A plan for Santiago

Santiago is a fast-growing city in the Santiago Región Metropolitana, in the central valley of Chile between the Andes mountain range to the east and the Coastal Range to the west. The metropolitan area has about 7 million inhabitants.

Founded in 1541 as Santiago de Nueva Extremadura by the Spaniard Pedro de Valdivia, it has been the heart of the country since colonial times and has evolved to the cosmopolitan city it is today.

History

The Santiago valley has been inhabited for thousands of years by different peoples. The Inca empire, and with them the Inca road network, extended here in the late 15th century. Not long after emerged the Spanish conquistadors, and on February 12, 1541, Pedro de Valdivia founded "Santiago de Nueva Extremadura" as the capital of the Captaincy General of Chile. During the following centuries functioned as the headquarters of the Spanish for their wars against the native Mapuche people further south, during which time the city was ruined two times by earthquakes.

From the 19th century onwards, Santiago followed a similar path as many other South American cities. Independence was followed by rapid expansion and modernization and many of the city's major buildings, cultural institutions and parks were established at this time. Also the railway network to other parts of the country was greatly expanded. European immigration was from the 1930s onwards followed by immigrants from rural Chile and the city already had 3 million inhabitants by the middle of the 20th century.

The next major event in the city's history took place in 1973, when Marxist president Allende was ousted in a military coup. The military dictatorship that followed lasted until 1990. Today, Chile is a safe, democratic and stable country and one of the richest in Latin America.

See #Districts for listings.

The Historical Center is the place to go for historical sights. For over five centuries this has been a governmental seat, and you can find buildings of great historical significance here. One of them is the modernist colonial Palacio de la Moneda, built for minting of coins. From the mid-19th century it has also been the residence of the president until the coup of 1973 when it was bombed. The damage was repaired and it's still the residence of the president today.

South of the palace is Alameda, the main drag of the city with the central university building (Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile), the San Francisco church and the Santa Lucia hill with great views of the old town. Plaza de Armas opposite the university building is the most lively area of the downtown and in addition to vendors you can often find artists, comedians and singers performing here. Nearby you can find the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Palace of the Royal Court (nowadays a museum) and the mayor's residence.

Going north from Plaza de Armas you'll come to the Mercado Central, with plenty of restaurants. East along the Mapocho river's southern bank you'll be at Parque Forestal and Museo de Bellas Artes as well as the vibrant neighborhood of Lastarria with plenty of cafés, restaurants and art galleries.

Bellavista north of the river is a nightlife hotspot and there you can also visit the mythical home of the poet Pablo Neruda. You can also take the funicular or walk up the Cerro San Cristóbal for some of the best views of Santiago and the Maipo Valley. Southeast there is Providencia where you can find trendy shops and further away Sanhattan's skyscrapers including Gran Torre Santiago, the tallest in Latin America and second tallest in the Southern Hemisphere. Westwards there's Quinta Normal, a huge park surrounded by museums.

See #Districts for listings.

Santiago is known as a cultural hotspot. Among other things, the city is home to an impressive jazz scene, with several intimate clubs scattered throughout the city, a famous one being Club Jazz in the Nuñoa district. In the Providencia district a jazz festival takes place each January with both local and foreign bands playing. For current theater, dance, and concert listings can be found in the El Mercurio newspaper. For a broad variety of art and culture, visit one of several cultural centers around the city, featuring exhibitions, performances and workshops. At some of these you can buy local art and handicraft too (refer to the Buy section for more shopping).

You can also take a pleasant walk in one of Santiago's many parks. Some of these, like Cerro Santa Lucia and Parque Metropolitano offer great views over the city. If you want something more than just hiking or taking the cable car up a little hill, take on the higher "hills" outside the city. Contact one of the local mountaineering clubs and go on a trek to some of the highest mountains in the world outside Asia, or if you like skiing, hit the slopes of El Colorado (Chile).

Central Chile is famous for its wines and wineries. There are many wineries in the outskirts of Santiago, both inside and outside the city borders. Many offer tours to visitors, wine tasting and on-premise restaurants.

See #Districts for listings.

In downtown and the east of the city you can find both global and domestic fast food chains. Why not opt for the latter and have a completo, the Chilean version of the hot dog with tomato, mayonnaise, sauerkraut or a italiano hot dog with tomato, avocado and mayonnaise. In addition there are small sandwich places known as "picadas" serving different kinds of sandwiches (some of them with huge steaks) and pies. There are also street food carts where you can find local specialties like sopaipillas (buns) stuffed with fried pumpkin and mote con huesillo, a soft drink with peaches and wheat.

The traditional cuisine of central Chile is centered around barbecued meat (beef or pork) with tomatoes, potatoes or corn. Local specialties include cazuela (a soup), porotos con riendas (beans with pasta), porotos granados (a vegetarian bean stew), charquicán (stew of beef and potatoes, topped with an egg), pastel de choclo (corn pie) and as we're in southern South America — asado (barbecued meat). Seafood is not as common in Santiago as you might expect, though if you want some, the restaurants at the central market are the place to go.

