Things to do in Santiago

Nature · Parque Metropolitano, Providencia/Bellavista

A 300-metre hill in the middle of the city with a funicular, a cable car and a view to the Andes.

Local tip: Go on a clear morning after rain, when the smog clears and the entire Andean front range is visible. On a bad winter day you will see nothing at all.

Culture · Central Santiago

Cobbled streets, the fine arts museum, bookshops and the best-preserved corner of the old city.

Local tip: The best of central Santiago on foot. Combine it with the GAM cultural centre and Cerro Santa Lucía next door, and go on a Sunday when the streets are quiet.

Food · Across the Mapocho river

The wrought-iron fish market and, over the bridge, the sprawling produce market that actually feeds the city.

Local tip: Mercado Central is largely for tourists now. Cross to La Vega Central — cheaper, chaotic, vastly better food, and where Santiaguinos actually shop.

Nature · 1–2 hours south-east

An Andean canyon of hot springs, glaciers and hiking, starting where the city ends.

Local tip: The Andes are genuinely 45 minutes away, which is Santiago's best-kept structural advantage. In winter the same drive gets you to ski fields at Valle Nevado and Farellones.

Neighborhood · Between Providencia and Ñuñoa

Restored houses turned into design studios, antique shops, cafés and restaurants along a few leafy blocks.

Local tip: Weekday afternoons are the move — weekends are packed. The interior passageways off Avenida Italia hide most of the good places.

Landmark · Recoleta

An enormous 19th-century necropolis of mausoleums, avenues and the tombs of presidents — including Salvador Allende.

Local tip: Free, extraordinary and almost entirely tourist-free. It reads as a walkable history of Chile, and the Patio 29 memorial to the disappeared is the most affecting place in the city.