This Underrated Seaside South American City Is So Much Like Barcelona With Fewer Crowds

When you see a picture of Valparaiso's hills covered in bright-colored houses it's hard not to do a double-take — wait a minute, is that a photo or a painting? The blocks of vivid, intense color have such an artful composition that it's hard to believe this view exists in reality and wasn't dreamed up by the mind of a painter. It's a cityscape that simply feels too beautiful and otherworldly to be true. You can avoid Barcelona's crowds with a trip to Valencia, but why not go one better and head for this South American destination dupe instead? After all, Valparaiso, or "Valpo," has been called the Barcelona of South America for its architectural beauty and bohemian vibes.

Throughout the Gold Rush era, Valparaiso was a thriving port town commonly called "little San Francisco" for the way its colorful Victorian buildings march straight up and down its steep hills (the city has 45 hills, each a neighborhood of its own). The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 gutted the port business and sent the town into decline. Its revival in recent years has seen Valpo emerge as a vibrant UNESCO World Heritage Site and the culture capital of Chile, home to artists, poets, and musicians, with a little of its port town grit intact.

While Barcelona is famed for its fantastical architecture by Antonio Gaudi, Valparaiso is all about color. The famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda first brought Mexican muralists to Valparaiso in the 1940s, and the art form caught on locally. During the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, street artists worked in protest, even though their work was often painted over by authorities, and if caught they were arrested. So, the art you see has a great deal of emotional depth and cultural significance for today's free and democratic Valparaisians. 

Check out Valpo Street Art Tours, whose tongue-in-cheek motto is "Promoting Vandalism, Chaos, puppy love, and Art Since 2011." That "vandalism" being street art, which far from being illegal or illicit, is often sponsored and paid for by public funds. The tallest murals in Valparaiso are by notable local duo Un Kolor Distinto, four 160-foot murals on the sides of four high rise buildings, each representing a season. Street artists slather every urban surface with color, taking advantage of the fact that, commissioned works aside, the city welcomes spontaneous graffitti, too. Just how art-crazy is this city? They hired Un Kolor Distinto to decorate 36 of its garbage trucks. That's a level of commitment to civic art that you've just got to behold. But if you've seen the stunning landscapes of the surrounding countryside of Patagonia, like the hidden gem paradise of Villarrica National Park, you'll get why Chileans have such an eye for beauty.

Just as the boulevards of Buenos Aires can evoke Paris, Valparaiso's colorful streets remind us of Bohemian Barcelona, with its lively art scene and street performers. A city this creative begs for a creative stay: The whimsical Hotel Winebox is built entirely out of colorful shipping containers, stacked every which way, with a rooftop bar and a killer view. After checking in, wander the streets of the nearby Cerro Alegre, or Happy Hill, a neighborhood brimming with colorful murals and flower plantings. Take one of the city's regular funicular trolleys (pictured) to the top, then peruse its shops and restaurants and tip the puppeteers and musicians performing on the streets. "Spectacular views, twisty streets, enchanting houses," writes one Tripadvisor visitor. Stop into Cafe Vinilo, named for the vinyl jazz records spinning on the turntable, for a pisco sour and stay for one of the best Chilean dinners in town, from a traditional clay oven.

After dinner, head to Bar Cinzano, a Chilean tango bar with live music where little has changed in 125 years. You can mingle with the elderly locals who dominate the crowd, zestily singing and dancing the night away on sweet strawberry sangria. Or, for an ultra-modern experience among Valpo's younger set, head to the Poet District and the Verso Hotel bar for creative craft cocktails like the Smelly Cat, with grilled peach juice, tequila, white vermouth and lemon. No wonder National Geographic called Valparaiso "wildly creative."