Best Day Trips from Santiago — Trip Planner

What's actually worth your time in Santiago

Cerro San Cristobal supplies the view, reached by a 1925 funicular, but only once rain has cleared the smog; on a bad inversion day you will see nothing at all. Cerro Santa Lucia's carved stairways rise straight out of the centre for free. La Chascona was Neruda's Bellavista house, built for Matilde. La Moneda still carries the history of 1973. Sky Costanera is the continent's tallest viewpoint.

What first-timers get wrong in Santiago

A bip! card is required for the Metro and every bus, and drivers accept no cash whatsoever. Metro fares change with the time of day, costing more at peak than mid-morning, and the bands are posted at every station entrance. Winter inversion triggers driving restrictions by number plate. Ten percent propina appears as a suggested line on the bill and is normally paid.

Santiago's museums, and which one to pick

The Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, housed in the old Royal Customs House, is the finest pre-Columbian collection on the continent and includes Chinchorro mummies older than anything in Egypt. The Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos documents the dictatorship, admits everyone free and closes Mondays. The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, a 1910 palace under a glass ceiling, also charges nothing.

When the weather turns in Santiago

Rain falls almost entirely between June and August, and its reward arrives the following morning when the smog washes out and the Andes appear above the rooftops. While it lasts: the Precolombino, the free Bellas Artes, the Museo de la Memoria, the Centro Cultural La Moneda beneath the palace with its cinema, and the covered halls of the Mercado Central.

What things cost in Santiago

Metro fares sit in the seven-to-nine-hundred-peso range depending on the hour, and the bip! card itself costs a small one-off fee. A menu del dia is commonly six to ten thousand pesos. The Museo de la Memoria and Bellas Artes cost nothing, while the Precolombino charges a modest entry. Chilean wine by the glass in Lastarria starts near five thousand.

When to go to Santiago

The month to avoid is June — around 15°C (59°F) with roughly 7 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: November is the sweet spot, June the month most people skip.

Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.

Where to base yourself in Santiago

• Bellavista — Bohemian quarter at the foot of San Cristóbal — bars, restaurants, La Chascona (Neruda’s house).
• Lastarria — Hip cultural strip — restaurants, galleries, the Cerro Santa Lucía park.
• Providencia — Upscale residential side — cafés, the Costanera Center skyscraper, Parque Bicentenario.