What to do in Valparaiso | tRAVEL GUIDE

Chile’s Most Colourful City

Only a short bus journey from Santiago de Chile, the port town of Valparaiso which was once viewed as dangerous, is now a must-to-go place for party backpackers and street art lovers.

With its colourful houses dotted by trendy cafés and restaurants, as well as its century-old funiculars climbing steep hills to incredible viewpoints, “Valpo” has a surprisingly vibrant atmosphere and an edgy personality. In this guide, you will find what to do in Valparaiso, Chile’s most colourful city!

What to do in Valparaiso chile?

Formerly the most important city in Chile due to its strategic location for sailing around the continent of South America, the city diminished with the opening of the Panama Canal – an easier route through the Americas. As a result of this decline, Valparaiso was thought of as unsafe for a long time.

However, the graffitied streets are now home to university students, artists and the scene that goes with them – this means cheap food, lots of bars and crazy nightlife.

Valparaiso’s street art

The town is nowadays renowned for its art scene and its streets filled with graffiti and beautiful paintings. Although illegal – commissioned or not – street art is the heart of Valparaiso and the reason for its touristic development in the past few years. In each street, lane or stair you will find out that art has taken over houses walls, doors, shops and even schools – which are completely decorated by either known or anonymous artists.

Some streets are incredible “Museo a Cielo Abierto” (open-air museum). Our favourite spot would be Atahualpa lane where each door has been decorated by a different artist. But you might also like to stroll around Cerro Bellavista showcasing about 20 murals painted between 1969 and 1972 by students of the Art Institute of Valparaiso.

Because of its many hills, you’ll find stairs all over the place. Local and international artists have used them to create fun perspectives and canvases that take form from a particular angle only! These are probably the most “instagrammable” spots in Valparaiso! Look for the “piano” or the beautiful “sunflower”.

Walking tours

Valparaiso is a maze of twisting lanes, colourful staircases and cable cars. The best way to find your bearings at first is to join a Free walking tour across the hills of Conception, Bellavista and Alegre, There are a few tours available in Valparaiso from a couple of hours to a full day – some focused on graffiti only and others sharing about Valparaiso’s history and culture. 3 companies are offering these tours in Valparaiso: Tour4tips – ValpoStreetArt – FreeTour

Be wise when you are choosing your tour, it isn’t uncommon to find along the streets some graffiti tags claiming “don’t trust your tour guide“! Though, another good reason to take a walking tour is the freedom to carry your camera in the street without the fear of getting mugged. Walking as a large group makes you less of a target! For more info about security in Valparaiso, click here.

Free walking tours are tips based. You can book online or just turn up at the meeting point.

Screenprinting workshop

Also worth a stop if you are interested in art is the Fábrika workshop. Run by a French artist, the workshop is in the heart of the graffitied-filled streets. She uses the technique of screen printing in 2 or 3 colours to create unique posters depicting Valparaiso’s landscape.

Located in Cerro Concepción, the workshop is open to tourists who want to learn and buy Fabrika’s work but also to students and locals who can collaborate and exchange about different projects.

| Address: 134 Pasaje Galvez | Opening hours; Every day except Tuesdays – from 10:30 am to 7:30 pm | Cost: Free entrance

ride the Funiculars

Valparaiso was built by the sea, on several steep hills which means it often requires walking up and down to go from one place to another. Expect burning calf muscles and deep breaths if you decide to only walk around! Honestly, that would be silly. Thankfully, a few funiculars built from the end of the 19th century have been restored and will make your commute around Valparaiso easier.

These are basically single train carriages that travel up and down on tracks in less than a minute. There were once up to 30 funiculars but currently, only 8 are working on a daily basis, 13 have disappeared and 9 have been kept and are being repaired. They have been declared Historical National Monuments.

The oldest Funicular can be found on the Cerro Concepción. It was built in 1883 and is still working! Don’t miss riding this 136 year old funicular. It will take you to one of the most popular hills where you will enjoy incredible views of the city. We would also recommend taking the Funicular Reina Victoria which is the steepest!

| Cost: from CLP 100 to 300 each way depending on the funicular | Opening hours: Every day from 7 am to 11 pm.

best views from the CERROS

Two of the most popular hills for tourists are Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción which are right beside each other. 

While walking their streets you should take the opportunity to find the viewpoints and Paseos around the city -which are small promenades with nice views of the bay. We did walk those streets multiple times on purpose to see the city landscape changing with the light. We’d recommend visiting during the day but also at sunset or in the evening. These are the best places to go to:

• Avenue Alemania which is right behind Pablo Neruda’s house.
• Atkinson Paseo on Cerro Conception.
• Yugoslavo Paseo on Cerro Alegre.
• Paseo 21 de Mayo which is reached by the Artillería funicular.

day trips from Valparaiso

• Go sandboarding at the Concon Dunes – take a 1-hour bus (601) from Valparaiso r 302 from Viña del Mar – CLP 700
• Take a surf class at the local beach.
• Go to Caleta Portales to see Sea Lion and coastline wildlife such as pelicans. You can walk 2 km or take the metro from the stations Puerto to Baron
• Visit La Campana National Park and trek to the summit of the Cerro La Campana
• Take a boat trip in the harbour for a unique view of the city’s colourful houses on the slopes of the Cerros – boat tours last 30 minutes and leave from Muelle Prat when full. Cost: CLP 3,000
• Take a day trip to Viña del Mar – an upper-class beach resort less than 1 hour away, full of high-rise apartment buildings and dotted with excellent bars and restaurants. It’s a great place to relax a little and get away from noisy Valpo. Accessible by Metro or bus.
• Go Horseback riding and discover chile’s countryside with incredible views from the cliffs overlooking the ocean and Valparaiso bay.

