Santiago to Casablanca Valley

The Casablanca Valley is in Chile, about 80 km west of Santiago on Ruta 68, the tolled highway that carries on to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. Allow about an hour, and up to an hour and a half, from central Santiago depending on traffic. Reaching the valley is easy. Reaching the wineries is the part that needs a plan, because they sit along and off Ruta 68 outside Casablanca town.

You have five ways to do it: the bus, a hire car, a private driver, a taxi or app ride, or a tour with pickup. If you want to taste wine, the tour is the one we would book, and the reasons follow.

Transport options compared

Times are approximate and run longer on busy weekends and public holidays.

Casablanca town and Casablanca wine country are not the same destination. The town has the services and the bus stop; the wineries spread out across the countryside around it, so you can arrive in town and still be several kilometers from your tasting.

The bus to Casablanca town

Coastal buses leave from Terminal Pajaritos, at Av. General Óscar Bonilla 5600 in Lo Prado, which connects directly to Pajaritos station on Metro Line 1. Companies listed on the Santiago to Casablanca route include Turbus and Cóndor Bus, and Pullman Bus also runs coastal services from the same terminal. Buses Paravías also sells tickets on the route. Some coastal companies start at Terminal Alameda or Terminal San Borja near Estación Central, so check which terminal your ticket names. Departures run frequently from early morning to the evening, so getting to town is simple. Confirm the terminal and timetable on the bus company’s own site before you travel.

The fare is low: ticket sites listed one-way seats at around CLP 3,000 to 4,000 in 2026, depending on the company and the date. The ride takes about an hour to an hour and 40 minutes. You can compare current departures on Recorrido’s Santiago to Casablanca search.

The bus stops in Casablanca town, and the wineries are not there.

Taking the bus, step by step

1. Go to your terminal. For Pajaritos, take Metro Line 1 to Pajaritos station and follow the signs to the bus terminal.
2. Buy a ticket to Casablanca in the Valparaíso Region; make sure the destination is not Valparaíso or Viña del Mar.
3. Check that the bus stops in Casablanca town. Some coastal services run straight through to the coast.
4. Leave extra time before your winery booking for delays and the ride on from town.
5. Book a taxi or transfer from town to the winery before you travel.
6. Arrange your return ride before the tasting starts.

The bus makes sense if you are visiting Casablanca town or one winery and have your onward ride booked. For a day of several tastings, a tour costs more but saves the taxis, the waiting and the juggling of separate bookings.

The wineries are spread along Ruta 68

The visitor sites are strung out along the highway and the country roads beside it. Emiliana is on the north side of Ruta 68 at km 60.7. Veramonte is at km 66. Casa Viñamar is off an interior road at km 72. Bodegas RE is on Camino Lo Ovalle, at km 1.

Walking from town is not a practical plan for the well-known estates: they are several kilometers out, and some approach roads have no footpath. Local buses and taxis serve the area, but there is no winery-to-winery bus for visitors, and a winery gate is not always near a stop.

So a bus alone does not get you to a tasting. From town you need a taxi, a transfer or a tour, and you need it again for every hop between wineries and for the ride back to the bus. Taxis can be found in Casablanca town, but app-hailed cars may be scarce out among the vineyards, so arrange your return pickup in advance and do not count on an Uber appearing at a winery gate.

Visits need booking too. Chile’s tourism board advises reserving both the winery tour and lunch ahead, especially at weekends and in high season. Emiliana, for example, runs its tasting tours Tuesday to Saturday at 10:30, 12:30 and 14:30 through its online booking system. A day built on buses and taxis means fitting three or four fixed slots around rides you cannot always find.

Driving yourself

A hire car solves the distances, and the bigger gain is control: you choose the start time and the wineries, and you can carry on to Valparaíso or Viña del Mar afterwards. From central Santiago, follow the signs for Ruta 68 and Valparaíso and stay on Ruta 68 west through the Lo Prado tunnel towards Casablanca. Put the winery’s own entrance into your navigation app, not Casablanca town, because several estates are reached from side roads. Google Maps directions from Santiago to Casablanca are a good start; change the destination to the winery once your booking is confirmed.

Allow at least 1 hour 15 minutes from central Santiago to a winery booking, plus time to cross the city. On long weekends much of Santiago drives to the coast on Ruta 68, and the highway operator runs special traffic and toll arrangements for those dates, so leave earlier then. Ruta 68 is a tolled highway between Santiago and the coast, with main-line toll plazas at Lo Prado and Zapata. Rates vary by vehicle type and time of day and are sometimes cut on holiday weekends. Sacyr took over the concession in July 2025, and the plan is a move to fully barrier-free tolling, so ask your rental company how tolls are charged before you set off. Check whether the car has an electronic toll tag (TAG) and whether the company adds a fee for using it. Which plazas you pass depends on your route and exits, so do not simply add up every toll on the highway; current rates are on the Ruta 68 site.

