Bohemian city by the coast and famed for street art, Valparaíso is definitely worth visiting. Valparaíso is spread across 44 hills (called "cerros") with the two most famous and historic hills being cerro Conception and cerro Allegre. You will need to use "ascensors" (funiculars basically) for 100-300 Chilean pesos per trip to use them (you always pay at the bottom of the "ascensors", preferably with coins).
Valparaíso was originally one of the biggest port for Chile and even South America and experienced rapid growth during its golden age at the end of XVIII and early XIX centuries, with a lot of international communities settling in the city. The city got partly destroyed in 1906, with an earthquake of the magnitude of 8.4 (Richter) and its subsequent tsunami. The ship traffic started to significantly decline with the opening of the Panama canal in 1914 as Valparaíso was not anymore a major stopover for ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In 2003, the historic quarter of Valparaíso was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
How long to stay in Valparaíso? plan on 2 full days in Valparaíso and weather allowing, plan to spend a third day in the area to go to the beach to Viña del Mar or Reñaca or spend some time in the dunes of Concon (all of these are located just North of Valparaíso)
In our case, we had two days and three nights in Valparaíso and given the very cloudy weather, we spent all our time in Valparaíso.
How to go to Valparaíso? Valparaíso is located on the Pacific coast of Chile, just 1h30 drive from Santiago or 1h15 drive from Santiago international and national airport. Several options are possible (from the cheapest to the most expensive):
1/ Take a bus from Santiago city or Santiago airport (Turbus). Best to book at least a few days in advance and have some time.
2/ Rent a car. While more expensive than the bus, we went for this option as we wanted more flexibility and needed the car from/to the airport. We rented our car to Econorent and all was very smooth (joint car rental center between the two terminals with very frequent free shuttle to join the terminals). The road between Santiago and Valparaíso is a motorway with tolls and is very easy to drive. However, once in Valparaiso, we did not use our car. Too hilly and a bit intense to drive there! Best to book a parking to make sure the car in safe. We reserved a gated parking to Pia (whatspp +56 9 42289117). It costs us 36,000 Chilean pesos for 2.5 days (3 nights) and the parking was perfectly located in calle Urriola 565 (at the border between cerro Ascension and cerro Allegre).
3/ Taxi. More expensive. Probably around $100 - $130 (each way). Probably good to book in advance too
Where to stay in Valparaíso? Cerro Ascension and cerro Allegre are the two recommended hills as they are the safest and where you would find the main restaurants and touristic highlights. We stayed at Fauna Hotel, which provides a great view on Valparaíso. The room was spacious and comfortable. Only thing was the quality of the wifi, which was very poor. There is also a restaurant on the top of the hotel (see below).
Is Valparaíso safe? While most tourists will be told to be very careful and not to go to certain areas, Chile remains one of the safest country in South America and like in every big city, tourists will need to be careful with their personal belongings. Two recommendations: 1/ stay vigilant and be aware of pickpockets and phone thefts, especially in "flat areas" including Plaza Sotomayor and in Barrio Porto as well as touristic areas. 2/ stay in the "touristic" hills e.g. cerro Ascension and cerro Allegre after the sunset.
What to do in Valparaíso?
Tours 4 Tips (https://www.tours4tips.com/valparaiso/) Insta account: tours4tips - after a few years of break due to local protests and covid, the Wallys are back since November 2022: I highly recommend joining one or both of these tours as it would give you a great and condensed view of the city. Both tours are very different and do not overlap so worth doing both if you have time. These are free (but should plan on tipping from 10,000 Chilean pesos) and run daily for ~3 hours each. The guides - easily recognisable as they are dressed in "Wallys" are very fun and knowledgeable about the history and reality about the city.
10am Valparaiso Offbeat Walking Tour - focus on Barrio Puerto, unknown hills (taking a local bus for 380 pesos person that willl go through 8 hills/cerros), Plaza Bismarck, cerro Carcel/Parque Cultura Valparaiso, Cerro |Panteron/Cementeries (outside only). Finishes at the Anfiteatro brewery (at the bottom of Ascensor Victoria). A lot of social and political in this tour.
3pm Valparaiso Highlights Walking Tour - focus on the port, plazza Sotomayor, cerro Conception and cerro Allegre. A lot of street art! Finishes at the top of the Ascensor Victoria
Starting point: Plaza Sotomayor (in the middle of the market)
Don't be surprised if dogs start to join your tour too! One of them has follow us for our afternoon tour for the whole 3 hours and was barking at anyone approaching us, very protective!
Cerro Conception and Cerro Allegre (if you haven't done it with the tour) - a great spot to see the main historic highlights and street art.
Start at Paseo Dimalow (at the top of Ascensor Victoria), take calle A. Montt until the Catedral Anglicana and then Iglesia Luterana via calle Conception. Take a few pictures at the famous piano stairs and continue on calle Beethoven until the Paseo Atkinson. Then join Conception and calle Papudo to reach Paseo Gervasoni. Use the stairs on the edge to join Galvez stairs and calle (don't forget to look back when using stairs, they are all painted!). Take your time to enjoy the beautiful street art murals until passage Templenen. After that, you can cross calle Urriola and take calle Besa. Don't forget to turn right to take Passage Bavestrello. Don't forget to make a stop at Don Sergio's shop to buy an alfajores (see below). Take up calle Miramar and comeback down via Monte Allegre. Great stop at El Peral if it is lunch time. This little tour ends up at Palacio Baburizza, at Passage Yugoslavo. The Palacio Baburizza - which used to belong to a Croatian family before being sold to the city, hosts the Fine Arts museum (mix of European and Chilean). The price is 4,000 Chilean pesos per person (for foreigners). The Art Deco villa offers a nice architecture so it is worth a visit for both the paintings and the furniture/house itself if you have a spare hour.