What to eat in Valparaiso

We stayed with friends in the city. For this reason, we didn’t eat out much. Instead, we shared recipes each night in the apartment. We learnt how to make our own sopaipillas & Granada porotos with mazamorra, a typical Chilean bean dish. For those on a budget, Valparaiso was the first place we really saw Menu del Dia’s everywhere. These are usually two or three courses meals with juice and offer a great bargain. A great way to try local food.

If you plan on picking up food to cook, the best option is to avoid supermarkets. Valparaiso has a huge market full of fresh produce. Also, the streets are usually full of vendors selling cheaper and fresher food than in the stores.

Empanadas & Sopaipillas

If you have been in Chile for a while, then by the time you reach Valparaiso you will probably be addicted to its two street food staples, empañadas and sopaipillas. Planning on heading north? It is worth noting that we didn’t see many sopaipillas after Valparaiso. Had we known this, we would have had much more.

There are crazy amounts of options for empañadas in the city so we won’t recommend any place in particular. You can choose from the traditional options from the little old lady on the side of the street – all the locals seem to go to on their lunch break – or you can go to a takeaway shop and grab one from a huge selection. Try any of the seafood options for different tastes that you won’t find in the rest of Chile.

Chorillana

We didn’t actually get to try this while in Valparaiso as we ate in each night. However, it’s another really popular Chilean dish. Basically carbs, it consists of a plate full of French fries topped with beef strips, eggs, and fried onions. What not to like about that?

speciality Coffee

Always on the hunt for speciality coffee, we were surprised we could only find one cafe in the city. The Third Wave* – Black & White is located at the base of Cerro Panteón, right opposite the tourist info centre, and serves pretty good americanos and lattes. 

* Note – it seems that the Third Wave – Black & White is under new management and is now called Café Astillero. Let us know if you find yourself around there.

Where to stay in Valparaiso

How to get to Valparaiso

Santiago to Valparaiso

You can take a bus from the Pajaritos bus station in Santiago. National bus companies such as Turbus, Pullman or Condor link the two cities daily. There is easily a bus from the bus station leaving every 10-15-min or so. The trip lasts 1.5 hours and costs about CLP 3,300 (€5). To get to the Pajarito bus station you can take the Metro L1 (red).

Valparaiso bus station is about 25 min walk from the centre but you can take any local bus heading that direction or hop into a taxi.

>> To leave Valparaiso for Santiago, you’ll need to go back to the bus station Terminal Rodovario and purchase a ticket to Pajaritos in Santiago.

Santiago airport to Valparaiso

There isn’t any airport in Valparaiso. The closest one is Santiago Airport ” Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport”. You can take a bus from Santiago’s airport operated by Turbus. There are only 2 buses a day (around 10:30 am and 2:30 pm) but it is best to check online if that’s something you want to do. The ride costs CLP 6,000 one way.

>> To go to Santiago’s airport from Valparaiso, you can take a Turbus bus from the main bus station. It also costs CLP 6,000. There are about 4 buses a day (05:20, 10:55, 14:10, 22:10).

Note: if you miss the bus, you will need to go to Santiago terminal bus station Pajaritos as described above.

la serena to Valparaiso

If you come from North Chile, you can take a bus from La Serena to Valparaiso without having to stop in Santiago de Chile first. And vice versa from Valparaiso to La Serena. The drive is about 6-8 hours and should cost around CLP 8,000 with Pullman bus. You can take a night bus if you prefer saving time and a night of accommodation.

From La Serena, you can change bus to Pisco Elqui, Iquique, Arica, Calama or San Pedro de Atacama.

Security in Valparaiso – Fires and Crime

While we were walking the streets with our friends we noticed that many buildings were entirely burnt. We learned that due to the small, narrow and steep streets, it can often take a long time for fire engines to reach a blaze.

Also, due to the steepness of the hills, it can be difficult to build new houses or repair old ones. A lot of houses in the city are made out of wood and the city’s power lines look unsafe and exposed, with energy boxes often exploding. All of the ingredients you need to quickly set a house on fire. It is quite common to see burnt-out shells.

Regarding crime, we saw none. Valparaiso once had a bad reputation, but this has changed a lot lately. However, you’ll hear stories of people attacked and mugged late at night. Like anywhere else in South America, don’t walk alone and drunk. If you do go out, stick with a group and only take what you need in cash. Avoid bringing any valuables with you.

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About the Author

Jen is the Funder, Author & Photographer behind Talesfromthelens.com

Jen has lived for the past 15 years across Oceania and Ireland while also travelling in Latin America, North America, and Europe. She has visited more than 65 countries and set foot on every continent in the world! She is a coffee nerd, passionate about photography, wildlife, and outdoor activities.

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