15 Things We Loved About Santiago, Chile

We spent about 4 weeks in the Providencia neighborhood of Santiago and we loved it. I already miss it, and absolutely plan on going back. We were lucky enough to have more family come visit us while we had a "home" for a longer period of time, and we found something to do every single day. Here's my best compiled list (in no particular order) of the top things we did during our stay.    

1. Rent the Best Airbnb in Providencia.

We had the most beautiful view of Cerro San Cristobal and amazing sunsets every night. We were right across the street from a park where we could run or walk, or go to zumba and yoga in the park on the weekends.

2. Climb Cerro San Cristobal (or take the Funicular).

We made it to the top after one failed attempt. The clearest way to hike is to use the path near the zoo. Don’t try zigzagging your way up the dirt mountain. :) It was a pretty steep climb, but completely worth it (isn’t it always?)! We went again with friends later on, but we opted to take the teleferico and the funicular for some great views.

3. Visit the Zoo at Parque Metropolitano.

If you’ve read any of our posts, you know I love animals and I drag Ricardo to every zoo I can find! This one is particularly interesting because it’s located on Cerro San Cristobal, so you get great views of the city.

4. Explore Cerro Santa Lucía.

This hill is much easier than hiking Cerro San Cristobal or climbing any mountain, but we still spent an afternoon walking the paths and enjoying the views from the top. The steep stone stairways and statues make you feel like you’re stepping back in time.



5. Climb a Mountain (or a few!).

We climbed all 1,365 meters (4,478 feet) to the top of El Carbón. It took us about 5-5.5 hours roundtrip in hot weather. I had a hard time finding information on this one since it’s a bit less traveled, but we did it! We never saw anyone else the entire time we climbed, which was a little nerve-wracking. Bring lots of water and good shoes - this was incredibly steep and lots of loose rocks.

6. Visit the Costanera Center.

We were surprised at the number of restaurants here on top of all of the shopping you can imagine - complete with a grocery store! This was a nice change for us. The Gran Torre Santiago skyscraper is 64 stories and is the tallest building in Latin America.



7. Take a Nap at Parque Bicentenario.

We jumped on the subway and got off at the Costanera Center. From there, it was about a 10-15 minute walk to the park. We went here a few times to hang out under the palm trees and enjoy the quiet away from the city noise.

8. Try Pisco.

While there is definitely a debate over who makes the best pisco between Chile and Peru, we can’t tell our favorite until we make it to Peru to try it. Here’s our attempt at making pisco sours (pretty yummy!)



9. Take a tour of La Moneda Palace.

La Moneda Palace was originally the Mint, but is now where the President of Chile sits. You need to sign up ahead of time, but we ended up getting a private tour! It was an interesting tour about the Chilean government. You can see the changing of the guards, but they do it every other day (usually at 10:00 a.m.) and the day we went was the wrong day (even though everything I found online said the opposite). If it’s something you want to see, your best bet is to go to La Moneda Palace and ask one of the guards when the next one will be.

10. Chilean National Museum of Natural History (free!).

We love free museums. This one was awesome. :)

11. Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino.

This is not a free museum, but it’s definitely worth a visit and a good break from the sun!



12. Run a race!

This was our first international 5k and we had a blast. Ricardo might tell you otherwise, but the running part was fun too. ;)



13. Go out for Terremotos with your awesome Airbnb host!

Let me first be clear that terremoto translates to earthquake. That should be enough said about this drink! We were taken to La Piojera which is the best place to get one. It’s a delicious drink of pineapple ice cream and fermented white wine. You only need 1. Or 1.5 :)

14. Take Some Day Trips.

We rented a car and drove to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar. We saw tons of street art in Valparaíso and we visited Bodega RE on our way back in the Casablanca region. 

15. White Water Rafting at Cajón del Maipo.

This was one of my favorite things we’ve done over the last 9 months! I was pretty nervous, especially getting instructions in Spanish, but between the two of us we did OK and we loved it.