.
Mercado La Vega Chica
Before we knew it we were bumper to bumper inside Mercado La Vega Chica being shouted at and careened like cattle through a dark maze of food stalls and miscellaneous vendors of fish heads and pig parts.
We chose a food stall pretty much at random and ordered lunch like strangers on a new planet. (There was a lot of pointing and head-scratching.) We spoke what we thought was Spanish yet received a whole lotta mystery foods, some of them in multiples, and finally landed on the two words that transcend all language barriers—Coca Cola.
Moral of the story: Come here for some delicious authentic Chilean and Peruvian foods in a chaotic but tourist-free location. The service is friendly and it’s a ton of fun.
Because we’d arrived in the afternoon, we spent the rest of the day settling into our rental apartment, visiting the market to pick up some supplies, and just taking it easy on our balcony.
One week in Chile: Day 2
We started the second day of our week in Chile with coffee and breakfast at Vilapert and then our small group of five split up. Half headed over to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights and the rest of us opted for a lighter afternoon of pretty flowers, sunshine, and beautiful views.
Whichever adventure you choose to start your day with, Day 2 of our week in Chile is going to be all about exploring Santiago, Chile’s vibrant capital city.
Museum of Memory and Human Rights
The Museum of Memory and Human Rights covers the history of the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and the human rights violations that occurred here between 1973 and 1990. It covers the topics of the military coup, the repression that followed, resistance movements, and much more in hope that this kind of shit won’t happen again, anywhere.
Santa Lucía Hill
Santa Lucía Hill is a small hill in the center of Santiago–the remains of an ancient volcano, actually–and is a cornucopia of many pretty things. In Santa Lucía Hill you’ll find:
Santa Lucía Hill is the perfect spot if you’re just looking for a relaxing way to see Santiago and spend some time outdoors. And, there are tons of great views and other photographic opportunities here.
La Moneda Palace
From Santa Lucía Hill we walked through downtown Santiago acquainting ourselves with Chile’s capital city, drooling over the street art, eventually stopping at La Moneda Palace.
La Moneda occupies an entire city block and is the palace of Chile’s president. The building and property are pretty understated but still interesting to see just hanging out right here in the middle of the city.
Also, La Moneda hosts a traditional changing of the guard ceremony every other day—on odd-numbered days in odd-numbered months, and on even-numbered days in even-numbered months. So obviously we were in Chile in an even-numbered month and visited the palace twice… on odd-numbered days. Follow me for more expert travel advice?
Plaza de Armas
After La Moneda, we wandered over to Plaza de Armas–Santiago’s central square. Here at the Plaza de Armas you’ll find some important historical buildings, excellent people watching, and relaxing places to drink beer in a beautiful, palm-laden park setting.
We wound our way through the park, dodging pigeons and a shouting man with a briefcase and an agenda, strolled through Santiago’s Metropolitan Cathedral, eventually landing at one of the square’s cafés for beers and snacks.
Barrio Lasterria
Of the many interesting and lovely neighborhoods within Santiago, Barrio Lasterria is one of the interesting-and-loveliest. The area is mostly pedestrian traffic and offers adorable sidewalk cafes, unique architecture, street vendors, and local art. But keeping it all balanced was a weird shirtless guy dancing to the Backstreet Boys on a street corner that was just too embarrassing not to watch.
After the Plaza and our beer fix satisfied, we set off in search of empanadas, the way you do when you’re anywhere south of the border. We wound up at Mulato for our first taste of Chile’s signature empanada: empanada pino.
Heladería Emporio La Rosa
Just around the corner from Mulato is Heladería Emporio la Rosa–the place to get ice cream in Santiago. In fact, Heladería Emporio la Rosa is supposedly one of the top places to get ice cream in the world. And since it was summer here in the South Hemi (that’s what we’re calling it now, right?), stopping here took little convincing.
