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We are 5 friends staying two days in Santiago (a weekend).
We want to know what's the best way to travel inside Santiago (regarding price, comfort and speed), we plan shopping and visiting a few iconic places so we were thinking to travel by subway but we have been told that subway is expensive and, as we are 5, we should rent a car.
Keep in mind that we are staying in Plaza de Armas area. Also, other options are welcome

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    You've been told that it's "expensive" - but how much is it? You can't really compare price without knowing what the price is.
    – Greg Hewgill
    Aug 16, 2016 at 0:09
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    I just looked up the costs. For an adult during peak hours, $740 (Chilean peso) is about US$1.14. That seems like it's going to be a lot less than renting a car, even for 5 people.
    – Greg Hewgill
    Aug 16, 2016 at 0:15
  • Right, maybe my question should've been oriented to the value of each one. I mean, of course renting a car is going to be more expensive than subway but I don't know if the trade-off worths it
    – Redithion
    Aug 16, 2016 at 1:38

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Both the cost of the metro and renting a car in Santiago are easy to look up. But, common sense advises to not rent a car if you are staying in a central location in the city and are not planning to leave the city.

Not knowing your accommodation, you might have to pay for parking your car at your residence, while pretty much anywhere else that's central, you will also have to pay for parking, if you easily can find parking space in the first place.

If you're going out at night, one of you won't be able to drink.

And, you'll have to pay for gas.

So, renting a car is not likely to be cheaper.

Having said this, if you do plan on leaving Santiago proper, for example to visit one or more of the wineries, renting a car might be practical, as it will also save you time. And, if you are arriving by plane, renting a car at the airport and driving into town, in stead of taking the airport bus, will also add convenience, considering you only have two days in the city.

There aren't any other magically cheap solutions. You could consider using Santiago's bicycle scheme, but last I checked, it was a hassle to sign up for non-residents.

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  • hi, we are heading to chile for a week, whats a good place to stay-visit with a family and 2 young kids,
    – Transformer
    Mar 13, 2017 at 3:06
  • Hi @transformer. You're asking a separate question (that seems to not be appreciated by travelSE, when you did ask it separately). There's no easy answer to your question, though. Check AirBNB, hotelscombined, or the booking agency of your choice and decide what properties meet your requirements.
    – MastaBaba
    Mar 13, 2017 at 19:22
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Metro.

I was there for two weeks and got around everywhere I needed on the Metro. It's cheap as well.

The Spanish of Chile is the worst you will encounter. Get an empanada with the olive in it, they're good.

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  • hi, where did you stay, we are heading to chile for a week, whats a good place to stay-visit with a family and 2 young kids,
    – Transformer
    Mar 13, 2017 at 3:07

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