A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America
A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - A City with Soul: Getting to Know Santiago
Santiago is the vibrant capital of Chile and the gateway to your South American adventure. As soon as you arrive, you'll be enveloped by the city's infectious energy. Santiago boasts a rich blend of culture, cuisine, art and nightlife. It's an unforgettable mix of old and new.
Wander the historic center and you'll feel transported back in time. The Plaza de Armas is the heart of the city. Grand neoclassical buildings surround the square, including the magnificent Santiago Cathedral. Meander through the adjacent pedestrian streets to discover colorful street art, charming cafes, and historic sites like the Central Market and La Moneda, Chile's presidential palace.
For panoramic views, ride the funicular to the top of Cerro San Cristobal. At the summit, you'll find a 22-meter statue of the Virgin Mary gazing across the sprawling city below. Hiking trails through the park lead to even more lookout points.
Santiago is home to many excellent museums showcasing the nation's rich culture and history. Must-visits include the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, chronicling Chile's painful past under the Pinochet regime, and the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, housing an impressive collection of ancient artifacts.
Of course, no trip to Santiago is complete without exploring the nearby wineries. Just 45 minutes outside the city lie the vineyards of the Maipo and Casablanca Valleys. Here you can tour scenic bodegas, sample full-bodied Carménères and crisp Chardonnays, and gain an appreciation for Chile's burgeoning wine culture. Schedule a day trip or stay overnight at one of the countryside hotels or bed and breakfasts.
When hunger strikes, Santiago serves up tempting tastes from Peru, Argentina, and beyond. Savor empanadas at the bustling La Vega Central market. Feast on hearty Chilean comfort food like pastel de choclo (a meat and corn pie) at classic neighborhood restaurants called fuentes de soda. Or experience the city's booming fine dining scene, including innovative restaurants led by top local chefs.
As the sun goes down, Santiago comes alive. Head out for a pisco sour at one of the hip bars dotting Bellavista neighborhood. Take in live music at venues like La Batuta. Or join locals salsa dancing the night away.
What else is in this post?
- A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - A City with Soul: Getting to Know Santiago
- A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - A Feast for the Senses: Chilean Wine Country
- A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Past Meets Present: History and Scenery in Valparaiso
- A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Nature Untamed: Exploring Torres del Paine National Park
- A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - A Foodie's Delight: Sampling Seafood in Punta Arenas
- A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Endless Horizons: Journeying to Tierra del Fuego
- A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Penguins and Pioneers: visiting Ushuaia and Fin del Mundo
- A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Homeward Bound: Returning with Unforgettable Memories
A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - A Feast for the Senses: Chilean Wine Country
Chile's renowned wine regions offer a feast for the senses. Just a short distance from Santiago, the rolling hills of the Maipo and Casablanca Valleys are dotted with renowned vineyards where the country's iconic red and white varietals are produced. Wines from these regions have taken the global market by storm in recent years, with Carménère especially gaining acclaim as Chile's signature grape.
Visiting the vineyards is one of the highlights of any trip to Chile. Not only does it provide stunning valley views, but tasting rooms offer a glimpse into the soul of Chilean winemaking. Boutique producers welcome guests to sample award-winning Cabernet Sauvignons, powerful Syrahs, and crisp Chardonnays straight from the source. The contrasts between new and old world winemaking techniques became evident at each stop.
At Morandé, tastings were led by the son of the founder, who walked visitors through their 150-year history cultivating Carménère. Along the way, he shed light on the varietal's near-extinction in its French homeland of Bordeaux. Their single-vineyard wines showed nuanced expressions of terroir across different soil types within the property.
In the Casablanca Valley, visitors were struck by the cooler coastal climate perfectly suited for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. At Caliterra, the young winemaker's passion was evident as he discussed experiments with wild ferments and aging programs. Perched on a hilltop, the stone tasting house itself seemed a work of art – the ideal backdrop for savoring their restrained yet complex bottlings.
