🇳🇱 Amsterdam → 🇨🇱 Santiago · 1 week

Take the half-day train to Casablanca Valley — Chile's finest cool-climate whites (Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay) come from this coastal valley 90 minutes west of Santiago. The Tren Central leaves Estación Central on weekends; three or four wineries like Matetic and Kingston Family are easy to visit without a car.

Ski at Valle Nevado in July or August — it's 60km from Santiago and one of the southern hemisphere's best ski resorts, with 7,000 hectares at 3,000–4,500m altitude. Day lift passes are around CLP 70,000 (€70) and the resort bus leaves from Bellavista daily at 08:30 during the season.

Climb Cerro San Cristóbal at dusk on a clear winter day (June–August) for the definitive Santiago view — the Andes wall rises directly behind the city and at sunset turns pink-orange above the smog line. Take the funicular from Pío Nono in Bellavista (CLP 3,500 return) rather than walking up.

Eat lunch at Mercado Central on a Tuesday or Wednesday — Santiago's 1872 iron-and-glass fish market is a tourist trap on weekends, but on weekday lunchtimes the inner restaurants fill with businessmen eating the freshest congrio (king crab), locos (abalone), and ceviche in the city at reasonable prices.