Bars and nightlife in Santiago: where to go out and what to drink

Santiago's night does not start early and is not concentrated in one place. These are neighbourhoods with quite different personalities, and picking the wrong one is the difference between a great night and a loud one.

Bellavista: the classic, with a caveat

It is the city's bohemian epicentre, at the foot of Cerro San Cristóbal and next to Pablo Neruda's house. Pío Nono street holds dozens of bars and is the best known, but also the loudest and most uneven: very young, very crowded, and of a quality that varies a lot from door to door.

If you want the neighbourhood's atmosphere without the lottery, Patio Bellavista is an enclosed courtyard with more than 20 bars and restaurants and its own security. It is the orderly version of the same night.

Lastarria and Bellas Artes: for wine and conversation

If the idea is an evening of talking, with a good list and a volume that lets you hear your table, this is the neighbourhood. Lastarria is where the wine bars are, and where the Chilean wine scene is tasted by the glass rather than the bottle, which changes everything when you want to try different varieties.

It is also the prettiest neighbourhood to walk at night, between Cerro Santa Lucía and Parque Forestal.

Barrio Italia: where people who live in Santiago go

Old houses turned into bars and restaurants with courtyards, streets of design shops, and a more local crowd. Calmer, less touristy, and the best choice if you already know the centre and want something different.

What to drink

• Pisco sour. The national cocktail: pisco, lime, sugar and egg white. There is a fun detail: there is a long-running dispute with Peru over the origin of pisco, and some Santiago bars serve both side by side so you can compare.
• Terremoto. The most Chilean drink there is: sweet white wine, pineapple ice cream and grenadine. Sweet, strong and treacherous, and the second glass has its own name (the "réplica", or aftershock). The classic place to have one is La Piojera, a historic and utterly unpretentious bar near the Mercado Central.
• Chilean wine by the glass. Carménère, the country's signature red, and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley. Many Lastarria bars pour by the glass.
• Craft beer. The Chilean scene has grown a lot and almost any neighbourhood bar has local options.

How the night actually works

• Everything is later than you think. Dinner from 9pm, bars filling around 11pm and clubs starting at midnight. Arriving at a bar at 8pm is arriving before everyone else.
• A 10% tip, as in restaurants: it comes suggested on the bill and the waiter asks whether to include it.
• Take a ride-hailing app back at night, especially leaving Bellavista. It is cheap and avoids long walks in the small hours.
• Carry ID. Bars and clubs ask for identification at the door.

To pick somewhere close to the nightlife without sleeping inside it, see the neighbourhoods to stay in Santiago, and for dinner beforehand, where to eat in the city.