Viña del Mar

Viña del Mar has a good tourist infrastructure with nice hotels and tasty gastronomy. Considered the "tourist capital of Chile", it has some of the best beaches in the country which attracts many tourists, mostly Argentines. It is known as the "garden city".

(Walking along Jorge Montt Avenue)

We stayed in Reñaca Beach (Playa Reñaca) situated 5 km from the central area, via Jorge Montt Avenue. It's the top beach of Viña. You can find a big shopping and entertainment infrastructure with many stores, bars, restaurants and nightclubs, as well as some of the best hotels in the area.

(Beach playground)

We booked a hotel in advance and chose to stay in cottages with the amenities of a house and overlooking the beach. They were so cool, that sometimes we decided to stay in our cottages to enjoy ourselves. The place has that cozy environment that Brazilians love. Wonderful ocean view, cold beer, and tasty snacks. We even had an electric barbecue grill in our balcony. Cool!

(Enjoying the hotel)

We loved our stay there. One of the most striking features of the beach are the buildings in the shape of steps. The children tried to have contact with the icy waters of the Pacific Ocean, but they were only able to get their legs wet. Even though it was summer time!

(Playing the penguins!)

A must-see attraction is its main postcard, Flower Clock (Reloj de Flores), a large garden at the city's entrance that has a large clock with flowers forming the numbers and the name of the city. The tourists visiting Viña shouldn't miss it. It is close to Playa Caleta Abarca and at the end of España Avenue. Many tourists just take the pictures driving by their cars or buses, but we decided to walk there to register the moment. It is an area with many pickpockets, even though you can see many policemen. In a short period of time we witnessed some arrests. By the way, the robbery attempt we suffered was on the bus that took there. As it is an area filled mostly by tourists, we believe that someone had followed us into the bus.

(The famous post card: Flower Clock)

Another attraction worth visiting is the Wullf Castle (Castilo Wulff) which was built by a German businessman, Gustavo Wulff, in 1906, with the architecture influenced by French and German style. The tower was added in 1920 and he lived there all his life. His wife restored the castle and then sold it to the city of Viña del Mar. It is currently used as room display for art shows. The entrance is free and it is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1:30 pm and from 3 pm to 5:30 pm. When we arrived there it was closed, so we could not visit the inside, but we learned that part of it has a glass floor, so you can have a view of the sea water hitting the rocks. We stayed next to the castle on a high rock that serves as lookout with a panoramic and beautiful view of Playa Miramar, the Pacific Ocean and the coastal Peru Avenue. The view itself is worth the visit!

(The exotic Wulff Castle)

We took a van there. We agreed the price with the driver at the airport. After some negotiation, there was a steep price reduction. Later on we found out that we had made a good deal. We stayed there for 3 days, but we would stay longer if we had time. Staying shorter than that, doesn't allow you to feel what the city has to offer the best: its atmosphere and energy.

(Work out by the sea)