The clock
Seasonal flowers.
CARLOS TEIXIDOR CADENAS — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Carlos Figueroa — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pequeño mar — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Leitoxx — CC BY-SA 3.0
Viña del Mar's emblem, a giant clock drawn in flowers on a grassy slope at the foot of Cerro Castillo, its numbers and frame made of colourful flowerbeds that change with the seasons, with two huge hands turning over the green carpet. The city bought its mechanism from a factory in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1962, as part of a beautification drive when it became one of that year's football World Cup host cities. The old mechanism was later replaced with a modern one after vandalism. The clock is one of the city's most photographed spots, with visitors posing on the pavement in front, beneath the city's name spelled out in shrubs above it. It sits by Caleta Abarca beach, minutes from Wulff Castle and the seafront promenade. The visit is short, so combine it with a stroll along the seafront and beaches, or with a trip to neighbouring Valparaíso on the Merval coastal train.
Seasonal flowers.
A nearby beach.
To Wulff Castle.
Foot of Cerro Castillo, opposite Caleta Abarca beach, Viña del Mar
By the Merval coastal train or a bus in about fifteen minutes, then a short walk to the foot of Cerro Castillo.
