Santiago/Central

The Historic Center is the traditional financial downtown district in Santiago. It comprises the historical center, including Cerro Santa Lucia (the place where the city was founded), historic and public buildings. Mostly commercial, there are also some traditional residential barrios here.

Downtown is mostly centered along the city's main street Avenida Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins — or as the locals call it — Alameda. North of it is the river Mapocho, Cerro Santa Lucia with great views of Santiago and the lively square Plaza de Armas. As one may expect from the central district, you will also find plenty of restaurants and hotels and good connections to and from all of the rest of the city.

Get in
The Historic Center is served by Metro Line 1 (Santa Lucía, Universidad de Chile, La Moneda, and Los Héroes), Line 2 (Los Héroes, Santa Ana, and Puente Cal y Canto), and Line 5 (Plaza de Armas and Santa Ana).

The metro is probably the best way for getting both in and around, it's clean and safe. If you arrive to the city from other parts of the country or arriving from the airport with the airport bus, there will be a metro station near every bus station. Lines 1, 2 and 5 go to Centro. Most trunk bus services also cross through downtown. Try to avoid travelling on public transportation during rush hours; 07:00-09:00 in the morning and 18:00-20:00 in the evening, because it's very crowded at those times.

There are also taxis, but it might be hard to find a vacant one. Driving in downtown should rather be avoided due to heavy traffic, a lack of parking spaces and a lot of one way streets.

Walking can be a feasible option once in the downtown, as attractions are quite close to each other.

Interesting neighborhoods

 * Barrio Lastarria - Residential barrio with many architectonical jewels and interesting museums such as Plaza Mulato Gil de Castro, Museo de Artes Visuales, the Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral and the Museo Arqueológico de Santiago, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and park Parque Forestal.
 * Barrio Lira is the most densely inhabited barrio in Santiago de Chile. It is accessible via a quick walk from Metros Santa Isabel (Line 5), Universidad Católica (Line 1), and Santa Lucía (Line 1). For those willing to brave Transantiago buses there are many routes that come down Avenida Santa Rosa from the Alameda or along 10 de Julio/Avenida Matta from Metro Irarrázaval (Line 5).

Budget