Last weekend, we took a two night trip to Valparaiso, which is on the coast of Chile. It is an easy bus ride from Santiago, and we arrived there ready to explore! The highlight of Valparaiso is its funiculars, antique style cable cars that run up and down its many hills. On our first day we rode on two of these, and explored the hills and the main city.

 

On our second day we took the metro through to Vina del Mar, a nearby beach resort. We learned after arriving that the metro station is actually nowhere near the beach – but not to worry, after a 45 minute stroll we finally found the beach! We had a lovely few hours strolling and relaxing on the beach, but didn’t swim as the water was really cold and the waves looked pretty dangerous. This place is generally packed in the summer, but on an April afternoon it was pretty deserted.

On Sunday we took a boat ride out on the harbour, and saw sea lions and a naval ship. It was a great way to see Valparaiso.

We then took another stroll through Valparaiso looking for a restaurant that my brother had recommended. After an hour of searching and looking on maps, we decided to try another place and enjoyed our meal of fresh fish before heading back to Santiago.