Doing it yourself at LA SERENA (COQUIMBO), CHILE

[4774Papa]

We have been to this port once and did a walking tour of Coquimbo. We have another port stop here and not to excited about any of the tours that are offered. We are considering getting a taxi at the port and going to the downtown area of La Serena and exploring on our own.

 

Please, any suggestions what to see in the city, TripAdvisor has some museums and churches, etc.

 

Also, will the taxi work, we don't want to get stuck in La Serena and have the ship leave us behind.

[cruising cockroach]

You can take the bus for cheap (have to walk into town to find the stop - we did it to find a bank ATM). A couple of hours in town is a long time.

[dw64]

We had a free shuttle last yr on Princess. A grocery store. No much in the town .

 

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[4774Papa]

We had a free shuttle last yr on Princess. A grocery store. No much in the town .

 

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Did your shuttle go to La Serena?

[dw64]

Did your shuttle go to La Serena?

Yes. Downtown . Not much downtown.

 

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[joybook]

We just took a taxi into La Serena then walked around on our own then taxied back to the ship. The taxi was reasonably cheap and there were no problems at all.

[DJ Cruisers]

We'll be arriving at Coquimbo next year on Princess. The shore excursions show a shuttle to La Serena where you will be on your own for 3 hours as costing $69.95 per person. The description says it is a 30 minute bus ride. Way overpriced as far as I'm concerned. A taxi would probably be a better deal.

[Sasksilver]

We'll be arriving at Coquimbo next year on Princess. The shore excursions show a shuttle to La Serena where you will be on your own for 3 hours as costing $69.95 per person. The description says it is a 30 minute bus ride. Way overpriced as far as I'm concerned. A taxi would probably be a better deal.

 

I am there next March.with Princess and was disappointed to see the cost of the DIY tour. I picked up a Lonely Planet guide to South America, and according to their info there are 29 churches in La Serena, a few museums, and a few restaurants. However, there are a number of nearby beaches. I haven't decided what I'll do but for certain I won't be visiting La Serena on the DIY...as you note, the price is ridiculously high.

[4774Papa]

We plan to do the taxi thing and do the city ourselves.  If we don't do that, we will likely stay on the ship.  Not sure why our cruise goes there instead of Arica.

[vickie_bernie]

the few times we have been here, we have done a variety of things.

 

It is easy to take a taxi right from the pier to downtown La Serena for a nominal fee. Make sure to confirm price before you get in taxi.  Easy to find taxi to go back too.

 

One time we just walked around Coquimbo and had a meal.

 

One time we took an excellent tour to the Elqui Valley and wine tour - independent.

 

 

[EricJ]

I was there yesterday on Star Princess. No shuttle offered.  We took a taxi to La Serena for $25 per car, about a half hour ride.   We probably could have paid less if we walked further from the port.   It was very early and most taxi drivers at the pier were trying to sell tours.

 

La Serena was crawling with taxis.  I decided to try Uber, though,  which was fast and pleasant and about $8 to get back to the ship.   Both taxi and Uber car were clean with friendly drivers (though neither spoke any English).

 

Note that a big attraction in La Serena is the archeology museum,  which is essentially closed for renovation.  

[grmmybtty]

Thanks EricJ for the information on Uber. We have used Uber all over the world and found that it is an excellent alternative to taxis. Glad to know they are in Coquimbo. I had been looking at  DIY trip to La Serena when we visit next year.

[Move]

On 12/6/2018 at 9:07 AM, vickie_bernie said:

the few times we have been here, we have done a variety of things.

 

It is easy to take a taxi right from the pier to downtown La Serena for a nominal fee. Make sure to confirm price before you get in taxi.  Easy to find taxi to go back too.

 

One time we just walked around Coquimbo and had a meal.

 

One time we took an excellent tour to the Elqui Valley and wine tour - independent.

 

 

Hi there. Can you advise the tour company you used for the Elqui Valley tour? We arrive Mon and one company doesn’t operate that day and the other company has been booked out by a fellow passenger (many buses).  

[vickie_bernie]

On 12/31/2018 at 4:08 PM, Move said:

Hi there. Can you advise the tour company you used for the Elqui Valley tour? We arrive Mon and one company doesn’t operate that day and the other company has been booked out by a fellow passenger (many buses).  

Click on my blog in my signature a click on label for coquimbo at bottom of page 

[Move]

6 hours ago, vickie_bernie said:

Click on my blog in my signature a click on label for coquimbo at bottom of page 

thx