Get Your Guide has lots of popular Santiago walking tours available if you’d prefer to go that route.
Cerro San Cristóbal
Santa Lucía Hill was nice, but now it was time to get higher. And that means taking the funicular to the top of Santiago’s second highest hill–Cerro San Cristóbal. At the top of Cerro San Cristóbal sits a sanctuary dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, complete with a super huge statue of the Virgin Mary, a chapel, and an amphitheater.
But none of that is probably why you’d come up here anyway. Instead, this is one of the highest spots in the city at 2,790 feet above sea level. That means you’re going to get the absolute best views of this vast city and the surrounding mountains. Plus, the breeze up here in the summer is life-giving.
Dinner at Casa Lastarria
We ended the second night of our week in Chile with a delicious dinner on the rooftop patio of Casa Lastarria. While here, be sure to try such Chilean staples as:
- Empanadas pino – Empanadas filled with a mixture of ground beef, olives, onions, raisins, and hard boiled eggs
- Machas – Clams covered in Parmesan cheese
Pro tip: Be sure to ask for a seat on the rooftop patio which won’t be obvious.
One week in Chile: Day 3
On day three, we woke up and hopped a bus to the port city of Valparaiso. The bus from Santiago to Valparaiso costs just a few dollars and takes about an hour and fifteen minutes. Buses to Valpo from Santiago run, I kid you not, every five to ten minutes or so.
Valparaiso, Chile
Valparaiso is Chile’s third largest metropolitan area, one of the country’s most important seaports, and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s also apparently where all of South America’s dogs go to breed.
(We spent two days here legit wading through dirty street mongrels. I know I sound like Cruella de Vil, but the stray dog situation is weird here. I can’t explain it. Besides, none of them would make great coats.)
Valparaiso is famous for its winding labyrinth of a street pattern, colorful buildings, seemingly endless hills that, to my utter surprise, are not covered in heart attack victims, and its street art. Just about every inch of this city is covered in color–beautiful, large-scale murals, pointless graffiti, mosaics, and the little sprays and nuggets left behind by the city’s most populous inhabitants.
Valparaiso reminded me of: if Lisbon, Portugal and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico had a baby.
Valparaiso is nothing like Santiago–so much so that you don’t even feel like you’re in the same country. It’s good to get out of the capital and experience the many different facets of life in a foreign country and if you’re into eclectic art, vicious street puppies, and interesting city views, this is the side trip for you. Four out of five personal trainers also recommend it for its cardio benefits. (Probably.)
Lunch/Dinner at Hotel Fauna
After settling into our rental home, the five of us simply walked around Valparaiso aimlessly, taking it all in (and dodging land mines like our lives depended on it–I’m talking about poop here). Eventually we opted for a late lunch at a place we stumbled upon randomly.
Hotel Fauna is incredible and we ate here multiple times during our week in Chile. The food and service are superb and look at these views!
If you’d be interested in a guided walking tour around Valparaiso, check out this popular Street Art, Funiculars, and Port City tour.
One week in Chile: Day 4
After a quick breakfast at Panini Café, our group headed back to the bus station to catch a ride into Chile’s Casablanca valley–famous for its Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs. (Spent an entire day here, drank all the things, still had to look this up.)
The fourth day of our week in Chile we spent sampling (craploads of) Chilean wines. I’m going to describe that briefly here, but I do have an entire post about wine tasting in Chile you should check out if this interests you!
Casablanca Valley
We took the bus into the Casablanca Valley and visited three wineries while we were here, taking a taxi in between each of them. They were:
Viña Emiliana
Viña Emiliana was my favorite winery of my whole week in Chile (and there were many, you’ll see). We participated in a formal wine (and cheese) tasting here then walked around the property where you can meet some alpacas!
Bodegas Re
By the time we got to Bodegas Re, I didn’t really care about the tasting notes and mouthfeel of wine anymore. But I did start with a glass of rosé and told them to keep the cheese comin’! They weren’t amused.
