Luxury accommodations to consider are the Hotel Magnolia, a renovated 1929 mansion in Santiago’s historic downtown area, with a restaurant serving seasonal specialities such as conger eel soup, shellfish with pica lemons and quinoa, and king crab-stuffed salmon. The Mandarin Oriental Santiago is located in the Las Condes district, with easy access to the downtown area and surrounding mountains—plus a three-floor, on-site spa.
Activities in Santiago include touring the Bellavista neighborhood, home to eclectic eateries and art galleries, and visiting the Plaza de Armas to tour the Metropolitan Cathedral.
Another Chance
Even if you can’t swing a visit this July for the eclipse, there will come an additional chance next year, when the cosmos will really be showing off. The Chilean Lake District, about 470 miles south of Santiago, will experience a total solar eclipse on December 14, 2020, just after the Gemini Meteor Shower is expected to peak the previous night.
Interpid Travel—whose 2019 trip is already sold-out—will offer a 13-day Argentina tour in December 2020, with astrologist John Mason, beginning in Buenos Aires and ending in Santiago. Guests will watch the eclipse from a private viewing site in Piedra del Aguila.
Emmanuel Burgio, president of Blue Parallel luxury tours, is currently designing a 2020 tour that will include high-end camping and a journey through Argentine Patagonia. He’s received lots of interest from customers about eclipse viewings, he says.
“It’s a natural phenomenon they are going to be able to see and enjoy,” Burgio explains regarding the appeal of eclipses. “The fact that this only happens a few times in a lifetime makes it an item to check off their to-do list.”
Members-only travel club Prior is also offering a 14-day trip in Chile’s Araucanía lakes region and nearby Quetrupillán and Lanin volcanoes. The itinerary features a guided excursion to national parks in Patagonia, followed by eclipse-viewing in a luxury tented camp and private wine tasting in the Casablanca Valley.
Sasha Lehman, a travel consultant for the company, says the 2020 eclipse may be even better than the one this year, because it will take place in South America’s summertime, meaning there’s a smaller chance that cloudy skies will obscure the view. “Those who have experienced eclipses know it is a really powerful experience; it takes you away from the day to day of our small concerns,” she says. “It reminds you of the incredible beyond.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.