Casa Colorada (Coloured House)
This 18th-century colonial mansion just off the Plaza de Armas is an attraction in itself, with its elegant facade and rose-coloured walls. It also houses the Museo de Santiago (Santiago Museum), which has amateurish but informative displays on the city's history from pre-Columbian times to the development of today's modern sprawl.

Calle Merced 680
Santiago
Chile
Tel: (02) 633 0723.
Opening hours: Tues-Fri 1000-1800, Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1100-1400.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes


Cementerio General
Until recently, this has been one of Santiago's hidden treasures, but it is now growing in popularity. This is no ordinary burial ground, more a mini-metropolis of extraordinary tombs. Some are extravagant, some are beautiful, almost all are striking in one way or another. It's also of great historical interest - several leading politicians are buried here, including Salvador Allende, and there is a memorial to all those who disappeared during the Pinochet years.

Profesor Alberto Zañartu 951
Santiago
Chile
Tel: (02) 737 9469.
Web: www.cementeriogeneral.cl
Opening hours: Daily 0830-1800.
Admission Fee: No
Disabled Access: Yes


Iglesia de San Francisco (Church of St Francis)
Just off Santiago's hectic main thoroughfare, the thick walls of the Iglesia de San Francisco, with the adjacent Franciscan Monastery, provide a peaceful haven from the downtown traffic. The church was originally built in the late 16th century by Chile's conquistador, Pedro de Valdivia, and it has survived regular earthquakes (although its tower has gone through several incarnations). It is one of Santiago's oldest buildings and the adjacent former monastery houses the Museo Colonial San Francisco (Colonial Museum of St Francis), which contains a collection of ecclesiastical art dating from the colonial era.

which contains a collection of ecclesiastical art dating from th
(Colonial Museum of St Francis)
Santiago
Chile
Tel: (02) 639 8737.
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1300 and 1500-1800, Sun 1000-1400.
Admission Fee: No
Disabled Access: Yes


Mercado Central (Central Market)
A wrought-iron structure (shipped out piece by piece from England in the 19th century) is home to Santiago's Central Market, on the south bank of the Rio Mapocho. With a bustling fish market on the outside, it is the restaurants within that have become the real attraction. Some of the central options under the high ceiling are a bit of a tourist trap - but many visitors don't mind paying for the memorable atmosphere.

Calle Puente and Calle San Pablo, Santiago
Chile
Opening hours: Dawn to late afternoon.
Admission Fee: No
Disabled Access: Yes


Museo Casa La Chascona (La Chascona House Museum)
Nobel-Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda's Santiago pied-à-terre is situated in the lively Bellavista neighbourhood. A series of small buildings, rather than a single house, La Chascona has been meticulously restored since it was vandalised by supporters of General Pinochet and now houses a collection of Neruda's possessions. Visitors are taken on a guided tour (Spanish or English) through the house, where the history behind the furniture and possessions is explained.

Fernando Márquez de la Plata 0192
Santiago
Chile
Tel: (02) 777 8741.
Web: www.fundacionneruda.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes


Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino (Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art)
If you only have time to visit one museum in Santiago, make sure this is the one. The Museum of Pre-Colombian Art houses a world-class collection of artefacts from Latin America's pre-Hispanic civilisations. Located in a handsome colonial building, the Palacio de la Real Aduana (Royal Customs House), it exhibits intricately crafted artwork in ceramics, metals, textiles and wood. Tastefully presented and meticulously cared for, the items on show give a unique insight into the lost cultures of the Maya, Aztecs, Incas and other groups which once dominated this vast continent.

Bandera 361
Santiago
Chile
Tel: (02) 688 7348.
Web: www.precolombino.cl
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes


Museo Histórico Nacional (National History Museum)
The colonial Palacio de la Real Audiencia houses the absorbing Museo Histórico Nacional, which has a fine series of chronological exhibits on Chile's development from the colonial period through to independence and the modern era, ending abruptly with the military coup in 1973. There is a small exhibit on Chile's indigenous culture.

Plaza de Armas
Santiago
Chile
Tel: (02) 411 7000.
Web: www.dibam.cl/historico_nacional
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1730.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes


Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende (Salvador Allende Museum of Solidarity)
This museum, which has changed locations several times in recent years, houses works of art donated by artists from around the world. The collection began in 1971 when a group of artists and thinkers decided to bring together contemporary works of art to show their sympathy with the socialist policies of the Salvador Allende government. During Pinochet's military dictatorship, exiled artists continued the project and the collection now includes donations by artists from over 39 countries such as Joan Miró, Roberto Matta, Antonio Saura and Yoko Ono.

Avenida República 475
Santiago
Chile
Tel: (02) 689 8761.
Web: www.museodelasolidaridad.cl
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes


Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts)
This fine arts museum, housed in a turn-of-the-century copy of Paris' Petit Palais, shows the city's aspirations to lift itself out of the cultural wilderness. It occupies an entire block in the Parque Forestal area and has Chile's best collection of painting and sculpture. It regularly hosts exhibitions by contemporary artists from Chile and abroad. Perhaps the most interesting displays are from the early colonial artists charting the growth of the modern nation.

Parque Forestal
Santiago
Chile
Tel: (02) 633 4472.
Web: www.dibam.cl/bellas_artes
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1850.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes


Palacio de la Moneda (Moneda Palace)
Once the official mint, la Moneda became the presidential residence in 1846. While Chile's head of state no longer lives on site, the building's presidential offices are still used. The bombing of Moneda Palace by air force jets during General Augusto Pinochet's coup against Salvador Allende's Marxist government in 1973 remains an enduring image of the 20th century. Allende took his own life in this building with a gun given to him, according to local legend, by Fidel Castro. Visitors can stroll along the courtyard that runs through the middle of the building, and can arrange to visit the interior with an advance booking. On the south side of the Moneda Palace, on (or rather under) Plaza de la Ciudadanía, is the modern Centro Cultural Palacio de la Moneda, which has a series of exhibition spaces and some first-rate exhibitions. There is also an excellent shop selling traditional Chilean handicrafts.

Avenida Bernardo O'Higgins (Alameda), Santiago
Chile
Tel: (02) 690 4236.
Web: www.visitchile.com/en/la-moneda-palace
Opening hours: Tours need to be arranged in advance.
Admission Fee: No
Disabled Access: Yes