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How to spend a 10 hour layover in Santiago


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Santiago is a very picturesque city right on the edge of the Andes mountains. The towering mountains over the developed city scape is a memorable view for sure. Santiago is basically right in the middle of the country and is often considered one of Latin America's most liveable cities. It's highly developed and also serves as an airport hub. As I visit Uruguay fairly often to visit family I often have to transit either through Brazil or Chile at some point. It's a fairly easy city to take advantage of a long layover and I will share my recommendations of what to do in a short time frame there.


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Getting into the city

You can take a taxi if you'd like just make sure to ask price details before agreeing (as with most places). There is also a convenient bus option that will take you to the city center to Estacion Central. The bus ride took roughly 45 minutes each way. It was also cheap. From Estacion Central you can get off. Once you are in downtown Santiago you can either walk or take another train line up a few blocks to La Moneda Palace and park. This is where I'd recommend switching to walking.

Things to Do

La Moneda Palace is the seat of the president of Chile. It's a good place to begin exploring the downtown part of the city. It's an impressive building surrounded by some nice parks. You can stroll around, take some photos and maybe even see the changing of the guards (this happens once every two days).

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Plaza de Armas is the main square in Santiago. It's easy to walk here from La Moneda Palace or there is also a metro station right under the plaza which you can arrive to by train. Surrounding the square are some historic buildings, including the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago, Central Post Office Building, Palacio de la Real Audiencia de Santiago, and the building that serves as the seat of local government for Santiago, which was formerly occupied by the Cabildo of the city before being remodeled. There are also other architecturally significant buildings that face the square, including the Capilla del Sagrario, the Palacio arzobispal, the Edificio Comercial Edwards, and the Portal Fernández Concha. It's a cool plaza full of vendors and art. Definitely worth stopping by if you are in Santiago!

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Climbing Cerro Santa Lucia was probably my favourite thing that I did on my layover here. Also walking distance from the other attractions on my list Cerro Santa Lucia offers a nice hike up some well maintained gardens that leads to a fantastic view of the city with the towering mountains in the backdrop. There are monuments, waterfalls and some buildings on the hill that you will pass by on the way up. The hill is the remnant of a volcano 15 million years old.

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What is your favourite thing to do in Santiago?

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Food and Drink


I don't think I ate anything while I was here but there was lots of street food around. Some Chilean foods you might see are pastel de choclo, empanadas, and completos (Chilean hot dogs). Another option is you can walk up to the Mercado Central from Plaza de Armas. They have a good variety of food there. Some in restaurants and some for purchasing to cook at home. A Chilean traveller I met in Uruguay told me that I should try a Terremoto (Earthquake) cocktail. The drink is mainly made up of white Pipeño wine, pineapple ice cream and grenadine. It was a unique and appropriate cocktail for a city right in the mountains on the Pacific Rim. I tried it at Mercado Central but it is a common Santiago cocktail that must be available in many spots!

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