FREE TOUR Valparaíso Offbeat 10:00 Hrs
Valparaiso is one of the most unique cities in Latin America with its colorful houses, fascinating history and stunning street art. There’s plenty of that in the touristy areas, however, have you wondered how locals really go about their day? If that’s the case, we have the right tour for you. Join us on the Offbeat Tour to take a look at the true reality of Valpo that most tourists will miss out on when visiting our city. A walk through the Heritage Site Area and oldest neighborhood in town to take in the local atmosphere, a wild bus ride up the hills to enjoy incredible views and then visit the former prison building now turned cultural center and memorial site where your local Wally guide will tell you how Pinochet’s military regime changed Valparaiso. Finish the tour in a street filled with restaurants where Wally will give you just the right choice for lunch. Throw in fun facts about the oldest bar in town, best place for empanadas, favorite stray dogs and you’re in for a full local experience. You might even learn the story about the city’s football team name being Santiago Wanderers and not Valparaiso… I mean, why would that even be a thing?
The best part? This is a pay-what-you-feel tour. The pressure is off and the culture discovery is ON...
To make sure everyone has a good experience on our tours, we aim to keep groups relatively small. In our experience, big groups traveling together have a higher than average no show rate, and can commandeer the tour and make other guests feel unwelcome. To be fair to all of our customers, we ask groups of over 8 to reserve a private tour or contact us on [email protected]
Why take THIS tour, Why THIS tour with Tours 4 Tips? After years and years of walking the city and showing almost every corner of it, we pretty much think we’re the best of the best. We’re a small tour operator, dedicated to small, personalized tours. Our team is not just a group of colleagues, but rather a family. Our guides are selected on the basis of how much love they have for Valparaiso. Once they have convinced us of that, all that’s left is a sense of humor and a love for people…
CHECK for yourself! Go read our wonderful and (literally) THOUSANDS of reviews on TripAdvisor that our travellers have written about this and all of our tours. And even if that doesn’t convince you…
Who should NOT take this tour? Get tired easily? This tour has lots of walking (2 hours, 8km, mostly downhill, which can be hard on knees). If this is not for you, check out our Highlights Walking Tour. It has about 50% less walking and more public elevator usage. If you’re looking for a standard tour led by an umbrella-carrying guide who dictates facts and dates and helps you point your camera in the right direction…then you’ve come to the wrong place. Our Walking Tours use an extensive and unique set of routes, giving you the chance to learn about Chile by experiencing it through sights, sounds and flavors.
Do you wish for an experience more unique and memorable than the other generic tours? Then jump on board and join us!
TOUR DETAILS
PRICE
Pay-What-You-Like (Prefer private?)
TIME
Departs at 10:00 Hrs and finishes at around 12:45 Hrs. (2:30 - 3:00 Hrs)
MEETING POINT
Start Location: Plaza Sotomayor Distance: 4km walking mostly downhill - We use a public transportion bus to get up the hill. Difficulty: Medium. Need to be careful on the uneven streets with your hips and knees.
WHAT TO BRING
Only yourself and comfy clothes, maybe slap on some sunscreen!
TOUR ITINERARY
BARRIO PUERTO (10:15 HRS)
BARRIO PUERTO (10:15 HRS)
Meet your red and white striped Wally guide at Plaza Sotomayor (easier to find than in the children’s books, we hope). Our adventure starts in Valparaiso’s original neighbourhood “Barrio Puerto”. Here we will explore the social realities of the city in what once was one of the richest and most powerful neighborhoods of South America. Our walk through the Port Neighborhood will include a discussion of Valparaiso’s strong social history, the ups and downs of this part of town and its economic activity, and a visit to the very popular Plaza Echaurren.
MERCADO PUERTO (10:40 HRS)
MERCADO PUERTO (10:40 HRS)
Next is a visit to one of the most iconic market buildings in our city, The Port Market. Its activity used to be very intense in what became a meeting point for many locals. For a variety of reasons, it’s lost a lot of interest but it’s currently going through a reactivation process. It’s all work in progress, y’know? Just by looking at it you’ll be able to imagine all of the groceries, music and atmosphere the place used to be filled with back in the day. Hey, if you get lucky, you’ll be able to enjoy one of the most panoramic views the city has to offer.
CATCHING THE "O" PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION BUS (11:15 HRS)
A quintenssential local experience, catching public transportation to move around town. This will be a rollercoaster ride type experience with drivers who were probably F1 pilots in a previous life. You’ll get to cover 8 working class hills of the city, rather vulnerable areas but rich in history, street art and a strong sense of community. This bus ride takes the same route made famous by Che Guevara’s arrival to Valparaiso in the film “The Motorcycle Diaries”.
VALPARAÍSO'S EX-PRISON CULTURAL PARK (12:00 HRS)
VALPARAÍSO'S EX-PRISON CULTURAL PARK (12:00 HRS)
Now about 100 meters above sea level, you’ll see why Valparaíso is a real life post card. We really hope you have either your camera or phone fully charged, as it’s time to snap a few pictures enjoying the incredible view this area provides. We’ll then take a short downhill stroll to reach the former prison cultural park of the city. From being a fort to store weaponry in a gunpowder house (still standing after more than 2 centuries!), this place then became the area for the public prison building of Valparaíso for almost 100 hundred years. Your Wally guide will tell you how it ended up closing, got abandoned but then -through the community- was recovered and became a cultural centre. More importantly, find out how Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship marked a generation, turned this prison into the most active political detention center and how it ultimately became the most important memorial site in the region.
SQUARE OF THE COLORS AND END OF THE TOUR (12:30 - 12:45 HRS)
SQUARE OF THE COLORS AND END OF THE TOUR (12:30 - 12:45 HRS)
After all this intense talk, we’ll take a nice walk through the graffiti-covered streets of the Prison Hill to reach the most colorful square of the city, decorated with beautiful mosaics. Common meeting point for the “previa” (we really encourage you ask your Wally guide the meaning of this and they’ll probably tell you some fun and slightly embarrasing story about it), but also a place of resistance during the 2019 social movement where the art on the walls still recount what happened back then. We’ll finish our experience in a street full of bars and restaurants, ideal for lunch time. Feel thirsty after all that walk? If you’re lucky, Wally will take you to the best brewery around for a nice, cold craft beer. And remember, only pay what you think the tour is worth!
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