Viña Casas del Bosque
Our last formal tasting of the day was at Viña Casas del Bosque. This property was beautiful and they had the best dirt. No joke, the dirt here was so soft. I found a ton of photos of dirt on my phone the next day. You know what else is no joke? Day drinking wine, obviously.
Back in Valparaiso
Back in Valparaiso, we tried a number of restaurants that, for one reason or another, weren’t open that day and we all agreed that—duh—we were meant to have dinner at Hotel Fauna again.
One week in Chile: Day 5
Because I’m about as good at staying in one place as chicken pox at a daycare, Day Five of our week in Chile saw us renting a car and heading north along the Pacific coast. In my search for things to do in Chile, I came across an island of penguins and suddenly nothing in life mattered anymore.
You can rent a car here if you need to.
Lunch at Tio Mario
We picked up our car and headed out for the hour or so drive, stopping first at Tio Mario—a middle-of-absolutely-nowhere restaurant we found serving up fresh empanadas. There’s no website, no link or address I can give you, just the google map in the link above. (That means you know it’s good.)
Playa Cachagua & Penguins
Just off the coast of Playa Cachagua in the northern part of the Valparaiso region is Isla de Cachagua, a protected natural monument and an important home/nesting ground for Humboldt penguins.
We spent a few hours walking the coastal walk between Cachagua and Zapallar spying on the penguins, sea lions, and otters, exploring the tide pools, and really pressing our luck when it came to big waves crashing onto big rocks.
Horcón & Puente de los Deseos
On the way back to Valparaiso from Cachagua, we made the snap decision to visit the town of Horcón to see the Puente de los Deseos. This Bridge of Wishes sits over the ocean all covered in brightly colored ribbons. You’re supposed to write your wish on a ribbon then tie it to the bridge. But since I had just spent the morning with wild penguins, I had nothing left to wish for that day.
Instead, we just hung around taking pictures, then stopped for ice cream in this adorable, tiny seaside town.
Back to Santiago
After dropping off the rental car in Valparaiso, we hopped the next bus to Santiago. After arriving, we had just enough time to swing by our rental apartment, change out of our ocean-scented clothes, and make it to dinner for our 8pm reservation.
Dinner at Bocanáriz
And just like that, it’s time for more wine. (It’s always wine o’clock in Chile.) But instead of a winery this time, we made dinner reservations at Bocanáriz–Santiago’s premier wine bar.
As someone who will drink wine but doesn’t (at all) consider herself a “wine drinker,” I love Bocanáriz because they offer a menu of wine flights so you can taste a whole bunch. I chose the Chilean Heritage flight because why not. Turns out, by doing so I learned something interesting about wine and about myself.
My favorite wine of the night was a variety called País—made from the first grape brought over to South America from Europe. When I told our unbelievably wine-educated server which wine was my new favorite, he responded: “Ah yes, that is the least sophisticated wine in all of Chile!” So, there you have it.
Besides the wine, the food at Bocanáriz was both delicious and adventurous. I mean, what more could you want from a dinner than to constantly ask, “And what part of the animal do you think this is from?”
Bocanáriz is one of the most popular restaurants in Santiago and for good reason. If you’d like to dine here, be sure to make a reservation well ahead of time.
Chipe Libre
Conveniently located next door to Bocanáriz was our next stop: Chipe Libre—the undisputed authority on all things pisco. If you don’t know about pisco, well, don’t ask me; I have the least sophisticated taste in all of Chile.
According to Wikipedia, pisco is a brandy produced in the winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. It’s mostly consumed as part of a Pisco Sour, of which I had many during my visits to both Peru and Chile.
At Chipe Libre, you can have a pisco tasting (which we did) and/or order drinks from a huge menu of piscocktails (which we also did). Highly recommend.
