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Middle Chile
If you love wine, fine dining, never-ending springs, street art, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, surfing or just lazying for days on wild coasts, there's a spot in Middle Chile that was created just for you. This is Chile's most important wine-producing region, and the wineries and cozy bed and breakfasts of the sun-kissed Colchagua, Maule and Casablanca Valleys will tickle your palate and enliven your senses. For board riders, there are killer breaks up and down the coast, with surf culture exploding in towns like Pichilemu, Matanzas and Buchupureo. Hikers and skiers will love the lost lagoons and steep pistes found eastward in the Andes, while cultural explorers won't want to miss the murals and jumbled alleyways of Valparaíso and the hard-rocking musical exploits of Concepción.
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Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Middle Chile.
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La Sebastiana
Bellavista's most famous resident writer was Pablo Neruda, who made a point of watching Valparaíso's annual New Year's fireworks from his house at the top of the hill, La Sebastiana. Because entry operates on a first-come, first-served basis, it's recommended that you get here in the morning. Getting here involves a hefty uphill hike, and the climbing continues inside the house – but you're rewarded on each floor with ever-more heart-stopping views over the harbor. You can wander around La Sebastiana at will, lingering over the chaotic collection of ships' figureheads, glass, 1950s furniture and artworks by his famous friends. Alongside the house, the Fundación Neruda has built the Centro Cultural La Sebastiana, containing a small exhibition space and souvenir shop. To get here, walk 800m uphill along Héctor Calvo from Ascensor Espíritu Santo. Alternatively, take green bus O on Serrano near Plaza Sotomayor in El Plan, or from the plaza at the top of Templeman on Cerro Alegre and get off at the 6900 block of Av Alemania.
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Parque Cultural de Valparaíso
This cultural center built from the bones of a prison has a little bit of everything the thinking traveler could ask for. There are excellent murals in the old exercise yards (with practically no chance of getting shanked), rotating arts exhibits, live theater and dance, and occasional classes, courses, round tables and other intellectually stimulating events. Reach it by walking up Subida Cumming.
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Jardín Botánico Nacional
There are over 3000 plant species in the nearly 400 hectares of parkland that comprise Chile's Jardín Botánico Nacional. It's 8km southeast of the city center; take a taxi or catch bus 203 from Viña along Calle Alvarez to Puente El Olivar, then cross the bridge and walk about 500m north to the park's entrance signs.
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Museo de Colchagua
Exhibiting the impressive private collection of controversial entrepreneur and alleged arms dealer Carlos Cardoen, this is the largest private museum in Chile. The collection includes pre-Columbian anthropomorphic ceramics from all over Latin America; weapons, religious artifacts and Mapuche silver; and a whole room of huasos (cowboy) gear. For many Chileans, the headlining exhibit here is El Gran Rescate (The Big Rescue), showing objects, photos and films related to the October 2010 rescue of the 33 miners trapped 700m underground near Copiapó. Perhaps as interesting as the museum is the story of its founder, Carlos Cardoen, who allegedly sold armaments to Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime, and was instrumental in bringing tourism to the Colchagua Valley by supporting the creation of museums and other wine-centric attractions.
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Parque Nacional Archipiélago Juan Fernández
This national park covers the entire archipelago, a total of 93 sq km, though the township of San Juan Bautista and the airstrip are de-facto exclusions. In an effort to control access to the most fragile areas of the park, Conaf requires many of the longer hikes to be organized and led by local registered guides. A list of guides is posted at the kiosk near the plaza, where you should register before taking any self-guided hike. Day hikes for a group of five people cost CH$25,000 to CH$50,000. Still, a number of areas are accessible without guides. Another way to see the park is by boat. Local tour operators can arrange trips to see fur seal colonies at different points around the island. Camping is possible only in organized campsites, each with a two-night limit.
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Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay
The great range of challenging hikes at this well-organized, easily accessible national park will leave you as short of breath as the fabulous views. Its 121 sq km cover high-Andean steppes, lagoons and deciduous forest that turns a glorious gold and red in the fall. Pudú deer, Patagonian foxes and Pampas cats also live here, though sightings are uncommon. About 2km before the park entrance, Conaf runs the Centro de Información Ambiental, which has displays on local natural and cultural history (the area has seen four sequential indigenous occupations). You pay admission and register for camping and trekking at the Administración, about 500m after the entrance.
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Parque Nacional Nahuelbuta
Between Angol and the Pacific, the coast range rises to 1550m within the 68-sq-km Parque Nacional Nahuelbuta, one of the last non-Andean refuges of araucarias, or monkey-puzzle trees. In summer, other interesting plant life includes 16 varieties of orchids and two carnivorous plant species. Various species of Nothofagus (southern beech) are common here, and the Magellanic woodpeckers that typically inhabit them make for great birdwatching. Rare mammals such as pumas, Darwin’s fox and the miniature Chilean deer known as the pudú also live in the park. According to some, it’s a prime location for UFO spotting, too.
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Museo Marítimo Nacional
Cannons still stand ready outside this naval museum. Much space is devoted to Chile's victory in the 19th-century War of the Pacific. Other exhibits include historical paintings, uniforms, ships' furniture, swords, navigating instruments and medals, all neatly displayed in exhibition rooms along one side of a large courtyard. Rattling Ascensor Artillería brings you here from Plaza Aduana.
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Mercado Cardonal
As colorful as Valparaíso's trademark houses – and built almost as high – are the fruit and vegetable displays in the Mercado Cardonal, bordered by Yungay, Brasil, Uruguay and Rawson.
Featured videos
Street art in Valparaíso
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