Chile

Day 1

Monday, March 08

INTRODUCTION

¡Bienvenidos a Santiago! Framed by the Andes, this sprawling metropolis is home to almost 6 million people. Settle in at our beautiful design boutique hotel in Bellas Artes neighborhood. As the sun sets, we’ll meet in the library for introductions and a pisco sour before heading out to dinner. Our destination tonight is one of the finest restaurants in the city for highlighting the beautiful seafood of the Chilean coast. Here, we’ll enjoy a wine paired seafood feast, including an impressive seafood platter and perhaps some seabass confit in olive oil if available. With our first sips of local wine, we’ll toast to the first of many unforgettable meals together.

Day 2

Tuesday, March 09

DOWNTOWN WALKING

Today we’ll be venturing into the beating heart of the city: its historic downtown. But first, it’s leisurely breakfast at the hotel before meeting our expert guide, a food and wine writer, for a walking tour of Centro Histórico, visiting landmarks like Plaza de Armas, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Pre-Columbian Museum, and La Moneda Palace, Chile’s equivalent to the White House. After all the walking, a well-deserved lunch. Since Chile is a country that loves sandwiches, we’ll visit a longstanding fuente, a type of soda fountain, to try a completo, lomito, or churrasco, to name a few. The afternoon will be yours to rest or explore the city at your own pace. We’ll reconvene this evening for dinner at a casual neighborhood bistrot serving creative takes on Chilean classics.

Day 3

Wednesday, March 10

LA CHASCONA/MARKET

Our day will begin with breakfast at the hotel before we head out to explore La Vega market, getting to know some of the local produce and ingredients, guided by Chef Pilar and our food and wine writer guide. We’ll then make our way to Bellavista neighborhood to visit La Chascona, former home of poet Pablo Neruda, now a museum. Learn about the famed poet and his eccentric home, and afterwards we’ll head to a wine paired lunch to what seems like an unassuming house, but don’t let the casual and homey feel of this restaurant fool you, as the Chef here is serving one of Chile’s most creative and delicious menus, using seasonal ingredients to reimagine traditional Chilean food. As this is usually a long and satisfying affair, the evening is all yours to relax, shop, or explore Santiago’s rich culinary landscape.

Day 4

Thursday, March 11

VALPARAISO

Start your morning with breakfast at the hotel before we take a drive to the Pacific Coast to visit the colorful and bohemian port city of Valparaíso. Here, our local guide will walk us through the hillside streets of Cerro Alegre and Concepción, which are full of panoramic viewpoints, galleries, shops, cafés, and street art. For lunch, located in a residential neighborhood, is a family owned restaurant that’s been serving locals since the 1960s, when the grandmother, who is still around supervising, started running the kitchen. This is Chilean home cooking at its finest, with dishes like carne mechada and a divine manjar, raspberry, and meringue layer cake. Afterwards, we’ll make our way back to Santiago to rest. After a long day, take the rest of the evening to relax and rest.

Day 5

Friday, March 12

MUSEO MEMORIA

Today will start with breakfast at your own pace at the hotel before we visit the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, an architecturally beautiful and deeply sobering space commemorating the victims of the 1973-1990 dictatorship. The scars and divisions that Augusto Pinochet’s 17-year military dictatorship left behind are still palpable today. Since we believe food exists within the cultural and political context of a place, no visit to Chile would be complete without an understanding of this painful part of their history, which affected their cultural and culinary development. Afterwards, we’ll head to lunch at a beautiful private home to enjoy some time with locals for a wine paired meal using seasonal products and ingredients. Our final evening in Santiago will be yours to pack, rest, or enjoy the culinary scene on your own.

Day 6

Saturday, March 13

COLCHAGUA WINE COUNTRY

Sitting on the foothills of the Andes, Colchagua Valley is known for its fertile soil, a terroir that mixes volcanic and clay soils with the breeze and minerality from the nearby Pacific Ocean, making it a perfect spot for growing grapes. Begin your day with one last breakfast at the hotel in Santiago before making our way to the wine country, about a 2-hour ride. We’ll head straight to lunch at the incredible restaurant of an important winery, headed by an acclaimed Argentinian Chef, for open fire dishes like empanadas and cuts of beef paired with some amazing wines. We’ll then check-in at our hotel to enjoy the rest of the afternoon, perhaps relaxing by the pool, before we reconvene in the evening to visit a small and private vineyard for wine and light bites. This will be a wonderful opportunity to visit and learn about smaller wine productions in the area.

Day 7

Sunday, March 14

COOKING CLASS WITH PILAR RODRIGUEZ

One of our trip’s most anticipated days, today will be all about Chilean ingredients, getting to know local produce, herbs, spices and more, and how to work with them in your own kitchen. Our morning will begin with a full breakfast spread just for us in the town of Santa Cruz, which will include an array of local breads, cheeses, organic eggs, and Chilean sweets like alfajores and a milhojas cake. The setting for our cooking session with our celebrated Chef Ambassador of Chile and trip leader, Pilar Rodríguez, is a beautiful vineyard, where we’ll be cooking and eating outdoors. But first, a guided tour of the winery and a wine tasting followed by a visit to the garden to gather some ingredients. Pilar will then guide us through a local salt and olive oil tasting before we put our aprons on to prepare our lunch. We’ll lastly sit outside to enjoy our meal with a selection of wines from the vineyard chosen specifically for our menu. Once back at the hotel, the evening is yours to wander around the vines and gardens, take a dip in the pool, or maybe tour one of the many wineries in the area.

Day 8

Monday, March 15

PICHILEMU

Today, we’ll be taking a drive to another beautiful coastal town, Pichilemu. As we know by now, the extensive Chilean coastline plays a vital role in the country’s cuisine, and the town of Pichilemu isn’t only known for its natural beauty and a surf destination, but it’s also the home of the most important salt mine and seaweed harvesting—a very important tradition. Our schedule for the day will be exploring this stunning town and learning about their coastal culinary traditions, talking to locals, and later enjoying a classic homecooking lunch. After lunch, we’ll return to Colchagua to rest for a couple of hours. As the sun sets, we’ll meet for an intimate final dinner at Chef Pilar’s Food & Wine Studio. We’ll have the beautiful and serene space to ourselves for a private, wine paired tasting menu that Pilar will guide us through as we toast to our wonderful time of exploring Chile, its culinary and wine traditions, and the new friends made along the way.

Day 9

Tuesday, March 16

FAREWELL

After eight days of adventure and eating your way through Chile, it’s time to head back home with some lovely new memories and perhaps a couple of bottles of Chilean wine.

Since flights to the US leave in the evening, the group transfer to the Santiago Airport or Santiago will leave at 3 pm. If you wish to arrange a separate transfer, we can arrange this for you at an extra cost.