Valparaiso, Chile: Hillside Street Art City With Santiago an Hour Away

The cerros of Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción, directly above the port, are the most accessible and most painted of Valparaiso's hills. The Ascensor El Peral (departing from Plaza de la Justicia, 10 minutes from the port on foot) rises to Cerro Alegre in under two minutes and deposits passengers in the middle of the dense mural landscape. The streets on both cerros — Pasaje Gálvez, Paseo Gervasoni, Paseo Yugoslavo — are walkable in either direction with painted facades covering entire block faces; the concentration is high enough that there is no gap between murals significant enough to count as a gap. The artists range from internationally known names whose signature styles appear in multiple cities to local Valparaíso painters who have worked these particular walls for years.

La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's third house in Valparaiso, is on Cerro Florida — a 20-minute walk or short taxi from Cerro Alegre. The house was Neruda's Chilean retreat away from both Santiago and his famous Isla Negra house on the coast; its five floors are stacked vertically up the hillside with each room opening onto a different view of the bay. The collection inside is consistent with Neruda's other houses — antique ship figureheads, barometers, colored glass, a carousel horse — assembled with the systematic enthusiasm of a person who understood that ordinary objects become extraordinary when placed in sufficient density. Admission includes an audio guide; the visitor flow is one-way through the floors.

Santiago, 140 kilometres east of Valparaiso by the coastal highway, is reachable in 90-120 minutes by organized bus transfer, rental car, or the Turbus and Pullman coach services that run from the Valparaiso bus terminal (10 minutes from the port). The Plaza de Armas and the historic center cover the Spanish colonial period; the Barrio Italia and Barrio Lastarria neighborhoods in the eastern city have the best current restaurant and bar density. Mercado Central — an ornate nineteenth-century cast-iron market near the Mapocho River — has a working seafood market in the interior and tourist-oriented restaurants on the outer ring. La Chascona (Neruda's Santiago house, in the Bellavista neighborhood) is the more politically charged of his three houses and the most direct record of his relationship with Matilde Urrutia.

The Casablanca Valley, 40 kilometres west of Santiago (between Santiago and the coast), is one of Chile's premium wine districts, planted primarily with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay that benefit from the Pacific fog that moderates the valley's temperatures. Wineries on the coastal highway include Matetic, Viña Casas del Bosque, and Kingston Family Vineyards. The cellar door circuit is practical as a stop between Valparaiso and Santiago for those with a rental car; organized wine tour excursions from the port typically include two wineries with a shared lunch.