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Valparaiso Tours › Valparaiso Funiculars: 5 Ascensores Worth Riding and Which Run in 2026Updated 2026-09-11

Valparaiso Funiculars: 5 Ascensores Worth Riding and Which Run in 2026

Hours, prices and access verified by the Valparaiso Tours team — last checked 2026-09-11

A yellow and turquoise corner building on a Valparaiso side street, red and white bunting strung across it and a café awning beside it

The short answer. Seven Valparaiso funiculars are in service in 2026: El Peral, Reina Victoria, Concepción, Espíritu Santo, Barón, San Agustín and Cordillera, although Cordillera was stopped for a repair in August. Artillería and Polanco are closed. Most run from 7am to 10pm, you pay a small cash fare at the station, and the two you are most likely to ride are El Peral and Reina Victoria.

Which Valparaiso funiculars are running in 2026?

Valparaiso funiculars: where each one runs, its hours and whether it is in service at the end of September 2026
FunicularBottom to topBuiltTrack and gradientHoursIn service?
El PeralPlaza de la Justicia to Paseo Yugoslavo190255 m at 48°7am–10pmYes
Reina VictoriaCalle Elías to Paseo Dimalow190240 m at 52°7am–10pmYes
ConcepciónCalle Prat to Paseo Gervasoni188369 m at 43°7am–9:30pmYes
Espíritu SantoCalle Aldunate to Calle Rudolph191166 m at 44.4°7am–10pmYes
BarónAvenida España to Avenida Diego Portales190698 m at 49°7am–10pmYes
San AgustínCalle Serrano to Calle Canal191351 m at 43.5°7am–10pmYes
CordilleraCalle Serrano to Plazuela Eleuterio Ramírez189460 m at 31.6°7am–9:30pmYes, but stopped for a repair in August 2026
ArtilleríaCalle Antonio Varas to Paseo 21 de Mayo1892175 m at 27.6°—No, closed since 2021
PolancoCalle Simpson to its tower1913–15Vertical, inside a shaft—No, closed since September 2024

The list moves: the municipality stopped Cordillera in mid-August 2026 over a fault in its cable chain and gave no reopening date, so look before you walk to it. What you find at the top of each hill is in Valparaiso cerro by cerro.

The five funiculars worth riding

1. Ascensor El Peral

You board on Plaza de la Justicia, beside Plaza Sotomayor, and step out on Paseo Yugoslavo by Palacio Baburizza, on Cerro Alegre. Built in 1902, it lifts you 39 m on 55 m of track at 48 degrees in about 45 seconds. It is the lift the post-cruise tour rides, and the one the three-hour walk brings you down on.

2. Ascensor Reina Victoria

From Calle Elías you rise to Paseo Dimalow, on the seam between Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepción. It was built in 1902 and named for the British queen who died the year before. The track is only 40 m long but tilts at 52 degrees, the second steepest in the city, and you are up in about 40 seconds. The three-hour Valparaiso walking tour takes you up on it.

Ride both with the tickets in the fare

The three-hour walk goes up Reina Victoria and comes down El Peral, with two funicular tickets and a trolleybus ticket included, from $40.

See the three-hour walkSee Valparaiso tours

3. Ascensor Concepción

This is the first one, opened on 1 December 1883. You go from Calle Prat up to Paseo Gervasoni: 69 m of track at 43 degrees, 47 m of rise, about a minute. It began on steam with wooden cabins and runs on electricity with metal cars today. It closes at 9:30pm, half an hour before most of the others.

4. Ascensor Espíritu Santo

Calle Aldunate to Calle Rudolph on Cerro Bellavista, built in 1911. You gain 46 m on 66 m of track at 44.4 degrees, and the top exit leads you to the Museo a Cielo Abierto, the open-air mural route. La Sebastiana stands on the same hill, so this is your lift if Neruda's house is on your list.

5. Ascensor Barón

At the eastern end of the bay you ride from Avenida España up to Avenida Diego Portales. Built in 1906, it was the first in the city to run on an electric motor, and the German original still drives it. The 98 m track at 49 degrees is the third steepest, and the ride lasts about 35 seconds. Allow 25 to 30 minutes by bus from the port side to reach it.

The other two in service: San Agustín and Cordillera

Both climb Cerro Cordillera from Calle Serrano, and both serve a neighbourhood more than a viewpoint. San Agustín, built in 1913 and restored in 2012, runs 51 m at 43.5 degrees to Calle Canal, and it is the only lift from which you cannot see the sea. Cordillera first opened in 1886, burned, and was rebuilt in 1894. It runs 60 m at 31.6 degrees from Calle Serrano 502 to Plazuela Eleuterio Ramírez, and a public stairway beside the rails is your way up while the repair lasts.

