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Valparaiso: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Valparaíso was the great port of the Pacific in the nineteenth century, the first stop for ships coming round Cape Horn, until the Panama Canal opened in 1914 and the ships stopped coming. Its colourful houses climb some forty hills linked by funiculars and stairways, and its historic quarter became a World Heritage site in 2003. Half a day on foot; watch your bag in the lower town.

Valparaiso

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A short history of Valparaiso

The Spanish reached the bay in 1536, but for generations there was only a small anchorage here serving Santiago inland. In the 19th century Valparaíso became the most important port on the Pacific coast of South America, a stop for every ship rounding Cape Horn, and immigrants from Britain, Germany and Italy built the hillside neighbourhoods and the steep funiculars. In 1906 an earthquake destroyed a large part of the city. The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 spared ships the route around the continent, and the port lost its standing. In 2003 the historic quarter was declared a World Heritage Site, and since 1990 the National Congress of Chile has sat in the city.

The ten best sights in Valparaiso

  1. Plaza Sotomayor
    1
    Plaza Sotomayor

    The square of the naval heroes

  2. Muelle Prat
    2
    Muelle Prat

    Harbour boats and sea lions

  3. Ascensor Concepción
    3
    Ascensor Concepción

    The oldest funicular, 1883

  4. Paseo Yugoslavo
    4
    Paseo Yugoslavo

    A terrace over the bay on Cerro Alegre

  5. Palacio Baburizza
    5
    Palacio Baburizza

    Art nouveau mansion and fine arts museum

  6. Lutheran Church
    6
    Lutheran Church

    The German church of Cerro Concepción

  7. Ascensor Reina Victoria
    7
    Ascensor Reina Victoria

    A tiny funicular of 1902

  8. Cementerio de Disidentes
    8
    Cementerio de Disidentes

    The Protestant cemetery of 1825

  9. Museo a Cielo Abierto
    9
    Museo a Cielo Abierto

    Murals on Cerro Bellavista

  10. La Sebastiana
    10
    La Sebastiana

    Pablo Neruda’s house over the bay

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Tours in Valparaiso →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Valparaiso:

The hills of Concepción and Alegre

Free walking tours in Valparaiso

The hills of Concepción and Alegre

Valparaíso was the great port of the Pacific in the nineteenth century, the first stop for ships coming round Cape Horn, until the Panama Canal opened in 1914 and the ships stopped coming. Its colourful houses climb some forty hills linked by funiculars and stairways, and its historic quarter became a World Heritage site in 2003. Half a day on foot; watch your bag in the lower town.

  1. Plaza Sotomayor · The square before the naval headquarters, with the monument to the heroes of Iquique, where in 1879 Captain Arturo Prat boarded a Peruvian ironclad from his sinking wooden ship and was killed — the founding legend of the Chilean navy. The heroes are buried in a crypt beneath it.
  2. Ascensor Concepción · The oldest of the city’s funiculars, opened in 1883 and first driven by steam. At their peak some thirty ascensores carried people up the hills; the surviving ones are national monuments.
  3. Lutheran Church · A church of 1897 built by the German community, whose spire was a landmark for ships; Cerro Concepción and Cerro Alegre were the quarters of the British and German merchants who ran the port.
  4. Paseo Yugoslavo · A terrace named for the Croatian immigrants of the city, beside the Palacio Baburizza, an art nouveau mansion of 1916 built for a Croatian saltpetre magnate, now the fine arts museum.
  5. Cementerio de Disidentes · The cemetery of the dissidents — Protestants and others who could not be buried in Catholic ground — opened in 1825, with the graves of British, German and American sailors and merchants.
  6. Museo a Cielo Abierto · An open-air museum of murals painted from 1992 on the walls of Cerro Bellavista by Chilean artists, among them Roberto Matta; Valparaíso has since become one of the street-art capitals of the world.

Neruda and the port

From the poet’s house on the hill down to the working port and the naval hill. Half a day; the funiculars and local buses link the stops.

