Palacio Cousiño

For a glimpse of how Santiago's other half lived in the nineteenth century, visit the sumptuous Palacio Cousiño, a splendid 1870's mansion complete with all original furnishings.The Cousiño family, owners of the salt mines in the northern part of the country during the period of great wealth and splendor in Chile, built this attractive palace in 1875 and 1878. Splendidly decorated with elements brought from Europe, today this palace is a museum and a temporary residence for special guests visiting the country.

The Chascona House Museum

Nobel-Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda's Santiago pied à terre is situated in the lively Bellavista neighborhood. A series of small buildings, rather than a single house, La Chascona has been meticulously restored since it was vandalized 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.
The house Neruda built in 1953, in Santiago's Bellavista neighborhood, was christened "La Chascona" ("the uncombed") in honor to Matilde Urrutia, his secret lover until 1955 and later his third wife.

Parque Quinta Normal

It is located at 520 Matucana Street.

For those who like sports, the Quinta Normal offers: Tennis courts, Football fields, Roller Skating areas, a lagoon with rowing boats, toys for children, avenues for strolling and biking. Moreover, you can finish the day by visiting the existing museums that provide an important and attractive cultural aspect. They are: the national Museum for Natural history, the Science and Technology Museum, the Railway Park Museum and the Children Museum.
This public park was founded in 1830 and created with the purpose of reproducing foreign and alien species in an area extending to 40 hectares. It is planted with Pine, Hazel, Egg fruit and Poplar trees among others.

The Hippodrome Club

It is located at 2540 Blanco Encalada Street.

It was inaugurated in 1870. It covers a 78 hectares area. The building was a piece of art done by the architect Josué Smith. The building has a clear French baroque influence with promenades, gardens, terraces and stairs. The estate is ornamented by the Andes Mountains. The classic races are run six Sundays a year.

Plaza Mulato Gil de Castro

It is located at 305-307 José Victorino Lastarria Street.

It is a small gathering of houses that form an interesting and harmonic cultural and artistic center. It was designed in 1982 by the architects Ignacio Cruz and Walter Biggerman who remodeled the houses that belong to the 19th century.
It has art schools and workshops for painting and sculpture, ceramic carvings, books, show rooms, theaters and restaurants all of which give a life and movement to the area. Moreover, there is the Archeological Museum of Santiago which contains archeological, anthropological and pre-Colombian Chilean art samples.

El Parque de las Esculturas

The sculpture park is located at 2201 Santa Maria Avenue.
The park provides samples of sculptures in open air of famous national and international art prize winners. The sculptures are elaborated in metal, wood, fibers and other materials. There is also a show room permanently functioning.
Its privileged location, at the bank of the Mapocho River and the surrounding green areas, makes it an alternative for those who would like to enjoy culture and nature. The beautiful sunset gives a special shine to the sculptures provoking a new sensation while the sun goes down.
You can visit it from Monday to Firday from 09:00 to 18:00 hrs and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 18: hrs.

Parque O'Higgins

It is situated between Beauchef and Rondizoni streets.
An old and well-preserved park donated to the city by Don Luis Cousiño and inaugurated in 1873. O'Higgins Park (Parque O'Higgins), named after Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's founding father, is Santiago, Chile's second largest public park. It is located in the center of the capital. Measuring about 190 acres (767,000 m²), it is about a fourth the size of Manhattan's Central Park.
It was designed by the landscape architects Arana Borica and the French Guillermo Renner. The site was originally called "Pampilla" or "El Llano" and it was a pass time place for people from Santiago at the end of the 19th century, a flat wasteland where people spontaneously gathered to celebrate the national holidays. The government bought this great extension of unused land in 1845, building on it several buildings, such as a Jail, a Military School and a few others. In 1870, the government gave the northern portion of the terrain to the rich heir and philanthropist Luis Cousiño, who inspired by the parks he saw in Europe -like Hyde Park in London or the Bois de Boulogne in Paris- decided to give one to his own city. The park was inaugurated in January of 1873 and was named Parque Cousiño to honor its creator. The name of the traditional Cousiño Park was changed in 1972 to its current name.
The park has beautiful gardens, many attractions and entertainment places and it is a popular place for families to visit during weekends and holidays, especially during the national holiday (September 18), when a number of "fondas" and "ramadas" -a traditional Chilean place for dancing, eating and drinking- are open to the public for a few days. The park also contains several structures like the Field of Mars (Campos de Marte) -also known as The Ellipse, for its shape-, where every September 19, the military parade takes place; the Little Town (pueblito) consists in a small street surrounded by shops and museums like the one called "El Huaso" (a huaso is a Chilean cowboy, rather like the Argentinian gaucho and this museum is dedicated to Chile's rural communities) Fantasilandia, the biggest amusement park in the country, is located on its northwestern corner, and it's always full during summer. There is also a public pool, a roller skating field, tennis courts, a soccer field, a theater and even a private university. The park itself has several paths that cover its extension and there is also an artificial lake. There's also the covered Arena Santiago, which mostly holds musical events.