josebtesh

My wife and I are planning to attend a wedding in Santiago in August. We are thinking to rent a car for one whole day, leaving Santiago at 8.30 AM till 8.30 PM, maybe on a Thursday, and go to Valparaiso.
I would please need advise on what to do in Valparaiso, good parking spots, walking advise ( although August may be very cold).
Thank you !

Huentetu

Valparaíso presents two challenges: finding parking and steep hills with narrow roads. You will need a good map. If someone can lend you the Turistel guide for Chile Centro, it has good maps of both highways and city maps. It is usually available online at turistel.cl, but frequently disappears for some reason. You can either head down highway 68 and take the route to Valaparaiso or branch to Viña del Mar. There is a good metrotren between the two and there are ascensores to get you up into the hills of Valparaiso.
http://www.tourismchile.com/guide/valparaiso/

Gavin

There is a big underground car park in central Valpo. After a bit of searching we found it but I can't give you directions now other than to say we drove in from the north along the coast. It's an easy drive until you get to the centre of town when naturally it gets congested. You might consider just taking a bus from Santiago. You really don't want to be driving around the hilly streets so there is no use for the car when in Valpo.

We explored the city on foot; there are elevators up some hills. We did a harbour tour by boat. The captain had lived in Toronto for 18 years and spoke English. We had a lovely fish lunch at a place across from the central market. The restaurant was an uninvited suggestion by a local person observing us looking at menus in windows. By the end of the business day people in a bakery were telling us that that for our safety we should leave the area. There was a noticable clearing out of people by then.

crellston

A great way to spend a few hours is to walk the "grafitti Trail" which takes you around the hills of Valpo. Lunch at Cinzano in the town square is worth it for the experience or maybe at the Casino Social Club both of which are Valpo institutions. A link to our blog of our time there with a few photos;

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...9520/tpod.html

Huentetu

The graffiti of Valparaíso has always been there in one form or another. It inspired the Museo al Cielo Abierto which, in turn, inspired more imaginative graffiti. The Museo al Cielo Abierto™, the Museum Open to the Sky, literally an open air museum, is on Cerro Bellavista. There are 20 murals done by 18 famous Chilean artists,such as Roberto Matta, Maria Martner, Mario Toral, Eduardo Pérez, Nemesio Antunez and Roser Bru. The original idea stems from a project involving the art students of the Catholic University of Valparaíso in the 60s. Later the present project was planned but shelved during the military government. Many of the artists had left Chile. The project was re-started in 1991-92 and well known artists invited to participate. One mural from the 1969-73 period has been saved. The artists donated the murals to the city and a curator was named. They are sometimes damaged by graffiti and restoration has to be done but, on the whole, the people of Valparaíso respect and care for the murals. Below is a link to images of the murals by artist.
http://tinyurl.com/ksc3k6

josebtesh

Thank you Huenteto, Crellston and Gavin !
Tips are excellent.
i am not very sure if I should rent a car 50 usd, or go by bus.
I thought a car would give us some other options on the way, but as you are telling me, it appears to be that a bus maybe fine too.
I am still doubtfull...

josebtesh

crellston:
do you think I could get to La Nona's BB, park and from there see the city, then leave to Santiago?

crellston

jose - I see no reason why not. There are directions and a map on the website

http://www.bblanona.com/

Rene is a really helpphul and knowledgeable host and may even act as a guide. email [email protected]. I assume that you are not planning on staying overnight so a guide may be best to make the most of your time there. As regards travel, personally, I would go by bus as it always seem to take more time than anticiapated to pick up and drop off rental cars.

josebtesh

thank you !
i already emailed him.
let me know how may i help you travel wise.

jose

Huentetu

I wrote something, sneezed and lost it!
I agree that a guide would be a good idea if you have only one day. I often see tourists wandering around wondering which Cerro they are on. If your guide has transport, you might take the bus and use the saving to pay him!

josebtesh

Thank you Huentetu.
Will definety consider a guide.