Centro Astronomico Alfa Aldea — Attraction in Vicuña

I absolutely cannot recommend Alfa Aldea, we asked for the tour in English six days in advance and had a good feeling with them, so we made a reservation with them, instead of Observatorio del Pangue, as we wanted to have a tour with maximum ten people. At the day of the planned tour, they told us that they cannot offer an English tour that day, as the one and only English speaking guide had to leave Vicuña unexpected. We decided to do the Spanish tour, although we do not speak much Spanish and told them our decision, but they just did not answer anymore and did not show up for picking us up at our accomodation at the agreed time. They have no office in town and it was our last evening in Vicuña. The office of Observatorio del Pangue was already closed at 9pm, but luckily Mamalluca was still open and had free places available for the same night. Mamalluca always has big groups, but at least we had not to leave Vicuña without stargazing. Very untrustworthy observatory! If you are looking for small groups, better book with Observatorio del Pangue, if you don't mind, go...

I’m sorry to have to give my honest opinion but I was very disappointed after my “tour” of the stars at Alfa Aldea. Ours was a group of one Italian, four French and myself from Australia. When the tour was booked, I was told It would be conducted in english by Gabriel. It was conducted in broken English and at a level that was insufficient to explain much. For example he told me that there had been rain for the last two days and I couldn’t figure out what he was saying at first. He meant shower, as in meteor shower. The French spoke better English than he did. They asked him why Venus was only seen as a half hemisphere and he couldn’t explain it to them at all in English. At the end of the tour the French asked him in english what was the relevance of the different sounds heard on the radiotelescope and he was stuck for words and ended up launching into Spanish for 2 minutes and of course I couldn’t understand any of it. We were served wine, a cup of soup and a piece of garlic bread which were all good. The people are nice. I just don’t think it was...

We had a brilliant stay here in January - the accommodation is in a beautiful setting in the middle of a quiet vineyard with incredible views. The on site pool, Astro observatory and hammocks mean there’s something for everybody and the rooms are lovely with en suites with decent showers, plenty of space with tvs and kettles too if needed.

Breakfast was great with fresh fruit, bread and cheese platter. We also had eggs made on request for no extra cost.

The staff were really welcoming, clearly cared about guests and interested in people. I think that you would be happy and have fun staying there whether a couple, a family or a group travelling. Really relaxed vibes.

Astro tour was also brilliant, added wine and soup when it got cold was a bonus! Sebastian was really knowledgeable and managed the group really well with plenty of time observing. Came away feeling we had learnt and seen new things in a really inclusive environment - translating from Spanish to English as well which was really...