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Published: 20-12-2021
Chile s an incredibleylong country with its capital right in the middle of it! Sample the city's pisco, meander through its parks, and learn how it has healed since the Pinochet dictatorship. Attend one of Santiago´s many music or art festivals, buy seafood fresh from the market, and see where Pablo Neruda lived. On a clear day, watch the sun set over the surrounding Andes, from the Cerro Torre, the Bahá'í Temple, or the over-looking Cerro San Cristóbal. Here are some options for your stay in the Chilean capital at the beginning or the end of your Chilean vacation.
Hike Cerro San Cristóbal
Located in the Santiago Metropolitan Park, the San Cristóbal Hill rising over 300 metres above the city´s streets. Urban hikers and bikers tough it out to the top, while others take the Zorro Trail (a hybrid train/ car /elevator) up the hillside. The hilltop has panoramic views over the city and surrounding Andean mountains, once there, a large statue of the Virgin Mary, a small chapel, and lots of food sellers await you. The Park also contains a Japanese garden, zoo, and wine museum.
San Cristobal Hill
Listen to Ghost Stories at the Cementerio General de Santiago
One of the largest cemeteries in Latin America, Cementerio General de Santiago offers night tours combining live theatre, lectures, and a walk through the many graves. The “Cuentos Urbanos Tour”, led by a Franciscan monk in traditional dress, will tell you some of the famous stories of the entombed by having a local theatre company act out their demises and some alleged resurrections. The tour lasts for 90 minutes and costs 6,000 pesos ($7.65). Two of the most famous sites are the tomb of former Chilean president Salvador Allende and Patio 29, a grave site and memorial to the missing people, murdered during the Pinochet dictatorship.
Cementerio General de Santiago
Sample Seafood at Mercado Central
Fresh fish and seafood abound, serving locals and tourists since 1872, Santiago’s Central Market is where you can find a plethora of Chilean seafood dishes. Locals come in the early hours of the morning, while tourists tend to visit in the afternoon. Sample some classic dishes like pastel del jaiba (crab casserole), locos (abalone), or even erizo rojo (sea urchin), which you can purchase live. Many restaurant employees will try and persuade you to dine at their eatery, especially in the late afternoon and visit the restaurants on the edge of the market, which are generally less touristy.
Mercado Central
Walk Through Pablo Neruda's house
Originally built by the poet as a “love shack” for him and Matilde Urrutia, “La Chascona” today, is almost the same as when Neruda was alive, throwing parties from his captain's bar. The original furniture, including Neruda´s armchair, and collections of quirky objects, the art work of friends like Diego Rivera, as well as mementos of his travels abroad as a Chilean diplomat can still be found in Neruda´s house. A three-floor museum of colours, plants and elaborate drinking spaces, you can learn all about La Chascona’s history and much about Neruda himself, by renting an audio guide and walking the house on a self-guided tour.
La Chascona
Go Wine Tasting at Viña Cousino Macul
Only 15km from the city centre, the Cousino Macul vineyard offers some of the Maipo Valley’s finest wines for tasting, as well as tours to familiarize yourself with Chile’s wine history, varieties, and fermentation processes. Founded in 1856 by the Cousiño family, they still own and operate it to this day. In addition to enjoying a wine pairing with fruits and cheeses, stroll the vineyard and explore the cavernous wine cellar. All the wines are made exclusively from grapes grown on the Cousiños' two Maipo Valley estates. You can buy bottles of their carmenere, chardonnay, or syrah as the perfect gift or souvenir of your Chilean vacation as you sample the different “sepas” of their wines.
red, red wine
Immerse Yourself in Art at Centro Gabriela Mistral
The Gabriela Mistral centre (GAM) offers free art exhibitions, performing arts shows, and concerts. Open late and family-friendly, the building has an interesting and diverse past. Originally opened as a conference centre by the then President Allende and later taken over by the Pinochet dictatorship, it became a cultural centre after the fall of the Pinochet regime. Though it's named after the poet and Nobel Prize-winner Gabriela Mistral, most art inside is a celebration of many different aspects of Chilean art. In addition to a museum, the centre houses a bookstore, library, theatre, wine store, and café. Outside you can see graffiti related to protests and groups of Santiaguinos (Santiago locals).
