Although Santiago isn't a great sight-seeing city in the way that, say, Paris or London are, it has many interesting (if not exactly touristy) places to see. The best of course is just to wonder the streets and get a feel for the city, but here are some particular ideas. In the downtown area, a natural starting place is the Plaza de Armas (take the underground to the station of the same name). Nearby are the Cathedral Santo Domingo, Iglesia Colorada and the Museum of Pre-Colombian Art. South of the Plaza de Armas is the main east-west boulevard commonly known as the Alameda. From here, you can walk past the presidencial palace, La Moneda, infamous for the action it saw during the military coup of Pinochet. Also on the Alameda is the Fransican Convent, now a museum housed around a leafy courtyard and well worth a visit. Further south you can visit the unexpected gem of the Barrio Londres-Paris where you find yourself in narrow cobbled streets flanked by houses in old European (often heavily gothic) style.
The Mercado central (metro Cal y Canto) is a covered market full of fresh produce ranging from fish to flowers and fruit and vegetables. Although interesting to simply browse, this is a popular lunch stop, but you'll have to fight off the over-zealous waiters who try to get you to dine with them!
Although it has no particular attractions, the Barrio Brasil is interesting to stroll around as it has some nice architecture and some brightly painted buildings that are fun. Nearby is the Quinta Normal park which has a good natural history museum.
Another good museum is the main art museum at metro Bellas Artes, entrance is free on Sundays with free guided tours (in Spanish) at 12.30pm and 4.30pm. The museum of modern art is attached to the same building at the back. The museum is in the middle of the long Parque Forestal which makes a pleasant stroll near the river. In the summer, its fountains are full of city kids cooling off! Also, on Sunday afternoons, jugglers congregate near the museum to practice, in addition to people practicing martial arts and music. It is all very informal and lots of fun to watch.
San Cristobal is a modest hill in the Bellavista region which has a funicular railway and cable-car to the top. You can buy a combined ticket so you go up one way and down the other. Walking is also an option, but since the trail isn't obvious, coming down is easier (especially if it's a warm summer day!). There are several activities in the park around the hill (parque metropolitano) on sundays, including free outdoor yoga in the botanical gardens at 11am and free concerts at the Casa de Cultura at around midday. There are also great views from the top, so make sure you go on a day when the smog isn't too bad, a bunch of kiosks, a small set of gardens and the statue of the virgen Mary. Also in Bellavista, at the base of San Cristobal, is La Chascona, the town house that Pablo Neruda shared with his last wife, Mathilde, until his death in 1973. Slightly north-west of San Cristobal, at the end of the Avenida La Paz, is the general cemetary. It sounds a little gruesome but is actually a lovely place to wander around. Its leafy avenues erupt into a purple hazeof bourgainvillea in the summer and the range of tombs is truly amazing (including some Taj Mahal lookalikes!). You can spot a good many presidents and famous Chileans, as well as the namesakes of numerous streets around Santiago.
And now for the shopping! Near to the base of San Cristobal is a small craft market just over the river (junction of Bellavista and Pio Nono). A few blocks further west is Patronato where there are hundreds of cheap clothing stores and a few chinese supermarkets. Santa Lucia (metro Santa Lucia, opposite the hill of the same name) is quite a large craft market with very reasonably priced stuff. At the end of Apoquindo, is Los Dominicos, a reconstructed craft 'village' with excellent quality goods, a wide variety, but definitely more pricey than Santa Lucia. If Lapis Lazuli is what you're after, there are many shops around Pio Nono in Bellavista. For furniture, take the metro to Parque O'Higgins and walk along Avenida Matta where there are lots of shops selling nice wooden furniture - everything from rocking chairs to wine cabinets. Similarly, the market at Franklin (metro of the same name) has huges amounts of everything, but some of it is quite junky. However, they also have some very nice old furniture and antiques. It is packed at the weekends! For malls, the huge complexes at Alto Las Condes and Parque Arauco will have everything you want. They also have food courts and multi-screen cinemas showing movies in English.
