Chile: Santiago de Chile and Valparaiso

Santiago de Chile is the capital of Chile located in the central part of this long country. It is an important transportation hub and the most important economic and cultural center of Chile with numerous universities, colleges, museums and monuments. Every trip to this Southamerican country should include at least two days of stay in the capital. It has plenty of things to offer for every type of tourists.

Our visit to Santiago de Chile was part of the 10-day visit of the country which included Easter Island and Atacama desert. You can refer to the respective articles for more information about our recommendations for these places. During this holiday we also visited Argentina and Mexico, so the time in Santiago was limited. We had three days in total in which we explored the city and we made a one-day trip to the neighbouring Valparaiso. So this is what you can expect to read in this article.

For our stay we decided to choose a central location which offers quick access to the main points of interest. The hotel D’Door hotel– tiny boutique hotel located in Bellas Artes district. The hotel was in a small, quiet street with a lot of restaurants and bars around. They have breakfast included in the room rate, but also there is a cute cafe in the same building serving delicious pastries and freshly made juices.

Lili’s 5 good-to-know tips when travelling to Santiago:

• Transportation– although many people had recommended us not to use taxis (but Uber instead) because they are expensive, we did so. And to be honest the difference was not that big. Not everywhere you have Internet, so ordering Uber is quite a challenge. Still taxis were the most common means of transportation we used for the time of our stay.
• Currency– the local currency is Chiliean Peso (CLP) and its symbol is defined as a letter S with either one or two vertical bars superimposed prefixing the amount ($). We usually associate it with US dollar.  No confusion-  all the prices in the country are in Chilean currency.
• Across the town you will spot a lot of street dogs. They are referred to as kiltros- mix of races. The dogs used to live in the countryside (with their owners), but when people from the county came to the capital to find jobs, they came also with their pets. As there was a ban to take pets in the apartments, they left them outside. Currently there are around 4 mln street dogs across Chile, only 1.5mln in Santiago. There is also have a law for dogs. In general the street dogs are not aggressive- they are looking for love and not for food (as is the case for example in our home country Bulgaria).

What to do in Santiago in 3 days?

• Do a free-walking tour

We are not that much into such group of activities, but when we have enough time, we try to attend these tours. This was one was particularly nice as we covered the central area and we learnt interesting facts about the Chilean history.

Interesting facts about Santiago and Chile

For example across the city you will find a lot of huge graffiti on different buildings.Most of them belong to BRB- the brigade painting the walls across Santiago. During the regime they were sent outside the country. After the referendum they came back and started painting across the country.

Another famous artist whose “paintings” you can spot across the town is Inti Gonzales. He painted the painting with virgin Mary and the two kids located close to Bellas Artes subway station.

One fact I found particularly interesting is that if you receive an invitation  for an ice-cream, this is an invitation for a date. This dates back to then 60s when the Catholic tradition made it compulsory for girls to live with their parents until marriage. The youngsters have found an interesting way to still date, but not in front of the public.

The tour we picked started in front of the National Museum of Fine Arts. Even its building is quite spectacular, so if you have time and you are an art lover, maybe you would like to also visit it (the rating on all travel platforms was quite high).

While wandering the streets of Santiago, you will notice a lot of similarity to Europe. In the 90s, the mayor wanted to make Santiago “the Paris of South America”. He brought a lot of architects from France and Austria. Back then there was a trend with the tunnels – the Galerias and that is why you will see  a lot of them in the heart of the city.

The main points of interest some of which we also saw during the tour are:

• Plaza de Armes

It means “Plaza of  guns”. Most of the buildings on this square date back to the 19th century. The white building was the Government, but now is mayor’s office. Next  to it is the National Museum. The cathedral was built when the Spanish people came. Chileans believe that the Virgin on top of the cathedral helped them during the earthquake. In 2010  was the last serious earthquake- 8.6. Basically earthquakes formed the Chilean culture. They learnt to be grateful for surviving after such natural disasters. For example, they celebrate after an earthquake with a drink called Terremotto. Underneath Plaza de Armes there are tunnels with some buildings from the Inki history.

