Santiago, Chile: places, sites, guides to recommend?

Hi, I'm sending my active, 60ish parents to Santiago for 10 days in December and would like to give them some guidance on day trips they should take. Does anyone have any recommendations for the wine country there or the Atacama desert? Any specific guides I should put them in touch with? Thank you for your advice!

Parent Replies

New responses are no longer being accepted.

Santiago is a lovely city; reminds me a lot of San Francisco in many ways, only with more smog and bigger mountains. There are some good wineries right on the city's outskirts (Vina Aquitania is one that comes to mind). The Atacama Desert is amazing, but you should know that it is not at all a day trip; it's several hundred miles away so they would probably have to fly there if they only have 10 days in the country. If they are active, though, they would probably love it. There is some great hiking and biking in the area, among other things. As an alternative, there's also Patagonia, of course - Torres del Paine National Park is incredible. Finally, while I haven't been myself, I've heard Valparaiso is a nice day trip from Santiago.