So, you’re traveling to the big Chile, and you’ve booked a hotel in Santiago, but you don’t know what to do when you get there? Don’t worry; I’ve spent plenty of aimless days in Santiago so I could recommend one Good Day in Santiago to you!
Really Good Day tip: If you want to boost your day from Good to Really Good make a reservation at Ambrosia Bistro for dinner before you go out today. This may very well be one of the best restaurants you’ll find in South America. You owe it to yourself to try the food once! Make sure to emphasize you want indoor seating, my readers shouldn’t eat on the street.
Start Your Day
Hop on some sort of public transportation, the Metro in Santiago is excellent and really easy to use but you can hop on a bus or taxi just as well if the metro isn’t near your lodging. Make sure to buy a BIP card if you choose to ride the Metro. Head on over to the Parque Forestal. If you’re taking the Metro that’ll be either the Universidad Catolica stop or the Bellas Artes stop, but you should prioritize Universidad Catolica. Once you exit at the station and start walking towards the park, I recommend you find a coffee shop nearby on a street called José Victorino Lastarria. This is also an ideal street to come back to if you have another night in Santiago. You’ll see Lastarria is full of restaurants, cafes, and historical significance which works for day or night activities. Here’s an excellent guide for just this neighborhood if you want to explore more.
Make it to the park and take in the sights and sounds of the city. This is a lovely part of town and as long as the weather permits, I recommend you find a bench or a spot in the grass to chill for 15-20 minutes.
Alright, now that you’ve meditated and aligned your chakras or whatever, you’re ready to see some cool stuff. Walk across the park to the Museo de Bellas Artes. It’s completely free and has some amazing art you can take silly pics with, like this:
Pretty cool huh? Take some time here to enjoy the art, take some pics, and maybe learn something. It’s not a requirement for a Good day, but sometimes I feel better after I learn something, even if it hurts my brain.
Lunch Time
Okay, that was cool, let’s grab some lunch! May I humbly suggest Cafe De La Barra right across the street from the museum? Depending on your taste, this place may be what you’re looking for, it’s humble offerings of some Chilean staples. Spoiler alert: Chilean staples means fried or grilled meat with a version of a potato. Try it with a Pisco Sour. Why not, you’re probably on vacation, just live a little for once in your sad blue/white collar life! If you’re looking for something a little more high end, with a wow-factor in the interior, look no further than Bar Liguria Lastarria. The interior feels like walking into a grand 1950s movie set, meanwhile the food is anything but stale. Cazuela de Vaca is a typical Chilean soup here, sure to soothe your soul here in the winter seasons.
After Lunch
After lunch we’ll have one more museum. I know what you’re thinking: “Museums are lame, they’re boring, they’re for retirees that have nothing better to do, I already did one and it was alright but I’m not burning a whole day in Santiago on museums”. Alright, fair enough, but this one is special. I’m not much for a museum person either, but this museum is not only free, it’s good!
It’s not exactly Burning Man but it’s a really good museum, give it a shot. Plus, did I mention the museum is free? We’re going to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights.
I’m going to suggest we arrive via the Metro line because the metro station is actually connected to the entrance of the museum, so you can hop off the train and arrive at the stairs to the museum. We’re gonna get off at the Quinta Normal stop. Walk up the stairs and once you’re outside, turn left, the entrance is at the bottom of the big rectangular block that is the museum.
Now, the museum is free but if you want an English, self-guided, explanation of the museum you’ll need to “donate”. Just drop five bucks cheap-o, it’s worth it.
In this museum, you’ll learn about the events that lead up to the 1973 coup d’etat and what happened during the 20+ year military dictatorship that followed. It’s truly heart wrenching what many people in Chile lived through and is a great testament to how resilient people can be, living through uncertain times and making the most of their situation. I love this museum because it provides its guests a well told story of difficult to understand events. It’s especially shocking to see that many of the places you walked through today are historically significant areas in the history of Chile’s military dictatorship just a few decades earlier.
Alright, that was heavy, but I’m glad we did it. Good job, team. I say we’ve earned ourselves a treat. We have a little “choose-your-own-adventure” coming up now.
Last Activity
We have two options: the Yuppy-tourist option, or the Free-spirit-nomad option.
Yuppy-tourist: View + Dinner
Free-spirit-nomad: View + Hike
Yuppy-tourist Option
Yuppy-tourist option will involve another metro trip, this time we’re going to the Tobalaba metro station. We need to get to the Costanera building. The Costanera is the tallest building in Latin America and the view from the top is amazing + available to the general pubic. I’m recommending this option assuming you still have an hour of sunlight left or so, I want you to take in the view during the day, this option is available during the summer months more so than the winter.
