My wife and I spent two weeks hiking and kayaking in the mountains of southern Patagonia - starting in Punta Arenas, traveling through Torres del Paine and Los Glaciares National Parks and ending in El Calafate. We stood through the bad weather and rain storms and admired the city's artwork and even got to see penguins!
You gotta love a city that shuts down a few of its main car routes through downtown – every Sunday of the year - in order to allow for pedestrian traffic, joggers, bikers and others to take advantage of the tree-lined causeways through the heart of the city. Check out www.ciclorecreovia.cl for organized routes.
The active lifestyle is not limited to the downtown streets, though. Plenty of walkers, bikers and even runners will tackle the steep hill climb up to Cerro San Cristobal, as well. We took the funicular, as we only had a short layover between a morning arrival in Santiago and our evening flight onwards to Punta Arenas. From the top, you can get a great view of the city, and explore the various gardens, statues, cafes and even a cathedral there at the top of the hill.
