Just because Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage Site doesn’t mean that it’s stuck in the past. Far from it–Valparaiso has a working harbor, amazing contemporary street art, and a thriving nightlife scene.
Sailors and local university students mingle at the bars and nightclubs found in and around the Plaza Sotomayor. Jazz, ethnic music, and opera festivals are also popular. Valparaiso’s most famous event is probably the New Year’s By the Sea festival and fireworks celebration, which attracts about one million tourists. Even without the fireworks, Valparaiso’s ocean views are amazing. Steep hills provide hundreds of stunning viewpoints for overlooking colorful rooftops, bustling container ships, and the wide blue sea.
If you visit Valparaiso, you will see street art at every turn, whether it is the official installations of the Museo a Cielo Abierto, or the more spontaneous graffiti paintings and murals that adorn walls, doors, steps…any and every paintable surface!
Here are just a few examples of the sort of hidden street art treasures you may discover in Valparaiso.
