How to Explore Santiago, Chile on a Budget in Spring: Best Tips & Hidden Gems

The guide on the city walking tour said that because Santiago is a valley surrounded by the Andes, desert, and glaciers, it is relatively isolated and therefore culturally barren. This immediately made me think of why someone said they lived in Santiago for 8 years without falling in love with this boring city.

Although the city is somewhat unremarkable, my experience became vibrant and colorful due to interactions and conversations with different people. Chatty Uber drivers, friendly doormen at the apartment building, and shop owners in the handicraft village. These three days were so fulfilling that I didn’t even have time to post on social media.

Here are some tips:
1. If you’re staying for only 1-2 nights, you can stay in the Plaza de Armas area, which is the old town center, close to attractions but relatively unsafe; if you’re staying for 3-4 nights or more, I strongly recommend staying in the Providencia area, which is in the northeastern wealthy district, convenient for transportation, and has restaurants, cafes, and bubble tea shops.

2. For airport transfers, just take an Uber directly, it’s not expensive, sit in the front, otherwise, the police will check. Uber is not legal locally.

3. The ranking of the areas I visited personally is:
⭐ Vega Central de Santiago (Central Fruit and Vegetable Market) (a dazzling array of fruits, tear-jerking prices, but be careful to protect your phone)
⭐ Los Dominicos Handicraft Village (really good for shopping, there are restaurants inside)
⭐ Lastarria District (artistic and chic, restaurants and bars)
⭐ Plaza de Armas Old Town (those famous attractions, I recommend joining a walking tour, it’s really interesting)
⭐ Cerro San Cristobal (Virgin Mountain) (28 RMB cable car ride to see the sunset, it takes about 1 hour to walk down)
⭐ Barrio Italia (Italian District) (second-hand furniture stores, restaurants, and ice cream)

Regarding food:
Sorry, I didn’t eat a single Chilean meal 🙃
I highly recommend Peruvian cuisine, followed by Chinese food.
[Purple Heart] Panchita tastes good, but the one I went to was quite far, I’m not sure if there are others in other areas
[Blue Heart] Shuxiang, I think it scores 70 points, if you really want to eat Chinese food, especially Sichuan cuisine, go for it
[Red Heart] My Tea, the cheese fruit tea tastes the same as Heytea, I asked for 25% sugar, but it felt like full sugar.

..
[Green Heart] I tried tacu tacu based on recommendations, the Peruvian fried rice was average, but the tacu at the next table looked pretty good. You can have a meal here after coming down from Cerro San Cristobal.
[Purple Heart] All four drinks in picture 13 are worth trying!