Many trips to Chile start with a stopover in Santiago, the main airport hub of this long, thin country on the western coast of South America. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Paris of South America’, Santiago is an attractive city located in a valley surrounded by mountains and full of parks, boulevards and sculptures. If you have a day in the city to acclimatise after a long flight, what can you see? One idea is to take a walking tour of Santiago in the hands of a local for your first experience of the city.
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Where is Santiago?
Santiago is the capital of Chile, with around 7 million people living in the city, out of a total population of nearly 20 million – it is the largest city in Chile, and looks large when you see it spread out across the valley at the foothills of the snow-topped Andes mountains.
Santiago sits in the Central Region of the country which is what makes it is a good jumping off point for trips to the north or south of the country. Most travellers we met were taking internal flights with LATAM airlines to move between destinations in Chile which are quite spread out – north to the Atacama Desert, south to Patagonia, or west to Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
You could fly into Santiago and fly straight out to your next destination, or alternatively, fly into Santiago and take a day or two to acclimatise. We took the latter approach and spent two nights in the city, giving us a day for the walking tour of Santiago and time to settle into our new time zone before starting our road trip through the Chilean Lake District.
Deciding how to spend your time in Santiago
If you have limited time in Santiago, then it can be a good idea to put yourself in the hands of a local tour guide to help you settle in and make the most of your time. We chose an afternoon walking tour of Santiago, so we had the morning to ‘come around’ after the long flight from the UK before exploring.
If you have time for a full day out, you could book a tour to Valparaiso, the colourful port city about 1.5 hours away, or alternatively head into the wine regions. We decided to save the wine regions for a treat at the end of our time in Chile.
When looking for a suitable tour, there are lots of options to choose from, such as Politics and Cycling Tours, or Street Art tours around the city. Alternatively, you could explore under your own steam and maybe visit one of the many museums in the city.
Walking tour of Santiago: Cable Car, Funicular and San Cristóbal
We booked the following walking tour of Santiago – Santigo: Cable Car, Funicular and San Cristóbal – through Get Your Guide, which was a gentle, first introduction to the city.
The meeting point for the walking tour of Santiago was outside the Art Deco theatre at the Baquedano Metro Station. Arriving early at the meeting point, we had time to pick up a coffee and soak in the sights and sounds of the area which was alive with the sounds of construction work, cars, the chatter of students coming and going from the nearby University campus, and the squawk of green parrots in the trees.
At the designated time, we met up with our smiley young guide for the walking tour of Santiago and headed off through the Bellavista neighbourhood to see the following:
Mapocho River
The Mapocho River runs through the middle of Santiago, and each neighbourhood of the city is being encouraged to make a feature of the riverbanks to show the area’s character. When we visited in early November, the river was low and did not touch the riverbanks. Our guide said that it had been around one month since any significant rainfall, but at its fullest, the river races through the city against a backdrop of mountains.
Patio Bellavista
The Bellavista neighbourhood feels bohemian with colourful wall murals, and a mix of restaurants and artisan shops around Patio Bellavista, an urban renewal project from 2006. Many of the shops at Patio Bellavista were selling jewellery made from the royal blue semi-precious stone, Lapis Lazuli, specific to Chile and Afghanistan.
We passed through in the early afternoon when the area was relatively quiet, but I would imagine it is bustling in the evenings due to its proximity to the city’s university campuses.
Camilo Mori Square
Camilo Mori Square in the heart of the Bellavista neighbourhood is named after a Chilean painter who once had his studio here. One side of the square is home to a famous Boutique hotel called the La Casa Rosa (Red Castle), built in 1923.
Pablo Neruda Museum
A few streets further on is the house of Nobel Prize winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. The house, called La Chascona, was built for, and named after, his mistress (‘lady with tangled hair’). Neruda eventually married his mistress, and they lived in the house together which is now a museum.
Parque Metropolitano de Santiago
The Parque Metropolitano de Santiago is a park covering 3 sq miles (7 sq kms) which was developed between 1903 and 1927. It encompasses several hills including San Cristóbal, Piramide, Bosque and Chacarillas, and has been developed with trails, picnic areas, swimming pools, a zoo, and tourist cable car.
Santiago Funicular up San Cristóbal Hill
The Santiago Funicular celebrated its 100-year anniversary in April 2025. Taking the wooden funicular up San Cristóbal Hill from the Medieval style entrance building at the bottom, brings you to a terrace offering spectacular views over the city.
It is quite something to see the city spread out across the valley below you, backed by the snowcapped Andes on the horizon and central valley mountains close by – see featured photograph. Our guide pointed out the 20 ‘islands’ or small hills and peaks, which were visible throughout the city from an elevated viewpoint, formed by volcano eruptions millennia ago.