Most established wineries have parking for visitors. Check with each estate if you are driving a larger vehicle, and ask which entrance to use: some have separate entrances for the restaurant, the tastings and the production area.

The bigger issue is the tasting. Chile has a zero-tolerance drink-drive law: above 0.3 g of alcohol per litre of blood, a driver is legally under the influence, and at 0.8 g/L or more the law treats it as drunk driving, with heavier penalties. These are legal limits for the driver, so if you are driving, do not drink. One person in the car has to stay sober all day, winery pours included. Our self-drive vs wine tour page sets out the law and what it means for your day.

A hire car pays off when you are doing more than a tasting, such as combining Casablanca with the coast or a longer road trip. For a single wine day from Santiago where everyone wants to taste, a tour usually costs about the same once you add the rental, insurance, fuel and tolls, and nobody has to stay sober.

From the airport

If you land and want to go straight to the valley, Santiago’s international airport is about 75 km from Casablanca along Ruta 68, a drive of under an hour. The Valparaíso, Viña del Mar and Casablanca day lists airport pickup on request at USD 15 per person each way.

Do not book a winery tasting straight after a long international flight. Immigration, baggage and the car rental desk can all run late. Spend the first night in Santiago, or go straight to accommodation near Casablanca and start tasting the next day. If you must visit on arrival day, book a private transfer and leave plenty of margin.

Tours that pick up from airport-area hotels often charge extra. The Four Casablanca Wineries tour asks you to request airport-area pickup in advance and charges a supplement, paid to the local operator on the day.

A tour is the easy option

With a tour, all of that is one booking: pickup, the drive, the winery visits, and nobody in your group has to skip the wine. A wine-focused day usually lasts eight to ten hours. Depending on the tour you get hotel pickup, an air-conditioned vehicle, a guide, winery entry and booked tastings. Lunch is often excluded even when the route stops at a restaurant.

Pickup is usually from central districts such as Santiago Centro, Providencia, Las Condes and Vitacura, and the exact time may only arrive the evening before. If you are staying elsewhere, check before you book. Choose a tour that states how many tastings are included: the cheapest day can cost more once you pay for the tastings yourself.

For a dedicated wine day we would book Casablanca Valley 4 Vineyards, from $149 per person (September 2026) and rated 4.9 from 148 Viator reviews. It picks you up at your accommodation and runs 9 hours, with tastings at Emiliana, Bodegas RE and Casa Valle Viñamar, then a lunch stop at Tanino restaurant at Casas del Bosque, where you order a la carte at your own cost. It is a shared group, and the guides are trilingual in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Our breakdown has the full detail.

The Four Casablanca Wineries day is the close alternative: 10 hours from $139, admission at Emiliana, Bodegas RE and Casa del Molle, and a lunch stop at Tanino at your own expense. Its 671 Viator reviews at 4.8 make it the most-reviewed dedicated wine tour on this site, and groups are capped at 15.

If you would like the car to yourselves, the private Emiliana, William Cole and Casa del Bosque tour runs 8 hours from $150 per person, with pickup in Santiago Centro, Las Condes, Vitacura or Providencia. Lunch at Casa del Bosque is paid separately.

Private driver or private wine tour

A private driver sits between a hire car and a tour: you choose the wineries and someone else drives. The two sound alike but book differently.

Choose a driver if you have already picked your wineries, and a private tour if you want someone to organize the day. Before you book a driver, ask:

• What is the total for the whole vehicle, not the price per person?
• How many hours are included, and does the driver wait during tastings?
• What happens if lunch runs late, and is there an overtime charge?
• Are tolls, fuel, parking and the return to Santiago included?
• Is there a surcharge for pickup near the airport or outside central Santiago?

Private does not always mean custom. The Private Casablanca Valley Wine Tour: Veramonte and Viñamar runs about 4.5 hours from your address in Santiago, from $267 per person, with a flexible private route; it has 5.0 from only 3 GetYourGuide reviews, too few to judge it by. Other private days follow fixed winery bookings. If you want a particular estate, such as Kingston Family Vineyards, ask the operator to confirm it in writing before you pay. For two people, compare the private price with a shared tour; for four or more, ask for a quote for the whole vehicle.

Taxi or Uber to the wineries

A taxi or app ride can take you from Santiago straight to one winery. The trouble is the ride back. Casablanca Valley is rural, cars may be scarce near the vineyards, a one-way driver may not wait for several hours, and the return can cost more than the way out. Mobile coverage can also be patchy, so do not count on ordering a car at the last minute.

