3 days in Chile
 

We will be arriving in Valparaiso from a cruise on a Sunday morning in January and flying out of Santiago on the following Tuesday evening. Any suggestions on how we might spend the time--Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Santiago, or some combination? At this point I'm not sure whether after a two week cruise we will be looking for some down time or something more active.

You need just a day for know Vina Mar and Valparaiso. We did adjustments for our trips with www.enaturchile.com they are high recommended and not request money in advance. In our transfer from Santiago to Valparaiso, we visited a vineyard and the main demonstrations of Vina Mar and Valparaiso. we think that it was sufficient. Definitively you have many more to see in Santiago, like the Vineyards, you must do tour by the city because, is great, interesting and cosmopolitan, with an old sector with beautiful buildings and other modern very clean and calm. In downtown there are two hills, in which you can see the city from the heights, there is a Central Market with good restaurants of seafood, a deserving place to know
We remained in the Marriott hotel, the service is excellent, with ample rooms, with view to the mountain, definitively very recommendable

I hope to have been able to help

Thinigs I did for a day in Santiago (Note that you might want to spread these over two days). I did not do the funicular/tram but most people I talked to there seemed to enjoy that. You can start near La Chascona.

As you can see re the Mercado the tip was that the restaurants in the center are all oriented to tourists. Also would you feel hungry amidst the smell of a fish market?

And I forgot to post the link to the trip report...duh

http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...rip-report.cfm

Valparaiso deserves at least a day to explore its historic hills.
Santiago also deserves a day or two. The Mercado is wonderful and we loved eating in the fish market..but fish and shellfish are our favorite foods. The little retaurant we ate in was filled with Chileans, not tourists.
The view from the top of the Cerro was beautiful.
Too bad you don't have more time in this region of Chile.