After soaking in the views, sample a traditional Chilean drink called Mote con Huesillos from the cafe on the terrace. It is made from sun-dried roasted peaches boiled in water with whole wheat and then served cold in a pint glass. It was like 3 meals in one – filling, tasty and surprisingly refreshing.
While enjoying our Mote con Huesilos, a student of English approached to ask if she could practice her English with me and so we had a brief chat. Along with the warmth of our tour guide, we were struck by the friendliness of the locals we met.
Statue of the Virgin
Once you have refueled on the terrace, you can walk up the rest of the hill to the top of San Cristobal Hill to see the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception statue up close. This is a key religious site for locals and visitors, and you’ll no doubt spot a nun or two at the site and outside the Chapel on the hill. The 45 ft (14 m) Statue of the Virgin is very striking and crowns San Cristóbal Hill perfectly. It was donated to the city by France and has been blessed by Pope John Paul II.
Cable Car
Descending the hill to the Chapel brings you to a sloped walkway leading to the cable car station behind it. The path round to the cable car is lined with colourful cross sculptures, and stunning views behind them.
The cable car offers a ride with views down to the Pedro de Valdivia entrance to the park. As well as the mountains, you canobserve the skyscrapers of the financial district, Las Condes. As the highest building in South America, the Gran Torre Santiago skyscraper (300 meters) really stands out against a backdrop of mountains.
Providencia neighbourhood
From the cable car station at the bottom of the hill, you can wander through the quiet residential neighbourhood of Providencia, full of large and attractive houses with English style gardens, pop up shops and cafes.
End your walk back at the Mapocho River and view the sculptures in the landscaped park called Parque de las Esculturas, developed after a massive flood in 1982.
Our walking tour ended at this point, but not before our tour guide recommended somewhere for dinner – Fuente Chilean (Pedro de Valdivia) which offers traditional Chilean sandwiches with fries, and a lot of mayo!
The Pisco Sour cocktail
Pisco Sours are Chile’s favourite cocktails, made of Pisco (a type of Brandy), lime juice, egg white, and a simple syrup to sweeten. As the name suggests, they are sour, but in a good way, and very refreshing in the heat and sunshine.
Back at our hotel, we sat outside in the sunshine and decided to try our first Pisco Sour. The barman chatted to us about FIFA football and taught us some Rapa Nui words ahead of our trip to Easter Island which came in very useful.
Note – throughout our trip to Chile, we found FIFA Football to be a great conversation starter as everyone seemed to have a favourite English Premier League football team!
Where to stay in Santiago?
This large city has plenty of accommodation options, and Booking.com is a great site to identify somewhere suitable for your needs and budget.
In our case, we took a logistical decision to base ourselves in a Santiago Airport hotel, so that we were in a convenient position for our:
- late arrival flight on Day One, and
- very early departure flight to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) 36 hours later.
Our first impressions of Santiago
We arrived at Santiago Airport late at night and caught a pre-booked courtesy bus to the Marriott Courtyard. We were surprised to find our hotel surrounded by a tall wire fence, with a security guard sitting outside the front doors in a balaclava – why was the need for so much security we wondered?
As we headed out into Santiago, we followed our usual precautions for visiting busy cities (London included!) – leaving valuables at home, keeping wallets and phones in inside pockets, and keeping camera equipment out of sight as much as possible.
That said, at no point on our brief visit to Santiago did we feel unsafe or threatened.
Using Ubers in Santiago
If you google ‘catching Ubers in Santiago’ you will find a mixed bag of opinions about whether they are a good idea or not. Some information suggested that Uber is not legal in Santiago, and most people swear by them as a way of getting around.
Our hotel Concierge said that using Ubers was fine, so we booked one to get into the centre of Santiago. When our Uber driver turned up, he insisted that “Mr. Richard” sat in the front pf the car with him “because of the police”.
Later, on our walking tour of Santiago, we asked our tour guide about this experience, and he explained that the police pull Uber drivers over to check their paperwork, but they are less likely to do so if they have a visible passenger. If your Uber driver doesn’t have the documents they need, your ride may not be able to continue, which seems to be the biggest risk with Ubers.
Final thoughts…
Whilst our day in Santiago started with slight trepidation, it ended in satisfaction. The walking tour of Santiago really helped to dispel any concerns we might have had in advance of the trip.
I’m not sure that I’d have chosen the nickname the Paris of South America from the small portion of Santiago that we saw, in the same way that Saskatoon in Canada didn’t say Paris of the Prairies to me, but we liked it all the same.
The walking tour succeeded in helping us settle in and made us excited about Melipeuco and Conguillio National Park, the next destination on our Chilean road trip.
So far to good in Chile!
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