elqui valley

For first time visitors one has to note that the Valley is not just the One place but several. You will have to priorize or be prepared to spent at least 3-4 days to get a good grasp/glimpse of what is here for you to see and perhaps BE. We followed our generation who came here in the late 60's and early 70's to see and be for ourselves. In this mystical space You.. Not me... decide. BE for it it is only in the Doing that we Become.

If you look for hotels, relaxing, shopping, hourseback riding et al valle del elqui should be nice and fun. We drove all the way from Santiago to enjoy the "unique" landscape and do some trekking. This is definitely not the place to do tracking. All land is private and access restricted. There are no trails and if you'd be adventurous and 'just go and try' you'll be disappointed by the arid, deserted, monotonous hills. The village/pueblo is made for tourists and offers quite good quality for high prices. Would not recommend the hassle / trip, unless you're nearby or on the way to some other place.

The Elqui Valley is a very lush valley with vineyards everywhere. This is a main grape growing area. At the time we were there in January, all the table grapes had been harvested and exported. The area is irrigated by snow melt from the Andes. It was different seeing this green valley in between the two mountain ranges which were not as green as the valley, a nice contrast. A large reservoir has been created to store the water for agriculture. At the time we were there, the snow melt was below normal and the water level was quite low. There was several small communities along the valley and is popular for weekend use and many other activities. We visited the Vicuna area which is the location for the Pisco Distillery. The only grapes that were left were the Muscatel which is the grape used for Pisco. A tour of the Pisco Distillery was very interesting. The location was nicely landscaped and had shady areas for relaxing and enjoying the local drink. The complete process was explained as we progressed through the plant. For an operation in the off season of the Pisco operations, they are now processing Vodka from Venezuela and Canada. After the tour, we drove back into the town of Vicuna for lunch. We were greeted with a large empanada, the size of of a dinner plate served with a Pisco sour drink. Then our guide told us, that was only the starter! There was a salad, main course and dessert to come. It was a good meal so to speak, but the meat was tough with lots of grizzle. The quantity was sufficient to able to skip dinner that night. The plaza was across the street with a crafts fair, with lots of vendors. Then it was back to La Serena

The Elqui Valley has a number of small towns such as Cochiguaz and . Vicuna is the biggest, but Pisco is the more popular place for tourists to stay with a wider range of cabanas, hostels and hotels. It's quite a long way from La Serena (the bus trip is slow and not too comfortable for normal-sized adults), and thus it's not really advisable to try and do it as a day trip from there unless you are really in a hurry. Better to kick back and soak up a view of the valleys. There are a range of tour companies that will take you to distilleries or on horse-riding or mountain bike treks. The star attractions, though, in my opinion, are the pretty valleys and the wonderful starry nights. You can head up into the hills with a guide and a telescope and a pisco sour.

What I liked: quiet place to restWhat I didn't like: not many things to do or see. This place is very famous in Chile so I was very excited about going there, but once I arrived, I was disappointed. This town is so expensive and there are no extra activities except from going to the vines and have some drinks. Maybe good for teenagers who want to get really drunk and have sex with anybody (at least what I saw on the campsite I stayed, which is very famous there btw). When I asked the locals what I could do there, they only named sightseeing (church, main square, .....) I mean, I love sightseeing, but this place had not much to offer to my eyes...

We were glad we hired a car, rather than taking a tour. The roads were better than we expected and armed with a Rough Guide we felt we were better off going at our own pace.

The drive thru this area of Chile is quite beautiful. The landscape Is mountainous with vineyards as a contrast. An interesting sight is the dam that has displaced many of the natives. Unfortunately, the dam has not held the water that it was hoped and the relocated people do not have access to it and are somewhat trapped in their location. There is a Pisco distillery in the Valley also and it is an interesting place to visit.

We had two lovely tours to the Elqui valley. The first one was a full day trip with a small group in a small van with a guide. We made many stops , a papaya plantation, winery with pisco, some small villages and a lovely local restaurant, The scenery was magnificent , breathtaking and is a must. our second tour was at night to visit one of the many amazing Observatories to see the stars , moon, planets and clusters. FANTASTIC, each person took turns at the huge telescope to view each of the sites. WOW. Wowie

We had a hire car and drove to the Elqui Valley up the steep and winding roads, taking in fantastic views of the mountainous deserts and the lush river valley floor where vineyards grow and small charming little villages punctuate the way up to Elqui.

We visited as part of a private tour to do stargazing and check out the countryside. The Elqui Valley does not disappoint - you have beautiful and progressively more rugged countryside as you drive in, lots of vineyards and lots of pisco distilleries (along with a very nice small winery in Cavas) and charming little mountain towns. At night, the stars are to-die-for - so clear and so dark, you can see things here that aren't visible much of anywhere else. The guided tour approach is a good one if you aren't fluent in Spanish, because in the valley few people speak any English. Be sure to check out the crafts in the village of Horcon (go no earlier than lunchtime), the Los Nichos pisco distillery, and the Restaurant Solar (all the cooking is via solar ovens!). If you can, stay in a dome at Elqui Domos (it calls itself a hotel, but it's really a collection of cabins) and pay for the personal astronomy tour they offer - way better than what you'll get at one of the public observatories, and the sky is darker there.

Mountain views - including the observatories, Gabriela Mistral memorials, quaint villages, and most of all a restaurant powered entirely by the sun - amazing and great food. I enjoyed this trip much more than I expected

Go here. Just an hour plus from Serena. A tiny super-green valley surrounded by impressive supper-dry mountains.We visited during the day. Nice, picturesque, lots of small towns, couple of local museums and pisco distilleries. We also spend the night: mystical...clear magical skies, so many starts!!! you can only fully appreciate the place if you spend the night.

The views of Elqui are exceptional and go on for miles and miles. Twists and turns in the road lead the traveler waiting on baited breathe as to what is behind the next corner. Vineyards line the view with a green spectacle on the valley floor as hills and mountains rise to desert-like conditions above. The colectivo bus from La Serena will cost you approximately 6000 pesos round trip. This included for me a stop in Vicuna for the Saturday market around the town square.

Our time in the Valley was memorable. So much so that we've decided to go back. The people were nice and there were various things to do. It all made for a relaxing time with a taste of summer in December.

Our biggest surprise during our trip in chile. Beautiful vineyards, relaxing towns and the feel of being in a different world. Driving over the hill from La Serena there is no way to expect the unvelievable tranquility that is to be found in the valley, truly a series of small villages that connect on their way tot he border of argentina. Wish we would have stayed here instead of on the coast, but oh well.