One week in Chile: Day 6
I’ll be honest here, Day Six was the day I was most looking forward to during my whole week in Chile. This was the day we left the city behind and made for the mountains. It was also the only day during my week in Chile that not a single wine glass grazed my lips. Just saying.
Cajón del Maipo
Given Santiago’s location just outside the Andes mountain range, it’s quite easy to have yourself a merry little day hike. There are tours available if you don’t want to plan on your own (see below), but doing so self-guided is rewarding and requires very little planning. Because my friend Tim did it all.
Self-guided hike in the Maipo Canyon
Our goal for the day was to reach the glacier of El Morado in the Maipo Canyon. We rented another car (4×4 mandatory) and headed into the canyon until we couldn’t drive any farther. We hiked for miles and miles, hours and hours, to an elevation of just over 10,500 feet.
The scenery throughout was unreal and the hike was just challenging enough to earn ourselves some beers at the bottom, but not so challenging that anyone needed to be airlifted. We also saw so many mountain goats!
If you’d also like to go the self-guided route, take a look at this blog post for the full instructions. This is the page we followed for our version.
Maipo Canyon hiking tours
But if renting a car and figuring this all out on your own feels a bit overwhelming, you have other options too! If you’d like to do some awesome day hikes during your week in Chile, check out these tour options:
See many more Maipo Canyon tours here on Get Your Guide.
La Calchona
On the way back to Santiago, we did what had become the norm at that point and pulled off the highway into the parking lot of a middle-of-nowhere random restaurant. This time it was La Calchona. This place is beautiful and so peaceful and the service is fantastic. It’s a great place for some post-hike beers.
La Piojera and the Terremoto
After returning to Santiago, dropping off the rental car, and showering off about three pounds of dirt, we found ourselves at La Piojera which is, apparently, “one of the places you need to go in Santiago, Chile.” This section of the post is going to tell you why you should avoid it at all costs.
This (I’mma just say it) shitty ass dive bar in Santiago somehow consistently finds itself on lists of bars you need to visit here. It’s apparently one of Santiago’s oldest and “most beloved” dive bars. One article even says: “This bar may have sticky tables and the odor of a frat house on a Sunday morning, but it’s something of a rite of passage.” BUT WHY THOUGH.
We showed up around midnight and were instantly blinded by fluorescent lights turned up all the way. An employee was dragging a couple of fully loaded trash bags through the bar, leaving a path of thick, white, sticky liquid in his wake. And because it was bright as hell, we could see every disgusting inch of this place. This was the first of many times I almost flat-out barfed. There was a cat sitting on the elevated stage behind us watching the whole thing go down.
The trash thing happened, not once, but twice more while we were here. Someone sprinkled something similar to sawdust over the mess–like that stuff teachers use to cover up when a kid pukes in the hallway at school.
The Fleahouse
A bartender filled a full-size plastic cup to the rim with red wine. It wasn’t until after we left that we learned La Piojera means The Fleahouse. Y’all, this place has a food menu. They serve beef casserole. If there was any moment the entire day I risked needing to be emergency airlifted, this was it.
After leaving, my friend Valerie read an article on La Piojera, no doubt trying to solve the mystery of WHY. She came across a page that said women should not go to the restroom alone at La Piojera. No explanation.
The Terremoto
Regardless of it all, there was one specific reason we entered the Fleahouse. That was to try the Terremoto–one of Chile’s “signature” drinks and now I know where all the sawdust-covered puke came from.
The drink known as “Terremoto” (Spanish for “earthquake”) is: young white wine called pipeño + pineapple ice cream + fernet + grenadine. What is fernet, you ask? Well, before I tasted the Terremoto it was described to me as “a toothpaste-y liqueur.” That was an accurate description.
The Terremoto traces its roots back to the 1980s when a German visitor referred to it as an earthquake for the stomach. Why, oh why, would someone want to drink this?
Half our group (somehow, regrettably) finished theirs. I took a few sips then spilled mine all over the table. The last person in our group was unfairly allergic to pineapple. Some people have all the luck.
