Santiago, modern capital (Santiago de Chile)

Member Name: llamass

Product:	Santiago de Chile
Date:	25/05/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: varied faces and great museums

Disadvantages: smoggy and large metropolis

Santiago is a big, bustling and modern city set under the andean peaks. Widely varied in appearance, the face of Santiago could as easily be the bohemian run down cafe as the sleek business centre of the multinationals.

Getting around the city is made cimple because of the efficient metro that stops close to most of the main tourist sites and transport hubs. Additionally there are numerous city buses.

Santiago, particularly for Latin America is a safe city but street crime and pickpocketing, of course, does exsist. Use common sense and be aware especially if drinking or in crowded, tourist areas where theft is more likely.

Santiago is a city of many musuems and it is recommended to see a few before leaving. My personal favourites were the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino which offers a sweeping view of thousands of years of pre-hispanic art and history. The Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende has a good art collection and is also worth seeing because of it's personal history-the collection had to be hidden during the dictatorship and only rerevealed afterwards. La Chascona is the old house and collection of the most famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, and is a varied art collection and a view into the poets life too.

The Cemeterio General is a slightly quirky tourist attraction but the large cemetery offers a memorial to the many, many disappeared as well as famous Chileans-including Salvador Allende. Sombr but is a look at the dark past of the country.

For shopping, Santiago can offer many polished and modern malls with everything you could expect to buy in a European mall. The city also offers surprisingly good crafts, particularly at Centro Artesanal Santa Lucia

Summary: Worth a trip but not as beautiful as other south american cities.