Get to know the best of Santiago – the Bellas Artes, Bellavista, Lastarria, Paseo Loreto and Plaza de Armas neighborhoods in the center of town near seven great museums: the Bellas Artes Museum, Neruda’s ‘La Chascona’ house, the Museum of Visual Arts (Mavi), the Pre-Colombian Art Museum, the National History Museum, the La Moneda Cultural Center and the Santiago Museum.

No international franchises here: a thriving area with great restaurants, cafés, and fascinating botiques. This is Santiago at its best and most unique, easily accessed at the Baquedaño, Bellas Artes, La Católica and Plaza de Armas metros.

The Bellas Artes neighborhood takes its name from The Nacional Fine Arts Musuem (Palacio Nacional de Bellas Artes), Chile’s oldest, most historic museum, located close to the center of the city astride the tall graceful trees of the Parque Forestal.

The Bellavista neighborhood, wedged between the Cerro San Cristobal and the Mapocho River, has traditionally been a student and working class neighborhood, giving its main street – Pio Nono - a bit of bohemian flavor.

The Lastarria neighborhood - both sophisticated and relaxed, with its pleasant mix of colonial architecture and urban walkway - seems like an oasis of tranquility in the urban hubbub of downtown Santiago.

Paseo Loreto – a humble, two-block stretch just across the Mapocho River from the Bellas Artes neighborhood – is an exercise in contrasts. It epitomizes - in a microcosm - the changes in Chile visible to travelers throughout the country: the modern vs. the traditional.

The Plaza de Armas, the center of downtown Santiago, reflects Chile's two faces – the modern and historical. It's full of jostling office workers, hustling across a square replete with national monuments and artists with their work on display. Close by are four great museums, and the Plaza also hosts the nation's most important Catholic Church, the Central Post Office, and Santiago's municipal offices.