One week in Chile: Day 7
Day Seven would be the last full day of our week in Chile. So what do you think we did? That’s right – more wine tasting! Today, our little group booked spots on the Maipo Valley Little Wine Bus.
We’d already covered the Casablanca wine region, so now we are hitting up the Maipo Valley—famous for Cabernet Sauvignons and other red things.
I go into more detail about this experience in my Chile wine tasting post, but basically the Maipo Valley Little Wine Bus is an all-day small group tour of various wineries in the region. This is combined with some intimate local experiences, all while being shuttled around on a small bus with a never ending supply of wine.
Maipo Valley Little Wine Bus itinerary
Here’s a brief rundown of our day on the Maipo Valley Little Wine Bus:
It was really an awesome day! Read the whole experience in my wine tasting post here and book your spot on the Maipo Valley Little Wine Bus here.
If the wine bus is all booked up, there’s also this similar Maipo Valley wine tasting tour that visits 4 wineries.
One week in Chile: Day 8
Day Eight just so happened to be the saddest day of our entire week in Chile. For it was the last day. A day without penguins or alpacas.
After checking out of our rental, we started the morning with an awkward as hell breakfast and coffee in the Plaza. (Look, just become fluent in Spanish, okay?) We then spent the waning hours of our week in Chile at the Pre-Colombian art museum.
After checking out of our rental, we stashed our luggage at a nearby hostel by using a service called Airkeep. You can also check out Radical Storage too for locations.
Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino
The Museum of Pre-Colombian Art contains pieces spanning 10,000 years of history from Central and South America. It’s located in the center of town, just a couple blocks from both Plaza de Armas and La Moneda. Some of my favorite pieces here include:
The Chemamülles
The Chemamülles are large wooden statues placed on top of tombs in ancient Mapuche ceremonies. They’re meant to reflect the spirit of the deceased and assist them in their journey in the afterlife.
According to the display, “Chiefs and great warriors were sent to the East to roam among the volcanoes. All others went to the West to eat bitter potatoes beyond the sea.” Though I feel like sending them to drink Terremotos would have been a more legit punishment.
The quipu
The Inca used knotted cords called Quipo to keep track of all their data, if you will. The type of knot, position on the string, length of the cord, and many other characteristics all signified different pieces of information.
This particular quipu holds 15,024 pieces of data, believed to be demographic data for Inca subjects but they’re not completely sure. I learn a lot about Inca life and culture while hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, but no one ever told us about Quipus!
The mummies
Did you know mummies in Northern Chile predate those of the Egyptians by more than 2,000 years? True story. They’re the world’s oldest mummies. The more you know.
Rapa Nui Wood Spirits
Very different statues than the ones you’re used to seeing from Easter Island, but the only Easter Island carvings I’ve seen with my own eyes! (Easter Island is a Chilean territory btw.)
After our visit to the museum, it was time to head to the airport. Chile surprised me on so many levels and I highly recommend it as a destination to those looking for a unique and underrated place to visit.
Where to stay in Santiago
While in Santiago, the five of us stayed in two different apartment rentals, properties owned by the same person. These two apartments are no longer available for renting, but you can still find some great Santiago apartments to rent here on VRBO.
If you’re more a fan of hotels (like I usually am), here are some great places to start your hotel search:
Check out all available Santiago hotels here.
Where to stay in Valparaiso
We also stayed as a super eclectic rental home in Valparaiso that unfortunately is no longer listed for rentals. Regardless, there are tons of amazing rental homes in Valparaiso for any number of people. Check out Valparaiso rental homes here on VRBO.
And if you’d prefer a hotel while in Valparaiso, here are some great options:
Check out all available Valparaiso hotel options here.
More info for your Chile trip
Like this post? Have questions about spending a week in Chile? Let me know in the comments below. Have a great trip!
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