Visitor Information -- The National Tourism Service (Sernatur) office is at Av. Providencia 1550 (tel. 600/SERNATUR; www.sernatur.cl; Metro: Manuel Montt), open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5:45pm, Saturday from 9am to 2pm. Sernatur also has an information desk on the departure level of the airport open daily from 9am to 5pm (no phone). The Santiago Municipality has an Oficina de Turismo inside the Casa Colorada at Merced 860 (tel. 2/632-7783), with limited information about downtown Santiago attractions only. Also downtown, at the south side of Cerro Santa Lucía at Avenida Alameda is a tourism office (tel. 664-4216). The Yellow Pages has detailed maps of the entire city of Santiago, or you can pick up a pocket guide to the city called Map City (www.mapcity.com), sold at newsstands and kiosks, for $7 (£3.50).
City Layout -- Santiago incorporates 32 comunas, or neighborhoods, although most visitors will find they spend their time in just a few. Downtown, or el centro, is the thriving financial, political, and historic center of Santiago, although it has been losing clout as more companies opt to locate their offices in burgeoning neighborhoods such as Providencia, Las Condes, and the tiny area that separates the two, El Golf (also known as El Bosque). These upscale, modern neighborhoods are residential areas centered on a bustling strip of shopping galleries, restaurants, and office buildings. In comparison, el centro is older and scruffier, with the exception of the charming Lastarría/Parque Forestal micro-neighborhood, an up-and-coming arts and cafe community. The well-heeled residential neighborhood Vitacura, bordering Las Condes to the north and separated by the thoroughfare Avenida Kennedy, is home to Santiago's luxury shopping and many gourmet restaurants. The sleepy, middle-class residential communities Ñuñoa and La Reina offer few attractions and, therefore, little interest to the visitor, with the exception of Plaza Ñuñoa and its booming restaurant and bar scene. Santiago is bisected by the Río Mapocho, a muddy river that alternately rushes or trickles down from the Andes and is bordered through downtown and Providencia by the grassy Parque Forestal. On the north side of the Mapocho rises the hill Cerro San Cristóbal, a 880m (2,886-ft.) forested park with lookout points over the city. At the foot of the hill is the bohemian neighborhood Bellavista, another restaurant haven and happening night spot. Note that the principal avenue that runs through downtown is called Avenida Alameda by absolutely everyone, but its official moniker is Avenida Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins.