You can get vegetarian and vegan food but it will likely be some version of pizza, pasta, and burgers.

See #Districts for listings.

Nightlife choices vary widely across the city and their location usually reflects their price and style.

Barrio Bellavista and Barrio Brasil are popular spots close to downtown. The Bohemian Bellavista can be reached by Metro to Baquedano, or by bus to Plaza Italia. Cross the bridge will bring you to Pio Nono, which probably has highest density of bars, pubs, and clubs in Chile, including some LGBT places. By law, everything closes down at 05:00, though you may be able to join people for afterparties elsewhere.

Barrio Lastarria has more sophisticated and relaxed bars, pubs, cafés, many of which have an interesting history. It's also a district for fine dining.

The historic center likewise has many traditional places to have a drink, some of which have retained an ambience from the early 20th century. One of them is La Piojera, with its signature terremoto (earthquake) drink with wine, Fernet and pineapple ice cream.

Plaza San Enrique is a park in Lo Barnechea (at the far northeast of the city) which is surrounded by nightclubs. The most popular one is Sala Murano (it can get very crowded!) People who attend are mostly aged 18-25 and it is one of the safest places to party. Most people there are from upper-middle to high class, so it is more expensive than other neighbourhoods. Typically, women get in for free, while men pay around 3,000-5,000 pesos. You can get there by buses, but though buses do pass later on, you might have to wait up to an hour for it.

Plaza Ñuñoa is a district east of the central area and is another popular spot nightlife spot.

Vitacura is pretty far east (towards the Andes). It is composed of bars and some places where you can dance. The places are nice and it can be fun to go. It is more expensive that other areas of Santiago and frequented by people that live in the eastern (wealthier) side of the city. Although you can get there by bus, it will be hard to leave on anything but a taxi since buses don't run late.

Transantiago

Transantiago runs the metro and main bus lines in the city. Fares on public transport can be paid only with a bip! card. Beginning February 2026, contactless credit / debit cards can be used on the metros. Bip! cards can be bought and recharged at any metro station (1,550 pesos for the card, minimum recharge 1,000 pesos) or at a Centro bip!. They are good for both the metro and bus and allows you unlimited transfers between the two within a two hour period — you still have to swipe your card when boarding the next metro train or bus, but there is in general no deduction. In the peak period, when traveling with a ticket activated on a metro and you're transferring to a bus (or the other way around) there will be a small deduction.

You cannot return the card nor get a refund, think twice before adding too much money. However, you can use the card for several people, you just have to swipe for the second person as well. So, you might decide to only get one instead of two if you are traveling together. The free transfer between metro and bus for the other person does probably not work then.

The fare depends on when you've started your journey; tickets cost 800 pesos for trips commenced during the peak periods (07:00-09:00, 18:00-20:00), 720 pesos for shoulder periods (06:30-07:00, 09:00-18:00, 08:00-20:45) and 640 pesos for low periods (before 06:30 and after 20:45).

By metro

The Santiago Metro system is the second largest in Latin America and has seven lines and 136 stations, with many holding rotating art exhibitions. The lines 1, 2 and 5 pass through the historical center and 4 and 4A mostly serve the east of the city. As it is a very popular mode for getting around, the metro can be crowded during rush hours.

Trains run between roughly 06:00 and 23:00; each station posts the exact hours above the staircases leading down into the stations. Buses run parallel to subway lines after hours.

By bus

Transantiago buses are mostly modern and run around the clock on the main lines. If you know a little Spanish, you can find route information on the Transantiago website.

On Sundays 10:00–18:00, Transantiago operates a "cultural circuit" , where a specially-marked bus runs between major tourist and cultural destinations for the normal fare.

Santiago is infamous for its smog, which is worse during the winter (May–September). The locals welcome the rain which falls during winters as it cleans the air. Be sure to carry bottled water with you during the summer. Be prepared for sauna-heat on the metro during summer.

When getting around

By South American standards Santiago is a safe city, but visitors should be aware of pickpocketing and other petty crimes (Chileans derogatorily refer to the pickpockets as "lanzas", from the verb "lanzar", "to throw upon" in English). Avoid parks at night and don't wear expensive looking jewelry or watches even during the day, unless you are in Las Condes or Vitacura. If you're alone, avoid large crowds of people, especially downtown.

If you happen to have bad luck and get robbed, do as you're told by the criminal and if you don't understand Spanish, give away the wallet. Not doing so can provoke an attack until you give away your wallet. Don't try to stand up to them and once again: do as you're told.

Keep your camera concealed, use it to take a photo and then hide it while not using it. If you're getting robbed and the criminal has spotted the camera expect to give it away too if you want to stay out of trouble.

If someone approaches you on the streets and promises to get you better chances at changing your dollars or euros into Chilean pesos, never accept their deals. They're con-people who take advantage of foreigners not knowing the details about currency and confuse them with big words to take their cash away. Only change your money in legal currency exchange centers, which may take more time but are much more trustworthy. There's one in the airport, but they are also easy to find in the downtown and financial areas, or in the malls.

Overall, Santiago is very safe if you travel by car.