The Elqui Valley Region

This small strip of land, which at times is no more than 200 meters wide, has a little bit of something for everybody. Most famous for its Pisco crop and its Nobel Prize winning author, Gabriela Mistral, the valley justifiably attracts all types of tourists.

Provincial towns dot the river, such as Paihuano and Pisco Elquí, which provide adventure tourism excursions in the summer. Hitch a ride out to Cochiguaz, a community of free thinkers who moved here in the 1960s to live near the earth’s magnetic center.  In Vicuña, take a tour of the country’s largest pisco distillery by day and stargaze under spectacularly clear skies at the nearby observatory by night.