36 Hours in Santiago, Chile

To the uninitiated, la cueca, which was declared Chile’s national dance by the Pinochet regime in 1979, can appear a bewildering whirl of handkerchiefs and heels. Get the basics at la Casa de la Cueca, a cheerful dancehall at the top of a narrow staircase in the up-and-coming Matta Sur neighborhood. On Fridays, the establishment hosts dance classes (3,000 Chilean pesos, or about $3.40) to a live soundtrack of local musicians. María Esther Zamora and her husband, Pepe Fuentes, opened the space in 1996, bedecking it with flags and photographs of the city. Sadly, Mr. Fuentes passed away in 2020 and the pandemic nearly forced the place’s closure, but the dance classes — and raucous three-course lunches on the first Sunday of each month (22,000 pesos, book in advance) — show that la Casa de la Cueca is back stronger than ever.

La Pulpería Santa Elvira, a few blocks south, has only seen its reputation grow since opening in 2018. The place has a cozy, front-room feel, with family photos on the walls and squat jars of pickles, peppers and spices dotted around. You can also sit outside in a courtyard on warm summer evenings. The chef Javier Avilés’ small menu, which changes often, remixes seasonal Chilean classics, such as a creative bread basket that plays on “la once,” a traditional afternoon meal. Others play with textures, like a pumpkin puree served in its hard skin. Three courses and a glass of local wine come to about 35,000 pesos per person. Book in advance via WhatsApp or on the website.

In a striking, container-like building, the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos is sobering but essential. The museum walks visitors through Chile’s dictatorship, from General Pinochet’s coup d’état on Sept. 11, 1973, that divided the country, to the nation’s return to democracy in 1990. A wall displaying the faces of the more than 3,000 forcibly disappeared or executed men, women and children, best viewed from the second floor, is chilling. The museum takes about an hour to visit and is free, although voluntary donations are encouraged if you choose to take an audio guide (available in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese). There is also an intuitive free smartphone app in Spanish or English. To book a guided tour for up to 15 people, email the museum in advance, and check the schedule for talks and events.

From the museum, head up Compañia de Jesús, a colorful street bisecting Barrio Yungay, a gritty, low-rise neighborhood. (In 2022, the leftist millennial president Gabriel Boric and his partner, Irina Karamanos, shunned recent precedent and made the neighborhood their new home, rather than a lavish uptown residence.) Enjoy the politically charged murals splashed across historic buildings, and look for the 155-year-old Peluquería Francesa restaurant (where you can get good food, and, strangely, a haircut). Peer down Pasaje Adriana Cousiño, a beautiful passageway with checkerboard sidewalks and palm trees, where you’ll also find the Tetería Cleopatra, a feline tearoom. If you’d prefer coffee and no cats, then an americano and alfajor cookie at Café Cité, which has sleek metal furniture in a renovated historic building, will cost you 4,500 pesos.

Take the metro down to Franklin, a booming commercial neighborhood full of surprises. There, in the Persa Víctor Manuel flea market you’ll find El Franchute del Barrio, a French-inspired restaurant cooking onion soup, duck a l’orange, tagines and crème brulée. Every inch of wallspace is adorned with art and photography, and shafts of light criss-cross the beams supporting the roof. Every now and then, the restaurant falls into awestruck silence when Carlos Díaz, a 31-year-old baritone-turned-waiter from rural Venezuela, bursts into song. Ask for the fresh oysters, which don’t usually make it onto the chalkboard menu the waiters pass between the tables. It’s walk-in only, so put your name down and listen to the regular cast of musicians who swing by — it’s worth the wait. The three-course lunch deal, without drinks, comes to 17,000 pesos.

A couple of blocks east is Factoría Franklin, a new labyrinthine arts and cultural space built in former pharmaceutical laboratories, and entered through a nondescript warehouse door. You’ll step into a courtyard with stalls and workshops offering kombucha, home-brewed beer and Destilados Quintal’s gin infused with native botanicals (a gin and tonic costs 5,500 pesos). Upstairs are the tiled workspaces of the Colombian coffee roaster Andariego and Bymaria’s pickle and salsa kitchen. Down the alleyway at the back is AFA Galería, a modern art gallery, and a large warehouse, which hosts art fairs and sales. The whole space is open daily, but it’s liveliest on weekends.

Stroll from the Plaza de Armas to Lastarria, one of Santiago’s liveliest areas. Start at El Bajo, a bar under the GAM, the distinctive arts center named for Chile’s first Nobel laureate, the poet and educator Gabriela Mistral. After the presidential palace was bombed during the coup, the military junta ruled Chile from the tower above El Bajo until 1981. Order two pisco sours, one Peruvian (with egg white and lime) and one Chilean (sans egg, with lemon), for 6,500 pesos each. Then head to Café Escondido, a plaza with tables beneath a gnarled ficus tree. In his youth, President Salvador Allende lived next door. Order a carafe of borgoña for 12,500 pesos, a strawberry-infused equivalent of sangría, and sit back while roving musicians play Chilean classics.

Clear a sore head with a sharp ascent up Cerro San Cristóbal, a green islet of native trees and plants in the city center. At 10 a.m., the cable car opens, getting you to the top in under 10 minutes (a hop-on, hop-off day ticket costs 7,900 pesos and includes the funicular railway and shuttle buses within the 1,821-acre Parque Metropolitana). If you’d rather do the hour-long hike, start at the Pedro de Valdivia Norte entrance. As you climb, enjoy panoramic views of the city and mountains, incongruously punctured by the 980-foot, needle-like Gran Torre Santiago, South America’s tallest building. Your reward at the summit is a mote con huesillo (around 2,500 pesos), a refreshing, sweet juice containing a rehydrated peach and a handful of corn, available from the many stands at Estación Cumbre. To descend, take the funicular down the far side, leaving you in Bellavista — and just a block from La Chascona, the poet Pablo Neruda’s quirky home.