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Cueca, the national dance

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Santiago "Must do's"

First take the basic city tour to acquaint yourself with the city and its history.

Take the day to visit Vina del Mar and Valparaiso. Vina del Mar is Chile's main sea resort and home to the famous "Quinta Vergara", a museum and site of the annual song festival. Valparaiso, Chile's main port, is a town of winding narrow streets and surrounding hills in an urban landscape intermingled with all kinds of vessels in the ever present bay.

Visit the wine country. Chile is a world-renowned wine producer. You can visit top wineries such as Cousino-Macul Vineyard, founded in 1871 by Luis Cousino on the slopes of the Macul and Concha y Toro winery, one of the largest exporters of fine wines in Chile. You can visit the wine cellars, learn about the winemaking process and aging, as well as enjoy wine-tasting. And you can explore the Wine Route in the Colchagua Valley, teeming with boutique vineyards.

If you are in Santiago over the weekend be sure to visit the "Los Dominicos" Handicraft Village located uptown by the Church of Los Dominicos. It resembles a typical village of the central valley and artisans and craftsmen from all over the country work and sell their handicrafts here. You'll find works in materials such as clay, wicker, stone, wool and leather, jewelry with the gemstone lapis lazuli and other native stones, as well as Chile's traditional copper art objects.

If you only have time to visit one museum, the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art is the one to visit. Here you'll appreciate the tapestries, sculptures, jewelry and pottery from the Pre-Columbian civilizations of Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador and Brasil.

Have dinner at "Aqui Esta Coco" for great seafood (try the sea urchins!) and steaks.

And follow it up by attending one of the folkloric shows that feature the music and dancing of the Huaso (Chilean cowboy) and the far distant Easter Island.

Visit the Blue Stone, dedicated to jewelery made from the Lapis Lazuli stone.

Do do do visit The Wine House with a huge selection of Chilean wines and other wines from around the world, and don't forget to do a bit of wine tasting!