Chile: 6 Reasons NOT to visit Valparaiso

“With age, comes wisdom. With travel, comes understanding.” – Sandra Lake

There are many terrific towns, cities and countries in South America that you could choose to visit. By doing a bit of research and factoring in your personal travel taste, you are sure to find a good match. The locations that I chose for my adventures this summer, didn’t come by accident; they fit certain characteristics that I was looking for.
So far, I’ve enjoyed each of the places that I have experienced, but each for a different reason. I’ve been in Argentina for two days and have had plenty of time to relax and gather my thoughts on Chile. With that in mind, here are 6 reasons you should NOT visit Valparaiso.

Top 6 Reasons You Should NOT Visit Valparaiso

1. If you like pristine, sterile environments, you should not visit Valparaiso but it’s a major reason why I chose it. It makes me sad when I walk down streets in the US with clean, whitewashed walls of buildings when there could be epic graffiti or murals painted on to brighten up the place. I also find it boring when I encounter cookie-cutter neighborhoods or perfectly aligned city street-fronts because both of these lack character. Valpo has tons of tasteful graffiti, filled with terrific color and emotion. The higher you go in the hills, the better. The buildings here have an interesting blend of new and old, some of it even UNESCO protected.

2. If you like to buy mostly frozen, canned or processed foods from a one-stop grocery store, then Valpo is not for you. In many South American cities, you’re hard pressed to find large grocery stores in the frequency that we have in North America. Instead, you’ll find the meat shop selling the freshest cuts of meats or the central market selling the most beautiful looking and tastiest fruits and vegetables. If you’ve never had a particular fruit (because each area has a specialty), simply asking the vendor for a taste will result in a fun experience. I had my first taste of Dulce Pepino in Valpo and loved every bite. It’s in the cucumber family, but is super sweet and refreshing. After you’ve gathered your fruits and veggies, you stop for warm, freshly baked breads at the panaderia. If you’re like me, you also choose a new dessert to try each day because Chile has so many great options.

3. If you love it when every taxi driver, restaurant host, and vendor harasses you to buy something, then you’ll definitely want to skip Valpo. In this lovely city, I experienced very little unwelcomed attention (we won’t count the drunk guys kindly offering me sex). In many cities in South America, if you even glance the way of a restaurant, you have 6 menus thrust in front of you or if you walk by a taxi, the negotiations begin. There are even the vendors that follow you down the sidewalk, still trying to sell you the $0.25 bracelet that caught your eye. Not here. Not in Valpo.

4. If you like super hot or wet climates, then don’t come to Valpo, at least not in the winter (and I don’t think the summer either). While it is located south of the equator and on the Pacific coast, temperatures in the winter average about 60 degrees during the day and mid 40s at night. Most of our days were filled with sun, but some days did have a bit of cloud cover. We only had one day during the month where it was a bit misty. Many people assume that since I’m going to South America, that it’s a tropical climate. However, Chile lies pretty far from the equator and its southern most point is nearAntarctica ....so yeah, it gets pretty freaking cold.

5. If you like to live a hermit life and are antisocial, then don’t stay in a hostel and definitely pick another city; actually, pick another continent. This is one of the reasons I love South America and Valpo did not disappoint. People are so friendly and happy and easy going in this city. I built relationships wherever I went. Our housemates were incredibly enjoyable to hang with and we loved learning from each other. I looked forward to the daily chats we had with the corner store owner while we were buying beer and anything else small we needed. We also had a few occasions where locals were interested in talking with us so they could listen to our English and practice using theirs. The parks were also full each time we passed, with people spending time with friends and family; laughing, playing, telling stories. All of these experiences made me truly happy.

6. The last reason that you should not visit Valparaiso is if you are already sick and tired of gorgeous views. The first full day that I was there, we spent the afternoon on one of the hills observing the solar eclipse. Not only were we gazing one direction to keep an eye on the eclipsed sun, but if we looked the other way, we saw the stunning harbor. Since Valpo is the biggest port in Chile, it had tons of barges, boats and battleships. If you followed the boardwalk along the coast, you could observe lazy sea lions lounging, as the ocean crashed on the rocks. While on the coast, if you looked back toward the city, you had stunning views of the hills that were full of color from the brightly painted homes. Of course, palm tree filled parks with the sun shining through, were splendid to the eyes, as well.

As you can see, there are 6 solid reasons not to visit Valparaiso, Chile. However, if you’re like me, you may find yourself adding it to the top of the list to move to in the very near future.