Santiago, Chile’s capital, had a tough time winning us over for three reasons. 1. It was freezing cold and there was torrential rain for 50% of our time there. 2. We only had a couple of days there and saw it more as a stopover. 3. We went on a city tour where the guide was so bad, we had to leave halfway through. However, always trying to look on the bright side of life, we were still able to see some of the best the city has to offer in winter.

We’d specifically gone for a hostel near the Barrio Lastarria neighbourhood, which is full of fun bars, street food pop ups, art shops and local hipsters. The neighbourhood was also surprisingly cheap, considering it was styling itself like Santiago’s Shoreditch, so we could enjoy wandering around and trying what we fancied.

The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and the Museo de Artes Visuales both kept us dry on the rainy day we had and were full of stunning pieces from Chilean artists. Meanwhile, Plop! Gallery was a great place to see fascinating illustrations and comics by locals and there was lots of performance art out on the streets.

So thanks to Santiago’s artists and hipsters, as well as a determination from us to enjoy the city, Santiago won us over!

See all our pics from Santiago below: