Viña del Mar: Entre playas y jardines

The city known as ‘Garden City’ was founded on December 29th, 1874, by the engineer José Francisco Vergara Echevers, and it is considered as the capital of the Chilean tourism, being also the most important resort in Chile and along the South American Pacific shoreline.

Viña is part of the Fifth Region, next to the Regional Capital, and it is located next to the regional capital city. Its access goes through route 68 from Santiago, Capital city of Chile (117 km. away). Besides, it is 213 km. away from ‘Los Libertadores’ pass, in the border with Argentina, in the middle of the Andean Cordillera, which is one of the most important access routes to the beaches and ports of the national Pacific Ocean.

Tourism of Excellence

The ‘garden city’ is ahead in relation to tourism in the South American Pacific area, being the economic and socio-cultural aspects its main activities.

Quinta Vergara park

It offers high quality tourism facilities, which includes lodgings and gastronomy, trekking, shopping centers and sports activities, such as soccer, rugby, golf, water ski, cycling, basketball and tennis, among other ones.

In relation to its night life, the city has adequate facilities to satisfy the most demanding needs of any visitor; in this way, there are cabarets, pubs, discos, piano bars, coffee rooms, and some others, where the activities may live up to early hours of dawn. An unavoidable tradition of the city for residents and tourists is watching the daybreak in the beaches of the city.

In general, the city nightlife places offer dancing, suppers, cocktails, not only for young people, but also for older people, who enjoy a wide variety of options, depending on the tastes and styles. At the same time, Viña del Mar is next to Valparaíso, which also offers some bohemian alternatives in this aspect.

In the commercial aspect, the city stands out by the diversity, quality and warmth of the services. There is a great stock of national and imported products to cater the different markets. From the picturesque to the most exclusive items.
Wulff castle

Viña del Mar, as tourism center, has well defined commercial sectors. Along the famous Valparaíso Street, and around José Francisco Vergara Square, there are stores to satisfy the different commercial, financial and service requirements; in this way, we can find different clothing stores, supermarkets, home and sports equipment, drugstores, exhibits and sale of cars, jewelry stores, toy shops, phoning services, handcraftsmanship, etc. Whereas in the financial area there are banks, financial businesses, and so on. On the other hand, there are important and huge boulevards, which offer excellent food and coffee services in general, completing this wide commercial offer.

Don’t miss...

Fine Arts Museum: This beautiful building is located in what we now know as ‘Vergara Palace’, old residence dating back the beginning of the century, built by Mrs. Blanca Vergara, daughter of Viña del Mar founder, Mr. José Francisco Vergara. The mansion is surrounded by beautiful gardens, containing exuberant vegetable species from all over the world.
Municipal Theater

Municipal Theater: This beautiful building is located in front of the Vergara Square. Built in 1925, and inaugurated on October 11, 1930, the municipal theater has, as a special characteristic, its evident classical inspiration, and its elegant architecture, being an indisputable attraction of the city. The indoor, decorated with the most exclusive materials and furniture of those times, offers an unparalleled atmosphere for each event carried out there.

Museum of Archeology and Natural History Francisco Fonck: A classical archeological and cultural palace gives lodging to this interesting museum, which exhibits particular garments and remains that formed part of the Chilean prehistory: Araucanian silverware and pre-Columbian pottery. Another section exhibits a collection of natural character, where there are samples of fossils and minerals, preserved insects and stuffed animals, where you can observe the different species and their anatomies.

Casino

Municipal Casino: It is the main center of gambling in Chile and Latin America. It is located in a majestic building, built in the early 30’s. Its incomes have been fundamental in the development, progress and promotion of the local tourism.

Cultural Center of Viña del Mar: It works in the Carrasco Palace, which was built in the fist decade of the present century by a rich saltpeter dealer, who never lived in it. In 1934, the municipality of Viña del Mar bought this building.

At present, a wide variety of cultural activities are carried out here, such as exhibit of all types, speeches, conferences, plays, concerts and some others; besides, in the same building, the library ‘Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna’, works permanently in there. This library has more than 20,000 books, including present and classical themes, which can be consulted by students and all kind of people.

Vergara Pier

Vergara Pier: A popular image is that of the old pier, reshaped today for tourism use, not only for the place where it is located, but also for its impressive crane. Inaugurated in 1938, it was first used in the loading and unloading of coal; later, it went to the disappeared sugar refinery ‘Crav’. It was in 1983 when it became a tourism center.

This building is located next to the beaches ‘Acapulco’ to the south, and ‘El Sol’ (the sun) to the north, and, besides, it has facilities such as restaurants, tea room, disco, a tourism information stand during the high season, and places for sport fishing. At the same time, along the shoreline next to the pier, there is a group of craftsmanship stands with the most varied products, techniques and styles.

Flower Clock: This is another beautiful tourism attraction, maybe one of the most photographed of the city. It was inaugurated on May 15, 1962, the same day the world soccer championship started, where Viña del Mar was one of the seats of this outstanding sport event, played in Chile, where our national team obtained the remarkable third place.

Flower clock

It is located on the foothills of ‘Cerro Castillo’, at a very short distance from ‘Caleta Abarca’ beach, and some steps away from the ‘Miramar’ railway station, where you can take the train going from Valparaíso City to Limache City, in the inland of the region. The flower clock is remarkable due to its particular natural appearance: its numbers and the name of the city are made with colorful and beautiful flowers and plants, which are a symbol of the garden city atmosphere.

No doubt that Viña del Mar is a city worth to visit and enjoy full time; the city, the people, its privileged climate. Consider it.