PAY-WHAT-YOU-LIKE
We focus on giving 100% satisfaction, so you decide how much the walking tour is worth!
LOCAL CULTURE
We believe that everyone who visits Chile should enjoy a bit of our culture and feel like a local for at least one day!
FULL-DAY VALUE
3 walking tours in Valparaiso and Santiago. The morning tours will take you to the undiscovered areas of these cities and the afternoon tours will bring you to their highlights, giving you insight on why they are so special to their cities and the people.
An offbeat walking tour where the only thing that will be to the beat is the sound of our feet. Together we discover Santiago’s fresh fruit, vegetables, fish (and everything in between) market. Our feet bounce off the tourist path and we will interact with true Chileans as they hustle over the capital city, tasting, smelling, bartering and bantering.
Are you a wanderer with an inkling for excitement and enthusiasm for culture? This tour will fill your inner desires. This is not your average tour! A tour where you should expect the unexpected and discover what it is like to be a Santiago local.
Charge your camera and slap on some sunscreen, friends! A personal tour for life’s culture seekers.
To make sure everyone has a good experience on our tours, we aim to keep groups relatively small. In our experience, big groups traveling together have a higher than average no show rate, and can commandeer the tour and make other guests feel unwelcome. To be fair to all of our customers, we ask groups of over 8 to reserve a private tour or contact us on info@labicicletaverde.com
Why take THIS tour, and why with Tours4Tips? This is Santiago’s number 1 pay-what-you-like tour according to Tripadvisor! What could be better than to pay what you feel is fair? We like how Tripadvisor user Hector S put it that: “the idea of a free tour it’s really nice, you give what you want, obviously the experience of touring for free it’s amazing, walking on the city without a bus / speaker makes a different kind of tour”.
Our freelance Wally’s guides are selected on the basis of how much they love Santiago and have a passion to share it with you. We keep our tours up close and personal, ensuring never to have more than 22 travelers per Wally. Matjnewton describes his freelance Wally guide as being: “perfect balance of information and humor”.
Do you wish for an experience more unique and memorable than the other generic tours? Then jump on board and join us!
TOUR DETAILS
Start Time: 10 AM
Price: Pay-What-You-Like
Prefer Private?
Duration: 3 Hours
Availability: Every single day!
Start Location: Meet in front of Museo Bellas Artes
Finish Location: At our Cementerio General
Distance: 4km walking
What To Bring: Only yourself and comfy clothes, some spare change for the subway and maybe slap on some sunscreen!
TOUR ITINERARY
[10:00am] Bellas Artes Museum
Find your bilingual freelance Wally guide waiting for you outside the front entrance of Museo Bellas Artes (in line to the street side). Wally wears a white and red striped T-shirt (in Santiago this is easier to find than the fun kids books).
We spend a few minutes in Parque Forestal getting to know each other. You’ll also learn about the Museum itself, before heading off.
[10:30am] Esmeralda Neighborhood
We will be walking through Esmeralda Neighborhood learning how the city's heart beats. Then we wonder on to “La Chimba” (the other side) of the river. By now we will most likely have one of our lovely tour dogs as a companion.
[11:15am] Tirso de Molina and La Vega
Next, we follow our senses to the markets where your mouth will begin to water and your belly flutter with excitement. We start with Tirso de Molina, where we talk about the neighborhood and Santiago's diversity. We then follow the rainbow of colors of Santiago’s famous market, La Vega. Here, you will discover fruits and vegetables that you have never even seen before. La Vega is a place that: “really only locals use and they sell amazing fresh food at cheap prices” says Tripadvisor user Ivan.
[12:00pm] General Cemetery
Nearby we'll find Patronato. This is Santiago's multicultural district, after leaning about the different cultures' influence in the area, we'll head towards our last stop.
We'll get on the metro (don't worry, if you've never been on, we'll teach you!) and will go two stations towards ''Cementerios''. At the General cemetery you'll learn stories, will get to know the structure of the cemetery and will have an introduction to what happened with the Military Coup.
