Small-Group Cajón del Maipo Full-Day Tour and Picnic

Pickup was scheduled for 6:30am. The bus arrived at 6:50. I received a whatsapp message when they were near. Then we picked up a few more persons and then continued to Centro Turístico Cumbres de Maipo for breakfast (bread, cheese, sliced meats, fruits, coffee, hot chocolate). After 40 minutes we continued to Cajon de Maipo. The first stop was a river, second was a tunnel we walked through (optional, 600-700m), third was a viewpoint for photos, then we arrived to Embalse el Yeso. We then walked 1-2 km to get the best view. After 2 hours we had a small picnic then continued to a small town called San Jose de Maipo. I had coffee and an empanada in a restaurant called Café Agora and then we continued to Santiago. I arrived to the hotel around 4pm.

That dam and surrounded nature is indescribable (most beautiful colours) .... Beautiful!! The trip is amazing. A must see most definitely

Hi- My guide Salvador was very informative. I did have to switch buses to the one with the bilingual English-speaking guide. Pack accordingly, otherwise there is an option to rent clothes at one of the bus stops. Otherwise my tour was great! A long day, but very worth it!

I strongly recommend that you DO NOT book with MTO Tours. These guys were very unorganized from start to finish. We didn't hear a word of English for at least 3 hours into the tour despite clearly requesting an English guide. Prepare for unnecessary upselling in our case we rented 60 USD worth of cold-weather clothing that we didn't need because it had snowed a few days prior at Cajon del Maipo. Since we had no explanation of what was going on we ended up renting to be safe but we didn't need them. The picnic is a joke but the scenery once you get to Cajon del Maipo is very beautiful. The town of San Jose de Maipo is underwhelming. We booked this tour based on other strong reviews but our experience was a total let down. We had another tour booked with these guys the following day and we cancelled as soon as we got back from this tour we didn't ask for anything back from this tour but kindly requested a refund for the following day's tour....they said no. My opinion is to AVOID these guys.

An excellent way to get out of the city and see another side of Santiago . Very beautiful , but remember to take a light coat , even in the summer . Ernesto , my driver/guide was first class , very friendly and informative.... infact he made my day !! Thank You buddy . Highly Recommended

Where do we begin with this one? Lets start! A horrendously early pickup from our hotel and a trek around Santiago for 1 hour picking up other victims. This was followed by a motorway cafe for breakfast joining other fellow victims which ended up as a farce queueing for coffee/fruit etc. Dont ask us Brits were asked to move to the English speaking minibus where we couldnt sit together. Our driver obviously hadnt learnt the Chilean Highway Code else he wouldnt have had 1 hand on the wheel and the other on his microphone whilst driving at 100km an hour. We were accompanied on the speaker system with Spanish (Chilean?) songs from another era such as the Eurovision Song Contest circa 1970/2016. At the lake we were told to vamoose for an hour whilst they prepared the picnic of wine and cheese. After 20 mins of vamoosing we were at a loose end and as there was nowhere to perch hovered haplessly around the preparations which were 20 mins late, we'll have you know. Flags were set out on the table clothed trestle tables along with potted plants for anyone to take a photo. British flag was absent and we now know this was not due to the Falkland Islands. God help anyone attempting to take a sip of the vino Tinto for fear of being humiliated in front of all our new found family and friends who didnt speak our lingo. Once allowed to eat we decided to give it a miss owing to a lack of hand hygiene which would have sent our health and safety into a frenzy. The bottle of wine between 2 didnt materialise and instead it was every man and woman for themselves after the 1st glass. As one of us didnt drink red wine and in the absence of vino blanco, she had to endure the powder and water mixture which they pass off as orange juice. Unhappily replenished we pressed on with the next stage of the journey which would have made top gear look like the London to Brighton rally, hurtling around the hairpin bends at 100 miles an hour listening to yet more Eurovision style songs. The piece de resistance was stopping at a tunnel which was a shrine to a hero named Wily who were sure was a hero but we dont know why. We were given the opportunity to walk through the 700m pitch black tunnel, along with a few stray dogs and meet our driver at the other end. Dont do it - stay on the bus. You may have got the impression we didnt enjoy our trip and you would be correct for all the above reasons. However scenery was stunning and the town we stopped at was very authentic.