Santiago Things to Do Tips by kiwigal_1

The Cajón del Maipo is a glacial valley that turns into a river valley for the Rio Maipo that heads from the Andes down into Santiago. It is a mountain paradise only about an hour's drive away from Santiago. People head up the valley to get away from the city. You can go rafting, horse trekking, hot springs, hiking, looking at rocks and rivers :) (hey I like that kind of thing!!)....

To get here it is easiest by car as this will give you more flexibility. If you haven't got a car you may consider biking up the Maipo which is a popular passtime in the area. There are also buses that go up.

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Directions: By Car go down Avenida La Florida or Avenida Vicuña Mackenna until you get to Puente Alto, then take Calle Eyzaguirre and go left heading towards Vizcachas where you will find Ruta G-25 that goes into the Cajón. It's a paved road until San Gabriel

You can't miss the Cerro San Cristobal as it sits with the Virgin on top overlooking the city of Santiago. It is a popular place to walk, run or ride a bike in the weekends - especially weekends after rain when the smog clears. There is a swimming pool on the hill which is popular during summer. The zoo is also on the hill but I have heard that it is not particularly pleasant. There is access to drive to the top of the hill or you can take the teleferico up there or walk.

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The La Moneda Palace is located downtown Santiago. It is an important historical building in the political history of Santiago, in particular the era of President Salvador Allende's term when the palace was bombed and where Allende allegedly committed suicide. This was the lead into the Pinochet coup.

La Moneda is currently the government building and tourists are able to wander through. They have some lovely parks either side of it but don't even think of sitting on the grass or anything as it is not allowed.

When the free trade agreement between NZ and Chile came into law in Chile I attended a signing ceremony in La Moneda where President Michelle Bachelet signed the papers.

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Address: Alameda
Directions: Take the subway (linea 1) and get off in La Moneda station.

Cerro Santa Lucia is a hill in the centre of Santiago with a castle on top of it. It kind of looks like a wacky tourist attraction but the hill is historically significant as this is where Pedro de Valdivia founded the city of Santiago.

The hill has been known to be dangerous, particularly at night, however it is now fenced off and locked at night and all entrants during the day must sign in at the front gate.

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Address: Alameda
Directions: Take metro line 1 and get off at the Santa Lucia stop.

One of the nicest ways to see Santiago is to take the Teleferico up there. You need to go to the Pedro de Valdivia entrance of Cerro San Cristobal and pay at the ticket box. A round trip for adults is 1,400 pesos and 800 pesos for kids. The teleferico operates from 10 am to about 8.30 most days of the week with slightly extended hours on Sundays and holidays.

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Phone: +56 2 737 6669
Address: Av. Pedro de Valdivia Norte / Cnr Av El Cerro
Directions: If you are taking public transport take a metro to Metro Estación Pedro de Valdivia and walk along the street Pedro de Valdivia heading north towards the hill.
Website: www.funicular.cl

When my parents visited Chile for my wedding to Christian I had to take them to the Cajon de Maipo. It is afterall one of my favourite places near Santiago!

We went to a rafting place close to San Jose de Maipo and to a picnic spot in San Jose de Maipo called Parque los Heroes, which is where the rafting trip ends. The pictures are of us having a Chilean style bbq in the park grounds and rafting with company Aventuras Cajon del Maipo.

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Address: Parque Los Heroes, San Jose de Maipo
Website: www.aventurascajondelmaipo.cl

I am living in Chile currently (but am not Chilean) and I really love this place. I wouldn't leave it off any itinerary to South America. What I would recommend to travellers trying to decide where to go in South America is to look at the specific places in each of those countries that you want to see.

For Chile that might be San Pedro de Atacama (desert environment) in the north for example where you could take advantage of the proximity to Peru and Bolivia to travel on to those places.

If you like beaches you may be interested in some of Chile's coastline also (Iquique in the north, La Serena further down and then Viña el Mar/Reñaca closer to Santiago latitude). The ocean in Chile is very cold though! A fabulous trip from La Serena inland is to Pisco Elqui and Vicuña, two towns in the Elqui Valley which I would highly recommend for "getting away from it all".

You can skip to Argentina from Santiago/Viña via Mendoza and experience the very cool crossing between these countries plus the wine region of Mendoza in Argentina.
It may be though that you would prefer the lakes region in southern Chile where you can cross to Argentine Patagonia through the lakes cruise and end up in Bariloche.
In Chilean Patagonia is the infamous Torres del Paine which is a very popular tourist destination for trekking.

In any case, choose your specific sites that you absolutely don't want to miss in each place and then add things to your itinerary from there.

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