Valparaiso: NIghtlife

Valparaíso is famous for its nightlife, especially its bohemian pubs and bars where poets, writers, tango aficionados, sailors, university students, and just about everyone else spend hours drinking, dancing, and socializing well into the early morning hours. In fact, most restaurants and bars do not adhere to a set closing hour, but instead close "when the candles burn down."

 

Most places serve snacks, especially bars and pubs that operate as restaurants by day. Cinzano, facing Plaza Aníbal Pinto on Calle Esmerelda (tel. 32/213043), hosts dinner dances and spotlights tango music and singers in a wonderful, early 20th century ambience. La Columbina (tel. 32/236254) is frequented by the 30-and-up crowd for its comfortable ambience, live jazz and bolero music, and view of the glittering lights of Valparaíso that spread out below; take a cab or the funicular Ascensor Peral and walk down Paseo Yugoslavo.

A few hip spots run along Errázuriz and include Barlovento, Errázuriz 1156 (tel. 32/595723), one of the few modern bars in town, designed with halogen lights and metallic tables; La Piedra Feliz, Errázuriz 1054 (tel. 32/256788), has wooden floors and a tranquil atmosphere--until they fire up live music in the evening from Tuesday to Sunday; and the more traditional Roland Bar, Errázuriz 1152 (tel. 32/235123).

Ecuador Street is packed with discos and bars, and although its rank as the in spot has waned, it's still a popular area, especially among the 20- to 40-year-old crowd. Try Bar Azul, Ecuador 167 (no phone), which has candlelit tables, jazz on weekends, and, as the name states, a blue interior; there's also Bar Emile Dubois, Ecuador 144 (tel. 32/213486), an offbeat bar/disco whose name is an homage to the first person to die under capital punishment in Chile, and where drinks come with names like strangulation.

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