Luckily, there is a bunch of free and cheap things to do in Santiago, ranging from tourist traps worth your time to small breaths of fresh air from the heavy smog. Take a look at the top five (plus) ways to kill a weekend without killing your budget:
5. Fantasylandia
What? A real live amusement park in the heart of Santiago, Chile? Six Flags had better be shaking in its boots. This park is really meant for lolitos, but not a problem if you're a lolito at heart.
4. Museo del Arte Precolombino
Who knew that there was mummification going on 2,000 years before the Egyptians - and right here in South America! Apart from being partially creeped out from all the death and sacrifice images, this museum had me at "hola". Usually the entrance fee is $3000 CLP, but for the fiestas patrias, like the other 85 (that's right) museums scattered throughout the city, it should be free.
3. Cafe La Boa
Three friends, an ugly seed, an Erlenmeyer flask and one special wish is all you need to make the te magico, $3000 CLP, bloom to life. Have your waiter spin you a yarn that will make all your wishes come true. Cafe Laboratorio serves some whoppin hot bevs with a science-lab twist. You bring the chemistry.
2. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Movie Nights
Duoc's scheduling leaves me with a lot of lonely weeknights, easily filled by catching a flick. Prices for movie tickets at CineHoyts around the city drop from $4,000 to $2,000 CLP on Mondays and Tuesdays - OR, on Wednesdays, tickets are 2 for the price of 1. So go ahead and order that extra-large popcorn. You know you want to.
1 3/4. Halloween - Chilean Style!
Come October 31st, more than a few Chileans don't mind going gringo and having a ghoulishly good time. Chile's leading underground gay bar, Blondie, is offering a diva night on a dime, with their normal ghastly entrance fees lowering to as little as $3000 CLP for the night. It might have more than one gay man wondering if the svelte little blonde in the Lady Gaga costume is chick-or-treat.
If spending that much money still seems horrific to you, Santiago brings you a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, completely free with an advance reservation by phone (), running from late October to early November. It's bound to be peck-tacular!
11/2. The Shoe Bins at Plaza de Armas
Say goodbye to window shopping AND sore feet - what could be better? Trade in that ratty pair of flats for one of the endless footwear choices you'll find in bin shoe stores at Plaza de Armas. Shoe size rule tends to be to add a "3" in front of your size in the States, unless you have clown feet (then, add a "4"). So, women, if you are a 6, your size would be a 36. They will provide the right shoe, and you'll have to go to the counter to obtain the left. Average cost is about $5000 CLP - $10 U.S. - for two pairs.
1. Subway Station Tour
Are you REALLY broke? Why not just spend 500 pesos on a tour of Santiago's super-modern subway system? Each station has unique art and archetecture, and some, like Quinta Normal, have museum-worthy exhibits that pass through. It's worth a "change" of pace.
Have fun this weekend, and tell your wallet that I say, "You're welcome."
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