Valparaiso, nicknamed "The Jewel of the Pacific,” is a major city, seaport, and naval base located about 75 miles northwest of Santiago, on the Pacific Ocean. Built on dozens of steep hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso has a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone alleyways. In 1996, the World Monuments Fund declared Valparaíso's unusual system of funicular pedestrian lifts one of the world's 100 most endangered historical treasures. Valparaiso was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, for its urban design, unique architecture and cultural legacy.

Since the year 2000 the city has experienced a sort of renaissance, with the city's hillside historic districts attracting artists, tourists, and cultural entrepreneurs. Some might say that in this city you will find the best street art in the world, and not just in the tourist areas.

Significantly, Valparaíso has transformed itself into a major educational and entertainment hub, with four large universities and several vocational colleges, as well as the home of several highly-regarded music festivals and other artistic events. The largest and most iconic, is the annual Viña del Mar International Song Festival, or simply just "Viña," held in the resort city directly across the Santiago harbor.

Valparaiso’s maze of hills has long inspired poets and writers. Possibly the most famous is Pablo Neruda, the Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature, and is still revered throughout South America. His former Valparaiso home, La Sebastiana, now a museum, sits atop the Santiago hills with a spectacular view of the harbor. Of his hilltop home, Neruda wrote, “I want to find in Valparaíso a little house to live and write quietly. It must meet certain conditions. It can’t be located too high or too low. It should be solitary but not excessively so.”