There are lots of things to see and do in middle Chile.
Take a tour of historic ValparaÃso, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit Mercado Central for some seafood and ride one of the almost vertical ascensores (funicular elevators) up to the heights of the city.
Join the locals on the beach at Viña del Mar to ring in the New Year watching a spectacular fireworks display.
Take a day trip to Sewell, the city of stairs. Sewell was founded in 1905 as a mining city, but was abandoned in the 1970s because of pollution. It’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Go skiing or snowboarding in one of the ski centers and conquer the Andes mountains.
Go camping in Reserva Nacional Rio Los Cipreses, close to Rancagua.
Enjoy a day out with a real Chilean cowboy at the Puro Caballo ranch about one hour from Santiago.
By Noleen Turner I'm originally from Northern Ireland but have lived in Santiago de Chile for over two years. I work in marketing communications and as a writer and...
Those hippies in old surfing movies were telling the truth. Surfing can be more than a sport - it can be a spiritual experience that changes your entire outlook on life. And there is no better place
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If you want to go diving, take a windsurfing class, kayak around the bay, or try your hand at sailing, this is definitely the place to go. Situated at LAT 33º 02’ 08’’ LON 071º 36’ 26’
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Vacationers from around South America and the world flock to Viña beaches during summer months (late December to late March). Put on a bathing suit and soak up rays on one of the many Viña beaches,
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If you want to go diving, take a windsurfing class, kayak around the bay, or try your hand at sailing, this is definitely the place to go. Situated at LAT 33º 02’ 08’’ LON 071º 36’ 26’
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Those hippies in old surfing movies were telling the truth. Surfing can be more than a sport - it can be a spiritual experience that changes your entire outlook on life. And there is no better place
...
Located in a time-worn building at the heart of ValparaÃso's Old Town is the city market. Here you'll find a smattering of produce; vendors sell basic fruits and vegetables alongside some more
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One of Nobel prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda’s favorite pastimes was to come into the city while away at his home in Isla Negra to pick through the antiques at the weekend markets scattered around
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On Wednesdays and Saturdays, a huge outdoor farmer's market of fruits and vegetables opens early in the morning to sell all kinds of local produce dirt-cheap. Here you can get a kilo of kiwi for CLP
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Talca boasts one of the best markets in middle Chile. On the Mercado Central located on 1 Sur between 5 Oriente and 4 Oriente, locals hawk a wide assorment of knick-knacks, handicrafts, fruit,
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The open-air market offers all the fresh produce one could desire. Most of the action is within the streets of Isabel Riquelme, Arturo Prat, Maipón and 5 de Abril, though it does overflow into
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Lovers of right angles beware: when you enter ValparaÃso, you’re entering a labyrinth that defies all structural reason. Streets twist whimsically as though with a mind of their own, leading the
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Viña del Mar, or Viña, as the locals call it, is located on the central coast of Chile. Covering an area of 2.359/km² (6.1/sq mi) and home to a population of just under 290,000, it is the fourth
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AugustÃn Ross Edwards envisioned a European-style resort town when he pictured Pichilemu in the second half of the 19th century. However, the modern version is overrun with surfers seeking the
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A grimy seaside town publicizing its poetic underbelly, San Antonio is Chile’s largest and most important port. Located to the south of more popular tourist destinations like Isla Negra, San
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Cartagena, advertised as the “Capital del adulto mayor†(senior citizen capital) was once a beach resort for the moneyed elite, but now shows evidence both of its glorious past and of its
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Concepción, founded in 1551, is the second-largest city in Chile behind Santiago. It is also one of the country’s most important due to its universities, commercial activities such as the local
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Quintay is a tiny, mostly residential beach town hidden among wooded seaside hills and relatively untouched beaches about 40 minutes south of Valparaiso. Since this tiny dot on the map is only
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This Chilean town was founded in 1791 as Santa Rosa de Los Andes by Ambrosio O’Higgins, the father of famous Chilean liberator Bernardo O’Higgins. The city serves as a crossroads for Route 57
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At 636m above sea level in central Chile, San Felipe is situated on the Aconcagua River. It was founded in 1740 as San Felipe El Real. The town is ideally located in the heart of the agricultural
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World-class skiing is synonymous with Portillo, so it is no surprise the U.S., Italian and Austrian Olympic teams flock to this beautiful and exclusive spot next to the alpine lake Laguna del Inca
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Los Angeles is an unspectacular agricultural town without any true must-see places to make it worth a traveler's while to go out of their way to visit. The Plaza de Armas is typically nice, but not
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