Highlights: Vividly painted buildings, murals and graffiti, unusual funiculars / elevators linking the hilltop neighbourhoods with the lower business district, and the Fonck museum in Vina del Mar.

We spent three days in this jumble of a city, a World Heritage site. According to UNESCO, “Valparaíso is an exceptional testimony to the early phase of globalisation in the late 19th century, when it became the leading merchant port on the sea routes of the Pacific coast of South America”. Most people say it is because of the “ascensores”!

On two days, we wandered the city, visiting several cerros (hills) and taking all of the operating funiculars and an elevator. On our third day, we took a tour with Leo of Ruta Valparaiso who enthusiastically shared with us his passion for Valparaiso, giving us insight into the local culture and its architecture. He pointed out the front gardens in one area, a holdover from the former British residents. This is different from the Spanish who have enclosed or courtyard gardens. He showed us German architecture as well as Queen Anne villas.  He was a gregarious articulate man and his tour was excellent.  We did revisit some areas we had explored on our own but he took us down more alleys and added "colour" to our viewing. 

The adjacent resort town of Vina del Mar is more genteel with some palatial homes, including faux castles. The president of Chile has a summer home there. The highlight was the Fonck museum, an anthropology museum with wonderful early ceramics from different areas and eras of Chile, and an Easter Island exhibit. Our last stop was a visit to the poet Pablo Neruda's house, La Sebastiana, in Valparaiso. Very interesting as he was a bit of a comic as well as poet (Nobel prize) and diplomat.