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Airport  
Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benitez Airport is located 25km from the city centre in the suburb of Pudahuel. Flight time from London is 16hrs, including a stopover. The international terminal is currently undergoing a massive expansion and renovation programme, to be completed in December 1999, with further projects and a control tower scheduled for 2001. Money changing facilities are located in the baggage reclaim area of arrivals. There is a large food court in departures, gift shops and a duty-free store.
Airport to City Centre
The taxi ride from the airport to downtown Santiago takes between 30 min and 1 hr, depending on traffic. The metered taxi fare should cost about $15. It is not customary to tip. Alternatively, the Delfos and Transfer companies provide a shuttle minibus service from the airport to destinations throughout Santiago, costing from $5 to downtown to up to $12 for points further out. Cheaper still is Tour Express, which depart regularly from outside the terminal between 0615 and 0030 and drop passengers at its downtown offices at Moneda and San Martin streets for about $2. All operators are clearly marked and depart from outside the terminal. 
Orientation
Santiago is a modern metropolis of some 5 million inhabitants, accounting for more than a third of Chile’s 14 million population. The commercial and business district stretches from the downtown area – where the remaining Colonial architecture has been dwarfed by gleaming glass skyscrapers – east through the ever-expanding Providencia and Las Condes sections. The entertainment area of Bellavista is squeezed between downtown and Providencia. Santiago is encircled by the Avenida Americo Vespucio. The main commercial corridor is the Alameda, also known as Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins. East of the downtown in Providencia it changes names to Avenida Providencia in the west-bound lanes and Avenida 11 de Septiembre in the east-bound lanes. Further east in Las Condes, the Alameda becomes Avenida Apoquindo. North of the Alameda are Avenida Santa Maria and Avenida Andres Bello, running north and south of the Mapocho River respectively. Andres Bello changes name to Avenida Vitacura, while Santa Maria merges into Avenida Presidente Kennedy. Both are major Las Condes thoroughfares and can provide a quicker artery to Providencia than the Alameda. Most government offices are in the downtown area, along with many business headquarters. Increasingly, however, companies are relocating to Providencia and Las Condes, home to Santiago’s most upscale residential neighborhoods.
Excursions
Some of Chile’s key wine-making regions are located a short distance from Santiago. Across Travels offers day-long tours to two nearby vineyards as demand requires. Several other vineyards close to the city are open to the public but will not provide transportation: Undurraga, Concha y Toro and Santa Rita. Vina del Mar, a Pacific resort city, and Valparaiso, an interesting port city that also serves as the base for Chile’s Congress, are a 2-hr drive from Santiago. Buses leave regularly from Santiago’s main bus station to both cities. 
Getting Around
Taxis and the metro system are the easiest way for the uninitiated to get to grips with Santiago’s layout. Yellow and white public buses, known as micros, are omnipresent and travel to all corners of the city. Destination and principal stops are displayed in the front window, and are best left to locals. The metro system comprises three lines, confusingly numbered 1-5. Single tickets cost 25 cents to 50 cents according to the time of day. More convenient is a ticket primed with $4.25 of journeys, automatically reclaimed by the ticket machines when the last fare is used. The east-west Line 1 (red on the map) runs from western Santiago underneath the Alameda through the city centre to Providence and Las Condes, and serves all the destinations of interest to the business traveler. Line 2 (yellow) connects the southern residential areas of Lo Ovalle with downtown Santiago. Line 5 (green) runs north from the Baquedano station, where downtown Santiago meets Providencia, through residential areas to La Florida in the south. Taxis are easily identifiable by their black body and yellow roof. They can be flagged on almost any street and are metered. Tips are not expected. 
