We spent a total four days in the Chilean capital, Santiago. In reality, they weren’t consecutive days; there was a gap in the middle during which we flew to Easter Island. We opted to split our stay between central Santiago and the nearby wine growing area of Pirque, home of one of the world’s largest wine producers; Concha y Toro. Pirque, which is around 20 miles south of Santiago, is also a popular day trip from the city.
How to get to Santiago
We flew into Santiago Airport, aka Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, which is situated 10 miles north west of the city centre. From here, there are various options to get into town. A shared mini bus shuttle with Transvip costs CLP 9,500 (around £8). There are also two airport buses; TurBus and Centropuerto. We used TurBus, which takes around 45 minutes and costs CLP 1,900 (around £1.60). Buses run from outside the terminal building every 10 to 30 minutes. You can opt to go all the way into the centre of town or disembark at one of the earlier stops which connect with the Metro network.
Getting Around Santiago
We covered a lot of Santiago on foot. For longer journeys, we used the Metro, which is clean, efficient and cheap. You will need to purchase a bip! card. The card can be obtained and recharged at any Metro station and in other outlets, such as supermarkets. The cost of the card is CLP 1500 (around £1.25) To reach Pirque, we took the Metro Line L4 to the end of the line at Plaza Puento Alto, then a taxi for last few (around 6) miles. For winery visits, there are also plenty of guided tour options if you prefer the door-to-door treatment.
Where to stay in Santiago
One reason why we chose to stay in Pirque rather than take a day trip from Santiago is La Calma de Rita. This unique hotel offers guests the chance to sleep in a room built around a wine barrel or an old railway carriage set in picturesque gardens where you can sip wine beside the pool.
In central Santiago, we stayed an apartment which has since become student accommodation.
Santiago in 4 Days Itinerary
| Day 1 | Flight to Santiago Accommodation – La Calma de Rita Dinner at La Calma de Rita |
| Day 2 | Concha y Toro |
| Day 3 | Palacio de la Moneda Plaza de Armas Santiago Cathedral Cerro Santa Lucia |
| Day 4 | Cerro San Cristóbal – Parque Metropolitano Gran Torre Santiago Sculpture Park |
Santiago Day 1
Flight to Santiago
Today, we fly from Argentina to the Chilean capital, Santiago. It’s only a 90 minute flight, from one side of The Andes to the other. I’m not looking forward to it – previous encounters with the Andes have involved way more turbulence than I would like. The captain doesn’t help by announcing; ‘We’re about to fly over The Andes, fasten your seatbelts!’ However, it’s actually quite calm and the view is awesome. White snow and glaciers at the top. Blue lakes surrounded by greenery at the bottom. And it the middle, mountains in every shade of red, yellow, orange and brown.
First up, we are heading to the wine growing region of Pirque, some 20 miles south of Santiago. We opted to stay in Pirque for a couple of nights in order to visit the area’s most famous vineyard, Concha y Toro, although this is also a popular day trip from the capital. Once in Santiago, we must travel a further 33 miles from the airport to our accommodation in Pirque. This involves a shuttle bus, two tubes and then a taxi from the end of the Metro line. It’s a fairly straightforward journey. We take the TurBus airport shuttle bus to Pajaritos then continue by Metro; L1 to Tobalaba, then change onto the L4 to Plaza Puente Alto. Finally, a taxi for the last few miles to the hotel.
Accommodation – La Calma de Rita
We reach our home for the next couple of days; La Calma de Rita; a quirky little place amongst the vineyards. The accommodation is a mixture of wine barrels and Patagonian shepherd carts – we’re in a pink cart. It’s quite remote (a car would have been ideal) but it has a bar, restaurant and pool, so moving isn’t really necessary.
Dinner at La Calma de Rita
Once we’ve settled into our cart, we spend the remainder of the day relaxing by the pool before relocating a few metres to the restaurant for a very tasty dinner.
Santiago Day 2
After breakfast, a mix of tasty freshly baked bread and nothing else I’d care to eat, we head for Pirque.
Concha y Toro
Our plan to tour several wineries has been pared down to just one now that we are unable to hire a car. But it is the biggie; Concha y Toro, the 5th biggest wine producer in the world.
There are various tour options, including with Santiago pick up. We book the Premium Tour, which includes a glimpse of the founder Don Melchor’s villa and gardens as well as the cellars, with wine tasting at various points along the way. The tour takes a couple of hours and costs CLP 30,000 (about £25).
