Iquique
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Overview
Barefoot surfers, paragliding pros, casino snobs and frenzied merchants all cross paths in the rather disarming city of Iquique. Located in a golden crescent of coastline, this city is counted among Chile's premier beach resorts, with a glitzy casino, beachfront boardwalk and more activities (from paragliding to sand-boarding) than any sane person can take on in a week. The big draw here is the swaths of pitch-perfect beach, which offer some of the best surfing around.
Attractions
Must-see attractions
Iquique
The city's 19th-century swagger is hard to miss on Iquique's central square. Pride of place goes to the 1877 Torre Reloj clock tower, seemingly baked and…
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Iquique
This replica of sunken Esmeralda, a plucky little Chilean corvette that challenged ironclad Peruvian warships in the War of the Pacific, is Iquique's new…
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Iquique
Hour-long boat tours around the harbor leave from Iquique's 1901 passenger pier, just west of the Edificio de la Aduana. The tour floats past the Boya…
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Iquique
Take in the artifacts salvaged from the sunken Esmeralda at this small museum inside the haughty colonial-style customs house, built in 1871 when Iquique…
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Centro Cultural Palacio Astoreca
Iquique
Originally built for a nitrate tycoon, this 1904 Georgian-style mansion is now a cultural center, which exhibits contemporary work produced by local…
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Iquique
Iquique's former courthouse now hosts the catch-all regional museum, which earnestly re-creates a traditional adobe altiplano village and also exhibits…
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Iquique
The prize for the showiest building in Iquique goes to this Moorish-style place from 1904, on the plaza's northeast corner. The gaudily tiled creation is…
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Iquique
A grand old colonial building dating to 1876, the ex-customs house was ravaged by fire in early 2015.
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