Arica
See the 32 excavated Chinchorro mummies in situ at this tiny museum below El Morro. They were discovered when an architect bought this former private home…
Must-see attractions in Norte Grande
Norte Grande
Watching the sun set from the exquisite Valley of the Moon is an unforgettable experience. From atop a giant sand dune, you can drink in spectacular views…
Norte Grande
In the world of high-powered telescopes, where rival institutes jostle to claim the 'biggest,' 'most powerful' or 'most technologically advanced'…
San Pedro de Atacama Region
Around 3.5km west of San Pedro, this striking valley should figure high on any itinerary to the region, with jagged rocks, a towering sand dune and…
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Norte Grande
The influence and wealth of the nitrate boom whisper through the deserted ghost town of Humberstone. Established in 1872 as La Palma, this mining town…
Norte Grande
El Tatio is ringed by volcanoes and fed by over 80 gurgling geysers and a hundred gassy fumaroles. Contrary to popular opinion it is not the world's…
Norte Grande
San Pedro has its own mini version of the Dead Sea, a mere 22km south of the village. This topaz-colored lake allows you to float effortlessly because of…
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Norte Grande
Chuqui was, until recently, the world's largest single supplier of copper (a title just snatched by Mina Escondida, 170km southeast of Antofagasta),…
Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos
Norte Grande
The big draw of San Pedro is this magnificent reserve that covers some 74,000 hectares. It's divided into seven geographically distinct sectors south,…
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Museo Arqueológico San Miguel de Azapa
Norte Grande
This museum, 12km east of Arica, is home to some of the world's oldest-known mummies. There are superb local archaeological and cultural-heritage displays…
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Norte Grande
What at first glance looks like the ruins from some ancient indigenous settlement in fact dates only from the turn of the 20th century. Created by…
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Norte Grande
While not in Antofagasta proper, but rather 22km north of the city, this enormous offshore arch – the centerpiece of a 31-hectare protected zone – is the…
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Arica
This imposing coffee-colored shoulder of rock looms 110m over the city. It makes a great place to get your bearings, with vulture-eye views of the city,…
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Norte Grande
It's the biggest archaeological representation of a human in the world – a gargantuan 86m high – and yet little is really known about the 'Giant of the…
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Norte Grande
The jagged crust of the Salar de Atacama looks for all the world like God went crazy with a stippling brush. But in the midst of these rough lifeless…
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Monumento Natural Salar de Surire
Norte Grande
Visiting nearby Monumento Natural Salar de Surire is a surefire way to see huge herds of roaming vicuña, pockets of cuddly viscacha, as well the…
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Arica
One part of the old rail line that linked Arica with La Paz, Bolivia, has been restored, allowing you to ride a tourist train that runs once a week…
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Norte Grande
Pisagua's most sobering site is its old cemetery 3km north of town, spread over a lonely hillside that slips suddenly into the ocean. Here, vultures guard…
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San Pedro de Atacama Region
Dominating a curvaceous promontory over the Río San Pedro, this crumbling 12th-century pukará (fort) was one of the last bastions against Pedro de…
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Iquique
The city's 19th-century swagger is hard to miss on Iquique's central square. Pride of place goes to the 1877 Torre Reloj clock tower, seemingly baked and…
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San Pedro de Atacama Region
These idyllic volcanic hot springs puddle together in a box canyon, about 30km northeast of San Pedro en route to El Tatio. Their temperature is about 33…
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Iquique
This replica of sunken Esmeralda, a plucky little Chilean corvette that challenged ironclad Peruvian warships in the War of the Pacific, is Iquique's new…
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San Pedro de Atacama Region
Circular adobe structures huddle together like muddy bubble-wrap in the ruins of Tulor, the oldest excavated village in the region. It’s an interesting…
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Norte Grande
A short distance inland from the intersection of the Panamericana and Chile 11, you'll see the pre-Columbian Lluta geoglyphs, also known as the Gigantes…
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Arica
About 10km south of the center, the serene beaches give way to an area of jagged cliffs, rocky shorelines and caves that were used by the Chinchorro…
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Iquique
Hour-long boat tours around the harbor leave from Iquique's 1901 passenger pier, just west of the Edificio de la Aduana. The tour floats past the Boya…
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Arica
This Gothic-style church has a threefold claim to fame. First, it was designed by celebrated Parisian engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, before his…
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Norte Grande
The skeletal remains of Oficina Santa Laura, 2km west of Humberstone, are a half-hour walk southwest of its abandoned neighbor. Less visited and more in…
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Norte Grande
British flavor prevails in the 19th-century Barrio Histórico, between the plaza and the old port, where handsome Victorian and Georgian buildings still…
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Norte Grande
More than 20,000 wild vicuña are thought to roam the sparsely inhabited 2100 sq km of the off-the-beaten-path Reserva Nacional Las Vicuñas, directly south…
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San Pedro de Atacama Region
The European Southern Observatory is home to an array of powerful telescopes, with many important discoveries emerging from astronomical research…
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San Pedro de Atacama
The recently restored Iglesia San Pedro is a delightful little colonial church built with indigenous or artisanal materials: chunky adobe walls and roof,…
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Norte Grande
Just off the Panamericana, about 45km south of Pozo Almonte, the brown hillsides of the Atacama have been transformed into a magnificent canvas of…
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Norte Grande
Teetering on the brink of a spectacular chasm 1.5km beyond the posada (inn) is this 12th-century fortress built to protect pre-Columbian farmlands below…
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Norte Grande
Located roughly 70km south of Antofagasta, this soaring granite hand stretches up from beneath the desert earth, like some ancient vestige of a long…
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Iquique
Take in the artifacts salvaged from the sunken Esmeralda at this small museum inside the haughty colonial-style customs house, built in 1871 when Iquique…
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Arica
Eiffel designed this former customs house. Prefabricated in Paris, it was assembled on-site in 1874, with walls made of blocks and bricks stacked between…
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Norte Grande
The British community left a visible imprint on Antofagasta's beautiful 19th-century Plaza Colón, which sports rushing fountains amid its palms, mimosas…
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Norte Grande
This handsome building with wooden balustrades, built in 1910 as the coast guard, sits at the entrance to the newly restored Muelle Salitrero (Nitrate…
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Norte Grande
The former Aduana (customs house) now houses this two-floor museum, which has well-presented displays on natural history, and prehistoric and cultural…
