South America – Santiago + Coast

Four posts later and I’m finally finished with our South America trip! If I hadn’t taken thousands of photos this wouldn’t have been such a problem! Breaking it up into several different segments has made it much easier, but I don’t expect anyone to still be reading or actually care at this point, but if you do and didn’t check out our other posts – here they are:

Day 1 – Santiago & Travel to Valparaiso

After leaving the Lake region, we took an overnight bus (yikes) north and arrived in Santiago early in the morning. We rented a car and headed towards the coast to Valparaiso. Valparaiso is well-known for it’s colorful houses, colonial style, and being a city on a hill. If you want a good butt workout, this is the city to go to. The streets are SO steep that they have ‘ascensores’ that take people up, which are basically elevators that move on a slant. We only spent one day here so we opted to do a walking tour and got to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

Santiago + Coast

Valparaiso, Chile
Ascensor - Takes you up the hill because it's so steep. Valparaiso, Chile Valparaiso, Chile Valparaiso, Chile So many stairs!! Valparaiso, Chile Valparaiso, Chile
South America: Valparaiso

 Day 2 – Vina Del Mar

Although I really enjoyed Valpairaso, I liked Vina Del Mar better. Why? Because of the beach! We spent our time here laying out and let me tell you, it was glorious! Especially since we had come from the frozen tundra. We had a lazy day in Vina Del Mar and we enjoyed it as it was our last full day on the trip!

Check out their gyms in the pictures below! The views they have are much better than at our gym!Vina Del Mar Beach, ChileVina Del Mar Beach, ChileVina Del Mar Beach, ChileVina Del Mar Beach, ChileVina Del Mar Beach, ChileVina Del Mar, ChileThe view at their gym > the view at our gymVina Del Mar Beach, Chile

 Day 3 – Santiago

On our last day we headed back to Santiago and spent the day around the city before flying out later that night. Santiago, much like Buenos Aires, is another huge city, which isn’t my thing. But, we had a beautiful day with beautiful weather and enjoyed our time there. Much like Valparaiso, we also did a walking tour. Not much to take pictures of (just historical buildings) so we documented the important things instead like ice cream. 134-Colby Iphone SA (367)Santiago, ChileSantiago, Chile

Our tips:

  • We recommend the bus over the flight from Puerto Montt to Santiago. The prices are SO cheap and it runs overnight, so you aren’t missing anything in daylight. You will make lots of stops along the way, so don’t get your hopes up that it’s a straight shot!
  • In Valparaiso we stayed at Costa Azul and really enjoyed the owners. Not only were they Croatian (one of my favorite countries), but they served a delicious breakfast, spoke English, and were very helpful with giving us information.
  • In Vina Del Mar we stayed at Hostal del Aguila, which was fine, but definitely nothing too special.
  • Both Valparaiso and Santiago offer free walking tours. I’m not one to spend hours talking about the culture of the cities, but we weren’t sure how to spend our time at these places since we had less than 24 hours at both. If you don’t mind a verrrrryyy slow paced tour, then I recommend doing these. Prepare to spend 3-4 hours!
  • Try the Terremoto, Chile’s famous drink. I’m not sure how it’s famous, because we never found a restaurant/bar that could make one for us, but please try it and let us know how it was!
  • Santiago is home to over 1 million stray dogs – you have been warned!
  • If you have a rental car (which we did), I don’t recommend taking it near the pier in Valparaiso. We left ours at the hostel and took the bus down (which is an experience in itself). There is plenty of free parking at the beaches in Vina Del Mar, but no free restrooms.
12 Comments
  • Rebecca
    Posted at 05:50h, 11 February Reply

    I have LOVED reading about your entire trip!!! It has been so fun to see this part of the world! THANK YOU for sharing with us friend!!
    Blessings,
    Rebecca 🙂
    p.s. Could you be any more cute? Your pictures are so adorable!!

  • Tanya @ the sky and back
    Posted at 08:47h, 11 February Reply

    Great pics, Caroline! I love all of the bright colors in Valparaiso. And yes, can I please have a gym like that? Please?

  • Tania // Run To Radiance
    Posted at 09:18h, 11 February Reply

    What a gorgeous place! I love, love, love your travel posts! Please travel more so I can read about other places! 😛 Or better yet, take me with you!
    Those stairs, wow. Reminds me of the Montmarte in Paris- you can ride a tram up or walk. We walked…but stopped at a bar halfway up for a drink!! hehe.

  • Kelly @ Southern Komfort Blog
    Posted at 09:24h, 11 February Reply

    I have absolutely LOVED reading all about your trip and swooning over those gorgeous photos. Such a neat trip!

  • Elena
    Posted at 12:23h, 11 February Reply

    I think I said this on all your South America posts, but wow! So beautiful! Love how colorful it is there! You did an awesome job sharing your story and your experiences! Thanks so much!

  • Laura @ Making Baby Provence
    Posted at 13:45h, 11 February Reply

    Ha! I love that you couldn’t find someone to make you their famous drink. That made me laugh.

    Also, the dogs…what?! That sounds like a lot of poo to me. 🙂 I hope they are nice!!

    And last, no free restrooms?! Did you have to think long and hard about how bad you needed to go, or are we talking like they cost you pennies to use?!

    This is all fascinating to me. I have loved reading your series! Thanks for taking the time to share all of it with us.

  • Erika B.
    Posted at 14:46h, 11 February Reply

    I loved all of these posts- you inspire me to be more adventurous!!!

  • Amie
    Posted at 15:55h, 11 February Reply

    I totally admire you two for taking these types of trips. First of all I am not a fan of flying so that pretty much limits the places I want to go to 🙁 Second, it just seems like a TON of planning! It’s so wonderful ya’ll are able to make these memories together 🙂

  • Amanda
    Posted at 19:55h, 12 February Reply

    I’ve loved all these recaps! Your pictures are amazing. Love those gyms! Glad you had such beautiful weather for your trip!

  • shay
    Posted at 20:30h, 12 February Reply

    Awesome pics, looks like you had a great time!

  • Alexis
    Posted at 12:38h, 27 February Reply

    I totally remember the stray dogs in Santiago! One of them followed us for about an hour! Beautiful photos!

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