To get to the top of the Costanera building, first make your way to the building itself. It’s really hard to miss. Enter into the mall at the base of the tower and descend the mall until you reach the bottom floor. From here, depending on where you entered you’ll need to walk around the mall a bit to find the entrance for “Sky Costanera”. Once you find the smallish entrance you’ll enter into a line to buy tickets (~$16/person) and wait for the elevator to take you up. It’s freaky fast. You have an unlimited amount of time up there but you have to wait for the elevator to take you down so it can actually take a while to leave once you’re up there.
Now that you had the best view in South America (probably, I dunno), you’re ready to have dinner and rest those poor feet.
Yuppy-Dinner
Now, time to end your Good day. Like I mentioned earlier, if you wanted a Really Good Day you would have set up a reservation for yourself at Ambrosia Bistro. You can either take a 15 minute walk there from the Costanera or you can order an uber. When you get there order something with pork belly in it, you probably won’t regret it. Otherwise, if you didn’t get a reservation at Ambrosia Bistro, you can find a restaurant in the Costanera mall or in a nearby neighborhood. I’d recommend walking down the street of Isidora Goyenechea to find an excellent restaurant with amazing cocktails.
Free-spirit-nomad Option
Free-spirit-nomad option will include some fantastic views as well but in a much different environment. You’re going to head over to the entrance of the National Zoo at the base of the metropolitan park of Santiago. I don’t know how you’re going to get there, maybe you take the bus, maybe you steal someone’s bike? Regardless, once you get to the Zoo entrance don’t go in, instead you walk over to the Funicular de Santiago by Turistik.
The funicular is a quick ride that drops you off near the top of the hill in the heart of Santiago. You’ll have some truly breathtaking views where the funicular drops you off, wow, I’m already jealous. Now, you need to walk up a bunch of stairs to the summit of the hill. You can tell you’re getting close because there’s a massive 50ft Virgin Mary statue at the top of the hill looking down at you. If you really need directions plug Cerro San Cristobal into Google Maps. Climb all the way to the feet of the statue.
By the way, I was assuming you still have some daylight left when you’re at the funicular because there are no lights at the top, so try to leave before it gets really dark or bring a headlamp. Don’t blame me if you miss a step in the dark and crack your head.
Now you’re going to hike down the hill and make friends with a bunch of locals hiking down with you. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the last funicular goes down long before sunset so you’re only way down is on foot. Don’t worry though, you’re a Free-spirit-nomad built to survive this 3.8KM stroll down the hill. You’ll laugh and sing songs with the locals walking down the hill with you, you’ll also be in awe of the amazing views of the metropolis beneath you. Santiago is massive!
You’ll probably be able to wave hello at the last of the Yuppy-tourists at the top of the Costanera tower waiting in line for the single elevator that can take them down to safety. What are the odds both of you are in your respective journey’s today based off of my advice? Pretty humbling to think people rely on me for any sort of advice, especially on how to spend their time. Also sort of terrifying, why would you listen to me? Go do your own thing, make mistakes, sing karaoke, get lost in the woods, set fire to something, or just stay at home and read some more travel blogs; just make sure you’re doing what you want to do!
I digress, assuming you made it down the hill alive and without being robbed (above average chance of that happening tonight BTW, what?) you’ll need to look for food. We’ve come to the end of our Good day! If you wanted a Really Good Day you would’ve gotten yourself a reservation at Ambrosia Bistro but something tells me if you’re reading this Free-spirit-nomad section you don’t have an appreciation for the finer things in life and you don’t even know how to book yourself a reservation.
Free-spirit-nomad Dinner
It’s dinner time in Santiago and there’s so many great options for a free spirit like yourself, why don’t you wrangle up some local llamas and mozzie on over to the Barrio Italia. If llamas are not available for some bizarre reason, can take the metro and exit at the Santa Isabel or Salvador stops. You can wander the wild blocks of Ave. Italia looking for a place that serves sanguchito con papas al a pobres. That’s Spanish for sandwich with poverty fries you dumb tourist. Try out Barbazul Barrio Italia or Bar & Vuelvo, and order three more piscos before you make it home tonight, provecho!
Go Home
Alright that pretty much wraps things up for today, let’s go back to the Airbnb, my feet hurt.
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