Chile · Región de Coquimbo
Where to Stay in La Serena, Región de Coquimbo
La Serena is a colonial coastal city in northern Chile, a city of old churches by the Pacific in the Coquimbo region.
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Where to stay in La Serena
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
Where you stay in La Serena turns on two poles. The old streets around the main square keep the churches, the museums, and the market within a walk, and staying in the centre suits anyone here for the colonial town. The bells ring across the centre.
Rooms sit near the church squares. Out along the Avenida del Mar and the beaches, the hotels line the shore. A room by the sea trades the old town for the sand, the promenade, and a swim in the cool Pacific.
The bare hills rise behind the coast. If you want the churches, stay in the centre; if you want the beach, take a room by the sea. La Serena's colonial streets stay close whether you sleep by the sea or by the plaza.
About La Serena
La Serena is known as the city of churches.
What is La Serena known for?
Nearly thirty colonial churches of stone rise among its low white streets, laid out in a graceful old-Spanish style, and long beaches run down to the Pacific below, while the clear skies of the Elqui Valley draw stargazers inland. The old bells ring across the town. Churches and coast mark the city.
What are the main landmarks in La Serena?
The old churches are the pride of La Serena. Nearly thirty colonial temples of pale stone rise across the town, above all the San Agustín and La Merced churches, the emblem of the city, near the main square. Museums fill the old houses.
The Archaeological Museum keeps a moai from Easter Island, while the Gabriel González Videla house-museum and the mineral museum mark the streets.
What is the history of La Serena?
La Serena is one of the oldest cities in Chile. The Spanish founded it in 1544 as a stop on the road north to Peru, and though pirates and raiders burned it more than once, it rose each time in stone, filling with churches and convents. Silver and copper made it rich.
The mines of the dry hills around brought wealth to the port, and the merchants built the fine houses and churches that still line the streets. A plan remade the old town. In the twentieth century a Chilean president born here, Gabriel González Videla, ordered the city rebuilt in a graceful colonial style, with white walls, arches, and red tiles throughout.
Then the coast drew the crowds. Beaches, a mild climate, and the clear skies of the Elqui Valley made La Serena a favourite resort of the north, its shore lined with hotels. The old churches still crown the streets.
La Serena keeps its churches and its beaches by the Pacific.
Where is La Serena?
La Serena lies on the Pacific coast of northern Chile at the edge of the desert. The city sits on a terrace above a long sandy bay, where the green Elqui Valley meets the sea, on the dry northern coast below the Andes. Bare brown hills rise behind the town.
The Pacific stretches wide to the west.
What is the climate of La Serena?
La Serena has a mild, dry coastal climate. Warm, dry summers and cool winters cross the coast, softened by the ocean and lit by clear skies, with almost no rain in the desert air. Sea fog drifts in on some mornings.
The bright clear nights draw the stargazers.
How do you get to La Serena?
La Serena lies on the coast of north-central Chile. Its airport links the city to Santiago down the coast, and the main highway runs along the shore between the capital and the desert north. Buses reach the Elqui Valley towns inland.
Most arrive by road or air along the coast.
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More cities in Región de Coquimbo
Updated August 2026