Rare FlaMariner Posted January 26, 2023 #1 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Port stop in March..... Not much intel about La Serena, Chile.....Appears to be a relaxing beach and stroll thru the town day. Anyone been there and can enlighten me on what we should do/see at La Serena, Chile...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeorgeCharlie Posted January 27, 2023 #2 Share Posted January 27, 2023 We were in Coquimbo (La Serena), Chile in the early part of last December. When researching the port stop, we found there were basically two tours normally taken. One is driving inland, along with visiting La Serena, on a full day tour, or taking a half-day tour of La Serena. Besides the opportunity to see some of the countryside, the full day tour normally includes a visit to a Pisco Distillery, and a visit to see the City of Vicuna's square and church. With a number of the sites being closed on Mondays (day we were there), we saw little value taking the full day tour, so we opted for the half-day La Serena tour. I am in the process of doing a review of our cruise and will be reviewing our stop in Coquimbo fairly soon. You can see my review at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2902718-‘just-back’-from-31-day-south-american-cruise-on-the-oosterdam/#comment-64566093 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlaMariner Posted January 27, 2023 Author #3 Share Posted January 27, 2023 Thanks @GeorgeCharlie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted January 28, 2023 #4 Share Posted January 28, 2023 (edited) Although it was some time ago, that is exactly what we did . At Coquimbo port there were many taxis waiting with one person in charge organising tours at fixed prices. We shared with another couple, drove through the Elqui Valley to Vicuna, had some free time there, visited a pisco distillery and enjoyed a few tastings, then down to la Serena where we had more free time to explore a little of the cetral area. We used some of it to visit inside the small Archaeological Museum to see the #1 exhibit, an original Easter Island moai(sp?) one of only a small number to be found anywhere other than on Easter island itself. It was an enjoyable day. Edited January 28, 2023 by edinburgher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlaMariner Posted January 31, 2023 Author #5 Share Posted January 31, 2023 good info folks. thanks for passing it along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moche1 Posted February 8, 2023 #6 Share Posted February 8, 2023 Another possible tour is one that I have done a couple of times (most recently a year ago). It involves about an hour's drive south (on a four lane divided highway) along the coast to the Ovalle area to visit an interesting archaeological site and a local winery. Very worthwhile. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlaMariner Posted February 14, 2023 Author #7 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Here is the tour we booked.....should be a fund day....Any comments from those who have gone before me? Elqui Valley Tour + Pisco Distillery + Recova Market + Monumental Lighthousewe visit:-City of Vicuña (which includes a walk through the main square, the Bower Tower and the Temple of the Virgin Immaculate Conception)- ABA distillery and sales room (which includes a tour of the facilities and vineyards, where you can taste excellent artisanal pisco)- Visit to the artisan farm of the papaya factory and sales room.- The Recova Market (Back to La Serena, we will visit the most important and well-known artisan market) and- The Monumental Lighthouse******Lunch is not included but if you need lunch it would be in solar cookers in the town Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassettMom Posted March 15, 2023 #8 Share Posted March 15, 2023 We plan on doing this port on our own. Here are the notes I have listed on our itinerary (with backup information printed out in my trip book) (I'm "old school" with a formal printed itinerary and trip book complete with tabs). Not sure if we'll see/do all of these, but gives us a good start on things to do (we've also been known to just find a nice sidewalk cafe to eat or drink and people watch). Visit La Serena on own - Taxi is ~$7.00 to La Serena - La Recova Market (9:00am-1:00pm) - Museo Historico Casa Gonzalez Videla (history museum housed in an 18th century mansion); located on Plaza de Armas; admission is free - Visit La Serena Archeological Museum (with Easter Island “Moai”—one of the few outside Easter Island - La Serena Lighthouse; open to visitors who can climb to the top; located at the end of the city’s main road, Avenida del Mar, running along the beachfront (or rambla) - Catedral De San Bartolome De La Serena - Jardin del Corazon or Kokoro No Niwa Garden: largest Japanese garden in South America with koi, pagodas, waterfalls, curved bridges Visit Coquimbo on own (after La Serena) - Cruz del Tercer Milenio (83 meters tall; elevator to the top provides fantastic views) - Fuerte Lambert, Mosque of Coquimbo-Centro Mohammed VI para el