  1. La Sebastiana · The house of the poet Pablo Neruda, winner of the Nobel Prize, opened in 1961, five storeys tall and narrow, full of the objects he collected — a carousel horse, ship figureheads — with windows facing the whole bay.
  2. Ascensor Polanco · Unlike the other ascensores, a true vertical lift: you walk through a long tunnel into the hill, then ride straight up a tower to a bridge, opened in 1915.
  3. National Congress · A huge building completed in 1990, when the military government moved Chile’s Congress from Santiago to Valparaíso by decree — where it has stayed, though most of government remains in the capital.
  4. Muelle Prat · The pier where small boats take visitors around the bay past the navy’s warships, container cranes and sea lions sleeping on the buoys.
  5. Ascensor Artillería · A funicular of 1893 that climbs to the Paseo 21 de Mayo, a promenade with one of the best views of the port and of the city’s amphitheatre of hills; on New Year’s Eve the bay holds one of the largest fireworks displays in South America.
  6. Museo Marítimo Nacional · In the old naval school on the hill, the story of Chile’s navy, including relics of the Esmeralda, Prat’s wooden ship sunk at Iquique, and the naval battles of the Pacific War.

Viña del Mar and the coast

North of Valparaíso lies its neighbour and opposite, the resort city of Viña del Mar; south and inland lie Neruda’s sea house and the wine valley of Casablanca. A day by car, or the metro train to Viña.

  1. Castillo Wulff · A little castle built in 1906 by a German merchant on the rocks between the two cities, with a glass floor over the waves.
  2. Reloj de Flores · A working clock made of flowers on the hillside, made for the football World Cup of 1962, which Chile hosted; its plants are changed with the seasons.
  3. Museo Fonck · A museum of archaeology whose garden holds an original moai, one of the giant stone heads brought from Easter Island, Chile’s Polynesian territory in the Pacific.
  4. Viña del Mar · The garden city of beaches, casino and the Song Festival held every February since 1960, one of the oldest and biggest music festivals in Latin America; the city also has an active Jewish community.
  5. Casablanca · A cool valley between the coast and Santiago, cooled by Pacific fog, which became in the 1990s Chile’s leading region for white wines such as sauvignon blanc.
  6. Isla Negra · Not an island but a stretch of coast where Neruda built his favourite house, shaped like a ship and filled with shells, bottles and figureheads; he and his wife Matilde are buried facing the sea.
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Cheap eats in Valparaiso

Valparaíso eats empanadas de mariscos, fried pastries of seafood and cheese; the chorrillana, a mountain of chips under strips of beef, fried onion and eggs, made for sharing; fish soups at the market; and in summer mote con huesillo, a sweet drink of dried peaches and husked wheat. An empanada costs about two or three dollars.

  • Mercado Cardonal · Fish soups and cheap lunches
  • Plaza Sotomayor · Chorrillana bars nearby
  • Viña del Mar · Completos, Chilean hot dogs

Museums in Valparaiso

Valparaíso’s museums are a poet’s houses, a navy and a palace of art.

  • La Sebastiana · Neruda’s house
  • Palacio Baburizza · Fine arts
  • Museo Marítimo Nacional · The navy
  • Museo Fonck · The moai

Nature and day trips near Valparaiso

A bay of hills, a wild coast and the vineyards behind it.

  • Isla Negra · The wild coast
  • Casablanca · Vineyards
  • Paseo 21 de Mayo · The bay view

Things to do in Valparaiso with kids

With children: rides on century-old funiculars, a boat among sea lions and a clock of flowers.

  • Ascensor Reina Victoria · The tiny funicular
  • Muelle Prat · Sea lions
  • Reloj de Flores · The flower clock

Nightlife in Valparaiso

Valparaíso has the liveliest nights on the coast: bars on Cerro Alegre and Concepción, live music in the lower town and the New Year’s fireworks over the bay.

  • Paseo Yugoslavo · Hilltop bars
  • Paseo 21 de Mayo · New Year’s fireworks
  • Plaza Sotomayor · Port bars
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Frequently asked questions about Valparaiso

What is there to see in Valparaiso?

The top sights in Valparaiso are Plaza Sotomayor, Muelle Prat and Ascensor Concepción. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Valparaiso?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Valparaiso without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Valparaiso?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Valparaiso, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The hills of Concepción and Alegre.

Where to stay in Valparaiso, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Valparaiso that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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