Tips: spend time to enjoy all the murals, some convey some very strong political messages!
Harbour boat tour - for 5,000 Chilean pesos person, you can join a collective 30-min boat tour that goes along the port as well as close to the Chilean Navy ships. It tends to be quite busy. Definitely not a must do but can be nice if you have some spare time as it gives you a nice overview from the sea of the whole city. If you are lucky, you can also see some sea lions. You can also take a private boat if you want something a little bit more intimate. For the collective boat tour, just join the line and you will pay direct during the tour in the boat.
Cerro Bellavista/Cerro Florida
Start your tour from avenida Alemania at the top of the hill (if you have time you can start from Plazuela San Luis and walk along Avenida Alemania or alternatively take a bus until La Casa Sebastiana). Make a stop at the Casa Sebastiana, which hosts the museum of Pablo Neruda (most famous writer). Even if you decide to not visit the museum (entrance fee 8,000 Chilean pesos person), it is worth a stop to visit the gardens and enjoy the view. You can also access to the facilities located outside the museum.
Then take calle Ferrari, make a stop at la Plaza de los Poetas and continue to go down until you turn left to join the church of the Carmelitas. You are now in the heart of Cerro Bellavista. Taking calle Bernado Ramos, you arrive into the "open-sky" museum where you can look at 19 murals from the 90s (you will notice the different style versus the most recent murals). I recommend to start with the left side when looking towards the sea (or number 1 to 12 if you follow the numerated map). Note that they are not all in great shape and some have been recovered by more recent murals or graffities. When you are down follow the calle Rudolph and then Ferrari to join the flat area.
In the same area (down the hill), you can find the Natural History Museum. It is free entrance but it is in Spanish only.
Cerro Carcel: you can access Cero Carcel and the former prison from calle Cumming (from Avenida Alemania on the top of the hill). It was a public prison until the late 1990s. Located in a residential area, it was then replaced by a cultural center with the main former building being converted from a prison to a cultural/studio center. Various arts, live theater, opera, music and circus are being performed.
Cerro Panteon (cemeteries): 2 of the 3 cemeteries are opened to public but not that they tend to close between 1-3pm for the lunch break. You can visit cemetery #2 (entrance via the street Dinamarca) as well as the dissidents cemetery built for non-catholic (entrance is from the path between dissidents and cemetery #1). when you are done, you can join calle Cumming via another beautiful stairs.
In this area (inc. plaza Descanso), continue to enjoy the beautiful street art!
Barrio Puerto - located next to Plaza Sotomayor, have a quick walk across the street of this area (but avoid by night), which is the oldest part of the city. While it used to be very wealthy and the center of Valparaiso, with strong European influences, it is now a rather poor and rather abandoned area. While many hotels would recommend not to go there, it is ok to have a quick tour there - in the main streets until Plaza Echaurren - to get a feel. Note this area is covered in the Offbeat Walking Tour mentioned above.
Where to eat/drink?
A few recommendations of restaurants - for dinner:
Fauna restaurant, P.º Dimalow - Mediterranean food. Great view over the city. Live music. (Cerro Allegre)
Casa Alegre, P.º Dimalow - Chilean food (Cerro Allegre)
La Conquistada, P.º Almte. Montt 382 - Chilean food (Cerro Allegre)
Café del Pintor, Urriola 652- Chilean food inc. fixed price menu (Cerro Allegre)
Gente del Mar, Monte Alegre 398 - seafood (Cerro Allegre)
Taulat, Dr. José Grossi 268 - tapas (Cerro Allegre)
Bar Cinzano, Pl. Anibal Pinto 1170 - live music
A few recommendations of restaurants - for lunch/brunch:
Café Entre Cerros Valparaiso, P.º Almte. Montt 399
El Peral, Subida El Peral 182 (very close to Palacio Baburizza) - see picture
Three "empanadas" places recommended by a local (don't expect any sit-down restaurant though):
1. Delicias Express (at the bottom of Urriola calle) - deep fried empanadas
2. A Destajo (renamed El sabor de Miguel; at the bottom of Avenida Ecuador and right next the "Piramide" taxi stop) - oven baked empanadas around 1600-1900 Chilean pesos / ~14 different flavours (see picture) - take-away only. We tested it and the empanadas were very nice.
3. La Casa de la Empanada (at the corner between Calle Salvador Donoso and called Bellavista)
Cocktails/drinks and a nice view:
Fauna Hotel - see above
Brighton Hotel (big yellow hotel with a terrace in the backyard) - Between Beethoven street and Paseo Atkinson (Cerro Conception)
Breweries recommendations from a local
Anfiteatro (microbrewery), calle Cumming 107 (at the bottom of ascensor Victoria)
Alfarojes (local delicatessen with dulce del leche): buy an alfarojes (500 Chilean peso) to Don Sergio in a little shopin Passage Bavestrello (between calle Besa and calle Miramar)
Ice-cream shops (helados)
Emporio Rosa - there are several across the city including one in Calle A. Mont and one in Plaza Anibal Pinto.
Where to stay?
Look for a hotel in Cerro Conception and Cerro Allegre.
We stayed at Fauna Hotel. The rooms are comfortable and we had a great view on the harbour. Only negative aspect was the poor wifi connection.
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