The Old City of Chile – Santiago

The Capital and the largest City of Chile is Santiago.

Best Time to Visit Santiago

With a tropical weather, anytime is fine to tour Santiago, though spring and autumn is best.

How to reach Santiago

Your flight from major international destinations will land at the Comodoro Arturo Merino Benitez, which about 21 kilometers away from Santiago.

Buses and taxis are the means to get around within the city.

Santiago Tourist Attractions

While Chile’s Capital City is not primarily a major tourist destination, a day or two here would definitely be worthwhile. This is the oldest city of Chile, dating back to 1541.

Here is what you could see on a stroll around the city.

• Head to the Plaza de Armas. This is the main square of the city and an integral to it. Here you have the Cathedral, the Royal Court or the Audiencia Real, the Central Post Office and the City Hall. It’s a nice hang-out place too.

• Take a look at the Cathedral. This structure is designed tastefully and has a blend of classical and baroque characteristics. The barrel-vaulted ceiling, the white marble altar, the Holy Sacrament Chapel are some of its features that stand apart. The Cathedral is a National Monument.
• Visit the Museum of Sacred Art in the Cathedral and the Chilean Museum of Pre-Colombian Art.
• Take some time out for the Real Audiencia Palace or the National Historical Museum. The museum, built between 1804 and 1907 reflects a neo-classical style and is a national monument since 1969.
• To get a sense of the local life, walk through the Mercado Central or the Central market, which is the one-stop-shop for vegetables, fruits and fish.
• Hike up the Hill of Cerro San Cristobal, standing 2,752 feet high to get a mesmerizing view of the city and the Andes region. You can also go up by a funicular.
• A significant landmark here is the Palacio de la Moneda – the presidential residence built between 1784 and 1799. This has a blend of neo-classical and austere styles.

• An architectural delight here is the Casa Colorada or the Red House built by a businessman in 1769. It took a decade for the construction of this house to be complete and questioned the set norms of architecture. Today, it serves as a museum.
• The Cousino Palace is another beautiful landmark of the city, reflecting the lifestyle of elite in the 19th-20th century.

• Do visit to the Mapocho Station when in Santiago, a major cultural center of the city.
• The Capital City of Chile has some nature reserves and nature parks too such as the Rio Clarillo National Reserve that you can make a trip to. Some special species inhabiting this reserve are the Chilean Iguana. Eared dove is one of the exotic bird species found here. This and other reserves are good for camping and trekking.

Santiago is much more than the Capital City of Chile and a main entry point to this South American Country. Amidst the skyscrapers here are some historic buildings and important landmarks too, making this city worth touring.