The trip was amazing, we went up into the mountains down a very perilous mining road (itself a fun adventure) to the hotsprings. Absolutely could not have reached it without... read more the guide, who also shared really interesting information all along the way (and periodically stopping so we could take quick pictures before even reaching the end point, it didn't feel rushed.)

The hotsprings itself was great, especially in the evening/night when the temperatures cool off, and there is almost no one there. Easy to get a pool to yourself, eventually you get the entire hotsprings to yourself. This was followed up by a picnic style dinner with a bunch of local breads, cheeses, and fruits.

Guide was friendly, talkative, and funny. It felt like riding with a local friend who is excited to show you how cool Chilean mountains are. Probably one of my favorite guides in country.

  An exceptional experience with a renowned tour guide crew to the beautiful and scenic Andes mountains. Highly recommended

  I really enjoyed this trip. There was an English interpreter in the tour so she helped translating everything. There was a variety of experiences to enjoy such as... read more trekking and hot springs. I wish I had more time for the hot springs. Our guide (Paulo) and the driver/photographer were also fun to be with. The lunch snack at the roadside house was delicious and plentiful. I also enjoyed the company of the other people on the tour.

  The hot springs tour in Cajon del Maipo was a really unique and beautiful experience, the highlight of our stay in Santiago! I felt taken care of from beginning to... read more end with Jessica heading our group (me and 4 friends with a few other small...More

  I recommend the Chilexplora as your option to explore around Santiago. They really know everything about the trip, and give a good explanation during the trip. Great service as well!

  Really enjoyable trip with 2 excellent guides.
We were well fed and say some authentic chilean culture as well as stunning scenery.
There was only a small hike of a... read more couple if kilometres so people of all ages had fitness types could go

  I really enjoyed this trip. There was an English interpreter in the tour so she helped translating everything. There was a variety of experiences to enjoy such as... read more trekking and hot springs. I wish I had more time for the hot springs. Our guide (Paulo)...More

  Amazing time with Paulo! He is super kind. Best part was the hot springs. It renews your body. Also, the perk is that he takes professional photos of you with... read more his camera the whole time and when you’re in the hot springs and he sends them to you right away. Best photos of our vacation! Highly recommend 🙂

  The sights were outstanding. beautiful views. The thermal baths were interesting and comfortable but the changing rooms were primitive. The driver/guide was excellent, friendly and informative and spoke English well,... read more but the van was a mess. I think this was a subcontract job. The van had been in an accident in which the entire right side was damaged so that the door would not open or close. no wifi and no AC. Lunch was good but we had to pay for it in peso's which we did not know about. Overall a good experience.

  Cristian was a great tour guide. My favorite part was hiking to the Engorda valley and walking around the horses and goats in a beautiful landscape.

  What a great experience! There are two types of tours. The first is your standard “stop-and-drop” where a gaggle of tourists is shuttled from one location to another... read more over the course of several hours. You’ll stop at a few locations, wait in line to have your picture taken at some pre-determined spot, before moving on to the next location. These trips are planned to the minute and are designed to move you from one place to the next in comfort. If you want to travel in a bubble, this first type is the best option for you.

Then there are tours like those offered by Paolo. If you are thinking about visiting Chile and you would like an authentic travel experience, this is the way to go. We booked a full day excursion to the Cajón del Maipo with Paolo. This is an area well-known to Paolo and it showed.

On the morning of our tour he picked us up in a well-worn 4x4, perfect for driving up and down the rough mountainside terrain. From the moment we met, it was clear that Paolo knew what he was doing. As we drove through Santiago’s early morning traffic, he shared facts about the city and the Cajón del Maipo along with personal stories that gave us a sense of life in this part of the world.

Once we exited Santiago and entered El Cajon del Maipo, the tour took off! We traveled up through rocky mountain roads. The landscape quickly changed and before we knew it we were in the middle of an alpine wonderland. The snow-capped mountains surrounded us and Paolo pointed out the sites. We stopped at a couple of overlooks for pictures. The backdrop was breathtaking.

Our original plan was to travel to the hot springs. However, a recent snowfall made the road impassible. At that point, Paolo really came through as en expert guide. We quickly re-arranged the day and headed towards the Embalse del Yeso. After a short hike, we reached a large, man-made lake the supplies fresh water to Santiago. The views were simple incredible.

On our return, we stopped at Paolo’s mountain retreat, El Refugio del Yeso. Yet again, Paolo proved his mettle as a guide and a host. As we toured his camp (think a hostel located in the mountains) his mother prepared a wonderful lunch of rice, chicken, salad, and fresh fruit, all of which we enjoyed with great Chilean wine and Turkish coffee (one of Paolo’s specialties).

After lunch, we toured San Jose de Maipo, where we visited with one of Paolo’s friends who is a great storyteller and just so happens to be restoring a beautiful train that played a role in facilitating travel up and down the mountain in the early half of the 20th Century.

After a 12-hour day, Paolo returned us to the bustle of Santiago. We were tired but happy. This tour exceeded our expectations. A visit to Cajon del Maipo is a must, especially with Paolo at the wheel. We hope to be back soon and spend some time at Paolo’s mountain retreat.

