Valparaiso

Valparaiso is situated in a superb bay 120 km north-west of Santiago. With around 300,000 inhabitants, it is Chile’s second-largest city. The lower part (the port and shopping streets), known as the “Plan”, is surrounded by 44 amphitheatre-shaped hills that give the city its distinctive topography. The majority of Porteños (Portégnes) live on these hills, known as Cerros, to which colourful houses cling. They are reached by countless staircases and 15 funicular railways.