La Serena

A white lighthouse with a red top marks the start of the Avenida del Mar along the beach. Built in a 1950s plan to rebuild the city, it is more emblem than working beacon. Hotels and restaurants line the avenue, and the sand is crowded in summer.

Made in the 1990s to mark ties with Japan, it sets ponds, bridges, a waterfall and stone lanterns amid a desert city. Big koi fill the pond, and fish food is sold to feed them. Many tour groups arrive in the afternoon, leaving mornings calm.

The old centre's craft market, a two-storey building around a courtyard filled with souvenir stalls. Preserved papaya, pisco and lapis lazuli jewellery are the local goods. The upper floor's restaurants serve seafood lunches.

A museum gathering the geometric patterned pottery of the Diaguita, the region's native people. One moai, moved here from Easter Island, occupies a gallery, a rare sight on the mainland. With few rooms, an hour or so covers it.

A giant concrete cross raised on a hill in neighbouring Coquimbo port to mark the year 2000. An internal lift rises to a lookout level with the arms, over both cities and the bay. Gusts are strong, so a jacket is needed up top.

Coquimbo's quayside fish market, where the morning's fish and shellfish are spread on counters and cleaned to order. Pelicans and sea lions gather right below the counters for the scraps. Restaurants upstairs cook dishes from seafood bought on the spot.

Vicuna, a small town where the Elqui Valley opens, is the birthplace of Gabriela Mistral, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. A museum named after her keeps her belongings and manuscripts. A pisco distillery nearby offers tours and tastings.

A village deep in the Elqui Valley that renamed itself Pisco Elqui after the spirit. Vineyards cover the slopes around it, and small distilleries open tasting rooms. Buses up the valley are sparse, so learn when the last one leaves before going in.

The valley has among the most cloudless nights of any place in a year, so several observatories run for visitors. Telescope tours after sunset to see stars and planets need booking ahead. Around the full moon fewer stars show, so pick dates near the new moon.

From a fishing village two hours north, small boats circle the islands of the Humboldt penguin reserve. Sea lions and dolphins are often seen too. Boats stay in when the wind is strong, so take an early morning sailing.

On the Plaza de Armas, where the main church has stood since La Serena's founding in 1544. Today's stone building is 19th-century, with stained glass shipped from France. Visit when afternoon sun is out to see the colours thrown across the floor.

A stone church from the early 1600s, the oldest still standing in La Serena. Its limestone walls are more than a metre thick, and the front is baroque. The sacristy has been fitted out as a small religious art museum of sacred objects.

A mosque and cultural centre built with Moroccan support on Cerro Dominante in neighbouring Coquimbo. Its 40 m square minaret, a scale copy of Marrakech's Koutoubia tower, is visible from afar. The hilltop looks out over Coquimbo port and the bay.

A forest on coastal hills two hours' drive south, ringed by cactus semi-desert. Sea fog condenses on the leaves and waters them, so a woodland like southern Chile's survives. A boardwalk crosses it; come in the morning to see it dripping before the fog lifts.

A small beach hidden in the rocky coast south of Coquimbo, with white sand and jade-coloured water. The clear sea draws divers and snorkellers. On summer weekends parking fills early, so arriving in the morning is the safer bet.