La Serena Tour

You will be met at the airport by a Chile For Less representative and transferred to your comfortable hotel in La Serena before heading out on a tour of La Serena and Coquimbo. See our selection of great value La Serena Hotels.

La Serena is Chile’s second oldest town and boasts a fascinating history reflected through its architecture.  You will start your tour strolling down some of the most elegant avenues of the lovely town of La Serena, including Avenida Francisco de Aguirre and its large and impeccably kept central garden filled with high trees and marble sculptures. Among the city’s 29 colonial churches, the 17th century stone-built Church of San Francisco especially stands out with its baroque façade overlooking a small plaza with arcades.

You will then visit the beautiful Archeological Museum with its refined collection of artifacts from the Diaguita and Molle Indian cultures. Stop in the Recova Market, one of the liveliest spots in La Serena filled with myriad vendors displaying countless local handicrafts, musical instruments, weaving, and fruits grown in the nearby Elqui Valley. Continue on further away from the center and reach the University of La Serena which boasts excellent panoramic views of the entire city, Coquimbo harbor, and the port.

Don’t miss the lighthouse, La Serena’s official symbol, while you stroll down the coastline along Avenida del Mar to the port of Coquimbo full of lovely narrow streets. Coquimbo was used in the colonial period as a port for La Serena. You will end in La Herradura bay which boasts the most beautiful beaches in the bay as well as numerous excellent restaurants and shops.

Later on, you will return to La Serena where you will have the evening free to explore La Serena on your own, try the delicious specialties of Chilean cuisine, and enjoy the city’s bustling nightlife.

After a delicious breakfast at your La Serena hotel, you will set out on a full day tour to the lush Elqui Valley, known for its exquisite orchards and green cultivated fields scattered along the banks of the river Elqui. The Elqui Valley is not only known for its beautiful scenery, but also for its natural magnetic powers, year-round sunny climate, and country-wide production of Pisco, a national traditional liquor.

The journey will take you through some of the many fascinating villages that can be found in the Elqui Valley. Among those are Algarrobito, surrounded by ancient olives, Altovalsol, and El Molle with pre-Hispanic remains from the Molle culture. You will cross luxuriant fields and cultivated valleys filled with custard apple trees, papaw trees, Lucuma and olives before reaching Vicuna, the main town in the Elqui Valley. Vicuna is a small 19th century city, and the birthplace of Chilean poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Gabriela Mistral. You can visit the museum erected in her honor in the city.

Your will continue on your tour of the exciting Elqui Valley with a visit to one of the Pisco distilleries scattered throughout the area, and learn all about the methods and elaboration process of this liquor. On the way back, stop in Montegrande, a small village surrounded by green valleys crowned by large mountains, and home to the tomb of Gabriela Mistral.

You will return to your comfortable hotel in La Serena and have the evening free to discover the city on your own or simply relax and take advantage of the amenities of your hotel.

After breakfast at your hotel, you will be transferred to the Airport for your journey home or on to the next destination of your Chile vacation. Browse our range of Chile tours and explore additional options for your vacations plans.

• 2 hotel nights in La Serena in hotels based on US standards
• Guided visits with English-speaking tour guides
• All transfers and entrance fees
• All breakfasts