A taxi works for a single winery with a return ride booked in advance, or a transfer between two known addresses. For several wineries, book a driver by the hour or for the day. An app fare quoted in Santiago does not cover waiting time, hops between wineries or the return.

What the transport costs

The cheapest ticket does not always make the cheapest wine day.

Example: two people by bus

Two people take the bus from Santiago to Casablanca and back at about CLP 4,000 each way: CLP 16,000 for both. Two standard tastings each at CLP 27,000, the Aromas price at Casas del Bosque, add CLP 108,000. That is CLP 124,000 before taxis from town, lunch and tips. It is only an example: wineries charge different amounts. Once you add the taxis, the saving against a shared tour shrinks. If you are already staying in the valley, booking tastings directly is much cheaper. Our page on Casablanca Valley wine tasting prices has every winery’s fees and the costs a tour leaves out.

A wine day without a car

Without a car, the easiest day is a pre-booked trip with two or three tastings and time for lunch. A day could run like this:

This is only an example; the real schedule depends on the operator’s timetable, opening hours, booked slots and traffic.

For a first visit, pick wineries that differ. Emiliana explains organic and biodynamic farming, Bodegas RE shows an unusual approach to blending, and Casas del Bosque has a restaurant for lunch. Build the route around your confirmed bookings and ignore the order on a map. For a shorter day, two good tastings and a long lunch beat four rushed stops.

Adding the coast

The valley lies roughly two-thirds of the way from Santiago to Valparaíso, so many day trips combine the two. The Valparaíso and Viña del Mar coast tour is rated 4.9 from 8,948 Viator reviews, from $75, with one tasting at a Casablanca vineyard; the same day is also on GetYourGuide. The Best Trip Chile coast day is from $61 on GetYourGuide, with a 45-minute tasting stop. On both, lunch is at your own expense and the wine is one stop in a long day. The live price for every tour is on its booking page.

Casablanca is about 40 km from Valparaíso and 80 km from Santiago, so you can also stop at a winery on a one-way trip to the coast. Leave Santiago in the morning, visit a winery and have lunch, then carry on to Valparaíso or Viña del Mar, with no drive back to the city. You need your own car with a sober driver, or a private transfer that includes the winery stop, and room for your luggage; a standard day tour returns to Santiago.

• A dedicated wine tour suits you if tasting and learning about wine come first.
• A coast day with one tasting suits you if you have one day and want to see more of central Chile.
• A private one-way transfer suits you if you are changing hotels between Santiago and the coast.

Arriving on a cruise

If your ship docks in Valparaíso, the Cruise Transfer with Valparaíso Tour & Casablanca Wine Tasting collects you at the cruise terminal, includes a Valparaíso tour with a funicular ride and a Casablanca tasting, and drops you at Santiago airport or your hotel, from $109 per person with 4.7 from 261 Viator reviews. Lunch is not included. Confirm the pickup time against your ship’s arrival before you book.

When to leave Santiago

For a full wine day, leave around 8 to 9 a.m. That leaves time for several tastings and lunch before the drive back in the late afternoon. Tours have fixed pickup times, so the operator sets this for you.

On weekdays, traffic depends on the commute across the city to Ruta 68. On weekends and public holidays, the bigger delay is traffic to the coast. Start winery visits in the morning if you plan several stops; a late start leaves too little time for tours and lunch. Many wineries run visits only at set times, so plan around your confirmed tasting slots as well as the drive time.

Before you set off

• Book tastings ahead. Chile’s tourism board advises reserving, especially at busy times and if you want an English-language tasting or a vineyard lunch.
• Bring a light jacket. Casablanca can feel cooler than Santiago, and afternoon sea breezes reach the terraces.
• Wear comfortable shoes. Vineyard tours cross gravel paths and uneven ground; see what to wear to a wine tasting in Chile.
• Carry water and sun protection, especially in the warmer months.
• Keep your bookings offline. Save winery confirmations, operator contacts and pickup details on your phone, and the exact location of each winery entrance.
• Check the language of each tasting when you book.
• Allow 90 minutes for lunch if food matters to you.

Where to go next

If you only need to reach Casablanca town, take the bus. If you are continuing to the coast or touring Chile on your own, a hire car gives you freedom, as long as someone stays sober. For a relaxed day of tastings, a tour is the simplest choice, and a private driver or private tour suits a special occasion. Choose the wineries first, then the transport that lets you enjoy them.

For the full lineup of wine days, see Casablanca Valley wine tours from Santiago. If the coast appeals, read Casablanca + Valparaíso wine tours, and for a car of your own, private Casablanca Valley wine tours. Our guide to choosing a tour compares every option. If the 4 Vineyards day fits, check availability.