Go with a plan.
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Santiago at 36/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Chile's national picture overall (63/100 vs 68/100).
City page · part of Chile
The one number a country page can't give you
What people who actually live in Santiago report
Numbeo aggregates thousands of resident-submitted perception surveys into a per-city Crime Index (higher = worse) and its inverse, a Safety Index — the only real city-granularity crime signal feeding this page, alongside Chile's national advisory, political, health, and police-trust data.
Crime Index
64.1
Safety Index
35.9
Sub-scores
Same real inputs as Chile's national page, with crime swapped for Santiago's own Numbeo number above.
Local know-how
Staying safe in Santiago, specifically
- • Santiago is infamous for its smog, which is worse during the winter (May–September).
- • When getting around: By South American standards Santiago is a safe city, but visitors should be aware of pickpocketing and other petty crimes (Chileans derogatorily refer to the pickpockets as "lanzas", from the verb "lanzar", "to throw upon" in English).
- • If you happen to have bad luck and get robbed, do as you're told by the criminal and if you don't understand Spanish, give away the wallet.
- • Keep your camera concealed, use it to take a photo and then hide it while not using it.
- • If someone approaches you on the streets and promises to get you better chances at changing your dollars or euros into Chilean pesos, never accept their deals.
- • Overall, Santiago is very safe if you travel by car.
Legal status (national law)
Legal since 1999; equal age of consent since 2022+ UN decl. sign.
Source: Wikipedia — LGBTQ rights by country →Pack this, know this
The little things that trip people up
Plug & voltage
C / F / L · 220V
Driving side
right
Emergency
police: 133 / ambulance: 131 / fire: 132
Tipping
Tipping is not obligatory but is generally expected. It is usually assumed that customers will leave a tip of 10%, if the service is considered satisfactory. Sometimes restaurants automatically add it to the bill.
Cash vs. Card
Credit and debit cards are widely accepted in most of the independent commerce of major cities and in all chain stores, no matter where they are. The PIN security system has been introduced for credit cards, so you will mostly only need your personal PIN (four digit code) as it exists in other parts of the world. For some cards you will not be asked for your PIN and they will use the four last num
How this compares to Chile
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Santiago at 36/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Chile's national picture overall (63/100 vs 68/100).
See the full Chile page and all receipts →