Self-Drive or Wine Tour?

Driving yourself to Chile’s Casablanca Valley looks simple. The valley is about 80 km west of Santiago on Ruta 68, around an hour away depending on traffic, and a hire car lets you choose your own wineries. The problem is the reason you are going. Chile has a zero-tolerance drink-drive law, and on a wine day it decides who in your car can drink.

For most couples and small groups we would book a tour, and if you want your own company in the car, a private one. Here is how the choice works.

Chile’s zero-tolerance law

Chile’s Tolerancia Cero law took effect in March 2012 as an amendment to the Traffic Law. It sets two thresholds. With 0.3 g of alcohol per litre of blood or more, a driver is legally under the influence. From 0.8 g per litre, the driver is legally drunk.

The penalties are heavy even when nothing goes wrong. A first offence of driving under the influence, with no damage or injury, brings a three-month licence suspension and a fine. A first drunk-driving offence with no damage or injury brings a two-year suspension. A drunk driver who causes very serious injury or death loses their licence for life, and since September 2014 the Ley Emilia has added at least one year of actual prison time for drunk drivers who cause serious injury or death. Refusing a breath or blood test without justification is also a crime under that law.

On the tours on this site a single tasting is often four or five wines, per the listings, and a day has two or three tastings. Rather than doing the arithmetic, treat the rule as simple: the driver does not drink. Chile’s tourism board gives the same advice for the valley. If you drive, one person stays sober, and winery tastings count.

What self-driving gets you

A car has real advantages. You choose the wineries, including ones no tour on this site visits, such as Kingston Family Vineyards, which says reservations are highly recommended because its experiences are private. You set the order and the pace. Most visitor sites are on or just off Ruta 68: Emiliana at km 60.7, Veramonte at km 66, Casa Viñamar at km 72, Bodegas RE on Camino Lo Ovalle.

The costs are the designated driver and the planning. Ruta 68 is tolled, with main-line plazas at Lo Prado and Zapata, and rates vary by vehicle type and time of day, so ask your rental company how tolls are billed. You also make every reservation yourself. Chile’s tourism board advises booking both the winery visit and lunch ahead, especially at weekends and in high season. Emiliana’s tasting tours run Tuesday to Saturday at 10:30, 12:30 and 14:30 through its online booking system. Veramonte takes bookings online through its own booking site or by phone and publishes hours of 9:00 to 17:30, Monday to Sunday. Casas del Bosque has separate reservation lines for tours and for its restaurants. Fitting three fixed slots and a lunch table into one day is doable, but it is a planning job.

Self-drive makes sense if someone in your group does not drink anyway, or if you want to build a day around wineries the tours skip.

What a shared tour gets you

A shared tour hands all of that to the operator. The Four Casablanca Wineries day picks you up at your accommodation, includes admission at Emiliana, Bodegas RE and Casa del Molle, and stops for lunch at Tanino at Casas del Bosque, with the meal at your own expense. It runs 10 hours from $139 per person (September 2026), groups are capped at 15, and it is rated 4.8 from 671 Viator reviews. The 4 Vineyards day is similar at 9 hours from $149, with tastings at Emiliana, Bodegas RE and Casa Valle Viñamar and an a la carte lunch at Tanino at your own cost.

Everyone tastes, nobody drives and nobody books a slot. The trade is a fixed winery list and a van shared with strangers.

The private tour in the middle

A private tour gives you a car and driver for your group alone, so you keep the company of a self-drive day and everyone can still taste.

The one we would book is the private Emiliana, William Cole and Casa del Bosque tour, from $150 per person and rated 4.9 from 118 Viator reviews, the most reviews of any private tour on this site. It runs 8 hours with a private round-trip transfer from Santiago Centro, Las Condes, Vitacura or Providencia. At Emiliana you get a four-wine tasting with a cheese and chocolate board each, then a tour and tasting at William Cole, then a stop at Casa del Bosque for lunch, which is paid separately. Our breakdown goes through the day.

If Bodegas RE is on your list, the private Bodegas RE and Emiliana tour costs more, from $275, and lunch is at your own expense: the operator can reserve Tanino at USD 90 per person or Viñamar at USD 70, paid at the restaurant. The private Veramonte and Viñamar day says in its listing that the schedule can be adjusted to your preferences, which is the flexibility a private car buys.

If lunch matters most

The Casas del Bosque tour with Tanino lunch is the lowest-priced tour on this site with lunch included, from $130. You get a guided walk of the estate, a four-wine tasting and a three-course lunch at Tanino with two paired wines, with pickup in Las Condes, Providencia, Ñuñoa or central Santiago. It visits one winery and is rated 4.1 from 19 GetYourGuide reviews. The live price for every tour is on its booking page.

Where to go next

For every private option side by side, see private Casablanca Valley wine tours. If you still plan to drive or take the bus, read how to get to Casablanca Valley from Santiago, and for lunch-first days see wine tours with lunch. If the private day fits, check availability.