Santiago, Chile Travel Guide 2026: Things to Do, Prices and Tips

This is where Valdivia laid out the city grid in 1541, and it is still the center of everything. Around the square are the Catedral Metropolitana (the current building was started in 1748 and finished around 1800, after earthquakes destroyed the earlier churches on this spot), the Correo Central (main post office) and the Museo Histórico Nacional, inside the old Real Audiencia building from 1808. Every afternoon the square fills with street painters, chess players and preachers.

Price: free · Time needed: 1 hour · Tip: keep your phone and bag in front of you; this is the area with the most pickpockets in the city.

Italian architect Joaquín Toesca built it between 1784 and 1805 as the colonial mint ("moneda" means coin), and it became the presidential palace in 1845. It is known worldwide for 11 September 1973, when air force jets bombed it and President Allende died inside. The palace was restored, and the Centro Cultural La Moneda underneath it hosts good exhibitions.

Price: free guided tours, booked in advance at visitaspatrimonio.presidencia.cl · Hours: changing of the guard every other day, 10:00 on weekdays and 11:00 on weekends · Tip: bring your passport for the tour.

The hill where Santiago was founded. In 1872 mayor Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna turned the rocky outcrop into a park with stairways, fountains, the Neptune terrace and the little Hidalgo castle. The climb takes 15 minutes and the view over the center is great at sunset.

Price: free (you register your name at the entrance) · Time needed: 1 hour · Tip: a cannon is fired from the hill every day at noon, so don't be scared.

Part of the Parque Metropolitano, one of the largest urban parks in Latin America. A funicular from 1925 climbs from Bellavista to the 14 m statue of the Virgin (placed in 1908), with the best view of the city and the Andes. A cable car (teleférico) continues across to the Providencia side.

Price: funicular about CLP 4,000 return for adults; walking or cycling up is free · Time needed: half a day · Tip: go on a clear day after rain; on smoggy summer afternoons the mountains disappear.

Pablo Neruda, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971, started this house in Bellavista in 1953 for Matilde Urrutia, at the time his secret lover; "chascona" is Chilean slang for messy hair, a nod to her red curls. Like all his houses it is built like a ship and full of his collections. After the coup it was vandalised and flooded, and Neruda's wake in September 1973 was held here, becoming one of the first public acts against the dictatorship.

Price: about CLP 10,000 for foreigners, with audio guide · Hours: closed Monday · Tip: combine it with lunch in Bellavista.

Opened in 2010, it documents the human rights violations of the 1973 to 1990 dictatorship through testimonies, letters, objects and a wall with photos of the victims. It is heavy, but essential to understand modern Chile.

Price: free · Hours: closed Monday · Time needed: 2 hours · Tip: it is next to Cumming metro station (line 5).

In the old Royal Customs House (1807), one block from Plaza de Armas, with one of the best pre-Columbian collections in the Americas: Andean textiles, ceramics and a room dedicated to Chile's own Indigenous cultures.

Price: about CLP 10,000 for foreigners · Hours: closed Monday · Time needed: 1.5 hours.

Cobbled streets, cafés, bookshops and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, in a 1910 building inspired by the Petit Palais in Paris. Perfect for an afternoon walk that ends with dinner.

Price: free (the Bellas Artes museum is free too) · Tip: the GAM cultural center a few blocks away also has free exhibitions.

The Mercado Central has a cast-iron structure from 1872, prefabricated in England, with seafood restaurants inside. Across the river, La Vega Central is the real local market for fruit, vegetables and cheap lunches.

Price: a seafood dish CLP 12,000–20,000 in the Mercado, much cheaper in La Vega · Tip: the waiters at the Mercado entrance push hard; walk to the smaller stalls at the back.

The observation deck on floors 61 and 62 of the Gran Torre Santiago (300 m), the tallest building in South America, finished in 2014.

Price: about CLP 18,000, cheaper online · Time needed: 1 hour · Tip: go just before sunset to see the city in daylight and with the lights on.

Concha y Toro in Pirque, founded in 1883, is the most famous, with the legend of the Casillero del Diablo cellar; Santa Rita and Undurraga are also easy to reach. The Casablanca Valley, known for white wines, is on the road to Valparaíso.

Price: classic tour with tasting from about CLP 25,000–35,000 · Tip: book online; for Concha y Toro take metro line 4 to Las Mercedes and a short taxi.

A canyon 1.5 hours southeast of the city, with the turquoise Embalse El Yeso reservoir at 2,500 m and natural hot springs. The road is partly unpaved, so most people go with a tour.

Price: tours from about CLP 40,000–50,000 with lunch · Tip: bring warm clothes, even in summer.