Other producers arranged pairings with local cheeses and charcuterie, transporting tasters straight to the French countryside in their minds. Lunches on vineyard terraces became memorable multi-course meals with wine-friendly dishes. Throughout each visit, it was evident the land and people were intrinsically tied to the wines – every sip told a story of Chile.
A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Past Meets Present: History and Scenery in Valparaiso
Nestled along Chile's central coast, the colorful port city of Valparaiso is a bastion of history gazing proudly out over the Pacific. Evoking the atmosphere of bygone days, travelers find themselves transported through its winding cobbled streets and up impossibly steep funiculars known locally as ascensores. During the golden age of sail, "Valpo" boomed as an important stopover for ships plying the trade routes between Europe, North America and Asia. Grand architecture from that era remains indelays disrepair, like fading reminders of the past.
Look closely however, and one discovers that history is no museum piece here - it lives and breathes within the city's art, culture and people. In cafes and workshops, creativity thrives as residents breath new life into renovated mansions and warehouses. Murals and street art cascade across buildings like colorful rivers, depicting social and political narratives intertwined with the port's proud heritage. On sunny weekends, locals descend from the hillside neighborhoods to stroll theboardwalk at Cerro Alegre. Laughter and song drift across the shore, as couples young and old pause to admire the scenic panorama ofshipping lanes crisscrossing towards the distant Andes mountains.
A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Nature Untamed: Exploring Torres del Paine National Park
Towering blue-hued peaks thrust skyward, their granite summits punctuated by ethereal forms sculpted by the unrelenting forces of ice and wind. Massive glacial valleys radiate outward like frozen rivers of crystalline ice, their surfaces striating with seasonal cracks and fissures. Vast open steppes stretch across the Patagonian plateau, an austere beauty emerging from their tussock grass and hardy native flora. This is Torres del Paine National Park, a landscape seemingly emerging from another era that inspires equal parts awe and reverence in all those fortunate enough to experience its untamed splendor in person.
As the most popular destination within Chilean Patagonia, Torres del Paine challenges visitors with its immense scale and remoteness. However, it is these very qualities that allow one to truly unplug from the outside world and delve deep into communion with primal nature. Multiple circuits crisscross the park, from the classic “W” route traversing iconic sights like the Towers themselves and the turquoise waters of Lago Nordenskjöld, to longer traverses linking the region’s signature glacial valleys and mountains. Trekking between campgrounds and refugios alongside rivers like the serpentine Río Serrano unveils new sights around every corner, from condors wheeling on thermal winds to guanacos and rheas inhabiting the plains.
A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - A Foodie's Delight: Sampling Seafood in Punta Arenas
At the southern tip of Chile, Punta Arenas is the gateway to Patagonia's icy wilderness. But before embarking on adventurous excursions, don't miss out on sampling the incredible seafood this historic port city is known for. Located on the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas' access to the bounty of both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans has made it a haven for fresh seafood since its founding over 150 years ago.
A visit to the city's fish market provides a snapshot of the day's catch - piles of mussels, scallops and oysters shucked before your eyes. Locals recommend the centolla, a type of king crab only found in the chilly southern waters. Served simply steamed and dipped in melted butter, the sweet tender meat of the centolla leg is sublime. Sea bass, salmon and trout also star in dishes across town, grilled to perfection or transformed into ceviches that sing with bright citrus flavors.
No foodie should leave without trying the parrillada de mariscos, a hearty mixed grill platter heaped with an array of shellfish and whitefish. Sizzling plates arrive at the table still dripping with garlicky butter as aromatic smoke perfumes the air. It's a communal dining experience best shared family-style. Just be sure to leave room for dessert - crème brûlée made with Chile's famous dulce de leche caramel is a delightful ending.
Sampling regional vintages like Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère perfectly complements Punta Arenas' fresh seafood. Many restaurants boast views of the Magellan Strait, making for memorable meals against the backdrop of penguins and cormorants returning home with the evening tide. Excursions to nearby islands and Patagonian estancias offer even more opportunities to indulge in local specialties.
