Cerro Alegre (Happy Hill) is the most polished and visited of Valparaíso's forty-two hills. Its steep streets are lined with brightly painted houses in blues, yellows, and greens, much of it covered in street murals that have made this one of the most photographed neighbourhoods in South America. The hill was settled by British and German merchants in the 19th century, giving it a slightly European character in its architecture — Victorian bay windows, wrought-iron balconies, steeply pitched roofs — underneath the paint.
Today Cerro Alegre has the city's best concentration of cafés, restaurants, and small boutique hotels. Calle Atkinson and Paseo Dimalow are the most photogenic streets. Paseo Gervasoni at the top of the Ascensor Concepción gives views across the bay to Viña del Mar. The hill gets crowded on weekends; come on a weekday morning for a more atmospheric experience.