The Former National Congress Building’s gardens.
The National Congress Building
Iglesia de los Sacramentinos, as seen from La Diana’s colonnade
Repurposed lamps at La Diana.
Ride a cable car for epic views
Anyone seeking to get their bearings in Santiago should start by boarding the Cerro San Cristóbal cable car. Gliding over the city’s botanical gardens, the skyscrapers of Santiago’s business district fade into the haze. On the hill above stands a 22-metre statue of the Virgin Mary, her arms outstretched, as if beckoning the car to the summit. At her feet, visitors gaze out at ranges of distant Andean peaks that mark the border with Argentina. As fortune would have it, the food carts in Mary’s shadow offer some of the tastiest empanadas in town, and Chile’s beloved mote con huesillo (husked wheat and peach juice) never tastes sweeter than when slurped from this sunny perch.
Single cable-car ride £1.50; telefericometsantiago.cl
READ MORE
Purchase options below
Find the complete article and many more in this issue of
Lonely Planet
-
April 2018
If you own the issue,
Login to read the full article now.