Highlights
- 6-hour private insider walking tour of Santiago
- Experience the city like a local with a private guide!
- Ride the metro to downtown art murals and visit two bustling food markets, including La Vega Central
- Stroll along shop-lined streets, through Plaza de Armas and across the Mapocho River
- Enjoy lunch at a seafood restaurant as well as local street food, such as sopaipilla
- Try a Torremoto, a popular Chilean drink, at a bar in Santiago’s Bohemian district, and have a cup of coffee at a popular café
- Take in views of Santiago’s skyline and the Andes mountains on a funicular up San Cristobal Hill
Recent Photos of this Tour
What You Can Expect
Mapocho River
Then, join Santiago’s bustling downtown and see its vibrant urban culture firsthand. You’ll walk with your guide through a classic, colonial-style building that houses the stock exchange. Afterward, experience a cheeky piece of Santiago culture as you sip a cup of coffee at a café con piernas (coffee with legs), where female servers show off their limbs in high heels and miniskirts, bikinis or lingerie.
Next, meander through the Paseo Ahumada, a 4-block-long pedestrian mall filled with retail shops and shoeshine stands. Follow the promenade to Plaza de Armas, a gathering spot for Chilean immigrants. You’ll visit Chile’s largest cathedral and snack on some classic street food such as sopaipilla (or sopapilla), a pastry made of deep-fried pumpkin dough.
Continue along Puente Street, lined with shoe stores, until you reach the Mercado Central (Central Market), a national monument built in 1872. Watch the fishmongers cut fillets before stopping for lunch at one of the many seafood restaurants frequented by the locals. Here, try tangy ceviche, fish marinade or razor clams!
After a satisfying meal, walk across the Mapocho River to La Vega Central, a market brimming with seasonal produce like figs, quince, persimmons and chirimoyas (custard apples).
Then, walk through Barrio Bellavista, Santiago’s Bohemian district, where famous poet Pablo Neruda lived. Artists and intellectuals still reside here, along with boutiques and galleries housed in old mansions. Your guide will take you to a local bar to try a Terremoto (Earthquake), a typical Chilean drink made of pipeño (sweet fermented wine) paired with pineapple ice cream.
Finally, board a funicular and rise up the steep slope of San Cristobal Hill. Rising almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) above Santiago, you’ll catch sweeping views of the city and the snow-capped Andes mountains.
Afterward, you’ll be taken back to your hotel by a comfortable van.
Customer Reviews
June 2013
Kudo's to Paola our guide. Came out in unexpectedly cold weather and on time. Had a great day with her - just wasn't long enough!
May 2013
(see review for Private Walking Tour, Santiago like a Local). Our tour guide was Gladys and she was excellent in every way. Can't recommend this half day tour with her enough - we wish all of our tours this week had been with Gladys, such was her knowledge of the subject matter, country and culture. She had excellent English, was and looked very professional and was fun - she joined in our English humour. Fascinating day, the best tour we did as it gives you a great introduction and background to the city and country you're in. If there's one thing you do in Santiago, do this tour. A very nice lady. Thank you Gladys - you're a credit to your employer.
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