Vicuña is a small village in the Elqui Valley in the Coquimbo region, the cradle of Chilean pisco and birthplace of Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. The museum dedicated to the poet, in the village centre, is an essential stop for visitors. The surrounding valley is threaded with vineyards growing Muscat grapes for pisco in an arid, sun-drenched landscape of great charm. The night sky of the Elqui Valley — among the clearest in the Americas — is home to several astronomical observatories open to tourists. A small, authentic place that distils history, poetry and astrotourism in equal measure.
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Giorno 3 — Vicuña → La Serena
La Serena is one of Chile's oldest cities, founded in 1544 in the Coquimbo region, with a historic centre of limestone colonial churches that gives it an architectural character rare in the country. The Avenida del Mar, the long waterfront to the north of the city, is lined with hotels and restaurants and stretches for over seven kilometres of sandy Pacific beaches. The region is famous for the white wines of the Valle del Elqui — the Chilean pisco sour uses Muscat grapes grown here — and for the exceptional night sky that has made the Elqui Valley a pole of astrotourism with several observatories open to the public. From La Serena, the Reserva Nacional Pingüino de Humboldt and the island of Damas are easily reached.