• The Wall street of Santiago

This is a street in the central part of the city- the financial center in the 70s and 80s. Its name is not surprisingly New York. One interesting place there is Bar Union – the equivalent of the secret Club Union. The secret club was only for the wealthy people (and only for men), so locals quickly find a way how to benefit from this. They created a bar in the opposite building where the original Club used to be. The Club is not existing anymore, but the bar even nowadays is a very popular destination.

• Gabriela Mistral

The building was built for 278 days by volunteers just for one conference. 2006- 60% of the building was destroyed by a fire. Now it was rebuilt as a cultural place.It is being famous for the big fish hanging from the ceiling. In the vicinity you can find a lot of bars, restaurants and also creative shops.

• Cerro Santa Lucia

This is a small hill located in the heart of Santiago. When looking at the map, we saw that there is a park, but nothing even hinted about this amazing place.

The hill is 70 m above the rest of the surrounding area and thus it offers a spectacular view to big part of the city. There is a subway station with the same name nearby, so you can easily find it. The complex is small, but it has ornate facades, stairways and fountains. The access is free of charge.

• San Cristobal Hill

This is the second highest hill in Santiago- close to 900 m. You can imagine that it offers spectacular view to the whole city. There are several ways to get to the top- lift, by car and on foot. We would recommend that you take the lift which departs from the Cableway Metropolitan Park (for more info and location follow the link).

The price of the ticket varies depending on whether you buy a two or one way direction (but in general it is within the limit $1.350 to $2.510). Then on the way down, you can go on foot through the park. The way down is not busy and you can enjoy the view for longer.

On the San Cristobal summit there is a sanctuary in dedication to the Immaculate Conception, with a 22-meter statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an amphitheater and a chapel. The access to the park is free and you have no limitation on how long you have to stay.

By the time we were there, there was very peaceful church music which made the experience very spiritual. There are also some cafes and souvenir boots around, so you can spend a couple of hours. If you are not into walking, on the way down you can take another funicular which will leave you at the other end of the Metropolitan park.

• Sky Costanera

This is the highest building in South America (we particularly checked this fact) which offers an amazing 360 degree view to Santiago. Of course if the weather allows so. Sometimes Santiago can be quite foggy (or dirty), so the view is a bit obscured. If you are though lucky, you can enjoy amazing sunset. The ticket costs CLP 5.000 (do not pay for the priority lane as it is not that crowded. By the time we were in Santiago online purchase of the tickets was not possible, so we had to go a bit earlier in order to be sure we will have our tickets for the sunset.

Of course the best time to go there is at sunset. If you go there too early, the building has  a shopping mall on the first two floors, so you can easily spend some time there. We were also quite lucky at the time we visited Sky Costanera, as there was champagne tasting which made the experience even more enjoyable.

• Patio Bellavista

Besides being famous as a popular nightlife destination, this venue has a lot of restaurants, gift shops and they also have a hotel. It is an open air complex and as you can imagine, it is very popular among tourists. Patio Bellavista is located in the overall hipster area of Bellavista, so if it is not of your taste, you will find a lot of other dining options on the same street. The whole area is very vibrant and if you are looking for places to go out, we can highly recommend it.

• Mercado central de Santiago

The market building is quite interesting and inside besides offering different goods, fish, spices, etc. Besides this there are a lot of restaurants offering cheaper meals and huge portions. A friend of ours visited it at the time of our stay and she was highly recommending going there.

• Bahai Temple

A local friend recommended this sightseeing l-to us. This is a temple on very high on one of the Santiago hills. He said that there was a spectacular view to the city. One of our friends went there and she said it was quite disappointing. Not only it took her almost an hour to get there, but also there was almost no view due to the smog. She was also grateful that the Uber she took waited for her as otherwise the only possibility to come back was by public transport (she considered this unsafe having in mind the districts she had passed on the way to the temple). So check carefully before going there.

• Visit Valparaiso

Valparaiso is a town located on the Atlantic Ocean and is main marine port. It is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage. You can go there for a day (in case you do not have more time to explore it). Unfortunately the weather was not very good on the day we visited it, but the town is so colourful, that it cloudy weather was not a problem at all.

There are multiple buses all of them leaving from bus terminal called Pajaritos. You can either go there by subway or you can a taxi in case you want to be faster. There are a couple of companies offering rides, but the major ones being Tur Bus and Pullman Bus.

