Viña del Mar, or vineyard of the sea, is the fourth largest city in Chile (about 350,000 people). It is a beach resort community about a 15 minute train ride from Valparaiso. You can see it along the coastline from Valparaiso and locals take this train regularly commuting.
We visited Viña del Mar twice. The first time we didn't have swim suits. We had to walk about 20 minutes from the train to the beach. We weren't sure of the beach, the area or if it was swimable. We soon discovered that some Chileans will go in the water no matter the conditions.
Maeve and Liam were thrilled to be on a beach again. The area has long white sandy beaches. In their summer, it is the place to be for both locals and tourists. I was glad that we were there when it was warm enough to enjoy the beach, but not that crowded. The water was freezing, but there were some little ones having a blast. They all played and swam even though some of the waves looked dangerous.
Just before Liam lost his shoe. He dropped it in the sand. We panicked thinking it got swept away in the ocean. We backtracked and eventually found it. Phew.
We remembered suits on our second trip
Viña del Mar is a nice area; defintely more upscale than Valparaiso. It also hosts one of the biggest New Year's Eve celebrations in the world. Some big stars come here to perform. We'll be gone long before that. The beaches will be packed and it would be difficult to find a place to stay. This is one of the many advantages of extensive and flexible travel. Another is being able to choose your next stop at the last minute.