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La Serena & Coquimbo City Tour
4.0
26 Ratings
La Serena
Embark on a captivating city tour of La Serena and Coquimbo, filled with pirate tales, architectural beauty, and stunning coastal views. Available exclusively for cruise ship passengers.
Embark on a captivating city tour of La Serena and Coquimbo, filled with pirate tales, architectural beauty, and stunning coastal views. Available exclusively for cruise ship passengers.
Duration:
7 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Faro Monumental de La Serena - This lighthouse, constructed between 1951 and 1953, was handed over to the city as a tourist attraction in 1985. It’s a perfect spot for capturing memorable photos.
- Plaza de Armas - The central square of La Serena, where you can admire the city’s characteristic architecture in the surrounding buildings and some…
- Faro Monumental de La Serena - This lighthouse, constructed between 1951 and 1953, was handed over to the city as a tourist attraction in 1985. It’s a perfect spot for capturing memorable photos.
- Plaza de Armas - The central square of La Serena, where you can admire the city’s characteristic architecture in the surrounding buildings and some of the oldest churches in the region.
- La Recova Municipal Market - A market offering a variety of typical local products.
- Museo Arqueologico de La Serena - Founded on April 3, 1943, by researcher Francisco Cornely Bachman with the support of the First Municipality of La Serena. Cornely’s studies of the Diaguita culture in the Elqui Valley during the 1930s laid the foundation for the museum’s initial collections. Completed in 1954, the museum is located at the corner of Cienfuegos and Cordovez streets in La Serena’s historic area. Its façade features a baroque portal salvaged from an old colonial house belonging to the Count of Villa Señor.
- Jardin del Corazon - Opened in 1994, this Japanese-themed garden features various plant and animal species from Japan. Spanning 26,000 square meters, it is the largest Japanese park in South America.
- Barrio Ingles - A district in Coquimbo known for its English-style architecture dating back to the 19th century. It is now a historical conservation area.
- Cruz Del Tercer Milenio - A religious monument built to commemorate the jubilee of the year 2000. It features an observation deck over 60 meters high, offering views of Coquimbo and La Serena.
- Fuerte Lambert - A historical relic of the port, constructed in the late 17th century in the Punta de PelÃcanos area, a time when corsairs sailed through the Bay of Coquimbo.
What's Included
- Specialized Spanish/English Bilingual Guide
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Entrance tickets to Japanese Park - Third Millennium Cross
- Lunch
- Specialized Spanish/English Bilingual Guide
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Entrance tickets to Japanese Park - Third Millennium Cross
- Lunch
What's Not Included
- What is not specified in the program
- Gratuities
- What is not specified in the program
- Gratuities
Additional Information
CITY TOUR AVAILABLE ONLY FOR CRUISE PASSENGERS
We tour the most beautiful and representative places in Coquimbo and La Serena. Coquimbo enchants with stories of corsairs and pirates, the beauty of its coasts, its heritage character represented in the English Quarter, the Third Millennium Cross, a Catholic religious monument and the best viewpoint in…
CITY TOUR AVAILABLE ONLY FOR CRUISE PASSENGERS
We tour the most beautiful and representative places in Coquimbo and La Serena. Coquimbo enchants with stories of corsairs and pirates, the beauty of its coasts, its heritage character represented in the English Quarter, the Third Millennium Cross, a Catholic religious monument and the best viewpoint in Coquimbo, with a 360° view, where you can observe from the heights of this beautiful port. Its extensive coastline connects to the north with La Serena and to the south with a wide variety of beaches, coves and spas. La Serena attracts with its neocolonial architectural style, its limestone churches, marble statues on a long avenue, viewpoints, parks and the Monumental lighthouse, a characteristic symbol of the city. Just be part of this great adventure.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM CLOSED SUNDAY AND MONDAY
KOKORO NO NIWA JAPANESE GARDEN CLOSED ON MONDAYS
Location
Faro Monumental de La Serena
Avenida del Mar
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.0
(26 Ratings)
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Sheila_b
Mar 20, 2024
Magnificent tour! - The most delightful tour that showed us The Cross church at the port town, the market and supermarket, Japanese gardens and Pacific restaurant!
