12 days Colchagua & Tierra Del Fuego

Colchagua Valley Tour

Meet your private wine guide this morning and set out together for a day in the vineyards.

You will be welcomed at a very special property, Neyen Winery or similar, for a tour and vertical tasting. Neyen was founded on the site of one of the region’s oldest wineries, with original Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon vines dating back to 1890, in the Apalta valley. In 1936, when Carmenere vines took root, the spirit grew stronger to produce a classic blend that reflects the unique soils of Apalta. A new world wine with an old world essence.

Lunch will be served with a tasting at Viu Manent, named the 2017 winery of the Year by Wines of Chile. Viu Manent is a Chilean winery owned by the Viu family. It was founded in 1935 when the Catalonian immigrant Miguel Viu-García and his two sons Agustín and Miguel Viu-Manent founded Bodegas Viu in Santiago de Chile. They bottled and sold wine on the local market under the “Vinos Viu” brand. Situated in the southernmost portion of the Rapel Valley, one of Chile’s best-known wine regions, Viu Manent has earned much applause for its full-bodied Cabernet, Carménère, Syrah, and Malbec, and its wines regularly appear high on the world’s lists of leading wines.

Continue this afternoon with a visit and tasting at another estate such as Casa Lapostolle. The Apalta vineyard is 100% under Organic and Biodynamic management. Casa Lapostolle was founded in 1994, by Alexandra Marnier-Lapostolle (of the Grand Marnier family) and is considered one of the architectural greats of Chilean wineries.

Your guide will return you to your accommodation at the end of the afternoon.

Day at Leisure

Enjoy a day at leisure to explore at your own pace or simply relax and make use of the facilities at your accommodation.

Further Colchagua Exploration

Today, set out with your private guide again to discover the wines in the surrounding valley.

This morning, you will be welcomed to an icon of Colcahagua, Vina Montes, for your first tasting. Viña Montes is the shared vision of four friends, first dreamed up in the late 1980s, of making Chilean wines to a higher level than the world had ever seen. The modern winery, which opened in 2004, the winery features gravitational technology, a sustainable ethos and a feng shui design supervised by expert Sylvia Galleguillos. A feature of the winery is the impressive, semi-circular underground cellar that lies at the heart of the building. Its flagship cuvées include the ‘Alpha M,’ an intense red blend only made in prime vintages and aged for 18 months in new French oak, and the Montes ‘Folly,’ one of Chile’s first ultra-premium Syrahs made from the Apalta vineyards’ steepest and highest slopes.

Following our visit, we make our way to Fuegos de Apalta for lunch. Afterwards, Ventisquero Wine Estates will welcome you for a tasting. Producing high-quality, avant-garde, modern wines with grapes from their own vineyards in Chile's most important wine-producing regions. They have vineyards in the Maipo Costa, Casablanca, Colchagua, Leyda and Huasco valleys. Working the land with precise, state-of-the-art technology, while always respecting the environment.

The last stop of the day will be at Koyle Vineyards for a visit and tasting. The winery emerged in 2006 when Alfonso Undurraga Mackenna, started the search for the ideal terroir to make red wines of the highest standard. They studiously observed and analysed every inch of the land, prioritising the quality and expression of the grapes to achieve unique wines. Because of this, and working with 13 different grape varieties, they have achieved an authentic result in their wines.

Time permitting, end the afternoon in the town of Santa Cruz where you can enjoy some time perusing one of the most exhaustive and storied private collections of pre-Columbian art and artifacts in all of South America at the Museo de Colchagua.

Santa Rita Experience

This morning, meet your guide at the hotel and set towards the historic Santa Rita Vineyards.

Santa Rita is a fascinating trip around the cultural heritage of Chile and its wine tradition, Winemakers insisted that no other place in Chile has the quality of terroir of Maipo Alto. They were keen to note that the upper Maipo offers hillsides with multiple exposures to the sun, warm days and cool nights, little to no rainfall during the late portion of the growing season, and most important of all, alluvial soils that allow for proper drainage and impart minerality into the grapes, and thereunto the wines. In the 1850s the Maipo Valley is where Chile’s wine industry began; today the region and its Cabernet Sauvignons still largely define some of the finest Chilean wine. Santa Rita has been central to this history.

Enjoy a guided visit of the century-old park, Roman baths, neo-gothic chapel, and century-old wine cellars. Your morning tour will conclude with a tasting of the winery’s finest wines served with food.

Lunch will be served at the historic Doña Paula Restaurant, a national monument.

Afterwards, explore the Andean Museum, an ethnographic collection with more than 3000 items from the Claro Vial Foundation or take one of the estates bikes and enjoy a leisurely cycle across the vineyards. The property has expansive botanical gardens to explore and poolside is always an option.

Your guide will take you back to your hotel after the visit.

Rise and shine! It's a very early morning today. After checking out, you will be transferred to Santiago Airport, to catch your flight to Punta Arenas.

Upon arrival in Punta Arenas, meet our private driver who will be waiting to transfer you to your hotel in the city. Drop your bags at the hotel and explore the city at your own pace.

Dinner at leisure and overnight at your accommodation.

