Santiago is Chile's capital and the largest city of the country with around 8M inhabitants. It is located in the centre of the county and is surrounded by hills and mountains (The Andes).
It is the financial and business centre in the country. It was nice to visit (and especially at the beginning of our trip), but definitely not the highlight of our trip. The city has been strongly impacted by the 2019-2022 protest and many buildings are covered by grafittis. Every Friday evenings, there are still some small localised riots happening and you can see some impressive police "tanks" in the streets of the capital.
If you have limited time in Chile, we would not recommend you to spend more than one day or two in town, and frankly you could probably also skip it altogether. If you have a few days scheduled and Santiago and not planning to dedicate any days to go to Valparaiso, we would highly suggest you go to Valparaiso for a day trip. (via a tour or on your own) - see separate post on Valparaiso.
General advise when travelling to Chile
Visa: a tourist visa is delivered at arrival and valid for 90 days (for Americans, Europeans and British passport holders at least)
Do not bring any valuables. Although Chile is much safer than other Latin American countries, you still need to be careful, watch out for pickpockets and avoid certain areas/streets, especially by night. By night, our local friend recommended us to use taxis/Uber to travel within Santiago/Valparaiso, even for short distances.
Clothes: it depends on your itinerary but you are likely to need a mix of warm and summer clothes. Santiago can be very warm while Patagonia or the Atacama desert by night can get very cold. In any cases, do not forget your sun scream and rain jacket!
We found very convenient to have our own refillable water bottle with us. Most Chileans are very environmentally conscious and encourage tourists to avoid buying plastic bottles. Talking about water, while it is OK to drink water in Patagonia, it is not recommended to drink tap water or unfiltered water in other areas, especially in Santiago or Valparaiso. Your stomach could get a little upset if you are not used to it.
Restaurants. Most restaurants (across the whole country) have moved to digital-only menu. So if the place does not have the wifi, there is no way you can access a menu. While many venues have a free wifi, it might be a good idea to have ways to turn on your data in restaurants. Regarding the tips, it is very easy. Each restaurant will add 10% to the bill and they will always ask you which amount you want to pay (with or without the tip- they call it "propina"). Chilean restaurants tend to serve good quantities so be careful if you order a plate of empanadas "just as a starter" to share!
Payment. Most places accept credit cards/contactless payments and actually there are quite a few places that do not accept any payments by cash anymore. So that's a good idea to always have a bit of cash with you but you should be able to pay most restaurants/shops by card. Hotel payment: we did not know that paying hotels in US dollars would give you a 19% VAT relief (you can pay in US dollars by cash or by card but this discount is likely to offset any international bank fees to pay in a different currency). The hotels will always ask you for your visa paper as they need to take a copy of it (little white paper that they give you at the immigration counter when you get in Chile)
Health: good news! No mosquitoes, no malaria and no zika (except in Easter Island)! No specific vaccines required either! The biggest thing to be aware of when travelling to Chile is the altitude in certain parts of the country.
How to go to Santiago?
By plane
There is a direct flight from London with British Airways leaving in the evening (around 10PM). We did not feel so tired when we landed as the time difference with England was only 3 hours at this time of the year and with so many hours in a plane (14h40), you end up being able to rest for a significant good amount of time! It was harder for us to come back as the plane leaves Santiago around 1PM and land in the UK at 6AM. By the time you start to get tired, you only have a couple of hours left to sleep in the plane before they serve you breakfast. The flight back is an hour short (13h40).
Other European cities may also have direct flights to the Chilean capital. In any cases, Santiago airport will be a mandatory stop if you want to go anywhere else in the country.
Airport to city centre
Our local friend recommended us to avoid using Uber from the airport as it tends to get complicated to meet them and some Uber drivers can be a little difficult. Instead, use one of the "Official" taxis. Basically, after collecting your checked luggage and before exiting the gates where everyone is waiting, you will find a couple of counters (in both domestic and international terminals) with people shouting "Official taxi". This is where you should book and pay for your taxi. It costed us 24,000 Chilean pesos. The ride takes 15-30min depending on traffic and where you go exactly.
Where to stay in Santiago?
There are several areas that you can select for your stay in Santiago: the historic center including Barrio Lastarria or Berrio Bellavista, Providencia (wealthy and residential area) and las Condes (a little further away from the center, very wealthy area with glittering skyscrapers).
We stayed in Hotel San Francisco Plaza (in the center: Av. O'Higgins 816): very comfortable hotel, good value for money, very central, nice indoor swimming pool and fitness center. A little "old school" in the style with an oak-panelled reception but very clean and mannered staff.
