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So much talent on display. Huge murals. Great coffee and curio shops. Street music too. Hard to get lost as you just keep heading down the hill!
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Date of experience: March 2020
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This is some of the best street art I have seen anywhere and worth the effort in walking up and down some very steep streets. Just be careful as tourists can be robbed if not careful. Try riding to the top and walking down to save your legs.
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Date of experience: March 2020
2 Helpful votes
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This is a UNESCO world heritage site but one that has unfortunately undergone the ravages of Chile’s current social-economic problems. It is unique, spread over a number of hills surrounding a bay and shipping port that used to be one of the main ports in Chile. It really looks to be suffering. The flatter part immediately around the port has many shuttered and burned buildings and graffiti absolutely everywhere. The hilly part in the center of town is very artistic and while there is still a lot of graffiti there is also a lot of really beautiful wall art. This part of town has the boutique hotels, restaurants and small stores which Valparaíso is famous for. We probably wouldn’t have come here without a guide due to the issues being experienced in Chile and that would have been a mistake. It seems pretty safe during the day. What is interesting is the peace and quiet you find in Viña Del Mar compared to the obvious signs of unrest in Valparaíso considering that in many ways the ya re really one city. We did a harbor tour on the urging of our guide and while it was calming to sit in a boat and putter around the port there really wasn’t much to see. If you didn’t do it you wouldn’t have missed much. The port is still in limited use and it also seems like a major depot for the Chilean Navy. We had originally booked our 4 night coastal stay in a boutique hotel in the heart of Valparaiso but moved it to Viña Del Mar when we started hearing about the protests and we’re glad we did. In contrast to Valparaiso Vina del Mar was clean and peaceful.…
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Date of experience: January 2020
1 Helpful vote
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+1
Liked walking the city much more than I thought I would...helped that it was early on a Saturday just before Christmas, so things were fairly quiet. Some very creative murals throughout, as well as nice cafes.
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Date of experience: December 2019
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I want to detail a robbery scam that largely wrecked our otherwise great trip to Valparaiso and, because it involved the loss of a passport, resulted in the cancellation of a week's trip to Patagonia. I was familiar with this scam in one form or another years ago but this time had let my guard down and was too trusting in the goodness of locals. Here's how the scam worked: Was lost trying to find our hostel near Calle Templeman and got down a dead end in my rental car. Followed into the dead end by another car whose driver got out and offered directions. While backing out I heard a pop and was soon aware I had a badly leaking tire. (I'm certain the second person in the car was able to slip something under the wheel). As we worked our way down the switchback streets the tire went completely flat. As I was making preparations to change the spare and English-speaking "Good Samaritan" appeared on foot telling us the spot was unsafe because another demonstration was about the begin and riot police were going the close the road. I went around the corner to the "safer" location, which in hindsight was in heavy traffic, and out of the range of CCTV. The man instructed me on the mandatory use of the yellow vest and reflective triangles, which afforded him time to see inside the car, including glove box and trunk. While I was setting up the jack a car drove by, nearly hitting me and crushing the reflective triangles. Later, and too late, we realized this was the same car that followed us into the dead end previously and the two men were working together. The man instructed my companion to stand warning traffic coming up from behind of the tire changing and while her back was turned the two men lifted our daypacks from our car and took off. They were the epitome of well-dressed and apparently courteous people who relieved us of a passport, camera, medicines and even eyeglasses. Trust in people, but never let your guard down.…
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Date of experience: November 2019
2 Helpful votes
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