La Serena

By: Benjamin Taylor

There are a lot of great places to visit in Chile and La Serena is one that I would highly recommend. It is a small beach front town and is the second oldest city in Chile besides Santiago. La Serena is a small town of about 200,000 people but during summer months it doubles in size due to its amazing beach. Here is a small guide for things you can do in La Serena.

Restaurants

 Oakasama is a nice sushi restaurant where you can get a nice discount if you pay in cash.

If you like completos there’s an awesome restaurant called Oriente in the downtown area that is always busy and is a good place to grab a quick bite and a beer, in that area  there are also other restaurants that you can choose from if you’re feeling more hungry. One other place that is in the downtown area and is really good if you like sea food is called Jack Fish, there you can get great civiche but also sushi.

On the beach street, Avenida del mar, there are the nicer restaurants that you can choose from. One of them is called Kardamomo which serves both seafood and some meat. Then there’s Tololo beach which is mostly seafood and they have some good civiche as well. If you’re on avenida del mar and want some pizza or pasta Mia Pizza and Huentalaquen are some great places to sit down and enjoy a pizza. Lastly there’s a fish market in Coquimbo that’s cool to visit and there’s also some good seafood places inside (if you’re feeling adventurous) .

For the touristy things in La Serena any of the following things are fun to do:
There’s surf lessons all along the beaches. Usually in the mornings.

Then there’s a zen garden donated by the Japanese to the chilean mining company in La Serena.

The fish market in coquimbo
The Cross in coquimbo

Biking along the beach

There are also day trips you can take from La Serena. One is a trip to Valle Elqui which is an amazing valley that is home to the Pisco plants in Chile, the birth place of Gabriela Mistral and some of the most clear night skies in Chile which you can see on your own or at one of the many observatories in the area. The second popular day trip is to Isla Damas where you can see dolphins, whales, sea lions and penguins.