We start at the villa, then move on to a small vineyard, each row containing a different type of grapes. We’re invited to wander round, trying the different varieties. I’m surprised how different they taste, but then I’m no wine connoisseur. I just like wine…
Our tour permits us to taste three different wines, which are served at various spots around the vineyard. Then, we are given a funky orange box to pack our commemorative wine glass in to take home. In our case, home is five weeks and many thousands of miles away, so I don’t fancy its chances.
The tour concludes in the Casillero del Diablo, where we see thousands of barrels of wine, a fake devil and a sound and light show explaining how the legend of the ‘Devil’s Cellar’ came about.
Afterwards, time for a further wander and to peruse the gift shop for wine related memorabilia. Our hotel is four miles from literally anything, so whilst in Pirque, we stock up on supplies at a local supermarket and return for an afternoon of swimming, lazing by the pool, drinking wine and eating cheese rolls and crisps.
Santiago Day 3
Palacio de la Moneda
Today we’re going sightseeing in Santiago. We start our sightseeing extravaganza with a guided tour of the Palacio de la Moneda (the seat of the President).
Once we have had our passports checked and been issued with passes, we are taken on a guided tour of the ground floor; courtyards, the press room, state rooms and the chapel.
Tours are free but popular. Security is tight; tours need to be booked online in advance and you need to bring a passport. (Note; although we started our day here, there is currently only one tour a day at 4.30 pm and this only runs between Monday and Thursday.)
Plaza de Armas
Then on to the main square; the Plaza de Armas, a hub of activity amidst its 100 shade-giving palm trees and fountains.
Santiago Cathedral
We take a quick visit to Santiago Cathedral. This 18th Century cathedral is grand and ornate. Although to be honest, after several weeks in South America, they all start to look a bit alike…
Cerro Santa Lucia
Next stop is the Cerro Santa Lucia. Here, you can climb several hundred steps through various gardens to a turreted lookout across the city.
At the summit, we are confronted by the rather surreal scene of a family taking their cat on an outing, while a man plays the soundtrack to Grease on a harmonica.
Then we return to our apartment and have a quiet evening consisting of a swim in the communal pool, followed by drinks on the balcony while the sun sets. It’s such a good view, going out seems counterintuitive.
Santiago Day 4
Cerro San Cristóbal
It’s our last day in Chile and we’re going to the Parque Metropolitano on Cerro San Cristóbal; a large urban park on a hill overlooking the city.
First, breakfast from the mini market over the road. The old man buys a cake tossed in a thick coating of icing sugar and coconut. He puts it into a bag, then picks the bag up by the wrong end. The cake falls, he executes a miraculous catch, saving the cake and covering the next lady in the queue in sugar and coconut.
After we’ve finished juggling/eating breakfast, we walk to the southern edge of the park in Bellavista. Here, a funicular railway, which operates from its own castle, takes you 500 metres up the hill for great views over the city.
You can then climb past a series of painted crosses to a 22 metre high statue of the Virgin Mary.
Cable Car
There are a range of activities available on Cerro San Cristóbal; parks, gardens, swimming, a zoo. The must-do activity is to take a cable car across the park, which provides spectacular views of the city.
Tickets for the cable car vary in price according to the day of the week. You can buy a single, return or joint attraction ticket. Details are on the website.
Japanese Garden
From here, we descend on foot to the Japanese Garden.
The garden is very pretty and also has great views across the city, across to the Gran Torre Santiago – the tallest tower in Latin America.
Gran Torre Santiago
We continue our way down the hill and head for the 62 storey Gran Torre Santiago, where you can take a lift to the top for ‘the best view in Latin America’. Tickets for Sky Costanera cost CLP 18,000 (around £15). Inside the tallest tower in South America you will find one of the largest shopping malls in Latin America. We decide we’ve already enjoyed plenty of views of Santiago, purchase some lunch and walk to the sculpture park.
Sculpture Park
The Sculpture Park isn’t spectacular. But it is free, has some interesting pieces and is a pleasant place to sit and have lunch in the shade.
Then, we walk the final 2.5 miles back our apartment (not my idea). In the evening, we get a takeaway and have dinner on our balcony with a view.
- Trip taken: February 2019
- Updated: March 2025
I hope you found the above information useful. For guides to more destinations in the 50+ countries we have visited, check out my full list of Independent Travel Itineraries here.
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