Hostal Vista Hermosa 26

People

by Aquamantos

There's people from all over the world here. Omar (omar_samra), Camilo (camilo74) and me were walking along Renaca coast when we saw a guy that seem to be Egyptian for Omar.......he was selling papyrus :o) so a few minutes later when we were coming back in our on the beach, we saw him again and Omar talked to him, he was from Morocco, but came to Chile a time ago and settled down here. He sells papyrus on the streets and it seems to be a good business for him. He has a Chilean wife and a daughter now.

Go to Valparaiso

by kiwigal_1

Valparaiso is actually another city but it is very very close to Viña around the bay to the south. Valparaiso is a lot older than Viña and is a port city. It is a "must see" for any trip to the coast of Chile.

You should go up the Peral Asensor (cable car) just past the Plaza Sotomayor up Cerro Alegre and take a walk through to Cerro Concepcion where you could eat lunch overlooking the bay at the Turri. Go down the Concepcion Asensor. Walk to Cerro Artilleria and go up that Asensor also and appreciate the great view of the port and harbour from here. There is a naval museum up here too and lots of old buildings to look at.

The "costanera"

by IIGUANA

The coast street (costanera) from Renaca to Con Con is quite a beautiful way to see the ocean, and maybe the sunset. It starts from Renaca and it ends up in Con Con, where the Aconcagua river finds the sea. It's a 12 km street with nice views of the Pacific Ocean. There are a few landmarks that are worth seeing. I'll name them in order, from Renaca to Concon:

1. Sea wolves: Pasing Cochoa beach, you'll find lots of rocks where you can see the sea lions resting and playing on top of them. They are a very loud and quite large kind of seal.

2. The Roca Oceanica: It's quite a huge rock, where you can climb on top and see the Pacific Ocean in front of you.

3. The lighthouse: quite a small lighthouse, but I like it. It makes nice pictures.

4. The rock house: it's actually a house made from a rock and with the rock around it. It's current owners live there, but it's quite amazing. Stop over and take a peek.

Vina del Mar : Garden City

by filipdebont

After a few days in Santiago, it was time to travel up North, towards Vina del Mar.

It was a short ride, only 1h and half by luxury Coach.

Vina del Mar is also called the Garden City (Cuidad Jardin) for its colourful subtropical boulevards and beautiful parks. However as we visited Vina del Mar in winter time it was not very colourful it rather looked grey, also because of the rainy sky of course.

Main reason to stay here for us was because it was good as stop over and to visit Valparaiso the next day.

As we arrived late afternoon, there was only time for a visit at the Museum Fonck and a short walk along the sea shore.

Vina del Mar is also very famous for its annual Music Contest. Each year in February thousands come for this festival, so then this is not the best period to come here, as all hotels are fully booked.

A GREAT CITY

by Aquamantos

Viña del Mar is an important touristic spot in Chile.
In February of each year the "Festival de Viña del Mar" attracts many people from all over the world, as it's the most important musical Festival from the whole South America.
In this city you can see lot of old and beautiful mansions and interesting architecture.
The beaches are another interesting spot, during summer this city can be very crowded, people from everywhere come here for vacations. Many Argentinians used to come over here to spend their holidays, but after their Economical Crisis this decreased considerably.
The building in the middle is the Arabian Club.