Iquique

An old saltpetre town an hour east in the desert. Shut in 1960, it kept its theatre, school and iron-plated pool untouched. With the adjacent Santa Laura works it gained World Heritage status in 2005. Midday is shadeless and hot; visit in the morning.

A vast human-shaped geoglyph laid on the slope of Cerro Unita near Huara, among the largest prehistoric figures in the world. Climbing the hill damages it, so it is viewed only from the track below. A dirt road leads there, so hire a car or join a tour.

Each year in mid July the desert village of La Tirana holds a festival for the Virgin of Carmen. Hundreds of masked devil dance troupes perform day and night, and the village fills with pilgrims. There is no lodging then, so many travel in from Iquique.

A pedestrian street lined with timber mansions from the saltpetre boom, its wooden sidewalks still in place. An old tram car is parked midway along it. In the evening its cafes and restaurants set out tables outdoors.

A timber mansion built in 1904 by a saltpetre magnate, its interiors fitted out in Oregon pine from America. A university now runs it as a cultural centre, with period furniture and exhibits in each room. It is a walk from the end of Paseo Baquedano.

A full-size rebuild of the wooden warship sunk in the Battle of Iquique on 21 May 1879. A guide leads through the cabins telling how Captain Arturo Prat leapt aboard the enemy ship and died. Entry is only by guided tour at set times.

A beach tucked into a bay south of downtown, calm enough for children to play in the water. Tower blocks line up behind it along a promenade. Just south, Playa Brava lives up to its name with rough surf, and swimming there is forbidden.

A huge sand dune rising straight behind the city, the sand starting right where the houses end. Sandboarding tours head out in the afternoon. Being a protected sanctuary, only the permitted zone may be entered.

Launch from Alto Hospicio on the cliffs above the city and ride the sea breeze down to the beach. Wind off the ocean blows steadily all year, which has made it famous for flying. First-timers fly tandem with an instructor.

A duty-free zone by the northern port, its big mall packed with electronics and clothing shops. Shoppers come from all over Chile, and traders from neighbouring countries too. Past a tax-free allowance, customs charge duty on goods leaving the zone.

The white wooden clock tower of Plaza Arturo Prat, raised in the 1870s with a clock imported from England. In the nitrate boom, dock workers kept time by its bells. Floodlit after dark, it makes a fine view from the cafes ringing the square.

A Moorish-style timber club house that Spanish immigrants built beside Plaza Prat in 1904. Hand-painted walls and polychrome woodwork echo Seville's Alcazar, and oil paintings of Don Quixote scenes hang inside. Its restaurant lets you see it over a meal.

The central market downtown, selling fish, fruit, and mangoes and lemons brought down from Pica. Lunch counters inside turn that day's fish into cheap lunches. Stalls are fullest in the morning, and covers start coming down as the day wears on.

Hundreds of people, llamas and geometric shapes laid out in stone on a desert slope in the Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve, thought to have marked old caravan routes. A path below gives the view; low sun in early morning or near sunset sharpens the lines.

A mountain village at 2,750 m, over two hours by road up toward the Andes, long known for its thermal water. Bathhouses around the valley offer warm soaks and mud baths. Old farming terraces still step down the slopes around the village.