Used GV tours in Puerto Montt recently??

Has anyone used GV tours in Puerto Montt recently? Am interested in current recommendations.

Thanks,

I'll be on their tour in six days (yay!!). When I get home (after 12/11), I'll try to remember to post a review here for you.

Have a great time. Look forward to hearing what you think!

We used GV Tours last February and were very pleased with our tour.

If you're up for it, click on my review (in my signature, and go to the Puerto Montt section) you'll be able to read what we did and our appreciation. We ended up with Gail's daughter as a guide - and while she's pretty young, she was a good host and guide for the day.

I would book them again without hesitation. They took our reservation through email and we paid in full at the end of the tour.

Hope this helps!

MC

They were great in Feb 2006 too! Read my review for details.

Just got back yesterday.

DEFINITELY I recommend GV tours. The price is right, and they provide an excellent tour of the Puerto Montt area, with a vast knowledge for their commentary. We filled up three of their vehicles; I was in the car with Veronica. Her husband Gail was in the 2nd, and the daughter was in the third. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the tour.

Thanks for the recommendations! Hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip too.

Looking forward to going in just a few weeks.

Tenngal,

I'm booked with them for March of this coming year. When you say they had three vehicles, did the three groups stay together for the tour or do they go off separately? Doesn't matter either way. Just a curiousity question.

Cathy

CathyK2,

Our 3 vehicles "loosely" stayed together. There were several places visited, and we didn't travel caravan-style, but saw the others at each stop we made. Sometimes, one carload would stay a little longer at a spot. In one area near Petrohue Falls, our car passed by one place, to scout ahead to see if the next place was less crowded at the moment. It was, so the other cars were instructed to come ahead to that spot beyond the Falls. Then, when the crowds at the Falls left to come to our spot, we went to the Falls, and enjoyed them without the crowds!

Plus, I told Veronica that I wanted to buy some Chilean wine to take back to the ship. So, our car took a slightly different route back to the ship, so we could stop at a local groeery store. I bought two bottles of the BEST reds I've ever had, for about $13 total! I highly recommend Concho y Toro's Castillo de Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006. This was Veronica's suggestion, by the way. (If you take a winery tour between Santiago and Valpo, I was told that this winery is one of those visited, so you can buy some there as well.)

Thanks for the recommendation on the wine. Looked for it today for a sort of pre sailing try and the Cab was all sold out. Must be a lot of CC shoppers around here!

Did you have any problems bringing the wine back onboard? We like to sample the local wines and would be willing to pay the corkage fee if they would only let us carry the bottles on board with us.

Did you take any other wonderful tours?

Florida1,

I bought wine at Puerto Montt, 2 bottles, no problem bringing it back on board. I bought another 2 bottles at Punta Arenas. When I brought it back on board, my bag was inspected, but the inspector only wanted to know if I was carrying any liquor. I said no, only 2 bottles of wine. The inspector looked at the bottles, then let me go ahead to my cabin with them. Now, I heard from a couple of other passengers that their wine was held aside, to be returned at the end of the cruise. Perhaps I was just lucky, but I didn't try to hide anything--just took it right onboard and through the scanner in my tote bag. I imbibed from them in my cabin, rather than paying corkage fees. (I just went ahead and bought wine for dinnertime in the restaurant. And, no, I couldn't finish all four bottles I brought aboard in 2 weeks, but I tried! I ended up bringing a bottle home. I'm thinking it will be a good Christmas gift, but I'm not sure I can part with it!)

Other tours I took (all independent and organized with fellow Roll Call participants): Santiago to Valparaiso transfer--RutaChile tour of Vina del Mar and Valparaiso; Punta Arenas--Turismo Nuevo Mundo to Magdalena Island; Falklands--Patrick Watts to Volunteer Point (= BEST tour for penguins, but was expensive); Puerto Madryn--Huinca Travel, originally reserved for Punta Tombo, but changed tour to Peninsula Valdes instead (we were "penguined out" by then, and decided to go see the elephant seals).

At Ushuaia, most of us CCer's took ship's tour to Beagle Channel/Tierra del Fuego.

Montevideo: walked around town and beach walk near port.

Buenos Aires: stayed overnight--saw city on my own, along with two of my dinner table companions. Just used taxis--cheap!

Everything was great!

Thanks to Tenngal and all others who responded and gave so much information. Am soooooo looking forward to our cruise.

Thanks again.

CathyK2,

Our 3 vehicles "loosely" stayed together. There were several places visited, and we didn't travel caravan-style, but saw the others at each stop we made. Sometimes, one carload would stay a little longer at a spot. In one area near Petrohue Falls, our car passed by one place, to scout ahead to see if the next place was less crowded at the moment. It was, so the other cars were instructed to come ahead to that spot beyond the Falls. Then, when the crowds at the Falls left to come to our spot, we went to the Falls, and enjoyed them without the crowds!

