Vanity Fair Italia has just published a long travel feature by Luca Oliveri and Andrea Marangon about a fourteen-day trip through Chile. Their message is simple and rather appealing as the autumn evenings draw in: slow down, look at the horizon and let a place change your pace. Here is our short take on the route they describe, from a painted port city to one of the driest places on Earth.
Valparaíso: a city of colour and art
The journey begins in Valparaíso, which locals simply call “Valpo”. The historic quarter of this port city was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2003, and UNESCO describes it as a rare example of late 19th-century urban and architectural development in Latin America. The city grew rich on shipping before the Panama Canal opened in 1914 and changed the trade routes. Today visitors come for its steep funiculars, its houses painted yellow, coral, green and blue that climb more than forty hills, and its famous street murals. The writers also spent time in local galleries, admiring the vivid, heavily textured portraits of the painter Gonzalo Illabaca. Nearby, the sand dunes of Concón are a favourite spot to watch the sun go down.
Matanzas: wind, waves and quiet cabins
From the coast near Valparaíso, the route heads to Matanzas, a small village a little over two hours’ drive from Santiago and well known among kitesurfers. It is not somewhere you pass by chance: the road winds through bare hills until a huge Pacific beach suddenly opens up below. The travellers stayed for three days in two simple wooden cabins, La Loica and La Tagua, named after two birds that are symbols of Chile. Large windows frame the ocean, and the constant wind sets the rhythm of the day. In the evening, coastal restaurants serve the catch of the day and local produce, keeping food miles low.
Into the Atacama
The trip later moves north to the Atacama Desert, around San Pedro de Atacama, where the Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley) offers dunes and ridges in shades of red and gold. Lagoons above 4,000 metres reflect the sky like a mirror, and the silence is total. National Geographic and NASA both describe the Atacama as one of the driest non-polar places on the planet.
A journey like this calls for light luggage and a few pieces that work from beach to dinner table. Simple earrings, a favourite pendant necklace or a stacking set of rings are easy to pack and bring a little polish to sandy days.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia, “Cile, il grande viaggio” by Luca Oliveri and Andrea Marangon (11 October 2026); UNESCO World Heritage Centre, “Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso”; National Geographic, Atacama Desert.
