I’ve been to Chile only once, but I think I can give some tips ;)

Bear in mind that “the best things to do” may vary from person to person. Me and my fiancée particularly don’t drink wine so we didn’t explore this part of Chile. And we haven’t been to the north part either (north of Santiago), but there are a lot of things to see there too.

My tips are:

1. Go to Valle Las Trancas, east of Chillán: a beautiful valley that is green in the summer and white in the winter. If you are from europe you may be familiar with this kind of scenery but I loved it. You get there by bus from Chillán (400km from Santiago)
2. Go to Pucón and climb the Volcán Villarica: this you can only do in the summer, as far as I know. You have to be prepared but it’s worth it. You take 5 hours to climb the 3000m volcano and the view from the top is breathtaking. There are a lot of companies that organize excursions.
3. In Puerto Montt, you can get a ferry to Patagonia. It’s a cool experience, but it can be expensive. I particularly got a ferry to Puerto Chacabuco, a 24h trip. There are ferries to Puerto Natales too, in the extreme south, and these take 3 days and are much more expensive.
4. Go to Patagonia: it’s a place unlike any other in the world. It’s difficult to explain, but you have to go there. It’s just a different kind of scenery, even the water has different colors. They say time passes more slowly in Patagonia, and it’s true.
5. Go to Punta Arenas: unfortunately I had not the time to go there, but everyone that I talked to recommended it. There’s the Torres Del Paine national park and it’s amazing. If you like camping you can do a 7 day hike to get to know the park.

I only stayed there for 13 days, but hope these tips help!

Cheers,

Guilherme