[1:00pm] After the Tour - Hit the Bar or have lunch?
We finish off the tour in the afternoon and your freelance Wally will offer up his best advice and recommendations over a nice lunch. Feel free to ask any questions. Don’t forget this is a pay-what-you-feel tour, the enjoyment levels are on and the pressure level is off! A tour for tips also with tips, the best ones you can get of Santiago!
Join us for a 3 hour walking adventure around the city. We visit and chat about the architecture, side streets, and both the political and cultural destinations. We explain all the blank spaces you may have left of Santiago. You will learn why there are so many street dogs, what it means to be Chilean and why coffee is only enjoyable when served by a half naked lady! All this along with a graffiti trip, discovering Plaza De Armas and visiting the famous La Moneda Presidential Palace + more! This tour will help you understand our unconditional love for this city.
PRIVATE OR SPECIAL GROUP OVER 8 PEOPLE
To make sure everyone has a good experience on our tours, we aim to keep groups relatively small. In our experience, big groups traveling together have a higher than average no show rate, and can commandeer the tour and make other guests feel unwelcome. To be fair to all of our customers, we ask groups of over 8 to reserve a private tour or contact us on info@tours4tips.com
Why take THIS tour, why take this tour with US? Taking a walking tour with us is more thrilling than taking a bus tour with an overly rehearsed speaker. Freelance Wally’s guides are hired on the basis of how much they love this city (and their sense of humor). On average our freelance Wally’s stay with us for over a year, demonstrating their enjoyment of giving the tours and meeting you guys! We never carry over 22 travelers to 1 freelance guide ensuring you a personalized trip/experience.
In this tour knowledge meets passion all compacted into a local (dare I say funny) freelance guide. It is no wonder that we are TripAdvisors #1 walking tour in STGO. TripAdvisor user Tahnas described this tour as a: “great way to see and learn about Santiago’s political & cultural history in a relaxed and cool way”.
This pay-what-you-like tour shouldn’t be missed, choose your tour… English or Spanish?
Who should not take this tour? We wrote a post about the kind of people that should avoid our tours… Number 5 reads:” If you do not like; kids, dogs, tattoos, the color green, or gay people, you will hate what we do. We are family friendly (we were kids once too), our guides have tattoos or a funky piercing, that’s cos they’re funky people! Lastly, we positively discriminate when we hire gays, gays for days… that’s how we roll”.
TOUR DETAILS
Start Time: 3 PM
Price: Pay-What-You-Like
Prefer Private?
Duration: 3 Hours
Availability: Every single day!
Start Location: Outside Museo Bellas Artes (beside the street)
Finish Location: Barrio Lastarria
Distance: 4km walking
What To Bring: Only yourself and comfy clothes, maybe slap on some sunscreen!
TOUR ITINERARY
[3:00pm] Bellas Artes
Find your bilingual Wally’s waiting for you outside the front entrance of Museo Bellas Artes. In case you don’t know Wally wears a white and red striped T-shirt (in Santiago, this is easier to find than the fun kids books).
[3:30pm]
After introductions, we head around the corner to Bellas Artes where you will see some of Santiago’s most symbolic street art.. A few stops before we hit up Plaza De Armas where you will learn more about the street dogs and what makes Santiago tick.
[4:00pm] Plaza de Armas
We weave amongst the smell of completos and games of Chess being played as we get to know the Plaza De Armas. Remember to look up when we are in the church- the ceilings are a work of art!
[4:30pm] La Moneda
You will find many opportunities to take photos on our way to La Moneda, so make sure you’re battery is all charged up! Listen to your guide discuss the 1973 military coup with a backdrop of La Moneda Presidential Palace. TripAdvisor user Lucas S described Wally’s description of the coup. When Wally was “talking about controversial history in a respectful and balanced way I never felt like he was trying to make me feel one way or another. Instead, it felt like he was covering both sides of a very polarized issue and letting me decide how I felt for myself.”
