Santiago was a surprise for us…a gateway to our recent Antarctica cruise and a stopover before 10 days in Patagonia, we had the opportunity to get to know the city. Because Santiago is gateway to Patagonia in the south or and the Atacama Desert to the north, and lots of cruises use Valparaiso Chile (to the west) as a cruise embarkation port, many travelers might find themselves in this modern, relatively safe, well organized city for a few days. If you have 48 hours (or MORE!) to explore Santiago, we highly recommend spending some time exploring! Here are our top picks for things to do based on our recent visit.

Getting Around the Neighborhoods

We were based in a high end international hotel in the Las Condes neighborhood and a comfortable apartment in Providenica neighborhood. We could easily walk around these neighborhoods and use the metro system, to pass through areas where we might not have felt comfortable walking, we found the Metro to be clean, safe (with ordinary precautions) and easy to navigate. We had more difficulty using ride share apps. It appeared when we used our app with the United States phone numbers, we did not get available drivers accepting out ride, but having the concierge use their app with their Chilean number, cabs or ride share cars would arrive, and we could pay the driver in cash and tip the concierge. We also heard from people who had trouble with cabs leaving the airport, so if you can, arrange for a car service from the airport ahead of time. We had a recommendation from our AirBNB owner for a wonderful local “fixer” , Pablo, who arranged our airport transfers ahead of time and was available all week to take us on several tours outside of Santiago. (Private Message me if you find yourself in Santiago and need a local to help organize your transportation around the city, I’ll connect you.)

Here are few photos and ideas for touring some of the neighborhoods in Santiago!

Los Condes and El Golf

We enjoyed staying in this upscale and international area of the city, found a favorite gelato shop and a dog park where would sit among the locals each evening and people (and dog!) watch. There were some nice cafes and restaurants in this area, but it’s a more modern area with few historic attractions.

Providencia

Our Airbnb was perfectly located at the edge of Providencia, within walking distance of all of the fashionable cafes in Providencia and Los Condes, the Costanera Mall with a huge supermarket and a metro station. We found neighborhood was safe to walk in the evenings and quiet for being in the heart of the city.

Bella Vista

We found it safest to visit the Bella Vista neighborhood during the day, and that worked well because its home to the Parque Metroplitano de Santiago on the Cerro San Cristobal and it’s statue of the virgin and expansive views over the city. We were able to take the funicular, and visit Casa Museo La Chascona (the preserved home of Nobel Peace Prize winning peot, Pablo Neruda). There are also multiple park areas, pools and a zoo!

Plaza Des Armas and Central Santiago

Plaza De Armas and Santiago Centro is where we found the greatest concentration of historic sites and museums. We comfortably toured this area during daylight hours, and took a tour focusing on street art through a local guide service called Santiago Street Art Tours.

Indigenous art throughout all of Latin America is the focus of the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino and we all had our favorites; a woven example of the earliest record keeping, small clay bowls with “cat ears” and more modern pieces that interpret the pain of the people lost during the 1973 military dictatorship.

Pre Columbian art

Cerro Santa Lucia is a small vertical hillside park in the center of Santiago with an interesting history. The hill was important to the Mapuche people, and was one of the places that Spanish colonists took for strategic defense. Later a mayor developed it as a lush park and the old fort stands at the top with incredible views of the city. The park is accessible by cobblestone pedestrian ways and staircases.

West of the Center

There are several museums in the Parque Quinta Normal west of the city. We visited the human rights museum, Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos, which walks visitors through the military coup of 1973, atrocities during the dictatorship and eventual return to democracy after an historic vote held under intense international scrutiny in 1990.

East of the Center

Pueblo Los Dominicos, originally a Mapuche settlement, eventually became a colonial church community and in the 80’s was redeveloped as an artisan market. In addition to traditional Chilean woven goods, clay and wood crafts, there area variety of unique artisans creating jewelry, leather goods and a even fellow carving matchsticks into tiny sculptures.

Day Trips from Santiago

Day Trip Valparaiso and the Pacific Coast

Our visit in Feb coincided with a heat wave in Santiago, and uncontrolled wildfires to the west. Our planned visit to Valparaiso and stay in an Air Bnb there had to be scuttled for safety sake. Our driver was willing to take us out to the coast, but the Chilean and US governments were warning us not to visit and we did not feel comfortable taking the chance of getting stranded, adding to evacuation traffic, using resources needed for evacuees or exposing ourselves to breathing dangerous smoke.

Luckily, our fixer, Pablo, was able to suggest several alternatives and we were able to explore the coast further north where our daughter was able to see her first penguins in the wild!

Cachagua

Our daughter joined us in Santiago, and had two big requests…one was to see penguins in the wild, which was possible at the Playa Grande in Chacagua. The Monumento Natural Isla Cachagua refuge is visible from the beach and there are some boat tours that will take visitors out on the water nearer to the penguins (Visitors are not allowed to go on the island) but with a good pair of binoculars you can watch the antics of the penguins and see many other animals and birds who use the island for breeding and resting.

Day Trip Wine Tasting in the Casablanca Valley

Our Valparaiso plans canceled, we decided to explore the wine region of Chile, with a visit and lunch at Casa Del Bosque. We enjoyed a tasting room, walks around the vineyard and organic gardens as well as a lunch of local wines.

Day Trip Hiking in the Andes

The second request on our daughter’s “must do” list? A hike into the foot hills of the Andes. We arranged a hike with a local guide through Trip Advisor, but our daughter made a rookie mistake…it’s always important to confirm any tours booked through third party sites and receive a local contact number in case there is a missed connection. Our first attempt, we were up early and our guide never arrived. Without the a local phone number we couldn’t call to see if the guide was lost or had another issue. When the office to the tour company opened, the owner quickly rescheduled the hike for another day and we received that important contact number!

Our second attempt, was a bit cooler, mid 70s instead of mid 90s at 7 AM, and the guide was right on time. After driving a half an hour out of town, our guide took us to a trail head in Parque Cordillera (which literally means foot hills!) We headed out early while it was still cool, but we were challenged by elevation, and vertical and only hiked as far as we felt we could safely, because a successful hike is the one you survive!

With over a week to enjoy Santiago, we were able to cover a lot ground and explore several interesting spots in and around the city. If your travels take you to Santiago, be sure to leave some time to explore!