Must-see attractions in Middle Chile

  • Top Choice
    Casa de Isla Negra

    The spectacular setting on a windswept ocean headland makes it easy to understand why Isla Negra was Pablo Neruda’s favorite house. Built by the poet when…

  • Top Choice
    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…

  • Top Choice
    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…

  • Top Choice
    Cahuil

    This little village has good ocean views and a few restaurants and cabins. Head to the bridge for a 30-minute boat tour of the Laguna de Cahuil (CH$5000…

  • Top Choice
    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…

  • Parque Nacional Radal Siete Tazas

    The upper basin of the Río Claro marks the beginning of the ecological transition between drought-tolerant Mediterranean vegetation to the north and moist…

  • Museo de Colchagua

    Exhibiting the impressive private collection of controversial entrepreneur and alleged arms dealer Carlos Cardoen, this is the largest private museum in…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Parque Nacional La Campana

    Looming large within this national park are two of the highest mountains in the coastal range, Cerro El Roble (2200m) and Cerro La Campana (1890m), which…

  • Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja

    Some 93km east of Los Angeles you'll find the 116-sq-km Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja. Within the park is the symmetrical cone of Volcán Antuco (2985m)…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Plaza Sotomayor

    Plaza Sotomayor is dominated by the palatial blue-colored Edificio Armada de Chile. In the middle of the square lies the Monumento a los Héroes de Iquique…

  • Parque Quinta Vergara

    Nowhere is Viña's nickname of the 'Garden City' better justified than at the magnificently landscaped Parque Quinta Vergara, which you enter from…

  • La Casa del Arte

    The massive, fiercely political mural La Presencia de América Latina is the highlight of the university art museum La Casa del Arte. It's by Mexican…

  • Cementerios 1 & 2

    The city's most illustrious, influential and infamous residents rest in peace in Cementerios 1 and 2, where the tombs look like ornate mini alaces. Nearby…

  • Parque Botánico Isidora Cousiño

    This stunning 14-hectare park is down the road from Mina Chiflón del Diablo, an undersea mine that's now a popular tourist attraction. Paths wind through…