| Picture: Image bank |
WHILE Santiago lacks the ‘must-see’ factor
of famous South American cities like Rio and Buenos Aires,
it’s a stop-off point for most itineraries covering
Chile’s natural attractions such as Torres del Paine National
Park, Patagonia or the Atacama Desert.
Slap-bang in the Central Valley, fringed by the snow-capped
Andes, it’s a modern city with a European feel and –
smog permitting – great views.
Travellers who visit during January (Chile’s summer) can
sample various festivals and performances during the city’s
Teatro a Mil season.
For longer stays, a visit to Valparaiso – Chile’s
second-largest city, with winding cobbled streets – or
Viña del Mar – with fabulous beaches and delicious
seafood restaurants – (both less than an hour from Santiago)
are recommended.
As most itineraries include at least a day in Santiago, it pays
to know where to go. Follow Travel Weekly’s guide to spending
24 hours in Chile’s capital.
| Top of the world |
08:30: if it’s a clear morning, the best
way to get a bird’s-eye view of Santiago is from Cerro San
Cristóbal, a huge hill northeast of the centre, reachable by
funicular railway (Che Guevara and companion Alberto take the
railway in the film The Motorcycle Diaries) or cable car. For
£2 you can buy a combo ticket allowing travel on both. Another
vantage point is Cerro Santa Lucia for views of the Andes to the
east and the Pacific Highway to the west.
| Poetry in motion |
09:30: La Chascona, former home of
Chile’s Nobel Prize-winning poet, Pablo Neruda, is now a
museum (Museo Neruda) dedicated to his life and work. Located on
Calle A. Márquez de la Platta, tours run daily and entry is
£2.
Two other museums are well worth a visit – the Museo de
Santiago on Casa Colorada documents the capital’s history
(entry £1), while the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombrio on
Bandera 361 tells the story of pre-Columbian civilisation (entry
£2).
| Morning munchies |
10:30: for a cheap mid-morning snack, choose
from the selection on one of the street stalls. Chileans love their
sandwiches, and a ‘completo’ – meaning
‘with everything’ – is a good deal, containing
meat, cheese, salsa, relish and avocado for less than £1.
| Retail therapy |
11:00: as well as traditional crafts at the
daily Bellavista market, there is a huge US-style shopping mall in
Las Condes, while Los Leones, on Calle Providencia, has chic and
swanky boutiques. Two good weekend markets are the craft market on
Plaza de Armas and the flea market at Mercado Franklin. For
something (almost) uniquely Chilean, buy lapis lazuli jewellery, a
dark-blue semi-precious stone found only in Chile and
Argentina.
| Tuck in |
12:30: Santiago has everything from fast food
to Italian, Japanese, vegetarian and Middle Eastern fare. Lunch is
a bigger deal than dinner – many restaurants are packed to
the brim between midday and 2pm, but are much quieter in the
evenings.
For food on the go, The Food Garden in Galeria Imperio on
Agustinas has fast-food stands. For more traditional fare, El
Puente de Bórquez, on Miraflores 443 sells ceviche (raw fish
covered in lemon and lime juice) and other South American dishes
with set menus from £3 to £5.
| Bottoms up |
15:00: Santiago’s a stone’s throw
from some of Chile’s best wineries. One of the best is Concha
y Toro, the country’s oldest and largest vineyard, in Pirque,
12 miles south, which was founded in 1883. English language tours
take place at 11.30am and 3pm on weekdays and 10am and noon on
Saturdays and cost £3 including tastings.
| That’s entertainment |
18:30: work off all that wine with a wander
around the Paseo Ahumada, a pedestrian mall with street buskers and
stalls selling trinkets and crafts.
| Time for dinner |
20:00: the ‘barrios’
(neighbourhoods) of Brasil, Bellavista and Providencia are the best
bets for dinner. They can be pricey, but in Bellavista there are
cheaper restaurants in Purisima. If money is no object try the
Camino Real on Cerro San Cristóbal, with views over the city
lights
| Out on the town |
22:30: the Providencia neighbourhood has
US-style bars, full of ex-pats and professionals. For something
more traditional, many of the restaurants and cafés in
Bellavista have live music after 11pm. Club 4-40 on Santa Filomena
81 in Bellavista has salsa until the small hours, as does Venezzia,
which was a favourite haunt of Neruda, while Heaven, on Recoleta
345, is very trendy (entry £4).
