This is part of our 2018 Patagonia trip. We flew from San Francisco to Santiago with a stop in Miami. Santiago is a pretty modernized city with 7 million population. There are many attractions around Plaza de Armas including the free Santiago walking tours(tips recommended), the pre-Columbian museum, Metropolitan Cathedral, and more. Walk up to Santa Lucia Hill is pleasant and the top of the hill has good views of Santiago. Bellavista is an area with many artwork to tour. it's also a good place to have a drink. You can feel this is a pretty hippie town here. The central market (Mercado Central) is another attraction with lots of fresh seafood, fruits, and other merchandise. We also have great seafood lunch including famous King Crab inside Central market. There are a lot of great food in Chile, seafood and lamb are what we enjoyed the most.
Punta Arena is a transit spot of our Patagonia trip. We got the rental car from the airport, maps from the city, and got our laundry done here. But we have a few magic moment to see the beautiful town around sunset at Cerro de la Cruz and the sunrise on Strait of Magellan on the way to airport.
Tour to Fort Bulnes to see the history of early European settlement is very educational. And the view of strait of Magellan is awesome. E also got a chance to walk inside craters in Pali Aike national park on the way back from Argentina.
