We have arrived in the heart of Chile. Welcome. What to do in La Serena?

Using it as a base of operations to visit Elqui Valley, we are going to have a lot of fun.

LA SERENA

When you've been traveling for three months and have covered thousands of kilometers by bus, you're grateful to find a city like La Serena: clean, quiet, and with charming people.

It is not a particularly monumental or lively city, nor is it cheap, but it is beautiful, cosmopolitan, and centrally located enough to spend a couple of days here as a base for exploring Region IV of Chile.

It offers all kinds of relaxation options (especially in the off-season, starting March 15):

– Walking around La Serena is a delight, as around every corner you can find pleasant spots like this one, opposite the Church of Santo Domingo.

– One of its most illustrious residents (Gabriel González Videla, president of Chile in the 1950s) fought to beautify the city by bringing in numerous statues, thanks to donations from private individuals and imports from Rome.

The result can be seen in the Museo al Aire Libre de la Avda Aguirre, where there are about 30, although the ones in the photo are in front of the Church of Santo Domingo. Incidentally, legend has it that when faced with a flood, the residents carried the Virgin of the Rosary in procession and the waters miraculously receded before her advance, so this church was built to commemorate the event.

– If you like parks, you shouldn't miss this one. el Parque del CorazónA Japanese park in the middle of South America, and the truth is that although it is small, it does look very similar to the Zen gardens we can see in Kyoto.

– During high season, the star attraction in La Serena is the long stretch of sand that forms su playaFrom the lighthouse downwards, there are several areas (El Faro beach, Los Fuertes, Mansa, etc.), and in some you are allowed to swim and in others you are not. The water is cold and the current is dangerous, so it is best not to take any chances.

To get there, there are buses that stop on Calle Infante or Avenida Aguirre for 400 CH$, but it's too far to walk. If you arrive in the low season, the best beach is Cuatro Esquinas, where you'll still find a few solitary beach bars open...

– For the little ones in the Parque Pedro de Valdivia There is a free mini zoo. The stars are the condors, who, bored, spend their time eating and fighting among themselves.

And for older folks, there's always a stroll around the Plaza de Armas and enjoy its neoclassical buildings

For dining, I recommend going to Mercado de la RecovaNot only will you have a good time, but it's also one of the cheapest places in the city, since prices in the center are prohibitive. Plus, there's a typical flea market next door.

Para cenar hay que madrugar y no es ninguna broma ya que a fecha de mi estancia allí (finales de marzo) casi todo cerraba sobre las 21:00…. ¡ aunque la mismisima selección de Chile estuviera jugando !

ONE-DAY EXCURSION: HUMBOLDT PENGUIN NATIONAL RESERVE

Good news: anyone who wants to see penguins doesn't have to travel to the end of the world (i.e., southern Chile); bad news: the penguins in this reserve can only be seen in winter, so at other times of the year there may be a few stragglers, but little else.

The poor guy had that typical look on his face you get when your friends have gone out partying and left you all alone 😥 ; the visit is still worth it because, in the absence of penguins, other animals take advantage of their fifteen minutes of fame in front of the tourists.

Well, this sea lion didn't really care much about us tourists, but the dolphins had a great time with us.

Don't book a tour to come here.

The tours will try to charge you around 33,000-40,000 CH$ with the excuse that they are doing “paperwork” for you... You can get there on your own by taking a minibus at the corner of Avda Aguirre and Matta (CH$9,000 round trip) and once you get there, buy a ticket to the park (CH$2,000) and find a boat to take you there by talking to a fisherman (CH$10,000).

For more information: http://www.conaf.cl/parques/reserva-nacional-pinguino-de-humboldt/

VALLE DEL ELQUI

The first thing to consider when thinking about what to do in La Serena is... drinking pisco!

Hidden in the mountains, thousands of grapevines wait patiently for their moment to become pisco, the national drink of Chile (with apologies to Peru): a kind of fruit-flavored, fairly strong brandy...

The reason that brings us to this valley near the border with Argentina is to visit the pisqueras, the wineries where pisco is harvested and distilled.

Los Nichos 

The oldest pisco distillery in Chile is located about 3-4 km from a town that, unsurprisingly, is called Pisco Elqui...

The locals will insist that you rent a bicycle to get there (“it's 6 km away,” “it's very hot”), but you can get there on foot or by hitchhiking.

In operation since 1891, this is a typical manor house like those found in any Spanish village. Tours are available at 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. for CH$1,000.

We went inside and had our first surprise: a group of women were busy corking and labeling bottles... by hand! The corks, seals, labels... everything is handmade. And they produce 5,000 bottles a year this way...

The jewel of the house is its wine cellar.

When the founder of the estate, Rigoberto Rodríguez, inaugurated it, he had the cellar set up but had almost no wine, so it looked more like a cemetery than a wine cellar... That's why they called it Los Nichos, because of the empty spaces in the wall waiting to be filled with bottles and not bones...

The whole place exudes a certain sinister sense of humor related to the locals' desire to spend eternity enjoying themselves inside... including the aforementioned president of Chile, Videla.

Aba

The next winery, AbaIt is the second oldest (founded in 1920) but with the same philosophy: only traditional distillation methods and almost the same stills as in the past...

The tour is free but very short; you can get there from Vicuña by bike or hitchhiking.

After so much tasting, it's time to see the stars. Literally. This area is home to several of South America's best observatories (Mamalluca, Pangue, Cerro Tololo), and tours are available.

The one in Mamalluca is the cheapest (CH$7,000 + CH$3,000 for transportation) but the most crowded... The one in Pangue costs twice as much but is limited to groups of only 10 people.
It is essential to check what the weather will be like at night before booking the tour, because if the sky is cloudy, they cancel it without telling you 😢

I hope I have answered your question: more or less, this is what to do in La Serena.

If you want to read more about Chile: https://999millas.net/category/paises/chile/

If you liked (or didn't like) this post, or if you have more information, let me know in the comments!

Texto y fotos : Mike !