A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Endless Horizons: Journeying to Tierra del Fuego
At the southern reaches of the South American continent lies Tierra del Fuego, the "Land of Fire" that ignites the imagination with its raw natural beauty and pioneering legacy. Here the untouched forces of nature conspire to sculpt a landscape seemingly at the ends of the earth. Towering russet cliffs plummet towards crashing azure surf, as coastal heaths give way to dense fjordal rainforests thriving in the shelter of mountainsides. Further inland, endless plains stretch towards the horizons - verdant tundra speckled with hardy flowering plants and shrubs that cling to these exposed southern soils.
It is amidst such stark yet soul-stirring scenery that one truly gains perspective on our tiny place within this vast globe. Trekking along empty trails traversing valleys and islets, the only sounds are that of wind sighing through carrate bushes while Andean condors wheel expansively above. An ever-present cacophony of cormorants, seagulls and shags mingles with the crash of waves - nature's orchestral melody playing solely for its Audience of Light. In such moments of sublime isolation, a profound stillness washes over one's spirit.
A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Penguins and Pioneers: visiting Ushuaia and Fin del Mundo
The bustling port of Ushuaia resides truly at journey's end, the fabled 'fin del mundo' where the Andes finally kiss the sea. Yet even in this 'world's southernmost city', nature saves her most enchanting gifts just offshore. Short launches whisk visitors through skies abruptly awash with cavorting cormorants and swift terns, delivering them to the surreal landscapes of Isla de los Lobos and Martillo Island—home to legions of delightful Magellanic penguins.
As the boats pull ashore, inquisitive penguin sentinels waddle down to meet new beachcomers. Children and adults alike gasp in delight upon encountering the endearing tuxedo-clad coins for the first time in the flesh. Measuring less than a foot in stature yet radiating an intrepid spirit that brought them here, the penguins seem every bit the sailors who share these islands. Some preen leur jet-black and white feathers while others play, chase, or tend to adorable fluffy gray chicks along the coast. Their comic waddles and curiosity make human onlookers all but forgotten.
After simply soaking in the surreal scene, intrepid visitors forge inland on dirt paths between dens where tens of thousands of penguins nest during summer. Their high-pitched echoes ring across the coastline, an inimitable soundtracking to Patagonia's finest theater of nature. Island circuits showcase more than just the penguin colonies—gentoo and southern rockhopper penguins may also be spotted, alongside cormorants drying their wings upon volcanic rocks. Seals lounging upon the shore complete the zoological menagerie. As the late afternoon sun illuminates the rugged silhouettes of mythical Martillo and neighboring islets, all are reluctant to depart this magical avian realm.
A 36-Hour Adventure in the Heart of South America - Homeward Bound: Returning with Unforgettable Memories
While any trip inevitably comes full circle, venturing into Patagonia ensures one's return home feels like the true completion of a journey for the ages. Surrendering to the wild expanses of Lake District mountains, glacial valleys and ethereal channel islands imbues a rare clarity of spirit that lingers long after leaving. The quiet stillness within nature's most sacred cathedrals seem stitched upon the soul, their hymns of swelling rivers, cascading waterfalls and seabird colonies tuning one's mind to their melodies wherever future paths may roam.
Though maps delineate an array of circuits and itineraries throughout Patagonia, its gifts transcend any predefined route or schedule. True exploration happens when surrendering to serendipity - staying an extra day amid birds on a far-flung island, trekking an unseen valley on a whim, following curious livestock dogs to witness ephemeral wildflower blooms across the plains. These intangible moments that defy planning offer glimpses into the land seldom seen by outsiders and never forgotten by those with eyes to see beyond surface beauty. Journeying through Patagonia bolsters appreciation for the fleeting present within nature's impermanence, guiding outward focus from life's everyday noisy static towards its subtle core rhythms.