Santiago, Chile: Map of Recommendations

Courtney Comstock
Nov 3, 2017
3 min read

AH! I am leaving Chile much too soon. However, I will surely be back to ski the Andes during the U.S. summer, something I have always wanted to do.

Map of recommendations:

From the top!

* Galeria de Arte / Alonso de Cordoba: I include this only because DO NOT DO IT. I read a NYT article on 36 hours in Santiago, and they said this was a street with lovely luxe shops that was like a Toy Land version of 5th Avenue. First of all, no it is not. Eighty percent of the shops are home goods shops, and it is not diverse and popular like 5th avenue, nor is it cute like Toy Land. I saw literally one single shopper. Plus me, that makes two shoppers, in the half hour or 45 minutes I walked up this street. (I only wanted a wool sweater because mine were stolen from my hotel in Panama.) Honestly I don't think the NYT author visited here. Second, it is so freaking far out of the way! There is NOTHING else around. Definitely do not go. Ridiculous recommendation by the NYT. Plenty of shopping and malls in the center city.

* Fuente Alemena: Another thing you should (probably) not do, is go to this sandwich shop. It's popular with tourists because Anthony Bourdain went here on his show. It is also very popular with locals - I was the only tourist in here and it was packed, but I had sandwiches that were just as good elsewhere, and they cost 1/2 as much. The ambiance is cool, the pork sandwich is overrated. I would get the hotdog, which looked muy rico (delicious).

* Cerro San Cristobal: A great park! Biking, running, food. Views of the city. 4 stars.

* Museo de Arte Contemperaneo: I did not go inside this museum but it is near a delightful little park (pics below). Santiago has 3 larger parks with big hills and attractions like Cerro San Cristobal, and many, many little parks. This was my favorite of the little parks I walked through.

* Cañamo Coffee: Santiago Tinder date Felipe chose this place. Great local & imported beers and tasty apps. The surrounding area has a bunch of restaurants, bars and coffee shops. We almost went to Barrio Lastarria, another "coffee" shop you can see I starred nearby.

*Cafe Tricolo & La Terraza: They are right next to each other. Tricolo was my go-to cafe. Awesome chocolate chip cookies, fine sandwiches, and delicious coffee and espressos. Best I've had on my entire trip in fact. La Terraza was a recommendation by my Uber driver, who told me that his favorite dishes were, in his order, Lomo a Pobre, Chorriana, and Barros Luco. I only tried Lomo a Pobre (pic below) but they all sounded good. La Terraza, where I ate the Lomo, I liked a lot. Basically a diner, but a good one, not touristy at all.

* Santa Lucia Hill: Lovely way to spend an hour or two. More details & pics below.

* Hostal Sendero Sur: Would totally stay here again. Hostal in a cute little house in a great location.

* Blue Jar: I wish I could have eaten here more than once. Second best espresso on my trip and they little brownie or whatever it is they give you with your coffees? OMG to die for. I had scrambled eggs with pancetta and wish I could go back for more.

Zooming out, there are a couple of hikes that I was thinking about. They sounded awesome but I decided to urban hike instead. Walked over 35,000 steps and 15 miles yesterday! Top right: Cerro Pochoco, which is pretty accessible from the city, as is Cerro Manquehue, center top. Just google directions. Cascada Apoquindo is in the lower right. These three looked like the best, easiest options for half to full day medium intensity hikes.

Now for the pics. In no particular order...

The street my hostel, Sendero Ser, is on. I recommend it. Basic hostel, but great location.

Pics from walking up and around Santa Lucia Hill, a nice way to spend a couple hours:

Notice the guy counting the coins he's picking out of the water. That can't be buena suerte my friend! (Good luck)

I like this pic (below) because it was hard to capture on camera how LUSH parts of Santiago are. Trees everywhere, with vines up and down their trunks, many colorful flowers, many parks. Jumangi City!