The Central Coast

Only 120 km on a modern highway separates Santiago from the attractive central coast. Here you can find Valparaiso, the most important port of the country, and the city where the poet Pablo Neruda has one of his most beautiful houses, La Sebastiana. La Sebastiana currently houses a museum of the belongings of the artist. The city is also important for its historical value, having been declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003.

Minutes away from Valparaiso is Viña del Mar, known as the Garden City due to its carefully tended green spaces and beaches. One of the most excellent cities for tourism in Chile, it has a variety of services, including top-level hotels and safe entertainment in its night sports and restaurants. One such spot is the casino, located in a majestic building overlooking the ocean.

The southern region of the coast has several small beach towns that can be visited by way of a coastal highway. One of the most visited by cultural enthusiasts is Isla Negra, another of the famous house-museums of the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Pablo Neruda. There are also extensive beaches with apartments and resorts of superior quality such as: Algarrobo, Cachagua, Zapallar, Santo Domingo and Marbella. Marbella also has excellent golf courses facing the ocean.

Valparaíso
The Port of Valparaíso, today declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a city where time stands still. It is as if it had stopped in the glorious time period of the apogee of the port city but is being occupied by other people. Today a large portion of the buildings that you can see around the city date from the reconstruction after a large earthquake devastated the port in 1906. The most immediate of which are those located on the avenues Brasil and Errázuriz, land gained from the sea after a tidal wave the same year. Fortunately, today the city is only stirred up circumstantially as a result of some traditional festival, an official act, or the visit of a foreign squadron, an aircraft carrier, or transatlantic. The port is still used for export activity, such as embarking fruit to foreign markets

Viña del Mar
Resort city with approximately 4 kms. of beaches. Known as the "Garden City" for being surrounded by many green areas such as the Quinta Vergara (a beautiful park located almost in the middle of downtown), the Sausalito Lagoon, the Sporting Club, and the National Botanical Gardens. It possesses a complete hotel infrastructure and entertaining centers for nightlife.

Cachagua, Zapallar and Marbella, Beaches and Recreation spots to enjoy
Along the central coast we find the most well-known beach areas in Chile, which thanks to a well-cared-for environment and architectural design, attract a great number of visitors each year. On the coast you can enjoy weekends of relaxation throughout the year at the beaches of Zapallar, the exclusive Cachagua, and Marbella Resort. In addition to sports such as golf, tennis, riding, and water sports, these beaches have entertaining spots where you can try the savory seafood of this area.

Isla Negra
Located on the coast just south of Valparaíso, Isla Negra offers very particular tourist attractions, drawing each summer a large number of tourists who enjoy the sun, the ocean, and youth recreation. In addition, this area has important natural resources and cultural attributes of international importance, such as the house/museum of the winner of the Nobel Prize of Literature, Pablo Neruda, as well as nature sanctuaries.