What to do in Santiago

April 9, 2007 9:18 AM

I'm planing a trip to Santiago, Chile for one to two weeks in early May. What shouldn't I miss?

I'm looking for the best things to do in or around Santiago. I'm also interested in reasonable (price-wise) side trips, including overnight stays. To start off, I like wine, and as a bio-dork I'd love to see the native fauna, penguins, and flamingos and what not. I have been looking through travel guides, but I'd love to get some first-hand advice. Thanks!

posted by fermezporte to Grab Bag (2 answers total)

hey julia

ooo - if you want to ping me directly... two of my best friends live there - i think they can give you a great run down - i would plan a trip to the coast: valparaiso - and if possible the cool little towns and cities (like Pucon etc..) north of valapariso. there are tons of cool things to check out in the city itself. i will put together a list for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valpara%C3%ADso

the best part of chile is going way south to the volcano regions and the islands in the south (chiloe) - but it might be getting too cold and grey for that this time of year - the atacama to the north is pretty damn cool too.


a great place to start when i travel is the lonely planet or moon guides - i would also check the thorny tree on lonelyplanet.com great great resources there.

santiago is kind a big and sometimes grubby so plan on finding a neat residencia to stay at - and then jumping the necessary busses and metro to get to the fun spots.

for starters:

Bellavista:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrio_Bellavista

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_San_Crist%C3%B3bal

http://www.cousinomacul.cl/home.html


another neat spot is volcanic baths way up in the mountains called termas de chillan if i remember right.
posted by specialk420 at 10:14 AM on April 9, 2007

Chile is very diverse and stretched out. There's a nascent wine-route south of Santiago, with lots of little hotels, etc. There are penguins all along the coast, some in algarrobo 1.5 hrs from Santiago, which actually has a "Isla de los Pinguinos" you can charter a boat to.
Flamingos are way up north, in the highlands.
I live in Santiago, drop me an email if you need help or advice.
posted by signal at 7:49 AM on April 18, 2007