The variety offered in this region makes it a destination for all tastes and an invitation to participate in exciting adventures: climbing some of the highest mountains in the world, kayaking or rafting in mountain rivers, horse riding, mountain biking, camping, plus hundreds of walks and excursions in a region that has a pleasant climate for most of the year. In broad terms, the central area can be divided into coast, valley and mountain range, each one with its own charms.

THE COAST

From La Serena to the south, a string of attractive beach resorts invite you to take a sun bathe and enjoy a gastronomy centered on seafood. There are long beaches with white sand and calm seas where you can scuba dive and enjoy the attractions of the many marinas, tennis courts, hotels and restaurants. There are confortable campsites as well, with good facilities for those looking to get closer to nature and the star-filled skies of the region. Fray Jorge National Park with its out of place landscape is a unique spot on the coastline of this region. It is a lush forest of cinnamon trees, mock privets and ferns growing at the top of a hill thanks to the microclimate caused by the condensation of coastal mist.

In the 130 kilometers of central coastline there are over 20 traditional beach resorts such as Papudo, Zapallar and Cachagua. Water sports can be practised in all of them. Its closeness to Santiago –a 90 minute drive- has turned Viña del Mar, ‘the Garden City’, into an ideal destination for the weekends, the Chilean government even has an official resting place for presidents in Cerro Castillo. Its excellent hotels, good shops, well cared for gardens and parks, beaches, charming rides in horse-drawn carriages and dinners by the sea, coupled with its antique houses and modern buildings set in a refined and cultured atmosphere, make Viña del Mar one of the most popular tourist centers of the South Pacific coast and a must see in any trip to Chile.

Valparaíso to sailors one of the world’s most famous ports, it is a unique and charming place which many a visitor has fallen in love with at first sight. So much so that UNESCO is studying the possibility of declaring it a Cultural Patrimony of Mankind, the same status granted to Cuzco, Cartagena de Indias and Salvador de Bahía. With its back to the hills and eyes on the sea, Chile’s main port demands a visit. The port’s streets wind and wend their way over the surrounding hills and clothe them in a maze of alleys and stairs, lanes and terraces. Its colourful clapboard houses, which seem plastered to the hills, are reached by the funicular railways which have for over a century carried people up and down the port’s steep slopes enjoying as the go panoramic views of the bay. A visitor downtown will see, in the style of the buildings, the legacy of the English immigrants of the early 19th century and will be rewarded with a glimpse of the present day working port if they stroll along the Prat Pier. Those wanting to get even closer to the sea may wish to take a boat ride whilst for others eating in one of the harbour's restaurants, next to sailors from all four corners of the world, may be enough. A visitor should not leave Valparaíso without visiting the “Sebastiana”, one of the three houses owned by Nobel laureate poet Pablo Neruda,
which has been turned into a museum. Going south from Valparaíso there are several beach resorts, among them Isla Negra, where you can visit Pablo Neruda’s most famous house with its collection of ship’s figureheads and thousands of curios. This coastal trip ends in Concepción, in the mouth of the Bío Bío river, one of the most important in Chile. This vibrant modern city has recently experienced economic and demographic growth and it is the country’s second most populated city. With all the features of a city Concepción is complemented by its surrounding lakes, forests and beaches.

THE CENTRAL VALLEY

From the central valley come many of the things that for visitors most typify Chile, the folklore, the gastronomy and the countryside shaded by the fig trees, willows and huisaches which line its roads. From this area come grapevines and rows of poplars separating colt pastures, as well as “huasos” (cowboys) and rodeos. Chile’s traditional country music the “cueca” and the “tonada” are played here in houses with tiled roofs and open corridors adorned with jasmines, camelias and “flor de la pluma”. This land gives up wines and fruits, the fragrance of basil and coriander, kneaded bread, “empanadas” in mud ovens, corn cake and “humitas”.

In contrast to this quiet landscape is Santiago, the capital, with the rumble of its 5 million people and the bustle of a dynamic and modern city that nevertheless retains its Latin American identity. Located at the foot of the Andes and at the center of the country, Santiago is the entry gate for most international flights and the starting point of many adventures that lay “just around the corner.” In winter the snowy peaks of the Andes, which can be seen from Santiago, can be reached in less than an hour and you can enjoy the slopes of one of South America’s main ski centers. In contrast only a little more than 100 kilometers separate Santiago from the beaches of the Pacific Ocean. Numerous vineyards border the city and colonial style haciendas, picturesque rural towns, hot baths and National Park all within striking distance. For those looking for adventure there are horse rides in the mountains, picnics at the Santuario de la Naturaleza (Nature’s Sanctuary), trekking, rafting on the River Maipo, bunjee jumping and panoramic flights in gliders all to be had within easy reach of the city.

