Valparaiso is a coastal city nestled in the center of Chile and known as the most fascinating place to admire street arts in the country. If you are art-conscious or just a wanderer who loves getting lost in winding streets full of beautifully painted buildings, Valparaiso undoubtedly earns a spot on your must-visit list.
Starting from Santiago and heading northwest, it took me about 1.5 hours by bus to arrive there. How ideal it was to run from the heat of Santiago to this coastal city and spend a day here to cool things down. With just such a short trip, this port city still made it well worth the effort.
Getting off in the bus station of Valparaiso, soon enough I went right away to historic quarter - the place was well known for amazing graffiti as well as street arts, and also a very good start to get to know the city.
I had done my homework and already be prepared to see the most colorful city in the world, but it still amazed me for what it had to offer. The street was full of brightly painted buildings. Each wall, each staircase is amazing artwork. It is more like murals rather than just graffiti.
Speaking of graffiti, you can find it almost anywhere in Santiago, too. There is no shortage of it. But the thing that makes people go all the way to visit Valparaiso is for its density. Especially in the Historic Quarter where you probably find yourself scrolling around the narrow streets and climb up endless staircases just to explore every nook and cranny of the place and admire all the impressive work.
This is a place that I didn’t find it hard to have good photos, because wherever you go, there is always a great spot for your fabulous photograph. So please prepare the storage space on your phone before your visit, there are a lot of amazing scenes to be captured.
For a lot of people, graffiti and that sort of thing are just rowdiness, vandalism and scrawling. Yes, it is, indeed. But whenever I see it, the unorganized is not the only thing that I see, there is also the arts and the feeling of freedom.
I’m totally fascinated by the way all the free-spirited street artists showing their names, their messages, and characters on the wall and making the city their own canvas. Valparaiso is definitely an epitome of a Latin city with unique vibes that I couldn’t find elsewhere.
The city is not so big and quite easy to explore on foot. There are still many parts of the city that I didn’t have the chance to visit, but I’m pretty sure that it would be interesting too.
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