We had booked a tour with Ruta Valparaiso. We waited at the for two hours and they did not show up or call us. We took a tour with someone we found at the port. Were only able to see Santiago - Took the funicular and saw the city, had lunch, went to el Palacio de la Moneda. Then they took us to the Airport.
We were not able to book a tour through Princess because our flight left at 8:45 pm . ...
Took a local bus to Santiago ($6 each way) and joined a Free Walking Tour of the downtown area. Very good tour. Good subways and bus transportation throughout city. ...
Valparaiso has an interesting history and many grand buildings dating from when it was the first port of call for ships after rounding Cape Horn. However it fell on bad times after the opening of the Panama Canal. Cerro Concepcion with its street art and good restaurants is worth a visit - take the quaint funicular railways. ...
Santiago is absolutely fantastic. Very contemporary arts scene and historic center of Chile. Great wines to sample and enjoy day trips out to the vineyards.
However, Santiago was not really a port on the cruise. Our cruise was rerouted from Vaparaiso to the port of San Antonio. ...
We booked a private tour for four of us in Valparaiso before embarkation and had a great time. The company was Michael, The German Pirate and he sent us Boris who was delightful. Went all over Valpo,to a fab place called Ocean Pacific for lunch, and the fish market and then took Boris' cooking class - he is also a chef- and made great Pisco Sours, Ceviche, and a Chilean version of tamale pie ...