Punta Arenas City Tour

After checking out, store your luggage with the hotel concierge and meet your guide. Together set out for a city tour of Punta Arenas including a visit to the Nao Victoria Museum. As your tour concludes, your guide will be able to suggest a great local restaurant for lunch.

Afternoon at Leisure

Enjoy time at leisure this afternoon before returning to your hotel to pick up your luggage.

You will be transferred from your hotel to the port to check in for your cruise (check in closes 5:00PM).

6:00PM Board the vessel and enjoy a welcoming toast and introduction of captain and crew.

During the night we cross the Strait of Magellan and enter the labyrinth of channels that define the southern extreme of Patagonian. The twinkling lights of Punta Arenas gradually fade into the distance as we enter the Whiteside Canal between Darwin Island and Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego.

Exploring Ainsworth Bay & Tuckers Islets

By dawn, the ship is sailing up Admiralty Sound (Seno Almirantazgo), a spectacular offshoot of the Strait of Magellan that stretches nearly halfway across Tierra del Fuego.

Go ashore at Ainsworth Bay, which harbors copious bird life and a colony of southern elephant seals which can sometimes be spotted from the Zodiacs.

Leaving Ainsworth Bay behind, we sail west along the sound to the Tucker Islets. After lunch, we board the Zodiacs again for a close-up view of the Magellan penguins that inhabit the tiny islands. Many other bird species also frequent the area including king cormorants, oystercatchers, Chilean skuas, kelp geese, dolphin gulls, eagles and even the occasional Andean condor.

Overnight we sail around the western end of Tierra del Fuego via the very narrow Gabrial, Magdalena and Cockburn channels.

Exploring Pia Glacier - Glacier Alley

This morning we are entering Pia Fjord and boarding the Zodiacs for a shore excursion to Pia Glacier. After disembarking we take a short hike to gain a panoramic view of the spectacular glacier, which extends from the mountaintops down to the sea.

Back onboard, we continue east along the Beagle Channel through an area called Glacier Alley. Living up to its name, the passage features a number of impressive tidewater glaciers flowing down from the Darwin Mountains and Darwin Ice Sheet on the north shore.

Exploring Cape Horn & Wulaia Bay

During the early morning we navigate the narrow Murray Channel between Navarino and Hoste islands and drop anchor at historic Wulaia Bay, one of the few places in the archipelago where the human history is just as compelling as the natural environment.

After a visit to the small Australis-sponsored museum in the old radio station -- which is especially strong on the Yámana people and European missionaries in the area – you will have a choice of three hikes (of increasing degrees of difficulty) that ascend the mountain behind the bay.

In the afternoon we cruise across Nassau Bay into the remote archipelago that includes Cape Horn National Park. Weather and sea conditions permitting, we shall go ashore on the windswept island that harbors legendary Cape Horn.

Disembark in Ushuaia, Argentina

Arriving into Argentine waters this morning, the cruise will dock in Ushuaia, the world's southernmost city. Disembark the cruise and meet your driver guide at the port.

Guided Day in Tierra del Fuego National Park

Set out towards the Tierra del Fuego National Park. The combination of the fascinating history of Tierra del Fuego’s native inhabitants and the sublime views of the legendary Beagle Channel make this national park one of the most impressive in Argentina.

After your morning in the Park, return to Ushuaia where you will have free time to explore the small town and enjoy lunch at a local restaurant

Meet back up with your driver guide and transfer to Ushuaia airport today to catch your flight to Buenos Aires.

Depart: Ushuaia (USH)
Arrive: Buenos Aires (EZE)

Upon arrival in Buenos Aires you will be met by our representative and transferred to your accommodation to check in. Dinner at leisure and overnight at your accommodation.

Panoramic Buenos Aires

Today join your private guide for a panoramic tour of the city, visiting some of the best areas of the city and attractions such as La Boca, 9 de Julio Avenue, the Obelisk and Corrientes Street.

Our journey begins at Plaza de Mayo, the city’s foundational site and an important witness to the country’s political history. Admire the Pink House (Presidential Palace) the Cabildo (colonial town hall) and the neoclassical-style Metropolitan Cathedral, final resting place of Argentina’s founding father, General José de San Martín.

Continue towards one of the oldest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, San Telmo, which is characterized by its old colonial houses and cobblestoned streets.

Next, visit La Boca, located in the south of the city and one of the city’s most authentic and charming neighborhoods. It is a working-class district, heavily shaped by Italian immigrants who came to the country in large numbers during the last quarter of the 19th century. The neighborhood’s colorful buildings and its characteristic tenement houses reflect the cheerful spirit of the Italian community.
Heading back north across the river, visit Puerto Madero the old port of the city that was turned into one of the most exclusive gastronomic and residential areas in Buenos Aires.

After a visit to Palermo, where it is possible to find the popular woods of Palermo, you will return to your local neighbourhood Recoleta, where the Recoleta Cemetery can be found. Enjoy a walk though the cemetery, an open air museum, showcasing towering marble mausoleums rich in Art Deco, Art Nouveau, baroque and neo-gothic architectural styles, Masonic symbols and powerful religious iconography.

As your tour finishes, you will be transferred to the airport to catch your flight onwards or home.