[5:00pm] GAM
After a quick metro ride (don’t worry, if you haven’t used the metro before we’ll teach you!) we arrive at the GAM Cultural Center. This center is a local favorite hangout spot, full of life and also full of history.
[5:30pm] Lastarria
We finish up our tour in the beautiful and hip Lastarria neighborhood, with your Wally guide making sure you have plenty of good recommendations of where to grab a bite and more cool things to do the rest of your stay in Chile.
Join us for a 3 hour walking adventure around the city. We visit and chat about the architecture, side streets, and both the political and cultural destinations. We explain all the blank spaces you may have left of Santiago. You will learn why there are so many street dogs, what it means to be Chilean and why coffee is only enjoyable when served by a half naked lady! All this along with a graffiti trip, discovering Plaza De Armas and visiting the famous La Moneda Presidential Palace + more! This tour will help you understand our unconditional love for this city.
PRIVATE OR SPECIAL GROUP OVER 8 PEOPLE
To make sure everyone has a good experience on our tours, we aim to keep groups relatively small. In our experience, big groups traveling together have a higher than average no show rate, and can commandeer the tour and make other guests feel unwelcome. To be fair to all of our customers, we ask groups of over 8 to reserve a private tour or contact us on info@tours4tips.com
Why take THIS tour, why take this tour with US? Taking a walking tour with us is more thrilling than taking a bus tour with an overly rehearsed speaker. Freelance Wally’s guides are hired on the basis of how much they love this city (and their sense of humor). On average our freelance Wally’s stay with us for over a year, demonstrating their enjoyment of giving the tours and meeting you guys! We never carry over 22 travelers to 1 freelance guide ensuring you a personalized trip/experience.
In this tour knowledge meets passion all compacted into a local (dare I say funny) freelance guide. It is no wonder that we are TripAdvisors #1 walking tour in STGO. TripAdvisor user Tahnas described this tour as a: “great way to see and learn about Santiago’s political & cultural history in a relaxed and cool way”.
This pay-what-you-like tour shouldn’t be missed, choose your tour… English or Spanish?
Who should not take this tour? We wrote a post about the kind of people that should avoid our tours… Number 5 reads:” If you do not like; kids, dogs, tattoos, the color green, or gay people, you will hate what we do. We are family friendly (we were kids once too), our guides have tattoos or a funky piercing, that’s cos they’re funky people! Lastly, we positively discriminate when we hire gays, gays for days… that’s how we roll”.
TOUR DETAILS
Start Time: 3 PM
Price: Pay-What-You-Like
Prefer Private?
Duration: 3 Hours
Availability: Every single day!
Start Location: Outside Museo Bellas Artes (beside the street)
Finish Location: Barrio Lastarria
Distance: 4km walking
What To Bring: Only yourself and comfy clothes, maybe slap on some sunscreen!
TOUR ITINERARY
[3:00pm] Bellas Artes
Find your bilingual Wally’s waiting for you outside the front entrance of Museo Bellas Artes. In case you don’t know Wally wears a white and red striped T-shirt (in Santiago, this is easier to find than the fun kids books).
[3:30pm]
After introductions, we head around the corner to Bellas Artes where you will see some of Santiago’s most symbolic street art.. A few stops before we hit up Plaza De Armas where you will learn more about the street dogs and what makes Santiago tick.
[4:00pm] Plaza de Armas
We weave amongst the smell of completos and games of Chess being played as we get to know the Plaza De Armas. Remember to look up when we are in the church- the ceilings are a work of art!
[4:30pm] La Moneda
You will find many opportunities to take photos on our way to La Moneda, so make sure you’re battery is all charged up! Listen to your guide discuss the 1973 military coup with a backdrop of La Moneda Presidential Palace. TripAdvisor user Lucas S described Wally’s description of the coup. When Wally was “talking about controversial history in a respectful and balanced way I never felt like he was trying to make me feel one way or another. Instead, it felt like he was covering both sides of a very polarized issue and letting me decide how I felt for myself.”
