From Santiago we head north towards the Aconcagua Valley, considered one the best fruit valley producers of our country. The ride is an spectacular adventure, green and extensive plantations, superb sights of the Andes mountains, hystorical sites of our Independence’s fight, worth photographing, bird watching and sometimes we can identify condors.

Along the road we will witness the engineering amazing work of the Transandean Railroad, constructed on the mountain chain.

We reach the altitude of 10.000 feets or 2.590 msnmjust about 3 miles or almost 5 km. from de border with Argentina.

Portillo´s history goes back the early nineteen hundreds, during the construction of the railway line, wish was joining The Andes with the city of Mendoza in Argentina. The pioneers in Chile were some of the engineers who built the Trans-Andean Railroad, almost all english men, they were using the skis for their work as well as to explore the enigmatic mountain. After the inauguration of the masterpiece in 1910, the amateur skiers joined the pioneers and started to use the train as a cable ferry between Caracoles and Juncal, which is nowadays is an area of Portillo’s skii resort, the oldest ski center of the country where the 1966 World Championship took place. Portillo has a great location at the side of the breathtaking emerald lagoon named Laguna del Inca. The legends says that the water turned emerald due to the endless love and tears of the Inca Prince “Illi Yunqui” for his deceased Inca Princess “Kora-Lle” .

At the bar of the hotel we will have a break with a tasty coffee or a hot chocolate or something more daring...

After this extraordinary visit we continue towards the country area in search of a typical rural restaurant where we will enjoy a generous and traditional Chilean lunch.
On the road returning to Santigo we’ll make a stop to buy fruits or local products, great  ending of this exciting day.

return to traditional tours