Santiago de Chile: Ten Sites You Shouldn´t Miss!

Most tourists come to Chile to see the Atacama desert or to go hikingin the southern national parks of the country. However, Santiago as the biggest Chilean city has quite a lot to offer to visitors – here is a list of ten of the most important things to visit:

1.The historic center with the Casa de la Moneda (were Salvador Allende died in 1973), the Casa Colorada, one of the oldest buildings in Santiago and the Plaza de Armas, were everybody meets...

2. The Mercado Central (the Central Marked) at the Estacion Mapocho. You can get vegetables, fruit and meat here – but it is also a great place to eat well and not too expensive. There are several restaurants inside the marked, Donde Augusto (great seafood) being one of the best.

3.Bellavista – for its ever changing but always interesting restaurants. From Chilean to P Portuguese to French, you´ll find a variety of food

4. Again Bellavista – Pablo Neruda build one of his three houses here and it has been transformed into an interesting museum

5. The Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino is among the best in Latin America and shows an interesting exhibition about the pre columbian period in Chile

6. The Villa Grimaldi, one of the most important places of torture during the Pinochet era. Today the Parque de la Paz (the Peace Parc) keeps the memory of the people who disappeared and were killed

7. The pedestrian zone with the Calle de Huerfanos and the Paseo Ahumada. It was created by Agusto Pinochet who wanted to present a modern country with a modern capital to the world...

8. Providencia – modern Santiago at its best: little shops and restaurants, galleries and cafes plus nice buildings and posh villas

9. One of the wineries on the outskirts of the city, Concha and Toro being one of the most imoprtant – there are organised tours

10. The Valle del Río Maipo is a favourite of the Santiuaginos – you can go hiking or rafting or just enjoy the good air after breathing the smog of Santiago...


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