This was part of our Patagonia W Circuit (2016) trip. We stopped by Santiago, Chile before and after the W Circuit hike. Day 1 below was before the hike, while Day 2 was after the hike.
Santiago is the capital and the largest city of Chile. It has an international airport, where most of the tourists arrived. There is a luggage storage in the airport. Ground transportation to the historic center includes taxis and shuttle buses.
(Click here to see all our trips.)
Day 1: Metropolitan Cathedral, Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, Palacio de la Moneda
We arrived in Santiago in the morning. After storing our luggage at the airport, we took a shuttle bus to downtown for sightseeing.
Like most cities in South America, the main plaza in Santiago is called Plaza de Armas. The Metropolitan Cathedral is located at the plaza. The TI office is also located there. The plaza is always bustling with activities.
Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino) is also around the area. The museum is considered by many as the best museum in Chile. It has a large collection of prehistoric artifacts. Don’t miss the ancient textile collection, including an over one-thousand-year old feather cape, in a special temperature controlled room.
The museum also has one of the largest Incan quipu collections. Quipus were used as an accounting device by the Incas. In addition, the museum also has an impressive pottery collection.
After a short lunch break, we continued to Palacio de la Moneda for more sightseeing. Moneda used to be a mint, and later it was turned into the presidential palace, seat of the Chilean government. I booked a free guided tour in the afternoon for the inside visit. We had to go through security check and present our passports.
The building was bombed during the 1973 military coup. President Salvador Allende refused to surrender and committed suicide in the office. Many of us in the tour group were from the U.S. The guide was very vocal in her displeasure regarding the U.S. interference in the Chilean politics. We also saw coin collections on display during the tour.
Day 2: Cerro San Cristobal and Neighborhood, La Mar Restaurant
(This was after the W Circuit hike.)
Today we were heading to Cerro San Cristobal, a small hill not too far from the historical center. Many tourists went here for the panoramic view of Santiago.
A funicular takes visitors to the top of the hill. You can climb up too. After the strenuous W Circuit hike, we went for the funicular.
At the top of the hill there is a comfortable viewing area and a tall Virgen de la Inmaculada statue. There’s also a small chapel. The area was verdant with many plants and flowers.
The area around the hill is a very colorful neighborhood. Houses were all painted with various colors. There were also many interesting mural paintings. We spent a long time strolling in the area.
There were other attractions we wished to see, but we ran out of time. Among them were La Chascona, the house of Pablo Neruda, a famous Chilean poet and winner of Nobel Prize of Literature, and Museo de la Memoria y Derechos Humanos, a new museum dedicated to the victims during the Pinochet dictatorship. If you are curious about Chile, I recommend that you read “The House of the Spirits” by Isabel Allende, one of my favorite authors and a niece of President Salvador Allende.
Rei was very impressed with the La Mar restaurant in Lima, so we decided to try its branch in Santiago. The dinner was very delicious. However, we still thought that the one in Lima was superior.
