Santiago de Chile, is the Capital of Chile. Nestled between the Andes and Pacific Ocean, Santiago is a bustling metro and largest city in Chile. If you don’t have more than a day to explore this city, you can always explore the way we did.

1. Ride the Funicular to San Cristóbal Hill

San Cristóbal Hill or Cerro San Cristóbal is the highest point in the city located within the Santiago Metropolitan Park. To get to the top we suggest you ride the Funicular uphill. The queue gets longer as the day progresses, so it is suggested to tick this off first. The ride is a short one and has only one stop en-route – Santiago Zoo. As you rise up, you get to see the view of Santiago city revealing in front of you. Once you reach the top, you can buy some thing to much from the many vendors and check out the 360º view of the city. At the summit of the hill is the statue of Virgin Mary.

Ride on the Funicular
Santiago City View
Statue of Virgin Mary

2. Take a Walking Tour

Tour 4 Tips is a great agency offering guided walking tour of the city. The tour is Pay-what-you-like, as in if you like their services, you can tip them at the end. We took the Santiago Highlights Tour which covers the Historic Centre of Santiago. The Tour starts outside Bellas Artes Museum at 3pm. You can spot the Guides wearing White & Red striped shirts (like Wally in Find Wally) waiting at the spot – just walk up and introduce yourself. Once it’s time, they’ll organise into English and Spanish speaking groups and start the Tour.

The Tour lasts approximate 3 hours and you get to see different areas of Santiago – The Hip Lastarria neighbourhood, La Moneda Palace and the Heart of the City – Plaza de Armas.

European Influence
European Influence
La Moneda Palace
La Moneda Palace
Inside the Church
Inside the Church at Plaza de Armas

That’s about it 🙁 We really wish we could have spent more time here, taking in the culture, cuisine and interacting with local people, but may be next time. We just got a glimpse of it and barely scratched the surface. Being the capital of the most prosperous country in Latin America, Santiago is well connected by Air, Land and Sea. Accommodation is easy to find, however we stayed in the Airport Transit Hotel to save multiple transfers, as we had 4 flights in/out combined.

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