 

Plus, I told Veronica that I wanted to buy some Chilean wine to take back to the ship. So, our car took a slightly different route back to the ship, so we could stop at a local groeery store. I bought two bottles of the BEST reds I've ever had, for about $13 total! I highly recommend Concho y Toro's Castillo de Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006. This was Veronica's suggestion, by the way. (If you take a winery tour between Santiago and Valpo, I was told that this winery is one of those visited, so you can buy some there as well.)

Did you need Chilean pesos or were you able to use US dollars to buy the wine - thanks for the suggestion!!

We will be in Puerto Montt, Feb 22nd 2008, so have a question Re

does GV Tour give you a little time to purchase some handcrafts?

(not that I dont like wine)

or do you recommend elsewhere for these tyr purchases. How long

was the tour? and How did you pay / options for payment

I have emailed GV Tours this evening and am awaiting their response

Thank you:)

i have tried several times to contact gt tours chile. can someone give me their correct addresss. it would be much appreciated. have need in early april. jh

Had a wonderful tour with Veronica in February 2007. Would certainly recommend them in Porto Montt

i have tried several times to contact gt tours chile. can someone give me their correct addresss. it would be much appreciated. have need in early april. jh

I received an e-mail from Gail Stein just about a week ago, and this was his e-mail addy: gvstein@surnet.cl He's always been extremely prompt in answering my inquiries.

I believe you're on our Star Princess sailing. Hope you decide to join us on this tour!

Nancycoop,

I used my credit card. I didn't have any pesos at the time.

Annski,

The tour was about 6 hours, total. There are plenty of places along the way to buy handicrafts--at Emerald Lake I bought an alpaca scarf for $5, at Petrohue Falls I bought a beautiful handmade cotton-weave dress and matching long jacket for $60 (I talked the proprietor down from a higher price!). Paid for both items in US dollars.

Also, I almost bought a beautiful wool cloak at another stop.

I did more shopping on this tour than on the rest of the entire cruise! Every port had good handicraft markets near the piers. You won't be disappointed!

Tenngal - thanks so much for the info on shopping. It sounds fanastic.

Nancy

We just sent off an email today about to Gail Stein. Hopefully we will be abe to join you all on this tour. Are you or anyone you know doing a private tour in Montevideo? We would like to join or arrrange a tour in a good company at this port. We are late, in doing research, have been gone for most of november and december. Thanks again for the e-mail address and looking forward to thanking you in person.

We used GV Tours on 22 January and had a fantastic time. As there were 16 of us we had two vans that could hold 12 people each so with only eight in each there was plenty of room. I was with Gail and their daughter, Annie, was the guide in the other. The two vans started off together and finished together but we rarely saw each other as they parked in different places. Gail was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Chile and the area in particular. I am told that Annie was likewise. Although we had an organised tour, quite frequently Gail would say 'Would you like to see...? As the answer was always 'yes' we would then do a detour or make an unscheduled stop. Before we had left the UK Gail had telephoned me to make sure that he had all the details correct as his email did not appear to be working OK. He wasn't aware that when he 'phoned it was 3 o'clock in the morning!!! I forgave him as the tour was so good.

We also used GV Tours in January and would highly recommend them. As a hint, be sure to reconfirm your tours before you leave the US. Almost missed 2 in our group as they had not done so.

Have fun!!

We just returned from the Star Princess and used GV tours during our stop in Puerto Montt. There were 8 of us and we had Veronica, Gail's wife, as our guide. She was absolutely delightful! She was very knowledgeable, spoke flawless English and very patient with our numerous questions. At the end of the tour, she even took us to a neighborhood market and helped us select some Chilean wines. The only hitch in the day was at the beginning. The driver was about 15 minutes late in arriving and Veronica was very apologetic. In spite of that mix-up, I would give her a perfect "10" as a guide. Do not hesitate to use them.

We just returned from the Star Princess and used GV tours during our stop in Puerto Montt. There were 8 of us and we had Veronica, Gail's wife, as our guide. She was absolutely delightful! She was very knowledgeable, spoke flawless English and very patient with our numerous questions. At the end of the tour, she even took us to a neighborhood market and helped us select some Chilean wines. The only hitch in the day was at the beginning. The driver was about 15 minutes late in arriving and Veronica was very apologetic. In spite of that mix-up, I would give her a perfect "10" as a guide. Do not hesitate to use them.

Our group also used GV Tours. We were in the first van to leave and had a very full day. The trip was well organized and included lunch as well. The Chilean lunch was great (stay with the fish as your entree). If you book please let Gail know that you read about him on CC and that Gail says hi!. Gail

we just returned from our cruise and used gv tours also. Not only were they wonderful, but they also accepted some new people on the tour that we had met on the ship.