We have a rental for three days in mid Feb. Day 4 we plan to spend in Valparaiso, then make our way to Santiago for 2days prior to flying out.
No plans really. We like driving. Want to go south to the wine areas, then perhaps back up to Cachagua and back via Vina del Mar.
Any suggestions for route or stopovers.
thanks very much
You are going to hit the highest part of high season, so you need to book everything.
If you are starting out from Santiago, then drive south on Ruta 5 to San Fernando and turn off onto i-50 for Santa Cruz. This road euns from San Fernando to Pichilemu on the coast. Santa Cruz is the heart of the Colchagua wine valley. Book your lodging and ask them to book tastings atone or two vineyards. You can take a taxi to/from these as taxis are not expensive and the drink driving laws in Chile are very strict.
Spend a night or two in the area. You have a car so are not limited to hotels in the town. There are good restaurants in Santa Cruz. Plenty of small villages to explore between San Fernando and Rancagua to the west of Ruta 5. Peruse a map.
From Sta Cruz I would take the road to Pichilemu on the coast, perhaps for lunch on the way back or even a night's stay. It is a big surfing town. From there you can head back the way you came or continue on to the road toward Melipilla, a nice gently rolling road, where you pick up Ruta 78 back to Santiago.
Roads will be crowded mid February, especially around the first and fifteenth of the month as people start/finish a fortnight's holiday. Tolls on the highways. Any COPEC petrol/gas station will have maps, food, toilets etc.
We will be picking up the car in Valparaiso. We arrive by ship in the AM. We plan to return the car to Valparaiso on the morning of Day 3.
My original thought was to spend the first day/evening in the wine area. Perhaps near Santa Cruz or should we go down the Maule? Next day in the wine areas heading back up north past Valparaiso to Cachagua. Spend the night there then spend the day going south through Vina del Mar and overnighting in Valparaiso. Then return the car in the AM. Is this realsitic?
So you would dock and then head straight south? Then back to Valparaiso? Santa Cruz is a good 3 hours south of Santiago and you really don't want to take any roads through beach communities going south (El Quisco, El Tabo, etc). You crawl through them at 10kmh through a wall of pedestrians. If you went to San Antonio you could pick up the road to Melipilla and turn off for Pichilemu then Sta Cruz but it would take hours. I would avoid the coast, take the top road to bypass El Quisco etc, in at San Antonio to pick up 66. Then cut down to 90 after the dam at Rapel and head for either Pichilemu or Sta Cruz first. Downloadable maps here, though not 100% up to date.
http://www.mapas.mop.cl
The thing is that it is not the easiest to go south from Valparaiso without going through the small beach towns, chaos in summer, or back toward Santiago on 68. There are many small roads which cut through but difficult to describe to you. If you want to just go for it you will probably take 4.5-5 hours to Sta Cruz. But I would almost recommend doing Valparaiso without the car first (or getting it there to drive to Santiago), getting the car in Santiago and heading south from there. A day before and after in Santiago. No returning to Valparaiso. Valparaiso is a walking city, difficult to park and lots of steep one way streets. Santiago has an excellent metro and plenty of taxis and you don't really need a car. The car for going south is a very good idea and offers more scope for exploring.
Do decide and book all accommodation asap.
Thank You! This is exactly the local info that we needed. Here is what we are no thinking. Spent the nights of the 15 and 16 in Valparaiso. This gives us a full two days there. Possible side trip to Vina Del Mar by public transport on the 16. Take bus Santiago on 17. Pick up car on morning of 18 and head towards wine country. One night/two days. Return to Santiago on the night of 19th. Spend night of 19, and all day 20 in Santiago. Depart on the 21st.
Sound better? We had previously reserved two nights in Valparaiso at Costa Azul but we will cancel. Too far from town. Any recommendations for areas etc given that we are arriving by cruise, departing by bus, with a possible day trip to Vina del Mar.
Many thanks for you help/comments
Thank You! This is exactly the local info that we needed. Here is what we are no thinking. Spent the nights of the 15 and 16 in Valparaiso. This gives us a full two days there. Possible side trip to Vina Del Mar by public transport on the 16. Take bus Santiago on 17. Pick up car on morning of 18 and head towards wine country. One night/two days. Return to Santiago on the night of 19th. Spend night of 19, and all day 20 in Santiago. Depart on the 21st.
Sound better? We had previously reserved two nights in Valparaiso at Costa Azul but we will cancel. Too far from town. Any recommendations for areas etc given that we are arriving by cruise, departing by bus, with a possible day trip to Vina del Mar.
Many thanks for you help/comments
Areas to stay in Valparaiso? Try for something on Cerro Alegre or Cerro Concepcion where all the fun restaurants are. There is a good walking tour of Valparaiso, a.m. or p.m., tours4tips.
I booked the Ibis in order to ensure that we had something and will follow up in the areas that you suggested.
I also booked a night in Santa Cruz to ensure that we had reservation . Is this a good base to stay from Santiago. We could check in and doing some touring. Again, more touring the next day. Where do suggest for the second day that would get us back to Santiago in the evening. thanks
Ibis is perfectly fine but the areas on the hills Alegre and Concepcion will have more places to eat etc. The Ibis is great for getting on/off a cruise ship but not much happening.
If not returning via Pichilemu, explore the small roads between San Fernando and Rancagua and towns like San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Coinco, Doñihue. You can get back onto Ruta 5 at Rancagua.
The whole area is nice to explore.
Another question. We are travelling on Canadian passports. We want to avoid the VAT on hotels.
In order to do so will we have to pay in cash, USD, OR can we simply have our credit card charged in USD?
We will be travelling with some USD but will need to get more if USD cash is required to avoid this tax.
Also...does this exemption apply to car rentals?
thanks very much.