Which funiculars are closed?

Ascensor Artillería, built in 1892, is the long one: 175 m of track, 80 m of rise and a two-minute ride up to Paseo 21 de Mayo. It has been closed since 2021, its restoration tender was put on hold in September 2026, and no reopening date exists. You still reach the paseo by taxi or on foot, and the three-hour walk includes that viewpoint.

Ascensor Polanco is the vertical one, a lift inside a shaft that you enter through a 150 m tunnel from Calle Simpson, built between 1913 and 1915. It has been out of service since September 2024, and a restoration tender was approved in April 2026.

Useful tip. Older itineraries still send you up Artillería from Plaza Aduana. Plan that stop by taxi instead.

How do you ride one? Hours, cash and closed days

  • Hours: 7am to 10pm on El Peral, Reina Victoria, Espíritu Santo, San Agustín and Barón; 7am to 9:30pm on Concepción and Cordillera.
  • Weekends and holidays: the first cars are listed from 8am, so ride after 8.
  • Paying: cash, in pesos, at the station. Many lifts take no card. Foreign visitors pay a higher fare than residents, and it is still small change.
  • Closed days: every lift was shut on Friday 18 September 2026 for Fiestas Patrias, as the year before, and ran again on the 19th. Expect the same each 18 September.
  • The ride: 35 to 60 seconds. Follow the attendant's instructions.

What else you pay for in the city is set out on visiting Valparaiso.

Did you know? UNESCO's statement for the Historic Quarter names the funicular elevators as part of what is listed, and El Peral and Concepción are among the lifts declared historic monuments on 1 September 1998. There are more facts about Valparaiso where that came from.

Which tours include the funicular tickets?

TourLengthFareStarts fromThe funicular
Guided walk of the UNESCO quarter3 hoursFrom $40Plaza SotomayorTwo funicular tickets and a trolleybus ticket; Reina Victoria up, El Peral down
Panoramic city tour3.5 hoursFrom $40Plaza SotomayorElevator and trolley ticket
Small-group day from Santiago10 hoursFrom $60Santiago hotelsTicket for a historic funicular ride; rides El Peral
Santiago day, hotel or Airbnb pickup10 hoursFrom $72SantiagoA 19th century cable car ticket
Santiago day, five pickup points10 hoursFrom $56SantiagoA 19th century cable car fee
Post-cruise day to Santiago8 hoursFrom $89The cruise terminalRides El Peral; the ticket is not itemised

Compare Valparaiso tours

Coming from the capital, the ten-hour day from Santiago rides El Peral. The Santiago day tours set out the rest, and you can put every fare side by side with Valparaiso guided tours.

Riding alone is easy once you carry coins and know which lifts run, and seeing Valparaiso without a tour weighs that choice. For where the rides fall in a full day, read one day in Valparaiso, hour by hour.

Valparaiso funiculars: questions people ask

How many funiculars are running in Valparaiso?
Seven are in service in 2026: El Peral, Reina Victoria, Concepción, Espíritu Santo, Barón, San Agustín and Cordillera. Cordillera was stopped for a repair in August 2026, so look before you walk to it. Artillería and Polanco are closed.
How much does a funicular ride cost in Valparaiso?
A small fare, paid in cash in pesos at the station, and many lifts take no card. The municipality charges foreign visitors more than residents. Several guided walks put the tickets inside the fare, which saves you the coins.
What time do the Valparaiso funiculars run?
From 7am to 10pm on El Peral, Reina Victoria, Espíritu Santo, San Agustín and Barón, and from 7am to 9:30pm on Concepción and Cordillera. At weekends and on holidays the first cars are listed from 8am.
Which is the oldest funicular in Valparaiso?
Ascensor Concepción, opened on 1 December 1883, from Calle Prat up to Paseo Gervasoni. It began on steam with wooden cabins and runs on electricity today.
Is Ascensor Artillería open?
No. It has been closed since 2021 and its restoration tender was put on hold in September 2026, so there is no reopening date. You reach Paseo 21 de Mayo by taxi or on foot, or on the three-hour walk, which includes the viewpoint.
Are the funiculars part of the UNESCO World Heritage site?
Yes. UNESCO's statement for the Historic Quarter, inscribed in 2003, names the funicular elevators and the trolleybuses as part of what is listed.

Two rides, no coins. The three below each put a funicular inside the fare: on foot, by the lifts, or on a day out of Santiago. Every other day is compared on Valparaiso Tours.

Tours with a funicular ride in the fare