Gran Torre Costanera

What makes it special

The Sky Costanera observatory takes the top two floors of Gran Torre Costanera. The lower one is an indoor gallery glazed all the way round. The upper one is open to the air.

Spend most of your time on the open level, where you feel the wind and no glass stands between you and the city. Reflections on the glass floor below can hamper photographs.

Walk the full circle and you pick out the green hill of the Metropolitan Park and, on a clear day, the Andes standing behind the city.

The tower was designed by the Chilean firm Alemparte Barreda with the Argentine architect César Pelli, and completed in 2013. It rises out of the Costanera Center, whose mall is billed as the largest in Latin America, which is why your visit starts among the shops.

Visiting

The Sky Costanera ticket office and entrance are inside Costanera Center, signposted from the mall. You can buy there, in the mall's mi mall app or on the website, and each ticket is good only for the date and time printed on it.

Have your passport or ID card ready. Bags are searched before the lifts, and liquids, gels, aerosols and anything sharp are not allowed up. A high-speed lift then takes you to the top in under a minute.

You can walk both floors at your own pace. Sky 300 Bar & Coffee serves drinks and platters on the deck if you want to stay on for the city lights after dark.

Tips

Check the sky before you buy. On a smoggy day a hazy layer sits between the city and the Andes, and the peaks fade into it.

Come when the deck first opens in the morning, when it is at its emptiest. The sunset slot, with entry between 18:00 and 20:00, is the most crowded time on the platform, so book it ahead. Bring a warm layer for the windy open level and comfortable shoes for walking both floors.