How Much Does New Year's Eve Cost in Valparaíso, Chile

We spent 3 days over NYE 2019 in Valparaíso, Chile hoping to celebrate the holiday. Although our plans didn’t go exactly how we imagined, we loved the city and would go back anytime.

I started documenting the costs of our trips because people have often asked how much it costs to quit your job and travel the world. While that is a very long and dependent answer, I share our costs of traveling. The goals are to shine a light on how affordable it can actually be to travel.

Spending Overview:

Ok – so I open up with the total number that we spent for those you don’t want the details and the highlights. We spent $354.53 USD total. Although Valparaiso was on my radar since watching Adventures of Will’s Youtube video, we decide to go during NYE 2019 because the city holds a very big fireworks show.

Our Travel Style:

I consider us to be value-based travelers meaning that we will splurge on something if we think it is worth it. We sprinkle some budget ideas and some luxury ideas along the way. It really depends on the type of trip and experience we hope to get. Later in this post, I give some ways to modify this same trip for budget and luxury travelers.

Accommodation:

Because we had every intention of partying hard on NYE (duh!), we decided to stay in a Casa Verde Limon Hostel for the social atmosphere. I highly recommend hostels if you are looking to meet people and find a group to go clubbin’. This hostel, in particular, was located perfectly in the center of the action.

Spoiler: While we did meet cool people from around the world, we were not able to make it to any clubs because of protests throughout Chile during this time. Between the tear gas in the air, chanting in Spanish, and chaos of large groups, it was near impossible for us to make 0.1 miles to the nearest bar.

Because it was NYE and we’re married, we got a private room in the hostel for obvious reasons (wink wink). This drastically impacted our costs in this category because a private room is usually 3-4 times more expensive than getting a bed in a dorm-style room.

With all of that being said, we spent $164.23 on 3 nights in the hostel.

Restaurants (and food not at home):

I don’t like cooking in hostels because I don’t like to share the kitchen. I barely cook at home so you can imagine that I really don’t cook in hostels. So we ate out the entire weekend trip.

We filled up on the most delicious empanadas in the world at Empanadas Famosas! (I overexaggerate often but they were delicious) This kept our costs fairly low and our spirits high. In total, we spent $137.51 on food for 2 people for 3 days.

Groceries and Household items:

This section is not needed because we didn’t buy anything for such a short trip. I’d imagine if we stayed longer or in an Airbnb, there would be something in this section.

RideSharing and Local Transportation:

What I loved about Valparaiso is how walkable the city is. We walked to our hostel from the bus terminal. We walked to the hill for the fireworks and everywhere else. We didn’t spend any money on Uber or local transportation.

Activities:

We watched the fireworks show in Paseo Yugoslavo Park on top of one of the many hills for free. We didn’t do any excursions during this time except a day trip to Vina del Mar because the protests made it very difficult to even leave the hostel.

Non-Local Transportation (flights, buses, and taxi to specific places):

We took the train car to Vina del Mar for a quick beach trip on New Year’s Day. The tram cost us $0.65 per person each way. So we spent $2.40 total in non-local transportation. Once in Vina del Mar, we walked to the beach and restaurants nearby.

Miscellaneous:

We took a 2-hour bus from Santiago to Valparaiso on December 30, 2019. We spent $52.79 total on the bus fare to and from Valpairso during the weekend. I put this in miscellaneous because the origin and the time of the yea will greatly impact the cost of a trip. I don’t think this is helpful since two months later from another city would be drastically different.

Luxury Suggestions:

If hostels aren’t your jam, I understand. They weren’t mine until I studied abroad in 2012 and fell in love with the atmosphere. Hotel Boutique 17 is a gorgeous hotel right on the water. The views are one-of-a-kind. We heard nothing but wonderful things about this hotel. If we go back to Valparaiso, we would definitely be staying here.

Budget Suggestions:

We did this trip very budget-friendly. MY only recommendation to save even more would be to stay at Casa Verde Limon Hostel in a dorm room. Also, it would be less expensive to eat more. empanadas all day! I don’t think the food was exceptional anyway.

Bonus: Check out our other posts on Chile

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How Much Does New Year’s Eve Cost in Valparaíso, Chile