Valparaiso-Santiago

About Valparaiso-Santiago

Valparaíso is Chile's historic port city, a UNESCO site built on 42 hills wired together by century-old funiculars (ascensores). Ships dock at the cruise terminal on the edge of downtown, with the hill neighborhoods of Cerro Concepción and Cerro Alegre a short funicular ride away. Street art, boutique hotels, and sweeping Pacific views make it one of South America's most photogenic calls. SCL airport is 90 minutes inland.

• Valparaíso's historic quarter was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, famous for its labyrinth of steep hillside barrios (cerros), colourful Victorian architecture, and a network of funicular elevators called ascensores.
• In the second half of the 19th century, Valparaíso was so important to global shipping that international sailors called it 'Little San Francisco' and 'Jewel of the Pacific' — it housed Latin America's oldest stock exchange, the continent's first volunteer fire department, and Chile's first public library.
• The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 devastated Valparaíso's economy overnight by eliminating the need for ships to pass through the Strait of Magellan, ending its golden era as a key transoceanic waypoint.
• Valparaíso has been the seat of Chile's National Congress since 1990 and the headquarters of the Chilean Navy since 1817, giving it an outsized political and military significance relative to its size.
• The city is located about 120 km from Santiago, Chile's capital of 7+ million people, making it the main cruise port for one of South America's most vibrant capital cities.