The twin cities of Valparaíso and Vina Del Mar had always escaped me on my travels through Chile. I was happy to get the opportunity to scratch a little under the surface by exploring these two historic places of significance to Chile’s naval military.

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This post is one chapter in our trip to Peru and Chile via Air Canada Executive First (Business Class). This trip was booked using Air Canada e-upgrades to upgrade into Air Canada International Executive First class. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

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City Visit: Taking in the Coast at Valparaiso & Vina Del Mar, Chile

After skiing up at Valle Nevado, we left ourselves a day in and around the Santiago area for a little local sightseeing. Using the Santiago Marriott as a base, we booked ourselves a day tour to the seaside town of Valparaiso and the coastal city of Vina Del Mar. We booked this through Viatour.

Visiting Vina Del Mar:

After about about two hours in the coach, we arrived to the sea at orderly and new school Vina del Mar on the west coast of Chile. The sea side was very picturesque after being in the land locked Valle Nevado Andes mountains and Cuzco Peru a little earlier in the trip. Lima, despite being a seaside town, doesn’t have much interaction with the ocean up on the cliff in Miraflores.

It was lunch time when we arrived so we were free to locate some lunch. Seaside hamburguesa burgers con papas fritas and a Cristal cerveza outside on the winter deck under sunny skies seemed to be the best choice.

From there, it was off on a short trip into downtown Valparaiso. We passed by the often advertised Sheraton Vina Del Mar under the previous Starwood Preferred Guest program on SPG TV; something I had many opportunities to see on various hotel stays over the years.

Visiting Valparaíso:

We eventually made it into downtown Valparaiso. The town is made up of a flatter downtown portion between 42 different hilly slopes also known as cerros. The hills are further serviced by 15 funicular cars that date back to the 1883 and 1916. Starting in the flatter portion, we started down at the Plaza Sotomayor adjacent to the Chilean Naval Command Building also known as the Edificio de la Commandancia Naval. The square was also punctuated by the Monumento a los Héros de Iquique, a tribute to Chilean’s naval hero.

We left the downtown area for the cerros hillsides where colourful houses dotted the slopes. The funiculars dotted the slope side, providing access to the hills for it’s many residents. There were picturesque views between a tiny glimpse into

After the day visit, we transferred back to Santiago by coach.

In Summary:

Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar are two neat coastal cities that have enough attractions to keep you busy for at least most of your day. Valparaiso seems to be a perfect place to be on the cruise ship circuit. It’s worth a visit if you happen to be through this corner of the world.

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