Valparaíso, a World Heritage City

Valparaíso is one of the oldest cities in Chile, and it was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2003. Greater Valparaíso is the third-largest metropolitan area in Chile. Its historic quarter with multiple urban elements that shows the cultural and architectural wealth of the city. Valparaíso is a coloured city, with a natural amphitheatre-like setting with impressive open views, characterized by a natural urban fabric adapted to the hillsides.

Neighbouring Valparaíso is the tourist capital of Chile, Viña del Mar, which is only 15 minutes from the conference venue, and thus, it is also an excellent alternative to look for hotels.

For more information about Chile, visit the official webpage.

For more information about Valparaíso, visit the official webpage (In Spanish).

Travelling to Chile and Valparaíso

The main entry point to Chile is the International Airport of Santiago de Chile (SCL). There are many direct flights available from all main cities in Latin America and also from overseas. A detailed list of origin, price, and connection time are provided at the end of this proposal. Examples of direct flights to Chile are:

• Direct flights from North America: Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, Toronto, Mexico City.
• Direct flights from Europe: Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, London.
• Direct flights from Oceania: Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Papeete.
• Direct flights from Asia: Doha, Tel Aviv.
• Direct flights from Latin America: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Medellin, Lima, Panama.

Getting to Valparaíso

Valparaiso is 110 km from the International Airport of Santiago (SCL). The travel may be done by taxi, transfer shuttle, or bus. Direct buses from the airport to Valparaiso run twice a day at 9:50 and 14:30.

Check current prices and itinerary at the following webpage.

Airport SCL → Valparaíso (using the shuttle bus): 1:30 h

Alternatively, buses from the airport to the Pajaritos interconnection station are available each 10 min, from there buses to Valparaíso depart every 15 minutes, several companies provide this service. The transport time, by bus, for these two sections is as follows

Airport SCL → Pajaritos bus station: 15 min
Pajaritos bus station → Valparaíso: 1:15 h

VISA

To enter Chile, you have to present your identification documents, like your ID card or passport. Moreover, depending on your country of origin, a stamped VISA.

Citizens from South America, the European Union, the USA, Canada and Australia do not need tourist VISAs. However, some countries must pay a tax in cash (reciprocity tax) upon arriving at the airport in Chile.

Also, remember that if you're bringing animal or vegetable products, upon entering you must declare them to the Agriculture and Livestock Service (Servicio Agricola y Ganadero – SAG); in this way, you’ll be contributing to protecting the varied flora and fauna of the country.

For those how need a VISA, please keep in mind that the VISA process takes about 20 working days, and applications that are not presented with at least that time in advance are rejected. You should start the process 90 days in advance. Here is a list Chilean embassies and consulates worldwide https://chile.gob.cl/en/consulados/.

To apply for a Tourist VISA to enter Chile, you must:

• Open an account on the following website: https://tramites.minrel.gov.cl/Solicitudes/visa.aspx.
• Once you have opened an account, you must complete the VISA Application provided online (Register request / Type of application / VISA)
• Then, you must scan and upload all the necessary documents (Please specify document file names, e.g., "BankStatement.pdf"). Below is a list of documents which are required:
• Itinerary and flight reservation
• A Hotel Reservation (covering the entire length of stay), or, a Letter of Invitation (must be authenticated by a Notary Public in Chile)
• A Bank Statement (from the previous three months to the date of application)
• A Valid Passport, with at least six months remaining validity (scan of the pages with VISAs)
• One passport-size photograph (scanned)

Accommodation

The convenient location of the conference venue between Valparaíso and Viña del Mar combined with the strong tourism industry in the region permit a large offer of hotels at different prices. Below we provide an example of hotels, with distance to the venue and reference price. A comprehensive list can be found here.

Weather in September in Valparaíso, Chile

The weather in Valparaíso is classified as a Warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb), similar to northern Portugal, southern Australia, coastal California, among others. During September it presents, on average, a temperature between 8 to 16 [°C] (48 to 55 [°F]). During those days the city is, commonly, partially cloudy (40% of sunny daylight hours) with very low probabilities of presenting any precipitation at all (and if so, showers are short, soft, and highly isolated events). Also, as usual for coastal cities, Valparaíso has strong winds with an average of 16 [kmh] (10 [mph]).

See current weather conditions here. Statistics for the average weather in September here.

Power & Connectors

Chile uses the power plug & outlet type L, and power plug & outlet type C connectors and 220V, 50Hz mains power, so you might need a travel adapter.

Power Plug Type L

CC BY-SA 3.0 by Marco Gilardetti 2009

Europlug – Power Plug Type C

Public Domain by SomnusDe 2010