Cerro San Cristóbal

Cerro San Cristóbal / Parque Metropolitano

The city's summit at 880 metres, with a 14-metre statue of the Virgin and 360-degree views of the snow-capped Andes; riding the 1925 funicular or aerial cable car up is a classic Santiago experience

Cerro San Cristóbal is the main peak of Santiago Metropolitan Park, one of the largest urban parks in South America. It rises about 300 metres above the city centre. A 14-metre white statue of the Virgin Mary, dating from 1908, stands on the summit, and the viewing terrace in front takes in the whole city and the Andes behind it.

There are three ways up. You can ride the 1925 funicular from the end of Pío Nono Street in Bellavista (about 6 minutes; round trip roughly CLP 3,000–4,000). You can take the aerial cable car (Teleférico) from the Oasis station on the east side, which crosses the whole hill and lets you get off midway at the Tupahue pool station. Or you can walk or cycle the paved road, which takes about an hour.

The recommended route is to ride the funicular up from Bellavista to see the Virgin and the panorama, then take the aerial cable car down to the Providencia side, linking two neighbourhoods. The summit also has a Japanese Garden, a Chilean native plant garden, the Tupahue open-air pool (in summer) and the National Zoo, located halfway up at a funicular station.

Sipping mote con huesillo (a sweet drink of wheat and dried peaches) from a stall at the top is a local tradition.

Getting there: take metro Line 1 to Baquedano and walk 15 minutes to the funicular station, or take metro to Pedro de Valdivia and then continue to the Oasis cable car station.

Note: the funicular does not open until Monday afternoon. Weekend queues are long, and it is very windy at the summit.

Cerro San Cristóbal

Opening hours

Nearby sights

Places to eat nearby