Dialogo de las Civilizaciones - Main shopping street and downtown is less than a mile from the port Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlaMariner Posted April 17, 2023 Author #9 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Paying it forward for those looking for a tour when at the port of Coquimbo: We used these folks in March 2023 and had a fantastic independent tour of the area. Went to a Pisco distillery, local market, guava farm and ate lunch cooked with a solar stove. Just an all around good day of touring. We were a group from cc. Carmen (the owner) was super responsive and helpful. The guide was a young guy who also works as a mining technician. He was very knowledgeable and proud of his area. Use them. We are glad we did. https://www.travelturismocochiguaz.cl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawnvip Posted April 18, 2023 #10 Share Posted April 18, 2023 Were you able to communicate with owner and guide in english? I see their site is only spanish, so wondered whether it was worth the effort! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlaMariner Posted April 18, 2023 Author #11 Share Posted April 18, 2023 7 hours ago, dawnvip said: Were you able to communicate with owner and guide in english? I see their site is only spanish, so wondered whether it was worth the effort! Yes, Carmen did respond in English. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphysmom0416 Posted January 3 #12 Share Posted January 3 On 3/15/2023 at 1:41 PM, BassettMom said: We plan on doing this port on our own. Here are the notes I have listed on our itinerary (with backup information printed out in my trip book) (I'm "old school" with a formal printed itinerary and trip book complete with tabs). Not sure if we'll see/do all of these, but gives us a good start on things to do (we've also been known to just find a nice sidewalk cafe to eat or drink and people watch). Visit La Serena on own - Taxi is ~$7.00 to La Serena - La Recova Market (9:00am-1:00pm) - Museo Historico Casa Gonzalez Videla (history museum housed in an 18th century mansion); located on Plaza de Armas; admission is free - Visit La Serena Archeological Museum (with Easter Island “Moai”—one of the few outside Easter Island - La Serena Lighthouse; open to visitors who can climb to the top; located at the end of the city’s main road, Avenida del Mar, running along the beachfront (or rambla) - Catedral De San Bartolome De La Serena - Jardin del Corazon or Kokoro No Niwa Garden: largest Japanese garden in South America with koi, pagodas, waterfalls, curved bridges Visit Coquimbo on own (after La Serena) - Cruz del Tercer Milenio (83 meters tall; elevator to the top provides fantastic views) - Fuerte Lambert, Mosque of Coquimbo-Centro Mohammed VI para el Dialogo de las Civilizaciones - Main shopping street and downtown is less than a mile from the port Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaghetti1 Posted June 15 #13 Share Posted June 15 On 1/28/2023 at 4:13 AM, edinburgher said: Although it was some time ago, that is exactly what we did . At Coquimbo port there were many taxis waiting with one person in charge organising tours at fixed prices. We shared with another couple, drove through the Elqui Valley to Vicuna, had some free time there, visited a pisco distillery and enjoyed a few tastings, then down to la Serena where we had more free time to explore a little of the cetral area. We used some of it to visit inside the small Archaeological Museum to see the #1 exhibit, an original Easter Island moai(sp?) one of only a small number to be found anywhere other than on Easter island itself. It was an enjoyable day. Hi! We are going to be in Coquimbo in Dec 2024 and want to go to Elqui - you found taxis waiting as you disembarked that offered this? Did they speak any English? About how much did it cost? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted June 16 #14 Share Posted June 16 (edited) 12 hours ago, Spaghetti1 said: Hi! We are going to be in Coquimbo in Dec 2024 and want to go to Elqui - you found taxis waiting as you disembarked that offered this? Did they speak any English? About how much did it cost? Thanks! Yes we did find many taxis at the dock, and as I already posted, there was one man in charge organising taxi tours, but that may have changed post pandemic. Our driver may have had a little english (none of us spoke Spanish, but I cannot remember. Whatever, we had a good tour and in Vicuna we saw other passengers from our ship so it was a popular tour. Note that taxi drivers are not usually tour guides, so if information is important to you, if you can access it beforehand or while you are there, that would be helpful. The pisco tastings were in english as a small group of fellow pax had also arrived, a drive is a drive, and the walk we did in Vicuna was self explanatory. I suggest you try to get more up-to-date info from cruise pax who visited over this past winter. Edited June 16 by edinburgher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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