GAM
Attend the Changing-of-the-Guard at Palacio de la Moneda
The current presidential palace of Chile, la Moneda was the site of the takeover by the military coup of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1973. After Augusto Pinochet bombed la Moneda, President Salvador Allende, the first democratically elected Marxist president in Latin America and president of Chile, died there the same day. Officially, Allende committed suicide, however many believe he was assassinated. La Moneda today, hosts art exhibits and tourists can see an elaborate changing-of-the-guard ceremony every other day.
Palacio de Moneda
See the Best View of Santiago at Sky Costanera
Sky Costanera can be found on the top of tallest building in Latin America, the Gran Torre Santiago, measuring a whopping 300 metres. The two observation decks, collectively known as “Sky Costanera,” offer a 360°-degree views of Santiago, along with a well-stocked bar and occasional live music performances with free wine. Come just before sunset to see the city bathed in golden light, with the sun descending behind one part of the Andes mountain range and the moon rising over the other
Sky Costanera
Visit the “Memoria y los Derechos Humanos” museum
El Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (Memory and Human Rights Museum) tells the stories of the desaparecidos and the atrocities which occurred under Chile’s Pinochet dictatorship from 1973 to 1990. The building itself was specifically designed for this purpose, and its exposed beams represent how each Chilean under the dictatorship was profoundly affected. The museum displays video footage, newspaper clippings, photography, and audio recordings from this time, and has archives in the basement. It hosts temporary events and shows, touching on themes like Indigenous culture and human rights violations in other countries.
Memory and Human Rights Museum
Explore the Parks
Santiago has 14 parks, complete with running trails, bodies of water, plants, monuments, and fountains. They are great places to people-watch and get a feel for the city's culture. Buy some mate (a caffeinated tea) and enjoy sipping it in Parque Forestral by the Mapocho River; Roam around Cerro Santa Lucía for spectacular views; Discover an abandoned greenhouse at Parque Quinta Normal or rent a paddle boat to tour around its duck pond. For more river walks, manicured lawns, and even flamingos, head to Parque Bicentenario.
Cable car over a park
See a Concert at the Teatro Municipal
Home to the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra, Santiago Ballet, and the Santiago Municipal Choir, the “Municipal Theatre” hosts opera, ballet, theatre, and musical performances throughout the year. Considered the most prestigious performing arts venue in Chile, it is also the oldest. Constructed in 1857, the theatre has also survived two major fires and a massive earthquake. Blessed with excellent acoustics and impressive surroundings, this classically elegant building is definitely worth a visit.
Teatro municipal
Be Surprised by Santiago a Mil
While Santiago hosts many festivals throughout the year, Santiago a Mil is the city's largest annual art festival. Showing music, contemporary theatre, dance, circus, film, and all types of artistic expression, the festival offers three weeks of culture and art, in January. Artists from over 25 countries come to perform 90 different shows in concert halls, parks, plazas and theatres. Many shows are free as a central philosophy of the festival is its affordability. Performances take many forms: duets, flash mobs, stilt-walkers, actors continually moving throughout crowds, and more. Expect to see something you never have before as acts are known to challenge the norm and perspectives across a variety of artistic disciplines.
Santiago a Mil
Reflect/meditate at the Bahá'í Temple
Located in the foothills of the Andes, surrounding Santiago, the Bahá'í Temple is a place of worship, complete with gardens, green spaces, and an air of serenity. The temple is made from marble and glass in the form of a flower about blossom and draws not only those who come to pray and mediate, but also architecture fanatics and curious tourists wanting to see the only temple of the Bahá'í faith in South America. The temple’s walls consist of nine “sails,” an important number for this ecumenical faith. At night, the spaces between the sails emit a soft glow which shimmers off the reflection pool. Come here to relax or clear your mind and escape the chaos of the city.
Bahá'í Temple
Drink a Pisco Sour
Pisco, a type of brandy, is mixed with egg whites, lemon juice, and sugar syrup to produce a pisco sour, the national drink of Chile. Most bars in Santiago serve this frothy cocktail, but there is still an ongoing debate as to whether Pisco originates from Chile or neighbouring Peru. If you’re curious about the debate between Chilean and Peruvian pisco, go to Chipe Libre to try some of the best varieties from both countries and make up your own mind as to which is the best!
