Long weekend Santiago - Valparaíso
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- 4 days
- 14 places
Four days between the capital and the port: downtown Santiago, the hills of Valparaíso and the coast of Viña del Mar, all within a radius of 120 kilometres.
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Santiago and Valparaíso are 120 kilometres apart along Route 68, and they are two cities that resemble each other in nothing. One is the capital, with the mountain range behind it; the other is a port that tumbles down its hills and that UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site precisely for that.
Four days are enough for both without rushing: two in Santiago, two on the coast. The stretch between them is run by Tur Bus, Pullman Bus and Cóndor Bus all day from the Terminal Alameda, and by car it is Route 68 with tolls.
Why in this order
Santiago first because it is where you land, and because the historic centre can be walked in a day. Valparaíso after, with two nights, because the hills are not seen in passing.
Which day of the week to leave on
Leave on a Friday: Neruda's house falls on a Sunday and the Viña day on a Monday, when La Sebastiana is closed.
Tuesday to Thursday also works. A Saturday leaves Neruda's house on a Monday. A Sunday puts the second day's Cerro San Cristóbal on a Monday, with the cable car closed and the funicular, which also does not open on the first Monday of each month.
Book this trip
Hotels in Lastarria and Providencia
Stay22 · Booking.com, Expedia and others
Walkable neighborhoods, close to the Metro and to Santa Lucía and San Cristóbal hills.
Cars at Santiago airport
Discover Cars
For a day trip to the coast or the Cajón del Maipo. Compare companies and coverage.
Day 1
Santiago on foot: the centre that fits in a day
The historic centre is covered on foot, and everything in it is close to the Plaza de Armas.
Sernatur Stop 1
Plaza de Armas
The city's founding square. Around it are the Catedral Metropolitana, the Correo Central and the Museo Histórico Nacional.
Sernatur Stop 2
Palacio de La Moneda
The seat of government. Underneath is the Centro Cultural La Moneda, with exhibition halls.
Sernatur Stop 3
Mercado Central
A fish and seafood market under a 19th-century iron structure. You eat at the cocinerías in the centre of the hall.
Sernatur Stop 4
Cerro Santa Lucía
A hill right in the centre, with terraces, stone stairways and the Fuente de Neptuno at the entrance on the Alameda.
Sernatur Stop 5
Barrio Lastarria
Bookshops, cafés and galleries between the hill and the Parque Forestal.
- Getting around
- On foot. The metro covers what is far away.
- Where to sleep
- Santiago
Book for this day
Hotels in Lastarria and Providencia
Stay22 · Booking.com, Expedia and others
Walkable neighborhoods, close to the Metro and to Santa Lucía and San Cristóbal hills.
Day 2
Cerro San Cristóbal and the way out to the port
The morning up high to see the whole city, and then the 120 kilometres of Route 68 to the coast.
Sernatur Stop 1
Cerro San Cristóbal
An urban park above the city. You go up by funicular from Pío Nono or by cable car from the Pedro de Valdivia Norte entrance, and from the summit you see Santiago from one end to the other when the air is clear.
Alexxxos, CC BY-SA 3.0 Stop 2
Paseo 21 de Mayo
The lookout of Cerro Artillería, with the bay and the port below. You climb on foot from the plan, or in the Artillería ascensor if it runs that day.
Which ascensores run changes without notice and applies to all those on the route: confirm the same day which ones work and keep the climb on foot as a plan.
- Getting around
- Funicular or cable car on the hill. To Valparaíso, Route 68 with tolls: Tur Bus, Pullman Bus and Cóndor Bus leave all day from the Terminal Alameda.
- Where to sleep
- Valparaíso
Book for this day
Cars at Santiago airport
Discover Cars
For a day trip to the coast or the Cajón del Maipo. Compare companies and coverage.
Day 3
The Alegre and Concepción hills
The area UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site, and Neruda's house that looks out over the port.
Joaquin Abarca, CC BY-SA 4.0 Stop 1
Ascensor Reina Victoria
It goes up to Cerro Concepción. It appears in the lists of ascensores in service. Its status changes without notice: confirm that day whether it works.
Sernatur Stop 2
Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción
The two adjoining hills that concentrate the walks, the murals and the houses with painted sheet-metal façades. They are the only two hills within the area UNESCO inscribed.
Mikel Santamaria, CC BY-SA 2.0 Stop 3
La Sebastiana
The house Pablo Neruda had in Valparaíso, now a house museum of the Fundación Pablo Neruda. Five narrow floors with a view of the port.
Painted metal façades on cerro Yungay, one of Valparaíso's forty-two hills. · Farisori, CC BY-SA 4.0 Stop 4
Cerro Yungay
A Valparaíso hill outside the area UNESCO inscribed, which includes only Alegre and Concepción. If you have time left after those two, go up here to see the city outside the inscribed area.
Carolina Olmedo Carrasco, CC BY-SA 3.0 Stop 5
Muelle Prat
The port's pier, where the boats around the bay leave from.
- Getting around
- On foot and by ascensor. The ascensores do not always run: confirm which ones work that day and keep the climb on foot at hand.
- Where to sleep
- Valparaíso
Day 4
Viña del Mar and the return
A coastal train links the port with the seaside city, and they are two different cities.
Sernatur Stop 1
Viña del Mar beach
The urban beach of the seaside city, north of the port.
Sernatur Stop 2
Viña del Mar coastal promenade
The edge between the beach and the avenue, which continues north to Reñaca and Concón.
- Getting around
- The EFE Valparaíso Limache-Puerto service links the port with Viña along the coast, and it is the simplest way to cross without a car. Back to Santiago, by bus or car.
Map
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