--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Valparaíso, Chile | Wimup" description: "The 10 best things to do in Valparaíso, Chile: the UNESCO hills, the working funiculars, Neruda at La Sebastiana and where to eat chorrillana." url: https://wimup.com/city/valparaiso type: City guide updated: 2026-09-03 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10 Things To Do in Valparaíso Valparaíso, Chile · South America · By Wimup Editorial, 14 min read Valparaíso is built the wrong way up. The commercial flat runs a few blocks deep along the water, and everything else climbs 42 hills above it, reached by stairs, switchback lanes and Victorian funiculars that still work. UNESCO listed the historic quarter in 2003 for exactly that: a port town that grew without a plan. ## Quick answer Give Valparaíso two full days. Spend the first on Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción, riding a funicular up and walking the paseos between Baburizza and the Museo a Cielo Abierto, then climb to La Sebastiana. Spend the second at sea level: Plaza Sotomayor, a boat around the working harbour, the Mercado El Cardonal at lunchtime and chorrillana after dark. Add a third day for Isla Negra. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** Dec · Jan · Feb · Mar - **Ideal length:** 2 days, 3 with a coastal day trip - **Budget per day:** $45–90 - **Language:** Spanish, with English in the Cerro Alegre hotels and restaurants - **Getting around:** Walk the hills, ride the funiculars and trolleybuses, take the Limache-Puerto train to Viña del Mar - **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://www.chile.travel/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## The 10 best things to do in Valparaíso ### 1. Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción Neighbourhood · Paseo Gervasoni, Cerro Concepción, Valparaíso The two hills that carry the UNESCO listing, settled by British and German merchants in the nineteenth century, which is why the lanes are named Templeman and Atkinson and the architecture is corrugated iron over timber. The pleasure is navigational: the shortest route between two points is usually a staircase, and the paseos are balconies hung over the port. - **Time:** 3 hrs - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Late morning - **Tip:** The two hills are one continuous walk, but the border is not obvious. Paseo Atkinson and Paseo Gervasoni are Concepción, Paseo Yugoslavo and Lautaro Rosas are Alegre. Do them in that order and you finish at Baburizza. ### 2. La Sebastiana House museum · Ferrari 692, Cerro Florida, Valparaíso Pablo Neruda bought the top floors of an unfinished house on Cerro Florida in 1959 and turned them into the vertical, ship-like home he kept until his death. Every window is aimed at the bay, and the collections read as one long joke about a poet playing captain. Opened as a museum in 1991; allow ninety minutes rather than forty. - **Time:** 1.5 hrs - **Cost:** Ticketed - **Best at:** Opening time - **Tip:** Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, no reservation needed. It is a steep 25 minute walk up from Plaza Aníbal Pinto, so take a taxi or the O bus up and walk down through Cerro Bellavista to the murals. Links: [Official site](https://fundacionneruda.org/museos-casa-museo-la-sebastiana/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 3. The ascensores, starting with Concepción Transport landmark · Ascensor Concepción, Plaza Aníbal Pinto, Valparaíso The funiculars are the reason the hills were ever habitable, and they are still public transport rather than a ride. Seven are running, and the oldest, Concepción, has been hauling cars up from Plaza Aníbal Pinto since 1883. Artillería and Polanco are out of service awaiting restoration. Ride at least three: each lands you somewhere different. - **Time:** 30 min - **Cost:** CLP 200 to 1,000 - **Best at:** Any time - **Tip:** Fares set in January 2026 are CLP 200 general, CLP 300 on Concepción and CLP 1,000 for foreign visitors, and the network runs 07:00 to 21:30 on weekdays, from 08:00 at weekends. Carry coins: the booths are cash. ### 4. Museo a Cielo Abierto Street art · Calle Ferrari, Cerro Bellavista, Valparaíso Twenty murals painted straight onto house walls on Cerro Bellavista, arranged as a walking route rather than a collection. It began in 1969, when art students started painting the hill, and opened as a museum in 1992 with work by Roberto Matta among others. These are commissioned compositions, not the improvised graffiti above. