59 Best Sights in El Norte Grande, Chile

Founded by a British company in 1926, María Elena is a dusty place that warrants a visit if you want to see a functioning nitrate town. It's home to the employees of the region's last two nitrate plants. The 5,000 people who live in María Elena are proud of their history—nearly every house has a picture of the town hanging inside. A tiny but informative museum in the town's main square houses many artifacts from the nitrate boom as well as a few from the pre-Columbian era.

Inside the historic customs house, this museum is the town's oldest building, dating back to 1866. It displays clothing and other bric-a-brac from the nitrate era.

Along the historic Calle Baquedano is this natural history museum of the Tarapacá region. It displays paleontological collections, pre-Columbian cultures, and archaeological artifacts such as arrowheads, as well as an eclectic collection from the region's nitrate heyday. Also on display are war artifacts from the Pacific and Aymara ethnographic collections from the Isluga territory. Every month the museum has exhibits of modern local art.

For a tantalizing view into the opulence of the nitrate era, visit this Georgian-style palace. Built in 1903, it includes highlights such as the likeness of Dionysus, the Greek god of revelry; a giant billiard table; and a beautiful skylight over the central hall. An art- and natural-history museum on the upper level houses rotating exhibitions by Chilean artists and artifacts such as pottery and textiles.

For a relaxed, uncrowded experience, head to the beaches outside town. Picturesque Playa Acapulco is in a small cove north of Balneario Juan López that is popular with snorkelers. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: snorkeling.

Thirteen km (8 miles) south of the city center on Avenida Balmaceda, Playa Blanca is a sandy spot that you can often have all to yourself and enjoy the active sealife. Amenities: food and drink; parking. Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

The long stretch of Playa Brava is renowned for its consistent waves (which are too strong for swimming) and beautiful sunsets. Amenities: parking. Best for: solitude; sunset; surfing.

If you crave privacy, head south on Avenida Balmaceda to Playa Brava, a pretty beach that's often deserted except for young people lighting bonfires in the evening. The currents here are quite strong, so swimming is not recommended. Amenities: food and drink; parking; toilets. Best for: sunset; surfing.

The white sands of Playa Chinchorro, 2 km (1 mile) north of the city are popular with families and swimmers. You can also rent Jet Skis in high season. Amenities: food and drink; parking; toilets. Best for: swimming.

South of El Morro, Playa El Laucho is the closest to the city, and thus the most crowded. It's also a bit rocky at the bottom, but waters are calm and inviting. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; showers; toilets. Best for: swimming.

About 5 km (3 miles) south of Juan López, Playa Rinconada is lauded by locals for its warm water and strong winds that make it popular for windsurfing. Amenities: food and drink; toilets. Best for: windsurfing.

Life in the city revolves around this plaza, where children ride bicycles along the sidewalks and adults chat on nearly every park bench. The 1877 Torre Reloj, with its gleaming white clock tower and Moorish arches, stands in the center of the plaza.

Just 3 km (2 miles) north of San Pedro lies this ancient fortress at the entrance to the Valle de Catarpe, which was built in the 12th century to protect the Atacameños from invading Incas. It wasn't the Incas but the Spanish who were the real threat, however. Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia took the fortress by force in 1540. The crumbling buildings were carefully reconstructed in 1981 and declared a national monument in 1982.

A two-hour hike from Mamiña will bring you here, a great place to watch the sunset. You'll find interesting petroglyphs left by the Incas and an excellent view of the valley. To find it, head west on the trail a block west of the bottler.

The tamarugo tree is an anomaly in the almost lifeless desert. These bushlike plants survive where most would wither because they are especially adapted to the saline soil of the Atacama. Over time they developed extensive root systems that search for water deep beneath the almost impregnable surface. Reserva Nacional Pampa del Tamarugal has dense groves of tamarugos, which were almost wiped out during the nitrate era when they were felled for firewood.

After passing through the high plains, where you'll spot vicuña, alpaca, and the occasional desert fox, you'll catch your first glimpse of the sparkling Salar de Surire. Seen from a distance, the salt flat appears to be a giant white lake. Unlike its southern neighbor, the Salar de Atacama, it's completely flat. Three of the four New World flamingos (Andean, Chilean, and James's) live in the nearby lakes.