  The hot springs tour in Cajon del Maipo was a really unique and beautiful experience, the highlight of our stay in Santiago! I felt taken care of from beginning to... read more end with Jessica heading our group (me and 4 friends with a few other small groups and individuals totaling 12). She contacted me the night before making sure we understood everything and were prepared for our trip. I enjoyed the little cafe they took us to for breakfast and the home they brought us to for dinner. Of course, the hot springs were very soothing and had an amazing view!

**NOTE FOR WINTER TRAVELERS** We traveled in the beginning of July. The host contacted me the night before warning me about having to hike the last 5km to get to the hot springs due to recent snow making the road impassable by car. There was an option to rent a snow vehicle as a ferry between the base camp and the springs, but that broke down the day before so we didn't get that option. As someone from sea-level with almost no hiking experience/aptitude, the hike was very slow but it was not super challenging. It took approx. 2-3 hours to hike to the springs, and the snowy Andes landscape was quiet and beautiful so it was an overall enjoyable hike. The most difficult bit was the last slope up to the hot springs! If you're visiting in the winter, you can rent snow gear at the cafe you visit for breakfast (I rented snow boots, which I found very helpful).

Talking with the host, in the summer it's possible to drive the road all the way to the springs. But as a result, the hot springs are much more crowded during the peak season (like waiting in line to fit in a pool). So if you're looking for a more relaxing experience, you have to earn it at the end of a beautiful hike!

  Left in the afternoon and stopped along the way at a bar to have a beer local to the canyon. Then proceeded onto the hot springs where spent about 4-5... read more hours and got to see more stars than I've seen in my lifetime while relaxing in the hot spring. Seeing the moon light up the canyon as it rose was equally as awesome. Finished off the day with a small picnic with cheese nuts tea and wine set up by Paulo and Jessica. Paulo and Jessica are both incredibly knowledgeable and do a great job of taking care of everyone. Would highly recommend.

  I went to InfoTour as I wanted some local knowledge to confirm what I had researched online and fill in a few gaps. Elisa helped me in fluent English and... read more her 2 colleagues were busy backing her up with research and info for me. They provided a wealth of information and emailed it all to me the next day so I could process it all without forgetting anything. Well worth a visit!

  Fantastic views of the Andes mountain and Volcano. Hot springs with different temperatures. Lots of people from everywhere.

  With only 3 days remaining in Santiago, we decided that we wanted to book a tour to Cajón del Maipo. We wandered into InfoTour on our way home from dinner... read more in Bellavista and spontaneously booked a private tour for the following day. Since we had plans for the following evening and had to be in Santiago by 7 p.m., we decided to hire a private tour guide/driver to ensure that we would be back in the city before then. A bit pricey but the staff at InfoTour promised us a fantastic lunch on the road; the staff also mentioned that some attractions/sites might be closed to recent heavy rain in Santiago but that there was still plenty to see and do.

Although it was a tour with a private driver, the owner of the company balked at picking me up at my residence in Las Condes in the morning so I went to my daughter's home to be picked up at 9:00 a.m. The guide was late and didn't arrive until 9:45 a.m. to pick us up. He then had to drive to another location in Santiago to pick up tire chains for the mountain roads. We also had to stop to gas up. We finally started heading out of Santiago around 11:00 a.m.

Our first stop was at the village of San José de Maipo for a cup of coffee. I'm not sure if it was a communication problem (our guide spoke excellent English and my Spanish is pretty good) or a cultural miscommunication but we understood that the coffee stop was part of the tour (for which we paid substantially more than the standard group tour). So I was surprised when the bill arrived and I was told that it was my responsibility. It's a small thing (it was only about $3.00) but it struck me as not very "customer friendly" to arrive late, need to complete multiple additional errands, suggest a coffee stop and then to have us pay.

We continued on to the highway to the real attractions (the embalse, the thermal baths) only to find that the road was closed and we could not continue. We were not surprised as we had been forewarned about this possibility but our guide seemed at a loss about what to do with us. We finally decided to backtrack toward town and drive up to a local ski resort, Lagunilla. Lagunilla itself was also closed; however, the view, the air, the silence at the top of the summit was beautiful and peaceful. Once at the top, our guide unpacked a table, a bottle of wine, some olives, fruit, cheese and one empanada for each of us. It was a lovely rustic picnic in a beautiful setting but it was quite different from the "special meal" that we thought we would receive in a Chilean restaurant.

After lunch, we drove back toward Santiago, stopping at a supermarket to purchase some wine. I think that our guide, Guillermo, felt bad that we hadn't gotten our money's worth so he drove us directly to Las Condes to drop us off.

Guillermo was engaging and full of knowledge and interesting facts about the region. And we knew that "some" things might be closed. Overall, however, we ended up spending a TON of money for someone to drive us to a ski resort about 45 minutes outside of Santiago for an empanada and then to drive us back home. Although there were serendipitous moments of beauty during the day, there were several disappointments and I felt a bit deceived by InfoTour.