[5:00pm] GAM
After a quick metro ride (don’t worry, if you haven’t used the metro before we’ll teach you!) we arrive at the GAM Cultural Center. This center is a local favorite hangout spot, full of life and also full of history.
[5:30pm] Lastarria
We finish up our tour in the beautiful and hip Lastarria neighborhood, with your Wally guide making sure you have plenty of good recommendations of where to grab a bite and more cool things to do the rest of your stay in Chile.
If you think Valparaiso is an extraordinary city then you ain’t seen nothing yet. This tour is about places and people that only locals can show you. Ask your Wally free lance guide what the local bread is, where the Wanders (local football team) fans favorite dive bar is, and what a Chileans dinner consists of. Only a local can answer such things.. introducing your Wally! You will learn about president Salvador Allende, the competition for the oldest bar in the port (cheers to that) and Chile’s native Mapuche indigenous people. Discover all of this while strolling through the Graffiti filled walls of Valparaiso. Together we will delve into the politics, food, graffiti, social reality and of course the brothels of the port city. This tour of world heritage sight Valparaiso, is designed to show you the city’s “other side”. This side is home to artist studios, jail houses, cemeteries and it´s street art galore!
The best part? This is a pay-what-you-feel tour. The pressure is off and the culture discovery is ON...
To make sure everyone has a good experience on our tours, we aim to keep groups relatively small. In our experience, big groups traveling together have a higher than average no show rate, and can commandeer the tour and make other guests feel unwelcome. To be fair to all of our customers, we ask groups of over 8 to reserve a private tour or contact us on info@tours4tips.com
Why take THIS tour, Why THIS tour with Tours 4 Tips? This is our newest and most perfected tour yet. After 8 years of tour creating and 4 years of experiencing Valparaiso and the locals, we are for sure the Johnny Depp of tours (can’t get better than us). We are a small tour company, specialized in small personalized tours. We have low turnover because our team is a family. Our free lance guides are selected on the basis of how much love they have for Valparaiso. Once they have convinced us of that, all that’s left is a sense of humor and a love for people…
CHECK and CHECK! Look at our Tripadvisor for our sweet reviews on our other tours. Because this tour is new, we don’t have ones for OffBeat yet. However to quote Napoleon Dynamite… if you take this tour: “all your wildest dreams will come true”.
Who should NOT take this tour? Get tired easily? This tour has lots of walking (2 hours, 8km, mostly downhill, which can be hard on knees). If this is not for you, check out our Highlights Walking Tour. It has about 50% less walking and more public elevator usage. If you’re looking for a standard tour led by an umbrella-carrying guide who dictates facts and dates and helps you point your camera in the right direction…then you’ve come to the wrong place. Our Walking Tours use an extensive and unique set of routes, giving you the chance to learn about Chile by experiencing it through sights, sounds and flavors.
Do you wish for an experience more unique and memorable than the other generic tours? Then jump on board and join us!
TOUR DETAILS
Start Time: 10 AM
Price: Pay-What-You-Like (Prefer private?)
Duration: 2.5 / 3 Hours
Availability: Every single day!
Start/Finish Location: Plaza Sotomayor
Distance: 4km walkin mostly downhill - We use public buses to get to the top of Valparaiso
Difficulty: Medium. Need to be careful on the uneven streets with your hips and knees.
Childrens: Of course!
What To Bring: Only yourself and comfy clothes, maybe slap on some sunscreen!
TOUR ITINERARY
[10:00am] Barrio Puerto
Meet your red and white striped Wally at our Plaza Sotomayor (easier to find than in the children's books we hope). Our adventure starts in Valparaiso’s original neighbourhood “Barrio Puerto”. Here we will explore the social realities of the city. Once one of the richest in the world, now it has experienced 100 years of decline.
Our walk through the port neighborhood will include a discussion of the Chilean diet, Valparaiso’s strong social history and the unique democratic layout of the city referred to as the ‘Jewel of the Pacific’.
