La Serena Travel Guide

Introduction

474km (295 miles) N of Santiago

Founded in 1544 on a bluff just south of the Elqui River's entry into the Pacific, La Serena is Chile's second oldest city (the oldest is Santiago, established in 1541). Now home to some 150,000 inhabitants, it alone among the country's larger cities still sports more than just a few memories of Spanish architectural heritage; low-slung colonial houses, beautifully restored churches, and kaleidoscopic crafts markets are all on offer. La Serena is by far the most harmonious city in the entire country; and, with the bucolic and mystical delights of the Elqui Valley less than an hour's drive away and nature preserves both to the south and to the north, La Serena is a worthy destination in its own right.

Chile was one of Spain's poorest, remotest colonies, limiting what could be spent on architecture, and much of what at first glance appears old in La Serena in fact was built rather recently. The town's architecture fails to match the beauty of...