More than 14,000 feet high, Salar de Tara has some similarities to the Altiplánico Lakes, but what makes it unique is the unusual rock formations that appear like castles in the sky, surreal sculptures among the sand flats, and flamingo-spotted lagoons. It is a full day from San Pedro on the way to Bolivia, and involves a long and bumpy road both ways.

It's possible to take a three to five-day, four-wheel-drive organized tour from San Pedro into Bolivia's massive and mysterious salt flat, the largest in the world. Beware: the accommodations—usually clapboard lodgings in small oasis towns—are rustic to say the least, but speeding along the Salar de Uyuni, which is chalkboard flat, is a treat. Nearby are geysers, small Andean lagoons, and islands of cactus that stand in sharp contrast to the sealike salt flat.

Unlike most cities, Iquique does not have a cathedral on the main plaza. Instead, you'll find the sumptuous Teatro Municipal, built in 1890 as an opera house. The lovely statues on the Corinthian-columned facade represent the four seasons.

This theater testifies to the wealth the town once possessed. Built in 1892 at the height of the nitrate boom, it has lavish touches, such as the painted cherubs dancing across the ceiling. The theater sits right on the edge of the sea, and waves crash against its walls, throwing eerie echoes through the empty, forgotten auditorium. You can get the key, and a very informative free tour, from a woman in the tourist kiosk opposite the theater.

On your way back to San Pedro, you may want to stop at the Termas de Puritama hot springs. A hot soak may be just the thing to shake off that early morning chill. A relaxing day trip in itself, the hot springs are a series of eight pools, each one connected by wooden platforms and surrounded by foliage in the middle of a natural valley that is also a popular hiking area. If you don't have your own transport, you can book a transfer or group tour from many agencies in San Pedro. If you're staying at Hotel Explora, you'll have exclusive access to the first (and warmest) spring.

On your way back to San Pedro, you may want to stop at the Termas de Puritama hot springs. A hot soak may be just the thing to shake off that early morning chill. A relaxing day trip in itself, the termas are a series of eight pools, each one connected by wooden platforms and surrounded by foliage in the middle of a natural valley that is also a popular hiking area. If you don't have your own transport, you can book a transfer or group tour from many agencies in San Pedro. If you're staying at Hotel Explora, you'll have exclusive access to the first (and warmest) spring.

Ipla is the hottest of the termas (thermal baths) with a direct channel of thermal water practically going straight to the large public baths. The Barros El Chino is where you can relax covered in therapeutic mud, bake it off on the drying rack, and then wash clean in the plunge pools. There are basic changing facilities, showers, and a snack bar.

The town's most famous sight, this clock tower, built in 1887 from Oregon pine, stands on a hill overlooking the city; its blue and white paint peeling in the hot coastal sun. Constructed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, it is an excellent place to catch views of the town and its port.

High above Plaza Colón is this clock tower whose face is a replica of London's Big Ben. It was erected by British residents in 1910.

This archaeological site, 9 km (6 miles) southwest of San Pedro, marks the remains of the oldest known civilization in the region. Built around 800 BC, the village of Tulor was home to the Linka Arti people, who lived in small mud huts resembling igloos. The site was uncovered only in the middle of the 20th century, when Jesuit missionary Gustavo Le Paige excavated it from a sand dune. Archaeologists hypothesize that the inhabitants left because of climatic changes and a possible sandstorm. Little more about the village's history is known, and only one of the huts has been completely excavated. As one of the well-informed guides will tell you, even this hut is sinking back into the obscurity of the Atacama sand.

Not far from the Valle de la Luna, just on the other side of Ruta 98 leading to Calama, are the reddish rocks of the Valle de la Muerte (Death Valley). Jesuit missionary Gustavo Le Paige, who in the 1950s was the first archaeologist to explore this desolate area, discovered many human skeletons. These bones are from the Indigenous Atacameño people, who lived here before the arrival of the Spanish. He hypothesized that the sick and the elderly may have come to this place to die. The name of the valley comes from its red Mars-like appearance and was originally called Valle de Martes (Mars Valley), but Gustavo's foreign pronunciation of Martes (Mars) was heard as Muerte (dead).

This fountain near the Baños Ipla has slightly radioactive spring water (because it occurs naturally, it's fine to bathe in but not drink), which is said to cure every type of eye malady.