It's so exciting to be here in South America and what a place to start! Across the next 4 months we will be travelling north, starting here in Santiago, Chile and ending in Ecuador, after having also explored Bolivia and Peru along the way.
We flew in to Santiago via Madrid with Iberia and it was, a great flight. We were more than pleased to not have to go through the US as many flights to South America often do and from previous experience its not fun. Tasty food, a decent selection of films and constant free drinks made us all the more happy, but what made this flight stand out over any other was the exceptional view of the Andes we got flying across the Chilean Argentinian border. (Sorry no pictures! Wasn't sitting near the window unfortunately so you'll have to just take my word for it).
Leaving the airport turned out to be harder than expected as Lissa's bag got sniffed out by police dogs, for reasons we dont fully understand. After emptying the bag the border guards came to the conclusion that it was a packet of ginger biscuits that had been the problem and we were eventually waved through. We got to keep the biscuits so not all bad. We'd booked a night in a hostel already and had written down directions to get there from the airport, so after leaving we took a bus to the nearest metro station where we somehow managed to get a metro card with enough credit on, having to call upon Lissa's GCSE in Spanish and my beginner's Duolingo progress - something we'd soon realise would be a regular occurrence. (Hardly anyone speaks any English here!). We took the metro to Baquedano station, a 10 minute walk from our hostel and eventually managed to find our way there.
What followed was a packed full few days in a fantasic city and an unforgettable start to our trip. Through reading blogs and guidebooks before hand we got the general impression that Santiago was an alright city but nothing particulary special for travellers and tourists, but we were really pleasantly surprised and had such a great time.
Here's our top 10 activities to see in do in Chile's capital city:
1. Do a walking tour
Our hostel recommended we do a walking tour of the
city, starting from Plaza de Armas, with the company FREE TOURS. We'd done them
in the past before and have been really impressed so we turned up one afternoon
and joined a group of other English speaking travellers. The tour was
brilliant, taking us to both the cool new spots as well as the historic and
important older areas of the city. Our guide knew so much and was good fun,
making the hours fly by and teaching us so much about the country's fascinating
past. In our opinion this is a great thing to do as soon as you get to a city,
to get your bearings and its also a good way of making sure you're walking around
the safer areas of a city if you're unsure.
(Tours run every day at 10am and 3pm and last
roughly 3-4 hours with a small break in the middle. Tours run in English,
Spanish and Portuguese. They start at Plaza de Armas. No booking required. Look
for the guides wearing red t-shirts.)
2. Climb Cerro San Cristobal
This was probably my favourite thing that we did
during our time here. If you walk through Bellavista, as you reach the end of
Pio Nono street you'll find yourself at the bottom of a hill where there's a
tourist information hut which can give you a map and tell you about the
funicular and cable cars that operate on and around the hill. Take the walk up
and the ride down for the most rewarding experience. Yes it's tiring but the
views certainly make up for it!(Try to do it on a clear day for obvious
reasons!)
3. Explore Bellavista
Bellavista is very much the 'cool' area of
Santiago, boasting endless restaurants, bars and pubs/clubs, each more
colourful than the other. Getting lost through the back streets of this
neighbourhood should be on everyone's itinerary.
4. Take a stroll through Santiago's many parks
One of our favourite things about the city is how
much green space it has and no better way to enjoy it than to walk around them
with no agenda, simply stopping where and when you see something interesting.
5. Barrio Lastarria
One of the smaller and quieter neighbourhoods of
Santiago, barrio Lastarria is made up of a few charming streets, where quaint
cafes and restaurants meet exciting street performers and artists. Make sure to
get an ice cream at Emporio La Rosa, ranked one of the best ice cream parlors
in the world, with creative flavours such as rose petal, dark chocolate with
pepper, Sauvignon Blanc and Earl Grey.
6. Museo de La Memoria y los Derechos Humanos
Most museums in Chile are free! This particular
museum is definitely worth while and according to our tour guide the best in
the city. Make sure to get a audio guide if you can't read Spanish well as the
exhibitions are all in Spanish.
7. La Vega Market
Recommended by our hostel to take a visit here, we
found this a great place to buy fruit and veg on the cheap and get a feel of
what seems more like local Chilean life.
8. National Museum of Contemporary Art
We stumbled upon the National Museum of Fine Arts
when walking through Parque Forestel and had a look in - because why not!
Although we weren't too fussed about the paintings and sculptures exhibited in
there, we were much more interested by the contemporary art museum attached, at
the other end of the building. Here you'll find lots of weird and wonderful art
which will either leave you feeling a bit creeped out or thinking that you
could easily create something just as good. Anyway, we enjoyed it for half an
hour or so.
9. Cerro Santa Lucia
Although smaller and slightly less impressive than
San Cristobal, getting to the top of this hill is certainly easier and will
provide equally good views of the city!
10. London & Paris streets
This fancy area of the city is made up of small
cobbled European style streets and countless cafes. Each building has its own
unique European style making for a completely different feel to the rest of the
city.
Where we
stayed...
For those who are interested, we stayed at Castillo
Surfista Hostel and we couldn't recommend it more. It was a large house,
converted into a hostel with a decent kitchen and a nice dorm room. Great
location & great price. You can find it here on hostelworld
What we spent...
Chile is one of the more expensive countries in South America and with Santiago being the capital city we expected to be spending lots when we were here. We did manage to keep costs down by cooking our own food as much as possible though. We spent an average of just over £25 each a day, including food, accommodation and activities, with about £10 each out of that spent on the hostel, so £15 on food and activities.
Hope this is useful!
Will & Melissa
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