Santiago de Chile

Is Santiago de Chile safe?

For your life, mostly yes; for your phone and wallet, less so. Chile's homicide rateHomicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary fell for a third year in 2025, to 5.4 per 100,000, according to the government's crime prevention undersecretariat, and the first half of 2026 was lower again. The Santiago Metropolitan Region counted 525 homicide victims in 2025, about half of the national total and roughly 6.3 per 100,000 people on the national statistics office's population projection. The violence is mostly between people who know each other or linked to organised crime: interpersonal disputes made up 42.2% of cases nationally and crime or gangs 35.3%.

The catch is street robbery. The UK Foreign Office says muggings in Santiago happen frequently and increasingly with knives and guns, sometimes in daylight and in front of other people. We score Santiago 61 out of 100, above Lima and Montevideo and well below Buenos Aires.

Muggings and scams: how visitors get robbed

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary lists the tricks that have been used on British visitors in central Santiago. One person distracts you while another lifts a bag from a café chair. Someone spills a liquid on you and "helps" clean it while your valuables go. Thieves puncture the tyres of hire cars, often at traffic lights, then rob the car when the driver gets out. Canada adds motorbike thieves, called motochorros, who snatch phones and bags, and says theft is frequent on the metro, in shopping malls and on restaurant terraces next to the street.

Muggers look for phones, watches, cash from ATMs and passports. Carjackings happen in the richer districts, including as drivers wait for gates to open. Do not resist; hand things over.

• Keep your phone in your pocket on the street and off café tables.
• Use cash machines inside banks or malls.
• Carry a copy of your passport, not the original.
• If you hire a car and a tyre goes flat, drive on to a petrol station or busy place before you get out.

Arriving at the airport

Santiago's airport is where the costliest scams happen. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says criminals in the arrivals hall wear official-looking jackets and lanyards, and unlicensed drivers add zeros on card machines, charging 5,000,000 pesos instead of 50,000. Some visitors have lost up to £10,000. Pay at one of the two official taxi booths just after customs, before you enter the public area, or book a ride app. If you pay by card in the car, read the amount on the screen first. Luggage also goes missing from the carousel, so watch it closely.

Where to stay and walking at night

Providencia, Las Condes and Vitacura, east of the centre, appear on neither the UK nor the Canadian list of places to watch at night, and Providencia and Las Condes sit on metro Line 1 into the centre. Vitacura has no metro station yet. Lastarria and Bellavista are central and lively, and fine for dinner, but need more care late at night.

Canada advises avoiding parks in Bellavista and Lastarria, Cerro Santa Lucía, the Plaza de Armas, the Mercado Central and Cerro San Cristóbal park after dark. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary advises keeping in groups and not walking alone late at night, and warns of spiked drinks in the bar areas of Suecia and Bellavista. Gallup's 2025 survey found only 39% of Chileans feel safe walking alone at night, lower than in Peru or Argentina. Book taxis or use a ride app at night rather than hailing a car on the street.

Protests and small bombs

Protests are common in central Santiago, especially around Plaza Italia (Plaza Baquedano), and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says they often happen on Friday afternoons and evenings and can turn violent; police use tear gas and water cannon. Big marches fall on 29 March, 1 May, 11 September and 18 October. Anarchist groups have set off small devices in the Santiago region, mostly aimed at property; Canada lists transport hubs, churches, banks and cash machines among past targets. Avoid demonstrations and keep your bag with you, since unattended bags are treated as suspicious.

Smog, earthquakes and roads

Air is the everyday health risk. IQAir measured 17.3 µg/m³ of fine particlesPM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary in Santiago in 2024, the lowest in six years but more than three times the WHO guideline, and Canada warns that heavy smog from May to October can be a serious hazard. Private clinics are good but expensive, so carry insurance.

Chile lies in a very active seismic zone, Canada says. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says building rules require new structures to account for quakes and that safety measures are widely known and practised. Read the evacuation notes in your room. Heavy rain brings floods too: Canada reports severe flash floods in the Santiago region on 8 and 13 October 2026 that injured people and forced evacuations. Wildfires from December to March, mostly between Valparaíso and Araucanía, can fill the air with smoke.

Roads in the capital are safer than in the countryside. The road safety commission Conaset counted 312 deaths in the region in 2024, about 3.7 per 100,000 people and a fifth of Chile's total, and the transport ministry says most road deaths happen in rural areas. The Américo Vespucio ring road has many of the worst junctions. For travel outside the city, see our Chile page.

How we scored it

Theft and robbery (46) is Santiago's weakest factor, followed by walking at night (55) and natural hazards (60). Violent crime (68), health (68) and traffic safety (66) are its strongest: the regional murder rate of about 6 per 100,000 is low for a big South American city. Falling murder keeps Santiago above Lima and Bogotá; frequent armed muggings keep it well below Buenos Aires.