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Midday - **Tip:** Start from the painted staircase on Calle Ferrari and follow the numbered works uphill. It connects with the walk to La Sebastiana, so do the two together in either direction. ### 5. Palacio Baburizza Art museum · Paseo Yugoslavo 176, Cerro Alegre, Valparaíso An art nouveau mansion built in 1916 on the lip of Cerro Alegre, later the home of a Croatian nitrate magnate, and since 1971 the city's fine arts museum. The collection is one of the four most important public art holdings in Chile, hung in rooms that kept their panelling. Go for the building, and for the terrace. - **Time:** 1.5 hrs - **Cost:** Ticketed - **Best at:** Afternoon - **Tip:** Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00. It sits at the end of Paseo Yugoslavo, so the Reina Victoria funicular from Plaza Aníbal Pinto puts you within five minutes of the door. Links: [Official site](https://museobaburizza.cl/en/home/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 6. Plaza Sotomayor and Muelle Prat Square and harbour · Plaza Sotomayor, Valparaíso The formal heart of the flat, and the one part of Valparaíso built to impress rather than to work. The square is anchored by the monument to the heroes of Iquique and closed at the top by the navy headquarters. The bay tour from the pier is the best half hour in the city for understanding it. - **Time:** 1.5 hrs - **Cost:** Boat trips from CLP 5,000 - **Best at:** Early afternoon - **Tip:** Shared launches run about 30 minutes and leave when full, so go when the pier is busy rather than at opening. Craft stalls line the quay if you are waiting. Links: [Official site](https://www.puertovalparaiso.cl/muelle-prat?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 7. Museo Marítimo Nacional and Paseo 21 de Mayo Museum and viewpoint · Veintiuno de Mayo 45, Cerro Artillería, Valparaíso Chile is a country defined by its navy, and this is where it explains itself: 17 rooms covering the wars of independence, the Pacific campaigns and the polar voyages, inside a former naval academy. The promenade outside is the panorama every postcard of the city is shot from. - **Time:** 2 hrs - **Cost:** Ticketed - **Best at:** Sunset - **Tip:** Open daily 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 30 minutes before, closed 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. The Artillería funicular that used to serve it is out of service, so come by taxi or on the Playa Ancha buses from the flat. Links: [Official site](https://museomaritimo.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 8. Parque Cultural de Valparaíso Arts centre · Calle Cárcel 471, Cerro Cárcel, Valparaíso The city's public prison from 1906 until 1999, and a detention centre under the dictatorship, reopened in 2011 as an arts campus. The conversion kept the perimeter wall and the prison block, so the history is legible rather than erased. Programming runs to dance, theatre and music, much of it free. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Free to enter - **Best at:** Late afternoon - **Tip:** Grounds open daily from 10:00. Check the programme before you climb: a rehearsal day and a festival day are very different visits, and the site hosts Puerto de Ideas each November. Links: [Official site](https://parquecultural.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 9. Cementerio de Disidentes Cemetery · Cerro Panteón, Valparaíso Built in 1825 for the British and northern European merchants whose Protestant faith barred them from Catholic ground, and for thirty years the only cemetery in Chile where a non-Catholic could be buried. A hillside of foreign names, cast-iron railings and marble under Pacific salt air. The terrace gives the widest view of the bay. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Gates run roughly 10:00 to 17:00. It is a 15 to 20 minute walk up from Cerro Alegre, and the approach through Cerro Cárcel pairs naturally with the Parque Cultural. Links: [Official site](https://www.monumentos.gob.cl/monumentos/monumentos-historicos/cementerio-de-disidentes-o-cementerio-ingles-de-valparaiso?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 10. Casino Social J. Cruz M. Institution · Condell 1466, Valparaíso A cluttered room at the end of a passage off Condell, hung with decades of scrawled notes, serving one dish. Chorrillana is chips under beef, fried onion and egg, and this house has claimed to have invented it since the 1970s. The claim is disputed; the version here is the reference point, and the portions are built for four. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Shared plate - **Best at:** After dark - **Tip:** There is no menu at the Condell address: order the chorrillana and decide on the drinks. Go with at least three people, or accept that you will not finish it. ## Best hills & lookouts in Valparaíso Five places to stand still and look, from the paseos of the old merchant hills to the far ends of the bay. 1. **Paseo Gervasoni** (Free viewpoint · Cerro Concepción): The classic balcony: a short terrace at the top of the Concepción funicular, with the whole flat laid out below. Busy from late morning. 2. **Paseo Atkinson** (Free viewpoint · Cerro Concepción): A row of British-built houses in flat sea colours facing the port across a narrow cobbled walkway. It photographs better in the afternoon. 3. **Paseo Yugoslavo** (Free viewpoint · Cerro Alegre): Named for the Croatian families who built this end of Cerro Alegre, and anchored by the Baburizza palace. The rail looks down onto the container terminal. 