Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja
Middle Chile
Some 93km east of Los Angeles you'll find the 116-sq-km Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja. Within the park is the symmetrical cone of Volcán Antuco (2985m)…
Must-see attractions in Chile
Arica
This Gothic-style church has a threefold claim to fame. First, it was designed by celebrated Parisian engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, before his…
Museo Antropológico Sebastián Englert
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
This well-organized museum makes a perfect introduction to the island's history and culture. It displays basalt fishhooks, obsidian spearheads and other…
Reserva Nacional Pingüino de Humboldt
Norte Chico
This aquatic reserve, encompassing some 888 hectares and several islands is home to some 68 species of land vertebrates, including sea lions, with bottle…
Norte Grande
Just off the Panamericana, about 45km south of Pozo Almonte, the brown hillsides of the Atacama have been transformed into a magnificent canvas of…
La Serena
With its trickling brooks, drifting swans and neatly manicured rock gardens, this Japanese garden makes an idyllic escape from the city bustle. Don't miss…
Puerto Williams
A well-crafted museum named for the Austrian priest and ethnographer who worked among the Yaghans from 1918 to 1923. Focuses on ethnography and natural…
Santiago
Raspberries, quinces, figs, peaches, persimmons, custard apples…if it grows in Chile you’ll find it at La Vega Central, which is bordered by Dávila Baeza…
Santiago
The stimulus is intellectual – but so much fun – at the Museo Interactivo Mirador, one of Santiago's best museums. Forget ‘do not touch’: you can…
Norte Grande
A patch of green among the desert landscape, this long, narrow gorge is a favorite for hikers, swimmers and rock climbers.
Observatorio Interamericano Cerro Tololo
Elqui Valley
Probing the mysteries of stars billions of miles into the past is all in a night's work at the futuristic Observatorio Interamericano Cerro Tololo, which…
Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende
Santiago
Picasso, Miró, Tápies and Matta are some of the artistic heavyweights who gave works to the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende. Begun as a populist…
Elqui Valley
The star of the stargazing show, the purpose-built Observatorio Cerro Mamalluca, 9km northeast of Vicuña, is Elqui Valley's biggest attraction. So big, in…
Elqui Valley
The gravesite of Gabriela Mistral lies on a hillside just south of Montegrande's main plaza. A winding path to the top is lined with quotes and…
Elqui Valley
Like Mamalluca, the shiny hilltop Observatorio Collowara in Andacollo is built for tourists; no serious interstellar research is conducted here. Two-hour…
Elqui Valley
Capel distills pisco at this facility and has its only bottling plant here. Located about 2km (a 20-minute walk) southeast of town, this large pisco maker…
Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos
Southern Patagonia
The thriving Magellanic penguin colonies of Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos on Isla Magdalena and Isla Marta are well worth visiting, particularly if you…
Santiago
'Flaunt it' seems to have been the main idea behind the shockingly lavish Palacio Cousiño. It was built between 1870 and 1878 by the prominent Cousiño…
Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo
Northern Patagonia
Cerro Castillo's basalt spires are the crowning centerpiece of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo, a sprawling 1800-sq-km park located 75km south of Coyhaique…
Elqui Valley
A Buddhist stupa in a remote corner of northern Chile? You'll think you took a wrong turn off the Panamericana and somehow ended up in the Himalaya rather…
Valparaíso
Cannons still stand ready outside this naval museum. Much space is devoted to Chile's victory in the 19th-century War of the Pacific. Other exhibits…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Your first encounter with the moai will probably take place at Ahu Tautira, which overlooks Caleta Hanga Roa, the fishing port in Hanga Roa at the foot of…
Santiago
Gleaming piles of fresh fish and crustaceans atop mounds of sparkling ice thrill foodies and photographers alike at the Mercado Central. Look for congrio …
Norte Grande
Chuqui was, until recently, the world's largest single supplier of copper (a title just snatched by Mina Escondida, 170km southeast of Antofagasta),…
Punta Arenas
A naval and maritime museum with historical exhibits that include a fine account of the Chilean mission that rescued Sir Ernest Shackleton’s crew from…
The Lakes District
Carved out of virgin Valdivian rainforest 15km east of Puelo, Parque Tagua-Tagua is southern Chile's latest park. A private initiative funded by…
Valparaíso
As colorful as Valparaíso's trademark houses – and built almost as high – are the fruit and vegetable displays in the Mercado Cardonal, bordered by Yungay…
Sur Chico
On Isla Teja at Km5 on the road to Niebla, you'll find the south's best large-scale brewery. Standard 45-minute tours leave hourly from 12:15pm to 8pm (CH…
Santiago
This slick, privately operated fashion museum comprises a vast and exquisite permanent collection of Western clothing – 20th-century designers are…
Sur Chico
The 80-hectare Parque Punta Curiñanco, 35km northwest of Valdivia in Curiñanco, is a unique piece of Valdivian rainforest featuring four types of…
Southern Patagonia
In the 1890s, German pioneer Hermann Eberhard discovered the partial remains of an enormous ground sloth in a cave 24km northwest of Puerto Natales. The…
Santiago
During Chile’s last dictatorship some 4500 political prisoners were tortured and 241 were executed at Villa Grimaldi by the now-disbanded National…
Norte Chico
Until just a couple of years ago, the stunning Playa La Virgen, 46km south of Bahía Inglesa along a lovely coastal road, was a well-guarded treasure of…
Valparaíso
Plaza Sotomayor is dominated by the palatial blue-colored Edificio Armada de Chile. In the middle of the square lies the Monumento a los Héroes de Iquique…
Northern Patagonia
The 1540-sq-km Parque Nacional Queulat is a wild realm of rivers winding through forests thick with ferns and southern beech. When the sun is out it’s…
Viña Del Mar
Nowhere is Viña's nickname of the 'Garden City' better justified than at the magnificently landscaped Parque Quinta Vergara, which you enter from…
Museo Histórico Casa Gabriel González Videla
La Serena
Although richly stocked with general historical artifacts, this two-story museum in an 18th-century mansion concentrates on one of La Serena's best-known …
Norte Grande
It's the biggest archaeological representation of a human in the world – a gargantuan 86m high – and yet little is really known about the 'Giant of the…
Santiago
Exposed concrete, stripped wood and glass are the materials local architect Cristián Undurraga chose for the stunningly simple Museo de Artes Visuales…
Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Gracia de Nercón
Chiloé
Just 4km south of Castro is another of Chiloe's Unesco-recognized churches, restored in 2012. Built from cypress and larch wood between 1887 and 1888, its…
