Vina del Mar

A flowerbed cut as a clock face on a slope actually keeps time. The flowers are replanted by season, so the colours change.

A stone figure brought from Easter Island stands in the museum forecourt. Few of them can be seen away from that island, and this is one.

A mansion built on a rock has its seaward part linked by a bridge. Part of the floor is glass, so the waves show breaking underneath.

An old garden planted with trees brought from abroad holds an open air stage. A large music festival runs on that stage in February.

A long strand runs below buildings stacked up the cliff behind it. The surf is strong, so people learning to surf gather along this stretch.

Coastal dunes have pushed right up to the edge of the built area. A wooden stair crosses them and drops to the beach.

Built in the French manner in 1907, its rooms were never altered. The ballroom floor is laid in patterned wood.

A timber pier reaches into the sea and can be walked to the end. Anglers hang their lines over the rail and wait.

Native plants and cactus are set out by zone inside a valley. The climate belts running the length of the country are gathered in one place.

Put up in 1930, the front is symmetrical and the steps run wide. Lit at night, the building shows reflected in the water from the beach side.

A broad seafront walkway running north from near Castillo Wulff. Benches line the sea railing and craft sellers lay out their wares after dark. It faces west over the Pacific, so it is busiest at sunset.

A big rocky headland beside the coast road from Renaca to Concon. A short dirt path leads up, and from the summit the shoreline stretches away on both sides. Waves smash hard against the base, so keep well clear of the edges.

A lake tucked between hills among the eastern hills of the city, ringed by trees and a footpath. The home ground of Everton, the city's football club, is right next door. On crowded summer weekends locals come here for shade instead of the beach.

A small beach along the road north to Renaca. Rocks enclose the cove, so the water is calm and families with children favour it. The Humboldt Current keeps the water chilly in midsummer, and many only wade in.

Right below the flower clock hill, the first beach you reach coming in from Valparaiso. The sand is short and cupped by the shore, so it gets less wind. It lies across the coast road and is a short stroll from bus and metro stops.