4. **Paseo 21 de Mayo** (Free viewpoint · Cerro Artillería): The wide-angle one, above the harbour mouth on the western edge of the city. Come for sunset, and pair it with the naval museum next door. 5. **Cerro Barón** (Funicular access · East end): The far eastern hill, reached by one of the seven working funiculars, and the place to see the amphitheatre from the other side. ## Best murals in Valparaíso Four painted routes, all of them free, all of them best walked downhill. 1. **Escalera del Piano** (Painted staircase · Cerro Concepción): A stairway on Pasaje Beethoven painted as a keyboard, black keys and all, with murals stacked up the walls beside it. 2. **Templeman and Almirante Montt** (Street route · Cerro Concepción): The spine of the painted quarter: two lanes where every shutter, gable and retaining wall has been worked on and repainted. Walk it slowly and look up. 3. **Cerro Polanco** (Large-format murals · East of the centre): Away from the tourist hills, and the better hunting ground for large-scale work by Chilean and visiting muralists. It is a residential hill, so go by day. 4. **Calle Ferrari** (Museum approach · Cerro Bellavista): The climb from Avenida Argentina up to the Museo a Cielo Abierto, and the transition between the two kinds of painting in this city. ## Best restaurants in Valparaíso Five kitchens on the two hills, from a nineteenth century terrace to the current wave of Chilean tasting menus. 1. **Fauna** (Chilean, contemporary · Cerro Alegre): On Pasaje Dimalow at the centre of Cerro Alegre, with the terrace most people are here for and cooking that justifies it. Chilean produce handled precisely. 2. **Café Turri** (Seafood · Cerro Concepción): A nineteenth century house at Templeman 147 with the terrace hung directly over the port. Seafood is the reason to book, at prices the view is part of. 3. **La Concepción** (Chilean, Italian · Cerro Concepción): Papudo 541, in a house with the same view and a quieter room. The kitchen crosses Chilean seafood with Italian technique. 4. **Tres Peces** (Seafood, small plates · Cerro Concepción): A small room a minute from Pilcomayo, working almost entirely from the day's catch. Book ahead: it seats very few and the porteños know it. 5. **Pasta e Vino** (Italian · Cerro Concepción): The hill's long-running pasta house, and the reservation locals make for a birthday. Handmade pasta with Chilean seafood in it. ## Best bars & live music in Valparaíso Three rooms that cover the range: a bar from 1896, a brewery in a mansion and a cultural centre that serves drinks. 1. **Bar Cinzano** (Since 1896 · Plaza Aníbal Pinto): The oldest bar in the city, on Plaza Aníbal Pinto, walls papered with photographs of a Valparaíso that no longer exists. Live cueca and bolero from Thursday. 2. **Casa Cervecera Altamira** (Craft brewery · Cerro Alegre): A brewery in an old mansion at the foot of Cerro Alegre, with the tanks in the room and the full range on tap. A decent kitchen behind it. 3. **El Internado** (Bar and cultural space · Cerro Alegre): Paseo Dimalow 167: bar, restaurant, gallery, cinema and games room stacked in one building with a view over the port. The programme changes weekly. ## Best museums in Valparaíso Three smaller collections, all within walking distance of the funiculars. 1. **Museo de Historia Natural de Valparaíso** (Natural history · Palacio Lyon, Condell 1546): Founded in 1878, the second oldest museum in Chile, holding around 110,000 pieces across natural science and anthropology. It occupies the Palacio Lyon on Condell. [Official site](https://www.mhnv.gob.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 2. **Casa Museo Lord Cochrane** (Naval history · Merlet 195, Cerro Cordillera): The oldest house in Valparaíso, built in 1842 and a national monument since 1963, now showing ship models alongside rotating exhibitions. Go for the terrace. 3. **Museo Universitario del Grabado** (Printmaking · Lautaro Rosas 485, Cerro Alegre): Opened in 2021 in the restored Casona Walbaum, dedicated to printmaking, with a press in use. The quietest good hour on Cerro Alegre. [Official site](https://www.mugupla.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## Best markets & caletas in Valparaíso Three places the city actually shops, all of them finished by mid afternoon. 1. **Mercado El Cardonal** (Covered market, 1907 · Avenida Brasil at Uruguay): The region's main market, two floors and around 200 stalls in a 1907 building, with cocinerías upstairs serving the seafood that came in that morning. 2. **Caleta Portales** (Fishing cove · Eastern shore): A working fishing cove opened in 1929, with two covered markets. Boats unload between six and nine, sea lions wait for the offcuts, and the stalls close by two. 3. **Feria de Avenida Argentina** (Wednesdays and Saturdays · Avenida Argentina): The street market that fills the central median on Wednesdays and Saturdays: fruit, fish, tools, secondhand everything. Come early. ## Best day trips in Valparaíso Six trips within about 90 minutes, from Neruda's coast house to the wine valley behind the hills. 