What to see
Santiago was founded at the foot of the Santa Lucia hill to the east of the main downtown area – off Santa Lucia Street to the west, the Alameda to the south and Subercaseaux Street to the east – and is a popular spot for a good view of the city centre, albeit shrouded in smog. At the top is a fortress, reached by foot or via an elevator off Santa Lucia and Huerfanos. Pollution permitting, the much larger San Cristobal Hill in Metropolitan Park provides a broader vista over Santiago and the Andes to the east. The giant statue of the Virgin of San Cristobal is located atop the hill, plus there’s a zoo in the park. Take the funicular from just off Pio Nono St in Bellavista, or the cable car based at Pedro de Validivia Norte St. For walking and downtown people-watching, try Ahumada, a pedestrian route that runs north from the Alameda to the Plaza de Armas. Huerfanos, another pedestrian pathway, runs east-west through the downtown area, intersecting with Ahumada. 
Shopping      biljett - lågprisflyg - Boka resa            Queensway Travel
Serious shopping goes on behind the walls of the two most exclusive malls, Alto Las Condes and Parque Arauco, both located in Las Condes. Each mall contains a couple of department stores, 250 shops, cinemas and a food court. For crafts, copper goods, lapis lazuli and other artisans’ wares from throughout Chile try Graneros del Alba, Apoquindo 9085, which collects some 200 shops and craft stands near the Los Dominicos church in Las Condes. The pleasant atmosphere resembles a mission-turned-craft fair. The Vitacura Handicrafts Center also sells native handicrafts. Some department stores and other shops are located downtown, as is the Santa Lucia Artisan market – a bit tatty, but still a good centrally located place to pick up Chilean crafts and knickknacks.
Where to walk
Take the metro to the Universidad de Chile and head for the big red building to the east, the San Francisco church, where a colonial art museum is located. In front is the Plaza San Francisco, with Londres street to the south leading off to the Paris and Londres neighbourhood, characterised by cobbled roads and buildings with European-style facades. When you’ve had a wander, go back to the San Francisco Plaza, and follow the Alameda to the east, past San Isidro to the Santa Lucia artisan market. Full of makeshift stands, it’s not the fanciest emporium in the world, but many Chilean crafts and trinkets, T-shirts, copper knickknacks and tie-dyed clothing, not to mention tattoos, can be had here. Back-tracking on Alameda, cross the road at Santa Rosa to the north side of the street and head east once again past the National Library. Carry straight on across Miraflores St to the Santa Lucia hill, which can be accessed by several paths and an elevator for a good view over the downtown area and other points of the city. 
Returning to Miraflores, go north to Agustinas and follow it west past the Municipal Theater (Agustinas 794), home of the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra and the city’s ballet company. Continue to the corner and turn north up San Antonio St to Merced St. Heading west you’ll pass the Santiago Museum and one block later arrive at the Plaza de Armas, the official city centre. The pavement cafés aren’t the most elegant, but it’s a good place for lazy people-watching. 
After ducking into the Cathedral and National Historic Museum and unloaded your postcards at the central post office, stroll up the Ahumada, a pedestrian route on the west side of the plaza that empties into the Central Market, about four blocks north of the square. Fresh fruit, vegetable and seafood vendors ply their trade in a packed, raucous atmosphere, and aggressive waiters try to ensnare customers for ceviche and other seafood dishes. 
Back-pedalling along Puente and Ahumada will bring you to Huerfanos, another pedestrian zone a block past the Plaza de Armas. Look out for the news-stand selling extortionate foreign newspapers on the corner. Follow Huerfanos west a block to Bandera, turn north and go on a block to the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. Leaving the museum, take Bandera south to Agustinas, turn west, go past the Chilean Central Bank at the corner with Morande to the Plaza de la Constitucion in front of La Moneda, the government palace. The structure was partially destroyed by air attacks in the 1973 coup that brought the former military government to power, but has since been restored.
Weather and Climate
The spring/summer season lasts from October through March, with a temperature range of about 7ºC-29ºC. Autumn/winter (Apr-Sept) temperatures are only a few degrees lower, with averages of 3ºC-23ºC. Late autumn and winter are the wettest periods, while late spring and summer are relatively dry.