Other recommendations (depending on your budget) would include the W hotel in las Condes, that includes a rooftop pool and is known as a good place to party.
If you are looking for a hotel close to the airport, we found a good hotel located 5-10 min drive away from the airport: La Quinta by Wyndham: good value for money, modern and with complimentary shuttles (that you can organise on whatsapp).
What to do in Santiago city?
Visit the historic center ("Santiago Centro")
Cerro Santa Lucia: free-entrance park located on the top of a hill and several entrances (Av O'Higgins & Santa Lucia). Go up to the top and get a nice view of the city from Torre Mirrador. When you are done, grab an ice cream in calle Lastarria. A nice one if you have a couple of spare hours in the area.
Mercado central: open every day of the week. Worth a visit. In the center, very nice architecture. You can also decide to stop and have a lunch in one of the restaurants located inside the central market. (fresh fish guaranteed!)
Plaza de Armas: one of the main squares of the capital city, very busy area. A few key buildings to look for: 1/ Catedral Metropolitana (you can visit for free; pictures #2 and #3 below) 2/ Post office 3/ Museo Historico Nacional (1st picture below) - free -colonial furniture and objects + Chile's colonial and republican history
Centro Gabriele Mistral (Barrio Lastarria): we did not visit this venue but it is a cultural arts and performing-arts center
Palacio de la Moneda: Chile's presidential offices are located inside this building. Unfortunately, it is not anymore possible to visit this building.
A lot of other museums: Fine Arts, Contemporary Arts, Visual Arts, Archaeological museum, etc.
Visit Barrio Italia: recommended by our local friend, it is a very small and trendy area (basically two stripes - Av. Italia and Condell), which makes it a very nice place to go to grab lunch or meet up with friends for a coffee or a brunch. You will also find some art galleries and antique / local fashion shops.
Visit Barrio Bellavista
Walk around the very colourful streets
Go to Cerro San Cristobal with the funicular or the cabin
Attend a football game. Not something we have done, but it would have been nice retrospectively
Where to eat/drink?
Most of our recommendations will be located in Barrio Lastarria, where you can find one of the most famous stripes for food and drinks in the capital.
Le Bistrot Viet: Vietnamiese food with some French influence. Great terrasse on the upper floor. Booking recommended.
Chipe Libre (Independiente del Pisco): Peruvian food - fine dining with some very good ceviche and steak dishes. A great place to grab a pistour sour or another cocktail. Booking recommended (see pictures above)
Bocanariz: tapas/wine bard. Booking recommended. Not tested but recommended by a local.
Tres Valles Restaurant Lastarria: variety of food (fish, meat, etc.) including pizza. Tables inside or in the street.
Barra Experimental: nice place to grab a beer or a cocktail before dinner or later in the night. A few tables available in the street.
Bar La Junta: good place to catch up with friends, good capacity, large variety of food inc. empanadas to share. Good place to watch football games. We found it a little pricey.
Barrio Italia/Av. Italia: a lot of funk coffees in av. Italia and Condell
The Jazz Corner - piano bar
Costa Lima - 3 different kitchen: oka oka burger, costa lima (peruvian) and satkar indian. Very nice little patio where you can order from any of the three kitchens. I particularly appreciated the octopus ordered from costa lima.
Patio Bellavista (Barrio Bellavista): we did not try any restaurants in this mini-mall (as it was not time to eat) but there were quite a fair number of restaurants that looked good!
Cerro Bellavista is very known for the night life so probably plenty of restaurants/bars to enjoy in the evening in that area.
Doña Tina (Cam. los Refugios del Arrayan 15125, Lo Barnechea): very traditional restaurant located at the very edge of the city. Our local friends brought us there for lunch so that we could try a few traditional Chilean dishes: empanadas (esp. with shrimps and cheese), riquisimo pastel de choclo (made from sweetcorn) and others! It was a great local experience. You will need a car or take a taxi to get there.
The famous drinks to try when in Chile:
Chilean Malbec (red wine)
Pisco sour: alcoholic Chilean/Peruvian cocktail.The drink's name comes from pisco, which is its base liquor, and the cocktail term sour, about sour citrus juice and sweetener components.
"Mote con huesillos": traditional Chilean summer-time drink often sold in street stands or vendor carts. It is a non-alcoholic beverage consisting of a sweet clear nectar-like liquid made with dried peaches cooked in sugar, water and cinnamon, and then once cooled, mixed with fresh cooked husked wheat berries. It is very sweet so probably best to share one the first time you try!
How to travel within the city?
Take a taxi or Uber
Use public transport (Metro)
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