Sky Costanera, Providencia, Parque Bicentenario and Cajón del Maipo

East of Plaza Baquedano, the low-rise blocks of central Santiago give way to the leafy residential boulevards and glass towers of Providencia, Las Condes, and Vitacura (known as the Sector Oriente). Anchored by South America’s tallest skyscraper and a 30-hectare riverside park planted with native Chilean trees, this eastern corridor also serves as the gateway for day trips up the Maipo River gorge into the high Andes.

Gran Torre Costanera and Sky Costanera

Standing at Avenida Andrés Bello and Nueva Tajamar in Providencia (five minutes’ walk from Tobalaba Metro station on Lines 1 and 4), the Gran Torre Costanera rises 62 storeys to 300 metres, making it the tallest skyscraper in South America. Designed by Argentine-American architect César Pelli with seismic engineering by René Lagos Engineers, the tapered glass tower withstood Chile’s magnitude 8.8 earthquake in February 2010 during construction without structural damage before opening in 2014.

Inaugurated in August 2015, the Sky Costanera observation deck occupies floors 61 and 62, reached by express lifts from the lower shopping concourse. Floor 61 provides a 360-degree glazed gallery looking toward Cerro San Cristóbal, Cerro Santa Lucía, and the Maipo basin, while an escalator leads up to the open-air terrace on Floor 62. Aim to visit before sunset on a clear afternoon when the setting sun illuminates the western face of the Andes; check the official Sky Costanera site for ticket details.

Parque Bicentenario and Vitacura

Two kilometres north along the eastern bank of the Mapocho River in Vitacura lies Parque Bicentenario, designed by landscape architect Teodoro Fernández Larrañaga and opened between 2007 and 2011 across 30 hectares. A grassy berm shields the lawns from the Costanera Norte motorway, while the central promenade links two artificial lagoons inhabited by black-necked swans (Cygnus melancoryphus), herons, and flamingos. Over 1,300 of its 4,000 trees are native Chilean species such as quillay, peumo, belloto, and Chilean wine palms (Jubaea chilensis), alongside sculptures by Hernán Puelma and Federico Assler, a sensory Garden for the Blind, and nearby Museo Ralli Santiago.

Day Trips to Cajón del Maipo, Embalse El Yeso and Maipo Vineyards

• Cajón del Maipo and Embalse El Yeso: Beginning 45 kilometres southeast of the centre via Route G-25 past Pirque, the Andean gorge of Cajón del Maipo follows the upper Maipo River through San José de Maipo (founded in 1792) up to Embalse El Yeso at 2,500 metres, a turquoise alpine reservoir completed in 1964 and encircled by 5,000- and 6,000-metre peaks including Volcán San José (5,856 m) and Marmolejo (6,108 m).
• Maipo Valley Vineyards: The gravelly terraces of the Maipo River produce Chile’s flagship Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenère. Historic estates reachable via Metro Line 4 and short taxi rides include Viña Cousiño Macul (founded in 1856 in Peñalolén near Quilín station), Viña Concha y Toro (founded in 1883 in Pirque near Plaza de Puente Alto station), and Viña Santa Rita (1880) in Alto Jahuel.