Customer's Opinions about guide from Santiago, Chile

We spend three days with Juan which was wonderful, informative, and something that we’d do again with him without hesitation. In three days we covered everything. In addition to everything he showed us and told us, the restaurants he took us to were fantastic and very memorable. I can truly say that we’ve traveled to many parts of the world and met many people, and if we were to have a short list of our best guides, Juan would be on that list. We appreciated everything he did for us and found him to be a fun and caring personality who looked to accommodate our needs in anyway he could - he was always flexible. Thank you again Juan.

Juan Francisco Martinez was an excellent guide. He really knew Valparaiso and Vina del Mar and showed us sites that were “off the beaten path”. We previously had expressed an interest in Chilean wines and he took us to Casas del Bosque where we bought lunch and tasted a bottle of wine.
He surprised us when he took us to the Emiliana Organic Winery. We had not been to an organic vineyard before and we tasted their wines, which were outstanding. We saw alpacas, chickens, and Guinea hens which ate the insects and enabled the winery to use no chemicals to kill them.
He was easy to talk to because his English was superb.
We recommend that anyone wishing to see Valparaiso contact him and set up a tour.

OUR fascinating holiday thanks to Juan.

WE had a fascinating few days in Chile. Ask me why?
1.stress free
2.reasonably priced
3.enjoyable, interesting, and stunningly beautiful beyond our wildest imaginations!!!

Why? The answer is simple – we made a right choice by choosing a tour guide. Juan Picked up us in Airport and from that first moment - he was a very careful driver, very knowledgeable tour guide; he was our food critic, body guard and all wine tasting organizer. He showed us much more than we wanted and planned. We met an amazing friend - Juan, and really admired his pride and love to his beautiful country.

Don't hesitate a minute. You are in the right hands.

After deciding on a Santiago, Chile, stopover, Colleen and I went online to find an English-speaking guide. Juan Francisco's friendly personality and safe driving immediately put us at our ease. We discussed everything from philosophy to local wildlife as if we’d known him for years. Juan showed us around at our own pace and brought an unforgettable experience of the pristine Chilean countryside, with glimpses of wildflowers, fine horses, raging streams, and the snow-capped peaks of the Andes, with the option of a walk to a glacier. As an added bonus, we lunched in a unique timber and adobe architectural masterpiece. Decima & Colleen, May 2013.

I recently hired Juan Francisco (Dec 2013) for an extended nine day guided trip through Chile, and I can confirm what many others have said here: he really is fantastic.

From the moment he picked me up in Santiago (right on time) until we parted nine days later in Puerto Montt, he was both entirely professional and extremely fun to tour with. His knowledge of the area and Chilean history is quite extensive, and he was happily very tolerant of my *hundreds* of questions per day (no joke). The best way to describe Juan Francisco is that he is very much a "salt of the earth" type of person: very easy going, reliable, gregarious, high energy, easy to get along with, and at times extremely funny. Having spent over a week together I got to know him a little better than most I think and I would hire him again in a second. I asked to see some of the "real" Chile during our trip, not just the touristy bits, and that's what I got. Truly an amazing country (and I've now only seen maybe 1/3 of it). I will definitely be going back one day.

I must also say that his driving is extremely good. I am normally a terrible passenger in cars (always preferring to drive myself) but at no time did I ever feel the need to push on the "invisible brake" on the passenger side. He doesn't dawdle in the car, but neither is he an aggressive driver, and he always paid extra careful attention to everything going on around him. Chile's roads can be a bit random at times, though thankfully nowhere near as crazy as Argentina, but nothing caught him off guard. He is also an absolute *master* of off-road road driving, and Chile has plenty of rough unpaved roads to deal with once you get away from the bigger cities. His van is very roomy and well appointed, and in great condition, with strong air conditioning, and it was spotless (at least when we started!).

Juan Francisco's English is just as good as his driving. He attended a total immersion British school from a very young age, so English is second nature to him, and he was again very patient with my endless Spanish questions, even teaching me a few fun Chilean colloquialisms along the way.

Bottom line: I highly recommend Juan Francisco Martinez as a guide, and I greatly hope to meet him again one day when I am able to visit Chile for the second time.

-Mike, Vancouver, Canada

During our first visit to Chile we have made reservations for a City Tour and a Wine country/Valparaiso/Vina del mar tour with Mr. Juan. Mr. Juan arrived at our hotel on time and was very amicable, flexible and really took his time to let us get to know the best that Santiago and its surroundings had to offer. We would certainly recommend Mr. Juan to visitors to Santiago as we have enjoyed his tours very very much. Should we ever plan a return to Santiago we will certainly contact Mr. Juan once again!

My wife, daughter and I spent a day with Juan Francisco touring the wine country, Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar. It was a truly wonderful day! He met us at our hotel in Santiago in the morning and took us to wineries, a museum and toured around the two adjacent coastal cities. We had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant with a picturesque view in Valparaiso. He is very knowledgeable about the sights and history, he was flexible in assuring that our needs were met. His van is very comfortable to ride in. He dropped us abck at the hotel in the early evening after an exhilarating day. I recommend him highly and give him 5 starts (out of 5).

Our time in Santiago was Fantastic. We enjoyed touring around your beautiful country When our friends ask what was our favorite place in South America we quickly say Chile What made our three days so much fun was Juan. We not only saw alot, but the fun was being in your company. You're definitely a five star talented person. Thank You for such great memories

Today we went with Juan Francisco to Valpraiso and Vina del Mar. He was a wonderful guide,very safe driver and very knowledgable about Santiago and the areas we saw. We recommend him highly to anyone who is looking for a leisurely day out with no traffic worries.

We had a pleasure to meet Juan on our trip to Santiago
February 2013.At the moment he met us at aeroport we new we are in good hands.Juan took care of us like his own family. He is professional in all aspects and safe driver.We felt very lucky.
If you are planing to visit Satiago, we would defiantly recomending to hire Juan.He is your men.

I connected with Juan Francisco via email requesting information about tours. He responded with great ideas and we agreed to meet. Everything he offered was provided on time,he is very knowledgable and passionate about Chile. The air-conditioned van had lots of room for 4 guests and luggage. We wine toured the Santiago area the first day and travelled to more wineries and Valparaiso on day 2. Having the good fortune to find such a well spoken and friendly guide to start off our vacation set the tone for a great holiday. After spending 2 wonderful days I feel like I have a new friend in Chile.

Juan was our guide for a day, visiting Casablanca valley for lunch and wine tasting along the way as well as Valpariso and Vina del Mar.

We had the most wonderful day Juan answered all our questions of which there were many. We stopped for lunch at Vina Casa del Bosque which was perfect to match the day. It was fantastic and I would recommend this type of tour if you have limited time.

Thanks Juan for a great trip an excellent day all round

Just returned from Santiago Chile this morning where Juan Francisco was our tour guide for two wonderful days. He met us in Valparaiso, Chile when we disembarked from our cruise ship, The Celebrity Infinity. He gave us a tour of all of Valparaiso including a ride in the oldest funicular in the city. We also toured Vina de Mar and then Juan Francisco took us to a beautiful vinyard for a delightful lunch. The vinyard was Casas de Bosque. We concluded the day when Juan Francisco dropped us at our hotel in Santiago. The next day he took us for a beautiful drive to Maipo Canyon. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to do the canyon justice. We returned to Santiago for a quick drive through the downtown including a short walk along one of the oldest streets in the city and a view of the Plaza de Armes. We went to a wonderful restaurant for a true taste of Chilean Choclo (corn) pie. And then shopping at the Puerita de dominicos. The city was wonderful and Juan Francisco was warm, charming and most accommodating. He tailored the itinerary exactly to what we wanted to do and not do. He was on time, spoke perfect English, was most responsible and courteous. His van was comfortable, clean and air conditioned. We recommend him highly!

It's -5 degrees C, with lots of snow in Toronto today. Two weeks ago (Feb. 20) we had the enjoyable experience of having Juan Francisco be our personal guide for the day in sunny and warm Chile.

The day with Juan Francisco was a highlight of a ten day visit to Buenos Aires and Santiago. As agreed, Juan Francisco arrived at our hotel on time, and we were off on a great adventure.

He was a safe, courteous and informative driver and guide, who told us about the areas we were visiting. Juan Francisco was attentive, engaging and a great conversationalist, with excellent command of English.

Juan Francisco is an exceptional guide who has great social and communication skills. Our visits to several vineyards and wineries helped us appreciate the variety and quality of wines produced in Chile.

He made several suggestions that he felt would interest us, including the visit to Pablo Neruda's home in Valpraiso which added to our knowledge and pleasure of Chile and its people.

We highly recommend Juan Francisco as your personal guide to a fantastic part of the world.

With appreciation for a terrific day.

My wife and I along with my father and his girlfriend visited Chile for the first time in December 2010. We are from Canada. Chile is an amazingly beautiful country with so much to offer visitors. We chose to tour Chile with Juan. We are so fortunate to have connected with Juan because he made our trip to Chile extra special. Juan made Chile the highlight of our 3 country tour (Chile, Argentina, and Peru). We can’t say enough good things about Juan. He is a very friendly and accommodating individual who goes out of his way to give his clients the best possible service. Juan is also very knowledgeable about his country and where to take visitors depending on their interests. It was great to sit back and relax and enjoy the day that Juan had planned for us. Juan always went beyond the call of duty to show us a great time. We just can’t say enough good things about Juan. You just have to travel with him to believe it. Juan is a first class tour guide and I will forever be grateful to him for the great time that he showed my family in Chile. Bottom line, if Chile were a recipe (no pun intended) than Juan is the most important ingredient to enjoying the meal!

Juan Francisco took us for a day trip from Santiago to Valparaiso and area in May of 2010. We were delighted with the trip. Juan Francisco has an easy-going friendly personality and he makes every effort to accommodate the interests of his clients. Though our main focus was the historic city and Pablo Neruda homes, he adjusted our itinerary to stop at some areas where I could observe the birds.
Juan Francisco is a safe and courteous driver with an extremely comfortable and spacious van. He loves his country and is glad to share his information. Using his services is a great way to get around and see more of this lovely country.

Juan Francisco was our private tour guide for 4 days in December 2009. We were traveling with my elderly parents and had the best imaginable experience with this warm pleasant and very knowledgeable guide. He has a new very comfortable SUV and he took us to the most interesting places: Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, North Coast, Casablanca Valley, Maipo Canyon. All the time he was very attentive to my parents and their limitations. At the same time he really went out of his way to let us (younger people)experience all we could. His choices for places to visit, wineries, places to eat were excellent. His love for his country and its culture is really contagious. We left feeling like we parted with a friend that we will miss and left behind a country that we hope to visit again. Juan Francisco is not only a wonderful guide, but a very caring warm and fun person. I hope we will meet again.

Juan was our guide for two days in January 2010, and we were totally satisfied with his performance. He was on time, he was clear about what we could expect, and he delivered everything and more than he said he would. He worked with us in every way possible to make our stay in Santiago as pleasant as possible. His love of his country comes through in all he does. We highly recommend Juan to anyone who wants to get the most out of their time in Chile.