24 Hours in Santiago- On our way to Patagonia and Mendoza we had a quick one day stop over in Santiago, Chile to be able to try all the best food and drinks the city has to offer. I am not much of a city explorer but I do love trying affordable places to eat and drink in cities. And in Santiago there are so many options. Today I made a list of all of our favorite places of where to eat and drink in Santiago during out two days there. We had less than 48 hours so we mostly ate in the Bellavsita, downtown and Lastarria areas of Santiago.

Where To Stay

For this itinerary we based a lot stops in the Bellavista and Lastarria areas of Santiago. There are plenty of places to choose from on AirBnb if looking for an apartment (use this link for$55 off your first stay). But we wanted to be able to schedule taxi airport pick ups and drop offs with our hotel. So we looked at booking.com to book with Apart Hotel B.

Day 1:

Arrive

From the Santiago Airport we got in our arranged taxi right away. It did take us a little bit longer than expected according to Google Maps. But our taxi was a flat rate with our hotel so we were glad about that. Ubers are not technically allowed in Chile. But people still use them, and they may be harder to get coming from the airport, that is why we decided to arrange a taxi with our hotel. Ubers might ask you to sit in the front seat if you choose to get one. We arrived just in time to get settled in at ApartHotelB, get cleaned up and head out to dinner.

Peumayén Ancestral Food

If I could suggest one place to eat in Santiago I would choose Peumayén Ancestral Food. This was such a unique experience. Peumayén Ancestral Food is known for creating traditional Chile cuisine with a modern twist. When making reservations you can choose between a few different dining options. We chose the Interior Patio room as it gave us the option to the set menus or ordering a la carte. We both ended up ordering the set menus, a red meat course (all red meat main course) for my husband and a mixed meats course (red, fish and veggie main course) for me, both a 23 bite meal. My favorite was the bread course, they gave us bites of different styles of how bread used to be made in different regions of Chile.

Siete Negronis

Not quite ready to head in for the night we stopped at Siete Negronis. We had the perfect night caps. I would suggest ordering the ‘Smoky’, we both loved the presentation and the smoky flavor.

Day 2:

Our full day in Santiago was dedicated to finding all the best places to eat and drink in Santiago, Chile. I think we were quite successful as I would suggest to visit all of these places if planning to go to Santiago.

Breakfast At The Hotel

Our hotel at Apart Hotel B provided a breakfast. We ate a small breakfast there and started pretty early in the day, meeting a friend to explore our first few stops.

Plaza de Armas

Plaza de Armas is a square located downtown. It showcases many statues, park benches and government buildings such at the National History Museum and Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral. On weekends and holidays you may even find some outdoor markets pop up around here.

Paseo Bandera

This was one of my favorite sites in Santiago. I am sucker for some colorful murals and fun playful art in cities. Bandera Street was created in 2017 by artist Dasic Fernández. The paintings on the street walking paths have faded but I still loved the pedestrian bridge to bring some bright colors to the city. To find more street art in Santiago check out this article on Discovering the Colorful Side to Santiago.

Constitution Plaza

Another architectural site would be the Constitution Plaza. Here, if interested in museums, you could visit the Cultural Museum.

Emporio Zunino

I was so excited to try Emporio Zunino as it is known to make some of the best empanadas in Santiago. It has been open since 1930. Just be careful to carry cash, we made that mistake of not having cash yet, but we were lucky our friend did and spotted us. These were not typical empanadas, they were more of a layered pastry, we ordered a cheese and a meat. The meat was more of a stew, great but surprising.

Mercado Central

I will say I had higher hopes for this market as I believed it was more like a fresh food market. But inside was more of a business vibe, with restaurants and souvenir like shops. We killed time walking around here before our next eating and drinking stops, I believe this could be easily missed.

Ópera Catedral

My hope for this place was to check out their rooftop bar. But for some reason it was closed when we showed up during the day. This does seem like a great place if looking to sit outside. But we were hot, thirsty and ready for some A/C so we tried out first local beer at Ópera Catedral.

Hogs

We have this weird love to try a hot dog in each city we go to. It seems most countries have their own version of how to serve a hot dog. A lot of places in Santiago seemed to be very mayonnaise heavy, so Hogs was a perfect balance as they had many different options. This was a great lunch stop as we shared one with fries. But I will say I still haven’t found a hot dog that beats the Icelandic one.

Open Market

Not sure if this is something that happens every weekend or not. But we did get the chance to walk through a outdoor vendor market along our walk from Hogs to Chipe Libre along José Victorino Lastarria street. Lots of local vendors and a great place to buy survivors, such as handmade jewelry, prints and paintings. Make sure you have cash!

Chipe Libre

Not hungry but ready to try more cuisine in Santiago we stopped at Chipe Libre. They are best known for their Pisco Sours. And we were on a mission to try all of the different types of Pisco Sours while in Chile. We first started out with some more refreshing drinks as we were not used to the summer heat being that it was December. Then moved on to their famous Pisco Sours. I loved the frothy egg whites on top of these, I am a sucker for cocktails with egg whites.

Bocanaraz

Dinner at Bocanaraz is another must in Santiago. Endless options of dishes to choose from, but we went with oysters, oxtail, and pork rounds to share. We also each ordered a flight of wine to enjoy with our meal. Every bite was delicious and we couldn’t believe what we were eating for the price. We were constantly shocked of the quality of our meals in all of South America, and Santiago especially.

Jose Ramon 227

To cap our night off we found some craft brews at Jose Ramon 227. If we were not so stuffed from the meals before this also seemed like a great place to eat. The sandwiches coming out of the kitchen looked great, and shareable as they were HUGE!