Local Expert
EdwardS
Born and raised in Texas. Howdy! Growing up with the flavors of the Tex-Mex culture has greatly inspired me to travel through Latin America. So far I have traveled to Costa Rica,…
Born and raised in Texas. Howdy! Growing up with the flavors of the Tex-Mex culture has greatly inspired me to travel through Latin America. So far I have traveled to Costa Rica, Mexico, and now Chile. It is through my travels that I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing worse than traveling to a foreign city and ending up in a restaurant where everyone else is carrying the same guidebook as you. In fact, many of the best places in Santiago are barely mentioned in guidebooks. I will give you the insight to the cleanest and safest city in America del Sur. Happy trails.
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Valparaíso
When you need to get out of Santiago for a day than there is no better place to visit than Valparaíso. Only a short 45 minute trip by bus, Valparaíso sits on Chile's Pacific coastline. However, the city looks like no other city on the planet. Some have compared it to San Francisco, but for those who have visited both San Fransisco and Valparaíso the differences are many and in the end there will be no mistaking the uniqueness of this city. Like San Fransisco, the homes of Valparaíso are built right up the sides of hills, and looking at the homes from the bay it looks as if the homes are built right on top of each other. Despite the chaotic look of the homes there is order and reason present in the Valparaíso. While Valparaíso is not as flashy and tourist minded as Vina del Mar, Valparaíso offers up the look and feel of old Chile and is a great city to walk around in and get lost. Part of Valparaíso's rich history is linked with the Chilean Navy. In fact, the Naval Academy is located in Valparaíso as well as the Naval Museum. Walking through the old cobble stoned streets of Valparaíso one can only imagine that not much has changed since the early days of this city. However, there has been a recent push to clean up Valparaíso to attract more tourist, but part of Valparaíso's charm is it dirty sea faring facade. But the best part of Valparaíso is that when you are done walking around admiring the architecture you can hope back on a bus and be back in Santiago in time for dinner.