Having recently returned from a sojourn to the remote reaches of Chile, our Senior Latin America Travel Designer, Evie, regales the best and the brightest the country has to offer. From hikes along the banks of glacial lakes, to mountain biking to the open mouth of an active volcano – the country is vast and largely untouched. This is your black-book to opening its door.
If you’re staying at Hotel Magnolia, Cerro Santa Lucía or ‘Santa Lucía Hill’ is a beautiful park located on a hill overlooking the city, just a 5 minute walk from the hotel. If you have an afternoon at leisure in Santiago, I’d highly recommend visiting the park, exploring the paths, lush greenery and monuments or taking a seat on the benches dotted around for you to just relax and admire the views.
Take a leisurely stroll up to the highest point to admire the 360 degree view of the city. Once you’ve worked up an appetite, you can walk about 10 minutes into the neighbourhood of Lastarria where you’ll find the renowned restaurant and wine bar, Boca Naríz. Here you’ll be able to try some delicious Chilean dishes while enjoying some of Chile’s best wines with their expert sommeliers.
This half-day excursion takes you to a beautiful glacial lake, just a short drive from Tierra Patagonia hotel. You’ll walk alongside the lakeshore for about 30 minutes, and then hike up through the grasslands with the granite towers in the distance.
On a sunny day, the view is unbeatable! As you stroll, you’ll be accompanied by vicuñas (an animal native to the area similar to a llama) and if you’re lucky, you may even spot rhea (a type of ostrich) or a puma! After about an hour and a half of walking, you’ll reach a spot where you’ll have a mini picnic with some local cheese, fruit, tea and coffee while you admire the views and the sheer remoteness of the area.
What I love most about this experience is how few people there are about. In some parts of Torres del Paine national park and at certain times of the year, you can come across a lot of hikers but in this area there was virtually no-one, which makes the whole experience just that bit more exclusive and special.
This excursion will have you waking up at dawn, but you’ll know it’s worth it when you’re watching the sunrise across the mountains on your way to Hotel Lago Grey, which is where the boat departs from. After a 30 minute walk through a forest and then along the lakeshore’s beach, you will arrive at the boat. It then takes about an hour crossing Lago Grey before you’re allowed out onto the top decks but there is commentary in English and Spanish along the way explaining what you’re seeing, the geological formations and the history of the land.
Once you’re able to go onto the top deck, the views are extremely impressive, passing by icebergs as you approach the first face of the glacier. You will then continue to visit two other faces of the glacier, getting closer and closer to this magnificent piece of natural art. The boat then returns to the hotel where you’ll have a delicious three course lunch waiting for you. On your way back to your hotel, you’ll stop at a number of famous viewpoints in the park, visiting some of the most picturesque spots with the glacial lakes, granite peaks and thundering waterfalls. The scenery is truly spectacular!
This is a really fun and relaxing half day excursion that you can do from Hotel AWA, just outside Puerto Varas in the Chilean Lake District. It’s organised by a Canadian lady who has lived in Chile for 20 years and is an expert kayaker. Once again, what is most special about this excursion is the lack of tourists – the tranquillity is almost unreal. You can expect to see different types of birds such as herons and kingfishers, and fishermen on the lakes with their families. You’ll kayak up the lagoon, passing through some particularly narrow sections that are covered in vegetation, dotted with simple family homes along the way. You’ll then return back to where you came from and end the excursion with a last section leading you out into the open Lake Llanquihue, which feels enormous, and boasts the fantastic view of the Osorno volcano.
Chaxa Lagoon is located in the Atacama Salt Flat. Due to the phytoplankton-rich waters, it provides a perfect space for flamingos to spend the day. You’ll do a short walk around the lagoon and have plenty of time to admire these pretty pink birds, sometimes from afar and sometimes from a much closer perspective. Watching them taking off and landing in the lagoon is a special sight!
This day out consists of a 1.5 hour hike at around 3000m altitude, for which you’re rewarded by a dip in the beautiful Puritama Hot Springs. You start by driving around 30 minutes from the hotel to the start of the hike, which is a type of small canyon with small streams and waterfalls dotted along the way, and extremely long feather-like grass known as ‘pampas’.
The hike is fabulous, but does take a little pushing your way through the pampas and scrambling across the rocks and through the canyon. You’re in the shade most of the time but on a sunny day (which most days are in the Atacama) the light hitting the rocks, giant cacti and streams are beautiful to see. The hot springs are a welcome sight after the hike, and you’ll find well equipped bathrooms and changing rooms, not to mention the towels and robes that Awasi will ensure you have. You’ll be able to spend an hour dipping in and out of the different volcanic-heated natural springs of varying temperatures, before heading back to the hotel for lunch.
Viña Vik has a fantastic concept at their 2nd restaurant called ‘Vik Zero’, which stems from their 100% organic vegetable garden and orchid, providing meals that come from ‘zero kilometres’ away. The restaurant is semi-al fresco, right in the middle of their vegetable garden and by the kitchen and clay oven, so you can really see where everything is prepared.
They offer excellent cooking classes, led by their chef, Camilo, which start off with a tour of the garden and then you can choose ingredients and herbs for your meal. Not only will you have a fun experience cooking in this beautiful setting, but you’re likely to also learn a lot about the ingredients and organic farming methods. Then, sit back and enjoy your meal with a delicious glass of Chilean wine under the pergola with views across the gardens and vineyards!
Viña Vik offers a fantastic yoga spot – right by the infinity pool overlooking the vineyards, surrounding hills and beautiful lake. It couldn’t be a more serene spot for some early morning stretching and meditation with a coffee from the restaurant and a blanket for your savasana.
The yoga instructor is a lovely Chilean lady who is great at creating that ‘zen’ moment, leading a friendly flow and correcting your positions for you to make the most of your class. You’ll finish the class feeling relaxed and rejuvenated, ready for a delicious breakfast with everything you can imagine, just steps away from your yoga mat.
The wine at Vik has won many awards and will probably be some of the best you’ll taste on your trip. Where better to try this wine than at the vineyard itself, where the winemakers themselves will tell you all about how it is produced and why theirs is so special. Of course, a wine tour is never complete without a good round of tasting, and there’s nowhere better to do this than their impressive wine cellar. You’ll get to savour some of their best wines while being whisked away by the stories and detail of the winemakers and guides.
We recommend organising the tour for the afternoon, so that when you finish you can admire the sunset across the vines and the architectural wonders of the Vik hotel, with a glass of wine in hand, of course!
The Iguazu Falls are one of Latin America’s major wonders and there’s a good reason why. Officially the biggest waterfalls in the world, they are truly spectacular to see. You can get extremely close to the thundering of the water and cliff edges and sometimes it’s nice to just stand there for a while and appreciate the power of nature. A visit to the Argentine side typically takes longer as there are more trails to follow to see the upper and lower circuits, all of which are worth seeing.
However, the Brazilian side has its own charm. Sunset here is something you won’t forget! As long as you don’t mind putting on a waterproof (that Awasi hotel will provide for you) we’d highly recommend going down to the walkways on the Brazilian side that allow you to get extremely close (hence the wetness!) to the falls themselves and at sunset this is even more mesmerising!
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