Review provided by Viator
Nancy_a
Mar 20, 2024
Fun and interesting - The guides Javier and Nicole were extremely nice and knowledgeble. They took us sightseeing and we had a great time. Thank you
Review provided by Viator
Helena_c
Mar 20, 2024
Good overview of local towns - Decent mix of bus tour and walking stops over 6 hours including a high quality overly large meal. Saw wonderful local market, vibrant murals close up and from distance, plus super town plus seascape views. Javier informative, kept good pace going. Two colleagues also very friendly. Punctual overall.
Review provided by Viator
Joseph_s
Mar 20, 2024
You wont be disappointed - The tour was well worth it the food could have been bettet but we werent there for the food. The sites visited were very nice.
Review provided by Viator
314leisap
Feb 24, 2024
Great Tour in La Serena and Coquimbo - Our tour of Serena and Coquimbo was excellent! Our tour guides. Jennifer and Nicole were very attentive and helpful. So friendly! Nicole communicated with us a lot before the tour and made instructions very clear. We had a great time and a great lunch on the beach! The restaurant had some serving issues - pretty slow and didn’t serve people all at the same time but the fish was good. We visited the cross monument and the view from the arms was incredible. We also went to a lighthouse, a market, and a fort.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Raulcc3729gh
Jan 31, 2024
Nice experience - Hello, good destination to go with your family if you don't like the heat so much, there are temperatures in the morning and at night of 16 degrees and in the afternoon 21, 22 with sun. The sea is cold and serves to cool you off, not so much to play with the waves. The city is beautiful and quiet.
If what you like most is the sea, it is not the best by any means.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Richard_s
Dec 22, 2023
Not again - T
Our guide not knowledgeable. No historical commentary. Disorganized. Some venues closed when we arrived.
Vehicle not cleanest.
Review provided by Viator
Francis_m
Mar 20, 2024
Worst tour - The ship came in late but the guide obviously waiting since they had a full bus from the ship. The guides had no microphone and very poor communication on ongoing itinerary. Lunch didn’t happen until 3 pm and that’s because we all had to ask for it. Lunch location was good but service and food below fair. We had our last stop at gardens after lunch though it seemed they had planned on doing gardens before lunch. we had to continually ask how long we had at each stop as they did not communicate it. At one point the bus had moved without anyone’s knowledge. The a/c in bus also poor
Review provided by Viator
Linja
Jan 31, 2024
Less-than-optimal and disjointed experience - The plusses: The La Serena Lighthouse, the Japanese Garden, the La Serena Cathedral and the artisan shops nearby, the Third Millenium Cross Monument & views.
Regrettably, our experience on this tour fell short of expectations as the tour guide appeared to lack thorough preparation. Initially, she led the group to a museum that was explicitly closed on Sundays and Mondays, a detail readily available in the TripAdvisor tour description. This disrupted the schedule, causing the subsequent visit to an artisan market to happen before most of the shops were open. When asked a basic question about the city's size, she was unable to provide an answer, indicating a lack of essential tour guide knowledge. Lunch, included and pre-ordered, became another source of frustration as the group arrived early due to the disrupted schedule, resulting in an extended wait by the beach until the restaurant was ready. Furthermore, the meal itself was marred by delayed service, with some members receiving their food just as others were finishing. Some people on the tour asked if we'd be able to see the Third Millennium Cross Monument as it was listed as one of the tour stops. She didn't think we'd have time but ultimately we did make it there after she asked people on the street for directions. Overall this tour suffered from a sense of unpreparedness, leaving us with a less-than-optimal and disjointed experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tuti_s
Apr 6, 2024
Big disappointment - Poor organization of the tour. Our ship arrived one hour late, the tour started late because of that. Once on board the bus, we were informed that the microphone was not working, explanations were given sporadically. We did not have our lunch until 3 pm as the guide did not adjust the itinerary. The food was not properly cooked, fried fish came out still raw. Don't waste your time and money for this tour.
Review provided by Viator
