Valparaiso — In Search Of

Colorful pastel low-rise buildings. Outrageously steep hills that cars, pedestrians, and bikers alike are expected to traverse. A hazy fog that often settles over the city, because it's right on the Pacific coast. An important port, with a touristy wharf and a pier full of sea lions. 20-25 degrees F cooler than it is only an hour inland.

It's not San Francisco, but it might as well be. Welcome to Valparaiso, Chile!

Ian and I almost didn't make it to Valparaiso on our trip to Chile. We were supposed to start the trip in the Atacama Desert, in the very north of the country. Due to its very high altitude, the Atacama Desert is the driest place on earth. The morning of our flight to Chile, we got a message from the bus company that was supposed to drive us from the airport to San Pedro de Atacama, the town from which most desert tourism leaves. The driest desert on earth was experiencing disastrous floods that had already made roads impassible, cut off power, and contaminated the potable water sources in the region. A waterfall that had been dry for a decade was violently cascading again.

We were clearly not going to be able to visit Atacama this time.

Valparaiso had been on our wish list, but our original itinerary including the Atacama and Patagonia just didn't leave time to visit. So despite our extreme frustration at not being able to see the Atacama, we were already excited. We quickly booked an Airbnb and a rental car, and upon landing in Santiago, sped off west to the coastal city of Valparaiso.

What to Do

Wandering should be a big part of what you do in Valparaiso. Pick some artsy neighborhoods, and enjoy!

Outdoor Art

Much of Valparaiso is essentially an outdoor art gallery; colorful murals and graffiti cover buildings, walls, and staircases in some of the most beautiful cerros of the city. Even in the mid-morning haze that shrouds the city, the bright colors enliven Valparaiso. You will very likely stumble upon an artist working on a new mural at some point along your walk. Put Cerro Concepción somewhere along your mural spotting route, and you'll know you've seen some great art!

Look mom, I’m immersed in art!

Indoor Art

As lively as the outdoor art scene is, Valparaiso also has many art galleries that are worth popping into. They tend to cluster in some of the more mural heavy bits of the city, so you can wander in and out of the buildings, with art all around you. It's really lovely.

Ascensor Reina Victoria

The city has numerous ascensores - ancient elevators that take you up some of the steepest hills in the city. They were built over a hundred years ago, and feature huge gear cranks and weights. It's definitely worth a ride in one of them! We wound up choosing the Ascensor Reina Victoria because it had a shorter line than the first ascensor we tried.

Fauna Hotel Terrace

After riding the rattling ascensor, walk just a few steps to the Fauna Hotel Terrace cafe, which overlooks the colorful buildings of Valparaiso and the sparkling blue ocean beyond. Grab a lemonade or a refreshing ginger mint drink and enjoy the view! The service here was pretty awful, but it was still worth it as a nice pit stop during our day.

Pablo Neruda House

We didn't get a chance to visit the Pablo Neruda house, but it's definitely a top attraction of Valparaiso.

Food + Drinks + Music + Dancing

Above and beyond any specific food recommendations, I would be remiss not to inform you that it is absolutely essential to your Chile trip that you eat as many empanadas as possible. There is an empanada stand every 10 feet in Chile. Go forth and eat empanadas!

Cafe Vinilo was my favorite restaurant we went to. It purports to house Chile's first Pisco bar. Chile is arguably as proud of its Pisco Sours as Peru, and both countries claim to have invented the drink! We loved our Pisco-based cocktails and the food.

Bar Cinzano is a homey spot featuring live music and a thoroughly local crowd. They don't serve any alcohol after midnight, even on Saturdays! A worthwhile stop before heading to ...

La Piedra Feliz! The single most fun night out we had in Chile. This dance club features four large rooms, each featuring a completely different type of live music. And they're quite well sound-separated from each other! We started off in the salsa room, where an absolutely phenomenal band played and locals of all ages danced much, much better than we can. We embarrassed ourselves a bit on the dance floor and it was great fun. Then, we headed downstairs where a Chilean rock band was playing a bunch of super fun local hits--and then launched into an American kick, featuring Springsteen, Greenday, and more. A third room featured a DJ playing EDM, and I honestly can't remember anything about the fourth room as we just popped in and out quickly. If you're in Valparaiso and you're even a little bit of a music lover, you MUST stop by this phenomenal club. It's not at all seedy, it's welcoming and fun for all ages (above the drinking age of 18), and it's got so many types of music going on that you'll definitely find something you like. We do recommend getting a taxi home, as our Airbnb host told us walking through the port district at night can be un poco peligroso, but we never had a problem. It's only about $2000CLP, and it also saves you a LOT of uphill walking.

This Chilean rock band played local hits and American mainstays - we loved them!

Where to Stay

I will hardly pretend to be an expert on this, but we stayed in Cerro Alegre and it was wonderful. Our airbnb was in a building complex that used to be a hospital, and now sports an outdoor pool, beautiful grounds, and an incredible view of the city, as Cerro Alegre is quite high up in the hills. This neighborhood felt safe, and a bit out of the fray. As mentioned above, if you will be hanging out by the waterfront at night, it's best to take a taxi back to your accommodations because parts of the city are a bit dangerous, and it's hard to know as a tourist exactly where those are.