11 Best Sights in Santiago, Chile

This necropolis in the northern part of the city reveals a lot about traditional Chilean society. Through the lofty stone arches of the main entrance are well-tended paths lined with marble mausoleums and squat mansions belonging to Chile's wealthy families. The 8- or 10-story "niches"—concrete shelves housing thousands of coffins—resemble middle-class apartment buildings. Their inhabitants lie here until the rent runs out and they are evicted. Look for former President Salvador Allende's final resting spot; a map at the main entrance to the cemetery can help you find it. Fifty-minute Human Rights Tours in Spanish run weekdays at 6 pm. General tours are weekdays (except Wednesday) by prior arrangement and last 90 minutes. Two 75-minute night tours are available at 8:45 pm for kids and adults. All tours require online reservations and are either free or cost between 4,000 and 6,000 pesos.

This large, iconic hill within the centenary Parque Metropolitano is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Santiago. From the western entrance at Plaza Caupolicán (Pío Nono), you can take a steep but enjoyable one-hour walk to the summit, or take the funicular, a historic monument that opened in 1925. The teleférico (cable car) ascends from the eastern entrance, seven blocks north of Pedro de Valdivia metro stop.

The mazelike park of Santa Lucía is a hangout for park-bench smoochers and photo-snapping tourists. Walking uphill along the labyrinth of interconnected paths and plazas takes about 30 minutes, or you can take an elevator two blocks north of the park's main entrance (no fee). The uppermost lookout point affords an excellent 360-degree view of the entire city; two stairways lead up from the Plaza Caupolicán esplanade; those on the south side are newer and less slippery. Be careful near dusk as the park, although patrolled, attracts the occasional mugger. There is a tiny tourism office near the Alameda entrance, open weekdays, but closed for lunch from 2 until 3 pm, and a small indigenous crafts fair called the Centro de Exposición de Arte Indígena (or Gruta Welén) in a natural cavern carved out of the western flank of the hill.

This giant cultural center just steps from the Universidad Católica metro houses some of Santiago's most interesting indigenous arts exhibits and offers a packed cultural itinerary, including theater. There is a large atrium between the two halves of the building with a colorful skylight, restaurant, and café. Outside the building, to the north side is an amphitheater that is occasionally used to host events. An antiques market takes place on the west side of the building Tuesday through Saturday, if it's not raining. Tip: A helpful tourism office is located here.

This house designed by Nobel Prize--winning poet Pablo Neruda was dubbed the "Woman with the Tousled Hair" after Matilde Urrutia, his third wife. The two met while strolling in nearby Parque Forestal, and for years the house served as a romantic hideaway before they married. The pair's passionate relationship was recounted in the 1995 Italian film Il Postino. Audio guides are available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German, and the house is visually fascinating, with winding garden paths, stairs, and bridges leading to the house and its library, which is stuffed with books. There's Neruda's old bedroom in a tower and a secret passageway. Scattered throughout are collections of butterflies, seashells, wineglasses, and other odd objects that inspired Neruda's tumultuous life and romantic poetry. Although not as magical as Neruda's house in Isla Negra, La Chascona still sets your imagination dancing. The house is on a little side street leading off Constitución.

This dazzling museum has one of Chile's finest collections of contemporary Chilean art and it displays the combined private holdings of Chilean industrial moguls Manuel Santa Cruz and Hugo Yaconi. The building itself is a masterpiece: six gallery levels float into each other in surprising ways. The wood floors and Plexiglas-sided stairways create an open and airy space where you might see—depending on what's on display when you visit—paintings and sculptures by Roberto Matta, Arturo Duclos, Gonzalo Cienfuegos, Roser Bru, José Balmes, and Eugenio Dittborn, among others. Pick up artsy souvenirs from Tienda Mulato or refuel at the café next to the entrance.

This museum is a powerful testimony to the coup that established the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet; the resulting detention, torture, and murder of Chilean citizens; and the country's historic vote to return to democracy. There is a heavy audio-visual component, with moving letters by children about the events of the times. Some images and artifacts here might be challenging for children to process, but it's an important part of Chilean history and arguably the country's best museum. It is just across the street from the Parque Quinta Normal, and there is also an entrance in Quinta Normal metro station. Daily tours in English begin at 11 am, noon, and 3:30 pm; audio guides in several languages are available for 2,000 pesos.

Chile's once-mighty railroads have been relegated to history, but this acre of Parque Quinta Normal keeps the memory alive. Sixteen steam locomotives and four passenger coaches are set within quiet gardens with placards in Spanish and English. You can board several of the trains. Among the collection is one of the locomotives used on the old cross-Andes railway to Argentina, which operated between Chile and Argentina from 1910 until 1971. Guided tours are available.

This multilevel complex of bars, eateries, cafés, and souvenir shops is a Bellavista centerpoint. The patio houses a tourist office, free concerts or cueca (national dance) performance in the central plaza, a live music space, a theater, galleries, and restaurants dealing in Peruvian cuisine such as Tambo, as well as Italian, French, and Middle Eastern eateries. The patio is open daily from 8 am until 2 am; shops open 10–9.

This square has been the symbolic heart of Chile—as well as its political, social, religious, and commercial center—since Pedro de Valdivia established the city on this spot in 1541. The Palacio de los Gobernadores, the Palacio de la Real Audiencia, and the Municipalidad de Santiago front the square's northern edge. The dignified cathedral graces the western side of the square. The plaza has historically been very lively, with chess players in a gazebo, street performers playing in the bandstand, and caricaturists. Recent improvements have increased the number of trees and installed Wi-Fi.

Palacio de la Moneda and other government buildings line Constitution Square, the country's most formal plaza. The changing of the guard takes place every other day at 10 am within the triangle defined by 12 Chilean flags. Adorning the plaza are four monuments, each dedicated to a notable national figure: Diego Portales, founder of the Chilean republic; Jorge Alessandri, the country's leader from 1958 to 1964; Eduardo Frei Montalva, president from 1964 to 1970; and Salvador Allende (1970–73).