With its the trappings of the 21st century, there’s little left of Santiago del Nuevo Extremo, the city founded by Pedro de Valdivia in 1541 at the foot of Cerro Huelén (nowadays Santa Lucía) and on the banks of the Mapocho river. Cleaner and safer than other Latin American cities, Santiago has top-level hotels, shopping malls and huge supermarkets; restaurants specialised in all kinds of cuisine and the attractions you would expect to find in a metropolis. Santiago is also a city of contrasts, for in spite of progress it refuses to let go of its traditions. So next to metal and glass buildings, laptop carrying executives and a modern underground subway, continue the urban folklore of street musicians and vendors, bus singers, hand organ players and the street photographers with their classic wooden horses.

To get to know Santiago, nothing beats strolling around its neighborhoods. Downtown are the oldest and most solemn buildings, the seats of the main institutions, the museums and outstanding monuments. It is worthwhile to take a walk around the Plaza de Armas, surrounded by the 18th century cathedral and colonial buildings, to walk by La Moneda (the seat of government), to visit the Pre-Columbian Museum, one of the best in the Americas, and to go to the church and convent of Saint Francis (16th century), the country’s oldest architectural ensemble, whose cloister which hosts the Museum of Colonial Art is a really peaceful haven in the midst of the downtown rumble. The Mapocho river, with the beautiful and romantic Forest Park on one bank, divides the city in two, leaving on the northern bank the mount of San Cristóbal which is crowned with the statue of the Virgin Mary looking over the city. The mount of San Cristóbal, now the Metropolitan Park, has an old picturesque funicular railway, a zoo, a cable car ride, public swimming pools and picnic spots. At the foot of San Cristóbal lies the Bellavista neighbourhood, Santiago’s bohemian sector, with numerous restaurants, cafés and artists’ workshops where craftsmen work and sell lapislazuli, Chile’s famous blue stone. Closer to the foot of the Andes are the modern neighbourhoods of Providencia and Las Condes where you can find the artisans’ village of “Los Graneros del Alba” (literally the Granaries of Dawn). The village stands next to the colonial church of Los Domínicos and its layout mimics a rural village with unpaved streets, mud ovens and dozens of workshops and shops that sell crafted goods from all over Chile.


Travelling with the Andes behind you and heading south, the countryside gradually becomes greener and these fertile lands –the first to be claimed by the Spanish conquerors- begin to display their abundance. That fruit is one of the country’s main exports is shown in the number of modern cold-storage warehouses and the passing trucks loaded with boxes of apples and grapes. Chile’s other great export wine is produced on the plains of the River Maipo, in the Colchagua valley and on the outskirts of cities like San Fernando, Talca and Chillán. This is also the land of the old “haciendas” with their beautiful houses (displaying the typical outside corridors and tiles) and their great parks designed by European landscape artists. Some of these haciendas are still owned by the original families, whereas others have been turned into museums, important vineyard offices or exclusive hotels that still preserve the charm and atmosphere of yesterday.

THE MOUNTAIN RANGE

The Andes Mountains accompany the traveller throughout his journey in Chile, and they are an unforgettable sight when capped in snow during the winter. Wonderful landscapes are hidden in these mountains: rock-sculpted canyons, glaciers, lagoons and wild rivers. Dirt trails go deep inside the mountains promising many adventures and leading to Natural Reserves and National Parks that seek to preserve the ecological diversity for the visitor’s enjoyment. However, it is perhaps the abundance of snow what has made this stretch of the Andes one of the most valued destinations in Chilean tourism.

Farellones and Colorado, two traditional and much visited ski centers only one hour from Santiago by car, offer modern facilities that include cannons to make artificial snow. With several shelters and a youthful atmosphere, their ski slopes have varying degrees of difficulty, a skiing school for children and adults, ski lifts, hotels, cafés and restaurants. A little higher, but in the same area, La Parva also offers several slopes with different degrees of difficulty and lengths, with excellent services and facilities in a cozy family atmosphere, complemented by the beautiful mountain architecture of its shelters and condos.

Here, you can also practice heliskiing and snowboard, and rent apartments or cabins. A little further -only 14 kilometers from Farellones- is the country’s biggest and most modern ski center: Valle Nevado. Its southward looking hillsides ensure snow during the whole season. And its splendid facilities offer everything for the extreme sports fan: heliski, helisurfing, snowbikes, snowboard and the new Snowpark. Valle Nevado, together with La Parva and Colorado, make up the Southern Hemisphere’s largest interconnected ski surface.

A little less than 150 kilometers from Santiago and with 50 years reputation, Portillo is the dean of Chilean winter centers and one of the best known internationally. It has a magnificent hotel on the shores of the spectacular Laguna del Inca, and it is worth mentioning that the world speed record in the 1 kilometer downhill has been broken four times in its slopes. It was also the host of the 1966 world skiing championships. More to the south, 480 kilometers from Santiago, the Termas de Chillán winter center is one of the most beautiful skiing spots in Latin America being located in a forest of one thousand year old trees. Its first-rate services allow the visitor to combine skiing with hot baths, gym, sauna, discotheque, bar, restaurant and the training of specialised ski instructors for children and adults. At the same time it is an active and restful place. It has two hotels, one of them 5 star, and six apartment buildings.