1. **Viña del Mar** (Beaches and gardens · 20 min by train): The neighbouring resort city, and the easiest possible half day: the train runs there in about 20 minutes. Beaches, the Quinta Vergara park and a flat grid. 2. **Isla Negra** (Neruda house museum · About 1 hr 15 south): The best of Neruda's three houses, built along a rock shelf above the Pacific and packed with figureheads, bottles and shells. Buses run from the Terminal Rodoviario. [Official site](https://fundacionneruda.org/museos-casa-museo-isla-negra/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 3. **Casablanca Valley** (Cool-climate wine · 45 min inland): The valley between Valparaíso and Santiago, planted with sauvignon blanc and pinot noir on the ocean side of the coast range. Most cellars take visits by appointment. 4. **Quintay** (Fishing cove and whaling station · About 1 hr southwest): A small cove with the ruins of a whaling station that operated from 1943 until 1967, now a museum. Open Tuesday to Sunday in summer, weather permitting. [Official site](http://fundacionquintay.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 5. **Concón** (Dunes and seafood · 40 min north): North along the coast road past Reñaca, where a field of coastal dunes drops to the sea and the caleta kitchens serve the region's best fried fish. 6. **Parque Nacional La Campana** (Hiking · About 1 hr 30 inland): Chilean palm forest and a summit Charles Darwin climbed in 1834, above Olmué. The ascent is a full day and the palm groves a comfortable half one. ## Festivals & annual events in Valparaíso (2026) - **Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar** (Feb): Latin America's best known song festival, six nights at the Quinta Vergara, 20 minutes away by train. Book beds early. - **Fiesta de la Vendimia de Casablanca** (Apr): The Casablanca Valley harvest festival, held at the municipal stadium 45 minutes inland, with the valley's wineries pouring. - **Día de los Patrimonios** (May): The last weekend of May, when buildings that are closed all year open their doors free. - **Fiesta de San Pedro** (Jun): On 29 June the fishing coves honour their patron saint: mass, a procession to Muelle Prat, then the image carried around the bay. - **Fiestas Patrias** (Sep): Chile's independence holidays on 18 and 19 September. Fondas and cueca take over the parks and most museums close for two days. - **Carnaval Mil Tambores** (Oct): Three days from the first weekend in October: drum troupes, parades, workshops and street performance across the hills. - **Festival Puerto de Ideas** (Nov): A weekend of science, philosophy and literature talks in November, centred on the Parque Cultural and spread across the city. - **Año Nuevo en el Mar** (Dec): The reason hotel rooms sell out a year ahead. At midnight fireworks fire from points along the bay, watched from every hill. ## Must-try dishes in Valparaíso, Chile - **Chorrillana**: Chips buried under sliced beef, fried onion and egg, served in one pan for the table. - **Caldillo de congrio**: Conger eel soup with potato, onion and a little cream, and the subject of one of Neruda's odes. - **Chupe de jaiba**: Crab baked with bread soaked in milk until it sets like a gratin, served in a clay dish. - **Machas a la parmesana**: Razor clams on the half shell under white wine, butter and parmesan, finished under the grill. - **Paila marina**: A shellfish broth served in an earthenware bowl with whatever the boats brought in: mussels, clams and crab. - **Empanada de mariscos**: The coastal answer to the beef empanada, filled with shrimp and cheese, fried rather than baked. - **Completo**: The Chilean hot dog: avocado, tomato and a great deal of mayonnaise. - **Mote con huesillo**: Dried peach rehydrated in sweet spiced syrup, poured over husked wheat and drunk cold. ## Valparaíso transport & airports - **Airport** (SCL): Valparaíso has no commercial airport. Arturo Merino Benítez in Santiago, about 120 kilometres east, is the gateway; from there take a transfer or a bus into the city terminals and continue by coach. [Airport site](https://www.nuevopudahuel.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Coach from Santiago** (1h30): Tur Bus and Pullman run from Terminal Alameda to the Terminal Rodoviario on Avenida Pedro Montt, roughly every 15 to 30 minutes. About an hour and a half, longer on a Friday. [Tur Bus](https://www.turbus.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) · [Pullman](https://www.pullman.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Train** (Limache-Puerto): The Limache-Puerto line runs 43 kilometres and 21 stations from Puerto through Viña del Mar to Limache, every 6 to 15 minutes. Since 2026 the same card works on the buses and the funiculars. [Operator](https://www.efe.