Norte Chico

Mine

In 2010, 33 miners were trapped more than 700m underground after a devastating collapse within the mountain where they'd been working. Following a Herculean effort – which pulled resources from a number of countries – all the men were successfully rescued. Televised before a global audience of an estimated one billion, the survivors emerged one by one from the specially built rescue capsule to the cheers of friends, family and assorted onlookers – including the president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera.

Brewery

You won't get far in the Elqui Valley without someone offering you a Guayacan, and if you're even vaguely interested in beer, you should accept. This little craft brewery's reputation is growing fast, and brief tours of the facilities are accompanied by a generous sampling of its products.

Museum

The town's landmark Museo Gabriela Mistral, between Riquelme and Baquedano, celebrates one of Chile's most famous literary figures. Gabriela Mistral was born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga in 1889 in Vicuña. The museum charts her life (in Spanish only), from a replica of her adobe birthplace to her Nobel Prize, and has a clutch of busts making her seem a particularly strict schoolmarm.

National Park

The cold Humboldt Current flows up the desert coastline, bringing with it its peppy namesake penguin and abundant marine life. The worthwhile 44,000-hectare Pan de Azúcar includes white-sand beaches, sheltered coves, stony headlands and cacti-covered hills. Pan de Azúcar is 30km north of Chañaral via a well-maintained paved road. Most people reach it by tour or transfer from Caldera/Bahía Inglesa or Copiapó.

Island

The subtriangular-shaped Isla Pan de Azúcar lies a tantalizingly short distance offshore, its base often shrouded by camanchaca (thick fog) at twilight. It is home to about 2000 Humboldt penguins, as well as other birds, otters and sea lions. The island is a restricted area, but local fishers approach the 100-hectare island by boat for up-close-and-personal views.

Museum

This catch-all museum provides an overview of the region's natural and human history, its mineral wealth, and key events that have shaped history over the centuries. Among the wide-ranging displays, you'll find ancient zoomorphic vessels for preparing hallucinogens used by indigenous shamans, pottery from the El Molle period (c AD 700) and weaponry from the War of the Pacific when Copiapó was a base of operations for the Chilean invasion of Peru and Bolivia.

Archaeological Site

An intriguing gallery of pre-Colombian rock art can be found at Monumento Arqueológico Valle del Encanto, a rocky tributary canyon of the Río Limarí 19km west of Ovalle. An array of petroglyphs and pictographs depict dancing stick-men, alien-like figures with antennae and characters sporting spectacular headdresses. The valley rocks are also riddled with holes called tacitas, which were used as mortars to grind ceremonial plants and food.

Museum

Housed in the right flank of the old train-station building, this museum houses dramatically lit ceramics, most of which are Diaguita, dating from around AD 1000 to AD 1500. The museum touches on key facets of their culture, though in Spanish only: the Diaguita practiced cranial deformation, held shaman in high esteem (as intermediaries between the living and the unseen universe beyond) and had a worldview dominated by duality (night/day, man/woman, reaping/sewing), which is reflected in some of the designs.

Winery

Tabalí is a great little winery that's making waves in the Limarí Valley. Located at 1600m and planted on a mix of soils (alluvial, transitional, granitic), the vineyards here produce a one-of-a-kind wine that is ripe and fresh. You'll need to reserve ahead to arrange a tour and tasting.