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Beautiful La Serena
The oldest church of all in La Serena is the Iglesia San Francisco. It was built in 1600s and is located on Balmaceda 640, which is about two blocks southeast of the plaza. In 1755 the Iglesia San Agustin was built by the Jesuits. This is located on the corner of Cienfuegos and Cantournet about three blocks east from the plaza. As for see museums there is the Museo Historico Casa Gabriel Gonzales Videla which is located in Matta 495. This museum displays the life of one of the Chilean Presidents that was from La Serena. Gonzales was president from 1946-1952 and drove Pablo Neruda into exile. The admission price is about $1US. The other museum is the Museo Arqueologico which displays Atacameña mummies, a moai from Easter Island and various utensils that the Diaguitas culture would use. This is located on the corner of Cordovez and Cienfuegos and the admission is about $1US. The admission of one museum is valid for the other, so keep the stub and hop on over to the other to take a peak. For a nice walk and to get a bit of feel of nature you may want to go to the Japanese Garden, located at the southern part the Pedro de Valdivia Park. The admission is around $1.50 US. The best beaches for surfing and windsurfing are Playa El Faro and Playa Totolillo located south of Coquimbo. Just watch out for swimmers 200m from the shore if you don’t want to get in trouble with the Gobernación Maritima. For more beaches to surf in Chile click here. For those who like biking or walking, there is a bike path on the sea coast that runs all the way to Coquimbo.
As for tours that you may want to take while in La Serena there are several places to see that are fascinating. There are night time tours to the observatories to see the stars at the near observatories such as Mamalluca, Collowara or Cerro Tololo. There are full day trips to the Elqui Valley and to the Pisco companies for pisco tasting. You may want to take a trip to the Parque Nacional Fray Jorge or Valle del Encanto. Or maybe you would like to go to see the penguins at Parque Nacional Pinguino Humbolt. If you have a little more time and want to travel around here are some places that are a must see that aren’t too far from La Serena. Vicuña, Andacollo, Monte Grande, Cochiguas and Pisco Elqui located in the inlands a couple of hours toward Valle del Elqui. If you have a bit more time to travel then you should check out a very small town called Punta de Choros going towards the north. As for a little safety information for women travelling alone you should be careful with the taxi drivers as sexual assaults have been reported in La Serena, make sure you only take company cars with taxi logos.
If you are on a tight budget then here are some places, prices range from $10-34US: Midrange Prices: From $22-110US For Higher End Hotels: From $69-100US
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As for the activities available in La Serena there are so many beaches where people can go swimming, surfing, windsurfing, sailing or just to sun tan. The best months for these activities are January until March. First make sure that there is a sign saying Playa Apta which means it is ok to swim, or if it says Playa No Apta then it unfit to swim. Many beaches have very strong currents, which makes them dangerous to swim but great for surfing. The beaches that are best for swimming are located south of Cuatro Esquinas and run to the beaches in Coquimbo. The beaches that are located west from Av Aguirre to Cuatro Esquinas have the stronger currents and are not safe for swimming.
