Santiago/Valpo and Machu Pichu in 8 nights?
 

This will be intense. I know. But, I'd love to explore possibilities with all the experts on this forum. We (family with two college-age students) will be visiting Chile around the holidays at the end of December. One of the students has been studying in Chile and travelled extensively while there. She would love us to have a taste of what she enjoyed and we would all like to experience something she hasn't already experienced. We've floated the idea of Machu Pichu but are open to other non-Chilean options.

Day one - Arrive in Santiago early AM
Day two - full day Santiago
Day three- five - Valpo
Day six-eight Machu Pichu (including travel time)
Day nine - return to States

This is tight and my other concern is that tourist attractions may be closed on Christmas.

What would you advise? Any tips or suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Do you have to go back to Santiago or can you fly home out of Lima?

I don't think I would do it unless I had at least 4 days for the MP side trip. You probably will need most of the first day just to get Santiago to Cusco by air. If you can make it to Ollantaytambo that evening it will help.

That still really gives you only one day to take the train and sightsee MP. It would be better to have a second (rest day) in Ollantaytambo to adjust a bit to altitude.

The last day probably the afternoon is taken by flying back to Lima (assuming you are leaving from there?)

And yes, it will be extremely crowded over the holidays.

It is extremely tight on the Machu Picchu portion and you would need perfect weather (it will be rainy season) and all flights on time.

It takes 1.5 hrs to get to Valparaiso from Santiago and you could do it as a day trip, adding the other days to Perú.

It only makes sense as an open jawed ticket, into Santiago and out of Lima, as you should be in Santiago a day before an international flight. I would even suggest meeting in Perú as you will see virtually nothing of Chile anyway.

I agree it's too tight - have you considered Easter Island? If you got lucky the flight schedule might give you almost 2 full days to tour EI.

Thanks for all your insights. So, it seems like either we add days to the MP portion or explore something else, like Eater Island. I hadn't thought about weather and altitude adjustments. Any other tips?