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Funiculars and buses** (CLP 200): Seven funiculars climb the hills from the flat, from early morning to about 21:30, for a couple of hundred pesos. Trolleybuses run the length of the flat, and colectivos cover the rest. ## Valparaíso at a glance - **Country:** Chile - **Region:** Valparaíso Region - **Population:** 944,498 in Greater Valparaíso (2024 census) - **Founded:** 1536, from the port rather than a formal founding - **Nickname:** La Joya del Pacífico, the jewel of the Pacific - **Language:** Spanish - **Currency:** Chilean peso (CLP) - **Time zone:** UTC-4, UTC-3 during summer time - **Calling code:** +56 32 - **Airports:** Santiago (SCL), about 120 km east - **Power:** 220V, 50Hz, plug types C and L - **Emergency:** 133 police, 131 ambulance, 132 fire ## Interesting facts - UNESCO inscribed the historic quarter in 2003: a core area of 23.2 hectares, listed for a port city that adapted itself to the hillsides. - Chile's parliament sits here, not in the capital. The National Congress has met in El Almendral since 1990, 110 kilometres from the palace. - Seven funiculars still carry passengers, and the oldest, Concepción, opened in 1883. Artillería and Polanco await restoration. - The Museo a Cielo Abierto holds 20 murals on Cerro Bellavista. Students began painting the hill in 1969, and it opened as a museum in 1992. - Valparaíso was the first great merchant port on the Pacific side of South America, and the Panama Canal ended the traffic that built it. ## Valparaíso travel FAQ ### How many days do you need in Valparaíso? Two full days covers it: one on Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción with La Sebastiana, one at sea level for Plaza Sotomayor, the harbour boats and the market. A third day buys Isla Negra, the Casablanca vineyards or Quintay. ### Is Valparaíso safe for visitors? The tourist hills are straightforward by day and normal city rules apply after dark. Keep phones and cameras out of sight around the flat, Barrio Puerto and Avenida Argentina, use a taxi or a ride app late at night rather than walking down unlit stairways, and treat the residential hills as somebody's street rather than an attraction. ### How do you get from Santiago to Valparaíso? By coach. Tur Bus and Pullman leave Terminal Alameda every 15 to 30 minutes and reach the Terminal Rodoviario on Avenida Pedro Montt in about an hour and a half. There is no direct train from Santiago, and no commercial airport in Valparaíso. ### Do the funiculars still work? Seven of them do: Barón, Concepción, Cordillera, El Peral, Espíritu Santo, Reina Victoria and San Agustín. They run 07:00 to 21:30 on weekdays and from 08:00 at weekends, at CLP 200 a ride, CLP 300 on Concepción and CLP 1,000 for foreign visitors. Artillería and Polanco are closed for restoration. ### Valparaíso or Viña del Mar? Valparaíso for the architecture, the food and the murals; Viña del Mar for beaches, gardens and a flat grid. They are 20 minutes apart on the Limache-Puerto train, so the practical answer is to sleep in Valparaíso and spend an afternoon in Viña. ## Nearby guides - [Santiago](https://wimup.com/city/santiago.md): Day trip · 10 picks - [Mendoza](https://wimup.com/city/mendoza.md): Argentina · 10 picks - [Córdoba](https://wimup.com/city/cordoba.md): Argentina · 10 picks - [All of South America →](https://wimup.com/south-america): 39 cities Part of the [Chile guide](https://wimup.com/country/chile.md) · [South America](https://wimup.com/south-america.md) ## Sources - [Valparaíso tourism board](https://www.chile.travel/en/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [La Sebastiana (official site)](https://fundacionneruda.org/museos-casa-museo-la-sebastiana/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Palacio Baburizza (official site)](https://museobaburizza.cl/en/home/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Plaza Sotomayor and Muelle Prat (official site)](https://www.puertovalparaiso.cl/muelle-prat?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Museo Marítimo Nacional and Paseo 21 de Mayo (official site)](https://museomaritimo.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Parque Cultural de Valparaíso (official site)](https://parquecultural.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Cementerio de Disidentes (official site)](https://www.monumentos.gob.cl/monumentos/monumentos-historicos/cementerio-de-disidentes-o-cementerio-ingles-de-valparaiso?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Museo de Historia Natural de Valparaíso (official site)](https://www.mhnv.gob.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Museo Universitario del Grabado (official site)](https://www.mugupla.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Isla Negra (official site)](https://fundacionneruda.org/museos-casa-museo-isla-negra/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Quintay (official site)](http://fundacionquintay.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Airport: Airport site](https://www.nuevopudahuel.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Coach from Santiago: Tur Bus](https://www.turbus.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Coach from Santiago: Pullman](https://www.pullman.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Train: Operator](https://www.efe.cl/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.