Brighton Bar

About this place Brighton Bar

Brighton Bar sits on Cerro Alegre, the hill that has become Valparaíso's most celebrated destination for visitors seeking the city's bohemian character — the vertiginous streets, the painted staircases, the street art murals, the sea views, and the concentration of independent cafés, wine bars, and creative enterprises that have made this hill a UNESCO-listed attraction in its own right. The bar has the easy, unhurried quality of the best Cerro Alegre establishments: a place that draws a mixed crowd of artists, students, neighbourhood regulars, and visitors who have climbed the hill via one of the cerro's famous ascensores (funicular lifts) and are looking for somewhere to sit with a glass of Chilean wine and a view. The gay-friendly atmosphere is real — Cerro Alegre has long attracted a creative and queer-friendly community — though the bar does not define itself exclusively by this identity. For gay visitors to Valparaíso, Brighton Bar is the natural starting point for an evening on the hills: a place to get oriented, to understand the city's rhythm, and to begin the exploration of one of the most visually extraordinary cities in South America.