Santiago Travel Guide

Santiago de Chile enjoys a spectacular setting: sprawled across the fertile Santiago valley, 100km (62 miles) from the Pacific coast, the city is dominated by the mighty Andes to the east and a smaller coastal mountain range to the west.

Vibrant city
Many visitors still regard Santiago as little more than a convenient place to spend the night before heading elsewhere in Chile. But to avoid Santiago is to overlook a quirky, vibrant city. Travellers prepared to venture beyond their hotel lobbies will be rewarded by colonial churches, lively markets, colourful street life and a surprisingly varied restaurant scene and nightlife.

True, the city's geography is not entirely in its favour - its location has a tendency to trap smog, which may cloud your view of the snow-capped mountains. Nevertheless, Santiago enjoys a pleasant, Mediterranean climate. In the bustling city centre, modern structures sit alongside colonial buildings, and the 18th-century cathedral is reflected in a glass-fronted tower block. Away from the affluent residences of Providencia, Las Condes and La Reina, however, are areas which reflect the large gap between rich and poor.

Santiago history
Santiago was founded in 1541 by a small band of Spanish conquistadors - look for the plaques illustrating the city's growth in Plaza de Armas. After Chile's independence from Spain in 1818, the city experienced large-scale immigration from Europe. Although Chile has remained relatively free from political turmoil, in 1973 a military coup brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, marking the beginning of a brutal 17-year dictatorship. Chile's current president, Michelle Bachelet, was elected in 2006 - the country's first woman to be president.