[10:30am] Plaza Echaurren
Dive into the forgotten treasures of Valparaiso Golden Era. Plaza Echaurren has lots of soul, along with poverty. Wally will point out the best dive bar, just know that it gets a little crazy after sundown (your cue to leave).
[10:45am] Catch the O bus (pronounced OOOOOhhh bus). This rollercoaster ride will take you up and through some 14 odd hills stricken by poverty, but rich in history, street art, political organization and pride. This bus ride takes the same route made famous by Che Guevara’s arrival to Valparaiso in the film “The Motorcycle Diaries”.
[11:10am] Ex Cárcel Cultural Centre
Standing 100 metres over sea level, you will see why Valparaiso is a real life post card. We hope for your sake your camera doesn’t run out of battery here. Learn how the immigrants built this city up to the "Camino de Cintura" before we head back down into the oldest standing jail in Chile. The descent gives us views of the bay and neighboring cities of Viña del Mar, Reñaca and Concon.
[10:30am] Plaza Echaurren
Dive into the forgotten treasures of Valparaiso Golden Era. Plaza Echaurren has lots of soul, along with poverty. Wally will point out the best dive bar, just know that it gets a little crazy after sundown (your cue to leave).
[11:45am] We unravel how this cultural park was once the powder house for explosives, before becoming a 100 year old jail house. We should mention it was used to torture, and kill political prisoners during the dictatorship. Do the names Pablo Neruda, Augusto Pinochet and Salvador Allende ring a bell? This tour explains their importance in Chile and tie to Valparaiso. Up next former prison house, present cultural centre, Parque Cultural Ex-Cárcel.
[12:45am] Discover the Street Art Movement of Valpo
See Valparaiso’s wealthier hills as we walk alongside the oldest Protestant cemetery in Latin America. Discover the best graffiti of the city. We show you how local street artists make fun of the Pope, Starbucks, Pinochet’s capitalistic model and McDonald’s through their controversial art. If you are easily offended, this tour might not be for you (and this city either).
[12:15am] Our tour ends in a century old palace where we enjoy a local cocktail. You’re now ready to explore the city on your own. This is not your typical boring dates and old dead-men tour. Our free lance guides are going to show you the heart and soul of Valparaiso. A perfect way to discover Chile's Golden Jewel for you culture seekers. And remember, only pay what you think is fair!
This 3 hour walking tour from port to high hills will help you find your feet and lose your mind as you discover the Heritage Site of Valparaiso.
In Valparaiso it is easy to get lost in the maze of alleyways and street art. We lead you around not only enhancing your sense of direction but filling you with our knowledge and wisdom of locally named “Valpo”. An adventure that takes you through your senses of taste, smell, vision and laughter (ok that last one might not be a sense, but if it was it’s going to be tickled).
Today you will ride a 100 year old funicular, learn about Chileans favorite food and find out which Valpo street dog is called David Bowie. Find your local freelance Wally guide at Plaza Sotomayor at 3pm everyday rain or shine! If that wasn’t exciting enough for you to read, then get this, it is a pay-what-you-feel tour. The pressure is released, get your kicks on and enjoy discovering Chiles pride and joy!
To make sure everyone has a good experience on our tours, we aim to keep groups relatively small. In our experience, big groups traveling together have a higher than average no show rate, and can commandeer the tour and make other guests feel unwelcome. To be fair to all of our customers, we ask groups of over 8 to reserve a private tour or contact us on info@tours4tips.com
Why take THIS tour, Why THIS us? Taking a wander with your freelance Wally guide is like hanging out with your older brothers cool friend, they know all the cool places in town! Find out where to eat, drink and party along with the little quirks of Valpo only a local would know. All this along with the town’s cultural, political, architectural and religious background.
It’s impossible to discover Valpo by bus or vehicle, walking is the only way to see the hidden gems. We choose our freelance guides on the basis of how much they love Valparaiso. If they convince us of this as well as making us laugh and feeling comfortable we know they can make you as passionate as Valpo as we are. If you aren’t convinced yet you can check us out on TripAdvisor, we have maaaad references! And if you still ain’t satisfied by the end, you don’t have to pay a single peso!
