The Ultimate 2-Night Santiago de Chile Itinerary -

The Ultimate 2 Night Guide to Santiago de Chile

Max here. As part of an epic two-week adventure around Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia (with a cheeky day trip to Uruguay), my friend Isaac and I had a 2-night stopover in what I’m prepared to call one of the coolest cities on Earth: Santiago de Chile.

A Quick Point on Safety...

Let’s get this out of the way, because you’ll hear a lot about it. Santiago was famous for being South America’s safest city. That has changed.

In the last five or six years, Chile has seen a massive influx of migration (from 2018 to 2024, it rose by nearly 50%). This has, unfortunately, coincided with a significant uptick in crime, with almost half of Chileans ranking it as their number one concern.

The city centre (Centro) can be particularly rough, especially after dark.

Does this mean you should skip Santiago? Absolutely not. It just means you have to be smart. Stick to safer neighbourhoods like Providencia and Las Condes, don’t flash your valuables, and avoid the city centre at night. We felt perfectly safe following these rules.

Itinerary

Fly into Santiago 🙂
Explore the city, do extreme sports and eat steak. and then some more steak.
Fly elsewhere in Chile !

Suggested Sloth Itinerary Day 1: Arrival and Explore!

Our journey started with one of the world’s longest flights, LHR to SCL. At over 7,200 miles, it takes around 15 hours. We landed at 10:00, bleary-eyed but buzzing.

Once through immigration, it’s time for your first taste of Chilean logistics.

You’ll be told by the official taxi drivers at the airport that Uber is semi-illegal and dangerous. Just ignore them, walk to the pickup area, and order an Uber for safety and a fixed price, as it still works perfectly.

We took ours to Hostal Providencia, in one of Santiago’s nicest (and safest) districts, Providencia. The hostel is slightly dated, but for about £20 a night for a private double room (shared bathroom), it was perfect for us. It’s safe, incredibly well-located, the staff are great, and the breakfast is decent.

Sloth Suggestion: If hostels aren’t your thing (fair enough after a long-haul flight!), you’ll find loads of great, safe hotels in the Providencia district. Something like the Novotel Santiago Providencia (£80 per night) puts you right in the heart of the safest area.

Once you’re settled in, take a stroll around Providencia to get your bearings and grab lunch. You can’t go wrong with a classic local empanada to fuel up.

In the afternoon, the best thing you can do is the free Guru Walk tour. We met our guide in the Centro (take a taxi here) and it was fantastic. I always love these types of tours, and found this one to be particularly strong – it was the perfect way to leanr about Chile and Santiago with a local and a group.

For dinner, taxi back to Providencia. You will probably be tired, so I suggest this nearby Peruvian restaurant (I know this is Chile but Peru has some damn good food). I thoroughly recommend the Lomo Saltado – a delicious stir-fry with steak, onions, tomatoes, and chips.

Afterwards, get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow is a big one.

Sloth Suggested Itinerary Day 2: Towers, Canyons & Steak

Wake up when you’re ready and head to the financial centre of Chile to go up the Gran Torre Santiago (you’ll see it, it’s the tallest building in all of South America).

The observation deck, Sky Costanera, is 300 meters up and gives you 360° views of the entire city. The best part is seeing the scale of the Andes that surround Santiago.

Now for the adventurous bit.

Firstly, book this combined white-water rafting and paragliding package for about £70 – best to contact the company (Ruta Vertical) directly.

You’ll have to get an Uber to the tiny town of San Jose de Maipo – this journey will take you about an hour (around £20 one way). The rafting school is extremely professional and I promise you will have a great time – the river is the perfect level of fun and adventurous, no matter your level or age!

Then for the paragliding… To get there, we took the public bus. As a non-spanish speaker, however, this proved quite the experience so probably best to get a taxi if you can…

Once at the paragliding school, you fill out some forms and then before you know it you are in the back of a pickup driving up a mountain. The rest is pretty self-explanatory.

A quick warning: If you don’t speak Spanish, like me, prepare not to be briefed at all for the paragliding. My instructor tried to brief me, but obviously got nowhere, so we just went for it!

Once you’ve survived, it’s time to head back. Getting a taxi from the canyon can be difficult, so stay patient. But it will happen at some point.

For your final dinner, you have to go to (probably) the best steak restaurant in town: Kilú – Casa de Carnes (it’s back in Providencia – we walked but just get a taxi if in doubt). Their whole concept is built around three cuts of beef, each weighing approximately 1 KILO. You pick your cut, they grill it to perfection, and it comes with chips and a salad. It was, without a doubt, one of the best steaks I’ve ever had.

After that, get yourself back to the hostel (please use a taxi if dark) and get to bed, ready to fly out the next morning – hopefully on to Patagonia!