Suggestion on what to do in La Serena (coquimbo), Chile for the day??

[Kiwi_cruiser]

We haven't been to La Serena (coquimbo), Chile before.

 

I was wondering what is their not to miss seeing in La Serena (coquimbo)?? and what would you recommend doing here for the day??

 

Also does the cruise ships dock near the town??

 

Any ideas / suggestions or tips are welcome

[mcmarya]

The cruise ship docks close to town.  There are a few tours available to Serena or to the Elqui Valley and the Cerro Tololo Observatory.  You can also easily take the bus to La Serena.  We did the La Serena tour which was just OK.  Next visit we will probably just walk around town.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Anyone else been here before??

[Crewbie]

Hi, Kiwi - We stopped in Coquimbo last December with a little less time than we would've preferred (in port from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.). Due to those hours, we decided to play it safe with a La Serena and Coquimbo independent tour - I think we actually wound up enjoying Coquimbo more, to be honest.

 

The itineraries I saw when researching La Serena usually included the Lighthouse, the town square, and La Recova marketplace. These were fine, but I can't say that they were quite as memorable or meaningful in a traveling experience - we had more a sense of place from our walk down the market street, visits to the nearby churches of different periods, and from a stop at the university vista. There's an archaeological museum nearby, but do note that it was under extensive renovation at the time of our visit. 

 

In Coquimbo, we did manage to include a trip to and up the Cross of the Third Miillenium, which was very worthwhile (tickets were purchased by our guide for us). The top floor and interior are rather small, but the second viewing deck and the overall view with the weather cleared up... that was definitely a highlight of the day. I however don't know that we would've been able to make it there and navigate it on our own - if you're booking a guide and have this as a stop, make sure that you clarify if the trip simply stops at the Cross, or if you will be going up into it (and with the requisite ticket purchase). We sadly didn't have enough time to make it to Fort Lambert. 

 

All in all, I feel like the two vista points - the Cross and the university - were well worth it; La Serena possibly worth a short jaunt but avoid the touristic route. Other groups, even with our shortened day, seem to have made the trip into the Elqui Valley as well (not a recommendation, but just a comment that that limitation seems to have not been a concern in the end). I hope this helps! We weren't quite sure what to expect on our visit there, either, but we're still glad that we got out from the ship!

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Thank You for the reply and information Crewbie :)

[ldog]

Hello Crewbie

Would you share which independent tour operator you used or did you just pick up one at the port on arrival?

 

thanks

[Crewbie]

Hi, ldog, 

 

We had arranged through Tours By Locals. It wasn't flawless: I made arrangements and confirmations several months in advance (with upkeep in communications all the while), but was informed a little under two weeks before (and while on the cruise) that the guide had regrettably been unable to clear the date from their full-time employment. Happily, our original guide did recommend another guide (from outside the TbL database; they had been classmates in the tourism specialty) as a substitute to Tours By Locals - and we did have a wonderful day with him! I'm sorry that that's the extent of my knowledge to share with you. I hope that others and other threads may provide additional feedback on other potential services. To be fair, these occurrences do happen with any company, independent or cruise; even with the stress of not knowing what was happening with the plans at the time, we still lucked out with a very nice day.