There is not a huge difference in comfort or price, in fact both companies have exceptionally comfy buses because they are designed to be slept in for long trips. Buses are quite regular, running at an interval of around 20 minutes. Of course during summer, long weekends or holidays it is better that you purchase your ticket in advance. The ticket price is between CLP5000 and CLP7000 one-way (depending on the time of the day).

In general what you can expect from Valparaiso is a lot of steps, thousands of colorful graffiti and a lot of stairs. Be prepared to go up and down the hill, but believe us- the views are worth it.

There are lifts from the coastal boulevard giving you a lift to some of the points of interest for a small amount of money. Depending on the time you have available in Valparaiso, you can of course see much more things, but for our one day in Valparaiso, we managed to visit the following:

• Cerro Concepcion

A short look at Wikipedia says the following: “Concepción hill – before, hill of Our Lady of the Conception – is one of the more than forty that Valparaiso has. Its name is due to the fort that had been built there for the defense of the city.

It has also been called Cape and Chivato, the latter appellation that is due to a mythological being that supposedly lived at the foot of the hill. Apparently the story gained strength when part of the hill was blown up and a large cave was discovered, named Cueva del Chivato”.

• Paseo Gervasoni

The coblestone Paseo Gervanosiis is on Cerro Conception hill and it forms part of what was once known as Fuerte Concepcion (the protection against pirate attacks). It offers a lookout point and an artisan market.

Although the street is quite small, there are different things which keep you there for longer. You will find benches to take some rest and look at the bay and the big ships entering the harbor. On a sunny day you can even see Viña del Mar. On your very left you can see the the Reloj Turri clock tower which is another landmark of Valparaiso.

• Paseo Yugoslavo

This is another small, art street on a neighbouring hill. Again you will see local artists selling different products with painted Valparaiso scenes on them. Although it again offers a viewpoint, the perspective is different from the one you see at Paseo Gervasoni.

• Palacio Baburizza

This is a building created in the beginning of the 19th century. Its name is in honor of its second owner, the Croatian businessman Pascual Baburizza, who acquired the mansion in 1925. The mansion became the seat of the Municipal Museum of Fine Arts of Valparaiso and later it became a Historical Monument.

• Plaza Stomayor

It is a busy plaza, where you can find Chile’s navy headquarters, with a central memorial to Chilean naval heroes. By the time we visited Valparaiso, there was a market on the square with a lot of stands offering souvenirs and also local handmade stuff.

• Fauna Valparaiso

This is not a sightseeing location, but a place we highly recommend for lunch/ dinner. Not only the menu is tasty, but the view the restaurant offers is stunning. We went there for lunch and we were lucky as we got a table on the terrace, but maybe you would like to make a reservation to be sure you have nice spot to admire the view.

• La Sebastiana Museo de Pablo Narudo

Unfortunately we did not have time to get there, but the feedback we got from friends who were there is that it is a must. The view (as the place is quite high on the high) is stunning (they said).

The last thing we wanted to mention is the food. Those of you who already read our blog know that we are not much into food. However, here are some meals/ foo which we can recommend:

• Empanadas

Of course they are not typical only for Chile, but you can find empanadas in whole South America. The Chilean empanadas are baked and they are bigger than in the rest of countries on the continent.

• Ostiones a la parmesana

These are scallops with parmesan cheese. Yes, there is plenty of seafood in the chilean cuisine.

• Sea bass in sesame cover

I’m not sure what is the name of this dish, but you will find it in many restaurants. It is sea bass fish baked with sesame crusty cover. If you like fish, believe us- you will love this one.

• Humitas

Humitas are the Chilean version of tamales. Sweet or savory, they made Humitas with boiled flour and corn meal.

• Pastel de Choclo (Corn and beef casserole)

We do not eat meat a lot, but this one was so delicious and not heavy at all that we decided to order a second portion.

• Tres leches

This is a typical cake which they make in whole Chile out of three different types of milk. Although the best one we ate was at Easter Island, it is typical for all parts of Chile.

We hope we managed to inspire you to include Santiago and Valparaiso in your schedule when visiting Chile. For more inspirations and ideas for long-haul trips, visit our respective article.