This is just a biased selection of some of our favourite restaurants:
There are several easily-reached possibilities for hiking enthusiasts. On the road out towards Farellones is the start of the trail to Cerro Provincia. This is a hike up to around 2800m (starting at around 1000m) which will take around 5 hours return at a decent pace. The views are good but the trail somewhat uninspiring. A better option is to go further up the Farellones road to CONAF's Yerba Loca. This is a beautiful valley with picnic/BBQ/camping at the near end. The walking can be made as easy (up the valley) or as hard (scaling the valley walls) as you like. The Sanctuario Naturaleza in El Arrayan is even closer to the city. Just past Plaza San Enrique, it is a popular day trip for city dwellers, but they don't usually hike into the valley itself. The Cajon de Maipo is an all-time favourite with lots of possibilities for hiking and day trips. Particularly nice is a trip to El Morado, a hike of a few hours from Banos Morales takes you to a beautiful lake surrounded by tall mountains. If you stay overnight, the Refugio Aleman is a top option, they do all in accommodation (dinner, bed and breakfast) for around 30 GBP. The next day, you can rest your aching legs in the hot springs at Banos Colinas. La Petite France is the best place to eat in the Cajon - fabulous French food on a nice leafy patio. Parque Nacional La Campana has two main sectors. The southern entrance has trails leading up to the top of 2000m Cerro La Campana whilst the northern entrance has a selection of walks through the palm forests. In this latter sector, there is a particularly nice walk up to a waterfall, which is 7km and takes about 2 hours each way. You pass through some pretty country-side - plenty of flowers, palms and birds, although the tracks are, as is always the case in middle chile, dry and dusty though very well marked. To walk up to the top of Cerro La Campana, allow yourself 5 hours (up only) to be on the safe side. Another good scenic destination is Portillo on the Argentinian border. In the winter a top skiing resort, but still very much with the trip in summer - the hotel is open year round and does nice lunches with a great view of the turquoise lake. For more advice on hiking around Santiago, this is a good website
If you want to see the sea, a visit to El Quisco and Isla Negra (Pablo Neruda's eccentric abode) make a good day trip. If you want something a little more secluded, Matanzas and Quintay are two very small fishing villages just down the coast from San Antonio. There is a camp site at Matanzas and a nice, but very windy beach. Get up early to watch them bring the catch in. Quintay is good as a day and is set around a gorgeous little cove, with clear (if cool) water and a clutch of small restaurants on stilts that serve fantastic fish lunches. Maitencillo is another good beach destination, but to the north of Vina del Mar. There are a couple of nice cafes, a fish market and good waves for surfing/boogie boarding (life guards rent out boards and wet suits for about $1000/hour).
To enjoy some of the finer facets of Chilean life, don't miss a visit to some of the local vineyards. Concha y Toro is easily reachable in Pirque and has tours in English and Spanish (which must be booked in advance) for around US$4 (but much, much more if you visit as part of an external organised tour). This includes tasting 4 wines, an hour's guided tour and you keep the wine glass at the end. Also an easy day trip is Santa Rita, located about 1.5 hours down the Ruta 5. Santa Rita has a lovely restaurant and if you have lunch there (book ahead) the tour afterward (which doesn't include tasting) is free. A little further afield, about 2 hours drive south of Santiago is the Colchagua Valley. Ruta de Vino organise tours that can be a little pricey unless you are part of a larger group (or several people have booked the same tour as you). Don't miss lunch at the Santa Cruz Plaza Hotel, really fab food in a beautiful hotel. In fact, Ruta de Vino and the hotel do very reasonable weekend packages. Although the quickest way to Santa Cruz is via the Panamericana, much more scenic is the coastal route. Head towards San Antonio, but peal off south to go through Pichlemu. This small beach town makes a nice lunch stop and has a great homemade ice cream shop! Follow the coast south along a (decent) dirt road - the scenery is beautiful, you'll pass through pristine forest with views down to the ocean on one side and, if it's a clear day, up to the Andes on the other.
Pomaire is a small village about an hour from the city centre towards Vina del Mar that is famous for its earthenware pottery. The village's main street is packed with pottery craft shops selling all manner of ceramics at very low and competitive prices. It is packed at the weekends with city shoppers, but this is definitely the time to go as the whole village is buzzing.
If you have a car, a trip over the Andes into Argentina is highly recommended. Start as early as you can from Santiago because the traffic at the boarder can build up quickly, although there is a special queue on the Chilean side for people in private cars rather than on the buses. Save your tea stop at the ski resort's scenicly placed hotel for the return trip! Remarkably, the scenery is quite different on the Argentinian side. The landscape descends much more slowly and seems a little more rich. Stop at the Puente del Inca and see the luxury bath houses of yesteryear and bathe your travel worn feet in the volcanic bubbly waters. Also stop at Los Horcones where you can enter (free) in the the Parque Provincial Aconcagua. A short walk from the car park takes you to a pretty lake with good views, and you can follow the base camp trail as far as you want! A good place to stop the night is at the Hotel Uspallata in the little oasis town of the same name. A double room will set you back around $25 and the hotel has a big pool, tennis courts, football pitch and a buffet breakfast included - a real bargain! If you continue on to Mendoza, the Chandon vineyard on the near side of the town has guided tours midweek and by appointment on Saturday (closed on sunday).
If you're venturing further afield, here are some hotel recommendations for around the country.