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Iquique has many beautiful old mansions to visit, along with fascinating museums opening windows onto the city’s history. Many are located around Plaza Prat and along Paseo Baquedano. Other interesting buildings are the ex-Estación de Ferrocarriles (Sotomayor and Vivar) and the Iglesia Catedral (Bolívar and Ramírez).
Sea explorations are another attraction, whether above the waves in a one-hour boat tour of the bay (from the Muelle de Pasajeros on Avenida Prat; adults $4, teens $2, under 12 free, minimum 10 passengers), or scuba diving into the briny depths. Iquique is one of the hottest spots to surf, and paragliding is quickly becoming just as popular.
Iquique is a good base for making day trips out to the nitrate mining towns of Humberstone and Santa Laura, the hot springs at Pica and Mamiña, the Reserva Nacional Pampas de Tamarugal and the numerous geoglyphs around the region, like the Gigante de Atacama. The Tren Pampino takes travelers on a ride through the salitrara past, from the Pozo Almonte train station to Humberstone and Santa Laura.
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The Museo Naval de Iquique is located on the south side of the old Aduana building. Dedicated to one of the most important sea battles of the Guerra del Pacífico, maps and dioramas recount the blow to blow action of that fateful May 21, 1879. Exhibits also include artifacts of the two ships that...
Iquique, Chile
Museo Regional’s many galleries lead you through the history of the Iquique region. Most of the salas trace the development of the indigenous cultures, beginning with the Chinchorros who lived along this coast around 4000-2000 BC. A special attraction of the museum is the mummies from this epoch....
Iquique, Chile
Oficina Santa Laura was another one of the many salitre mines on the wind-blasted pampas near Iquique. Founded in 1872 by William Wendell, it was acquired by the Peruvian government in 1878. After Chile’s victory in the Guerra del Pacífico, the mine was turned over to the London Nitrate Co.,...
Iquique, Chile
Salitrera Humberstone was one of the most famous—and largest—nitrate mines in northern Chile. Founded in 1872 by the Peruvian Nitrate Company, by 1889 it had a population of over 3000. It later changed its name to Salitrera La Palma in 1894, and again in 1934 to Humberstone, in honor of...
Iquique, Chile
Iquique’s ruling nitrate families left an indelible print on the city. Social clubs, public monuments and lavish homes built of Oregon pine grace the historic center of the city. Many of the mansions are now home to restaurants, nightclubs, museums and university academic departments. Our...
Iquique, Chile
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