Who should NOT take this tour? If you hate meeting new people or seeing controversial if not a little offensive art then you are in the wrong place completely. Now that you are in a bit of a smaller town we like to be more interactive and friendly. In our tours people get to know each other and learn each other’s stories. If you are a more traditional type that likes a bright white clean house then you may not like Valpo. All the houses here look like they have been sprinkled on by a concoction of colour and art.
TOUR DETAILS
Start Time: 3 PM
Price: Pay-What-You-Like (Prefer private?)
Duration: 2.5 / 3 Hours
Availability: Every single day!
Start/Finish Location: Plaza Sotomayor
Distance: 4km Up and Downhill at a leisurely pace
Childrens: Of course!
What To Bring: Only yourself and comfy clothes, maybe slap on some sunscreen and some loose change for the funiculars
TOUR ITINERARY
[3:00pm] The Port
Find your red and white striped freelance Wally waiting for you at 3pm at Plaza Sotomayor. Once we have all met one another we make our way to the port.
[3:15pm] Spot the port, we discuss the “Golden Era” of the mid 19th Century. Valpo played a huge role in trade, stock exchange and had Chile’s first public library. We discuss some of the most important buildings around the port before heading off to the center of town together.
[10:30am] Funiculars
By now you will be raring to discover the winding cobbled streets. No better way to get there than the local bus which is older than your grandparents! By taking this we skip past the more commercial side of town heading towards the nitty and gritty of it all. You will see the difference when you disembark of the bus. The streets are bended and the bars and restaurants are plentiful. Your freelance guide will tell you their favorite spot for notorious Valpo grub.
[3:45pm] We continue up up up! You’re knees won’t be as strong as Valpo locals who have experience in constantly walking on hills. So it’s time to take a somewhat safe but shaky ride on Valparaiso’s infamous funiculars (beginning with FUN for good reason).
[4:00pm] Cerro Alegre, Concepción
Together we will explore the wealthy hills of Cerro Alegre and Concepcion. You will discover bohemian hotels, 5 star restaurants and wild nightclubs.
Valparaiso is build on a natural amphitheatre of 45 seaside hills connected by a maze-like system of side-streets and endless stairways. Lucky you have your freelance Wally to lead the way through these streets with jaw dropping views.
[4:15pm} With the backdrop of both Catholic and Protestant churches we will discover how they came to be. Now there is mostly peace between the two churches, but your freelance Wally will tell you stories of the strange arguments in the past between the two religions.
[4:30am] Graffiti Rich Walls
Onwards we go to the poorer hills, but with lack of money comes an inflow of creativity visible on these even more boho hills. You will struggle to find a section of wall that isn’t covered in art. We will see weird and eclectic homes. You will begin to understand why Pablo Neruda wrote that if we walked all Valparaiso’s stairs, we would make a trip around the world.
[5:00pm] But not to worry we stop at one of our favorite locals house, he even has a delicious treat for us!
[5:15pm] We begin our descend through the winding alleys to go back to the flat area.
[5:30pm] After the Tour - Hit the bar or have lunch?
We end the tour in one of Valparaiso’s oldest buildings, which also happens to be our office. Good thing we end before dark, we insure to leave before sundown when the potential ghosts come out. Ask your freelance guide any questions that might be left. Wally will point you in the direction you need to go weather it be the bus station, somewhere for a good meal or your hostel. All this while we sip on Chile's famous Chichon cocktail.
Before you leave your can tip your freelance Wally whatever you feel! Just know that those who tip double don’t get a date with the beautiful freelance Wally’s… nice try!
Our tour ends in a century old palace where we enjoy a local cocktail. You’re now ready to explore the city on your own. This is not your typical boring dates and old dead-men tour. Our freelance guides are going to show you the heart and soul of Valparaiso. A perfect way to discover Chile's Golden Jewel for you culture seekers. And remember, only pay what you think is fair!