Located 462 km north of Santiago, Coquimbo offers visitors a wide range of tourist services and alternatives to occupy their free time. In a single destination it is possible to live a unique experience in which you can mix history, nature, culture, gastronomy and adventure.
Those who visit Coquimbo must walk through the streets of the Barrio Inglés (English Quarter), an old restored and completely renovated area that stands out for its 19th century architecture and where cultural activity is concentrated with a wide range of gastronomic establishments, pubs and cafes.
Mandatory walks through the city include the Cross of the Third Millennium, which with its 93 meters high surpasses even the famous Christ the Redeemer of Brazil, offering a 360-degree panorama of the cities of Coquimbo and La Serena, the fishing port, the historic and heritage district of Guayacán, the Palace of the Cultural Center, the Fort of Coquimbo and the Mohammed VI Islamic Cultural Center, a scale replica of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech (Morocco), built in stone masonry, gray, white, pink marble and a minaret.
Sailing enthusiasts can take fun walks along the coast to observe birds and marine life. To the south, the coast of Coquimbo spreads its vast beaches and bays of fine sand.
The resorts of Peñuelas, La Herradura, Las Tacas, Morrillos, Las Mostazas, Guanaqueros, Playa Blanca and Tongoy are among the most important and invite you to enjoy the sun, white sand and temperate and crystal clear waters, with first-class services. Coquimbo is an ideal city to stroll around at any time of the year and take a few days to get to know its culture and history, discover its geography in which its myths and legends are found.
Tongoy
A seaside resort located south of Coquimbo that stands on a small peninsula nestled in the vast bay that forms the mountain range called Lengua de Vaca. Tongoy has attractive hotel facilities, chalets and restaurants.
Visiting the house of the writer Víctor Domingo Silva, the Mirador Cerro La Virgen, the wetlands and the Hacienda el Tangue are some of the must-see sites on this peninsula.
The Playa Grande de Tongoy, about 14 km long, is ideal for swimming and sport fishing on the shore. This is where the restaurants of Tongoy are concentrated, where you can taste oysters, especially those that are the flagship product!
Elqui Valley
Let yourself be surprised by the Elqui Valley! This destination has the highest concentration of astronomical tourism offer in Chile, the result of one of the cleanest skies in the world. Six decades of scientific astronomy and 20 years of astronomical tourism meet the need for new and exciting tourist experiences, with observatories and adventure tourism, which integrate sky observation into their services.
The Elqui Valley is one of the favorite destinations in Chile, due to its extraordinary climate, clear skies, low humidity and pleasant temperatures. The imposing hills form a narrow landscape, in a symphony of colors where vineyards, crops, endemic vegetation and agricultural land spring up and where the national drink, Chilean pisco, was born.
VICUÑA
Vicuña is a picturesque town where the main services of the Elqui Valley are concentrated (accommodation, food, supermarket and crafts). It is the birthplace of the famous Gabriela Mistral, who became one of the most important figures of universal literature, when she received the Nobel Prize in 1945. In the museum that bears her name, you can admire her exceptional life and work.
Going from the coast of La Serena towards Vicuña, we find the hamlet of El Molle, where the first remains of the pre-Hispanic culture of the same name were discovered. There are restaurants and accommodation services, in addition to traditional shops that sell the famous Chilean sweets.
Places of interest in Vicuña are its Plaza de Armas, dedicated to Gabriela Mistral; the Cerro La Virgen viewpoint, from where there is a panoramic view of the city; the Elquina village, a cultural center and a place for artisans with raw materials from the Elqui Valley and finally the Artisans Village in the center of Vicuña.
In Vicuña we also find the Capel Tourist Center, where the famous Pisco is produced, which in its many varieties has made the Valley famous. It offers a tour of the factory to discover the entire preparation process, with tastings, a sales room and a Pisco Museum that traces the history of this ancient activity.
Just 15 minutes from Vicuña is the Puclaro reservoir, of great scenic beauty, located next to the characteristic hills of the Elqui Valley. With its 200 million cubic meters of capacity, it offers enormous possibilities for kitesurfing.
Paihuano
Located in the eastern part of the Elqui Valley and crossed by a river that winds at the foot of imposing hills, Paihuano is the birthplace of Pisco, and is a must for lovers of nature, spiritual research and meditation. There is the House Museum (School and tomb of Nobel Prize winner Gabriela Mistral) in the town of Monte Grande, and also the valleys of Cochiguaz and Alcohuaz, with special characteristics for the practice of ecotourism, beautiful pre-Andean landscapes and nights suitable for observing the sky.
Paihuano is Pisco and you can see it in its distilleries. In the Montegrande sector there is a factory of the Agricultural Cooperative of Pisco de Elqui Ltda (CAPEL); in Pisco Elqui there is the Pisco Mistral factory, belonging to the Pisco de Chile company. Then, on the way to the city of Horcón, you will find one of the last distilleries in the region, the Los Nichos distillery. In each of them you can discover the art and tradition of making the Chilean national drink.
When going to Paihuano, you have to visit Pisco Elqui. A meeting place for tourists and artisans, located at 1,247 meters above sea level, it is a pleasant and picturesque hamlet that invites you to relax and contemplate beautiful landscapes. Pisco Elqui has a wide range of hotel services, cabins, hostels and tourist experiences.
Going up the Elqui Valley, at 1400 meters above sea level, we find Horcón, a pretty village with its 30 artisans who have workshops and sales rooms. The site also has a restaurant, an exhibition hall, an amphitheater, a picnic area and access to the river. Horcón lives from traditional agriculture on small plots and simple houses built with raw materials from the Valley.
Limari Province
Located in the heart of the Coquimbo region and characterized by a prosperous agricultural industry, the Province of Limarí has become, at certain times, the granary of Chile, a condition that shapes its geographical landscapes, its people, its activities and its cultures.
That is why in the valleys of the Province, beats a green and traditional heart, with hundreds of small peasant villages that invite you to know their soul, sharing with you rural traditions, landscapes and religious festivals. Among other attractions there is the Fray Jorge National Park with a surprising hydrophilic forest in the middle of the semi-desert area.
Added to all this is a rich variety of agricultural and artisanal products, the largest number of hectares planted with grapes for the production of pisco in the entire country and a growing development of new vineyards that have found in these lands the ideal territory for noble grape varieties.
Ovalle
Known as the “Pearl of Limarí”, one of the main attractions of Ovalle, the provincial capital, is the Fray Jorge National Park, of international importance when it was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1977. It is home to a magnificent hydrophilic forest, a true natural miracle of 30 thousand years, with flora and fauna typical of the temperate rainforest of southern Chile, in the middle of a semi-desert climate. In addition, the park was certified in 2013 as the fourth Starlight Reserve in the world, due to the quality of its night sky.
Another great point of interest is the Valle del Encanto, an ancient indigenous settlement with important archaeological remains such as petroglyphs, pictograms and other vestiges of the Molle culture. It was discovered in 1946 and declared a Historical Monument in 1973. Its name comes from legends that tell that the place is enchanted, because it allows you to go back in time and participate in the offerings that the Molles gave to their gods.
The Feria Modelo is worth visiting in Ovalle. Inaugurated in 1968 and built where the State Railway Corporation once stood, it is a cultural, gastronomic and economic icon of Ovalle. It is the largest agricultural fair in northern Chile, the meeting point for farmers from more than 200 hamlets in the Coquimbo region.
