A Local’s Guide to the Elqui Valley, Chile
The Elqui Valley, in the Coquimbo Region of northern Chile, is where the last remnants of the Atacama Desert give way to the first large fertile valleys in the country. Located roughly one hour away from the coastal city of La Serena, the Elqui Valley is known for its production of pisco, a clear liquor made from grapes that has been recognized as Chile’s national brandy and which you can taste at different distilleries in the are.
The valley also has some of the highest vineyards in the country, where Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and - to a lesser extent - Malbec varieties are grown.
Now, if you’re not so interested in drinking, don’t fret - the Elqui Valley has a broad array of activities and attractions, mainly outdoor-focused. Its 300 days of clear skies are perfect for stargazing through both manual and high-techn observatories, while its quartz-laden mountains attract people in search of this stone, which is highly coveted in alternative healing and spiritual pursuits.
Since the alleged crash of a UFO in the area in 1998, the Elqui Valley has also become an important meeting place for alien enthusiasts. And if you’re interested in culture, you’ll enjoy visiting the house-museum of poet Gabriela Mistral, Chile’s first - and only - female Nobel laureate in literature. She was born in this valley and is buried in the town of Montegrande.
So, whatever you come here for, and where you travel through the region with a car, by foot (there’s lot of hiking), or on horseback, you’ll find that visiting the Elqui Valley is a very, very worthwhile experience.
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Table of Contents
What is the Eqlui Valley?
Why visit
Where is the Valley and how to get here
Best time to visit
How long to spend
Where to stay
What to see and do
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Why visit?
Whether you like tasting wines and liquors, stargazing, hiking, learning about local culture, going on spiritual retreats, practicing alternative therapies, or following UFO sightings, you’ll find plenty of options in the Elqui Valley.
For instance, there are more than a dozen family- or community-owned pisco production plants – most of them part of the Ruta del Pisco (Pisco Route) – that you can visit to learn about the process and do some tastings.
This is also a relevant astronomy hub, thanks to its extremely clear skies. Here, you’ll find at least six observatories that you can visit, most of which are small and run by families or the community. Among these, the most popular is the Mamalluca Observatory in the town of Vicuña. If you want a more state-of-the-art experience, you can book a tour of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO).
The Elqui Valley’s abundance of magnetite and quartz has prompted many people to consider it one of the earth’s strongest magnetic centers, attracting visitors looking to balance their energy and achieve spiritual growth. Hence the broad availability of spas and health centers offering alternative therapies, such as relaxing on top of a quartz bed or enjoying a massage among the mountains.
You can also practice water sports at the Puclaro Reservoir, visit the site where a UFO allegedly crashed near the town of Paihuano in 1998, and learn about Chile’s first Nobel laureate for literature, poet Gabriela Mistral.
Mistral was also a teacher and a diplomat, and you can visit her house-museum in the town of Vicuña and her resting place in the town of Montegrande. Gabriela was also just the second Latin-American to receive a Nobel Prize, all the way back in 1945!
Where is the Elqui Valley and how to get here
Where is the Valley
The Elqui Valley is located in the administrative region of Coquimbo in northern Chile, along parallel 30 of the Southern Hemisphere, approximately 310 miles north of Santiago and not far from the coast, being about 37 miles east of La Serena, the nearest big city.
The valley extends inland from there, running alongside the Elqui River, and is dotted with small towns and many vineyards.
This is the first large agricultural valley in Chile and provides a fresh change of scenery from the vast barren expansions of the Atacama Desert to its north.
How to get here
To reach the valley, you first have to get to the regional capital, La Serena. All three Chilean domestic airlines provide regular flights between Santiago and La Serena, some of them on a daily basis.
If you prefer, you can also take a bus from Santiago to La Serena, which takes roughly six hours. You can check timetables and rates on these websites featuring both Spanish and English dashboards: https://kupos.cl/en and https://www.recorrido.cl/en.
From La Serena, you have several options to visit the Elqui Valley:
Organized tours: You can book a shared or private tour with a local operator, and can do se directly at the airport or through your hotel. These tours will take you to the valley’s main attractions and they usually include lunch at a tradtitional restaurant.
Buses/colectivos: Alternatively, if you’re on a budget or short on time and don’t want to make too many stops along the way, you can take a bus directly from La Serena to Vicuña, the main town in the Elqui Valley.
At the bus terminal in La Serena (conveniently located on Amunátegui Street #107), you’ll find that the Romani bus line has three daily departures for Vicuña, at 5:15 a.m., at 8:00 p.m., and at 9:45 p.m. and tickets cost about $5 USD.
There are other companies that operate this route as well (it’s a popular trip), and between them all you’ll likely find departures about once per hour. On arrival in Vicuña, just make sure to ask around to find out when the last bus back to La Serena is.
The ride will take 1-2 hours depending on how many stops the bus makes.
Over on Domeyko street, you’ll find colectivos, which vans or minibuses that offer a semi-public form of transport, where each passenger pays for a seat and the vehicle leaves when full.
Renting a car: Finally, you can also rent a car at the airport or at a local office in downtown La Serena and just explore at your own pace. This is particularly convenient if you decide to visit the Elqui Valley for longer than just one day, but you should be sure to fill up your tank in La Serena because there are only two gas stations in the valley – in Vicuña and Rivadavia - and they sometimes run out of fuel.
Take Route 5 (the Pan-American Highway) and then the exit to Route CH-41, driving straight towards the mountains and admiring the view of the different attractions in this valley. It’s a great drive, so just roll down the windows and let the wind blow through your hair!
When to visit
Photo: Adolto Toloza, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This is by far one of my favorite destinations in Chile, and you can come to the Valley any day of the year, even just for the weekend, and always have something interesting to do, whether you travel alone or with friends and family.
The Valley has clear skies almost all year round, with especially pleasant temperatures in winter. During the summer, temperatures get very high, so I recommend you come with appropriate clothing, as well as sunglasses, sunscreen, and plenty of water.
So, while there is no “bad” time to come here, there are seasonal factors to keep in mind, so I’ve provided what I hope is a helpful breakdown of those below:
Summer (December to March)
This is the high season for tourism in Chile, when you’ll find the broadest offer throughout the year and everything will be open, but you’ll also run into more crowds. This is because Chileans usually take their annual holidays in February and children don’t start school again until March. Daily temperatures range between 58° F and 77° F.
Because of the high influx of tourists, there are several events throughout the valley. The most important ones are the celebration of the anniversary of the town of Vicuña, on February 22, and the Carnaval Elquino (Elqui Valley Carnival), which begins in January (on a date to be established each year) and lasts 45 days.
More than a carnival, it’s like a summer festival, with live folk and pop music performances, competitions, traditional food stalls, even art and book fairs. The festivities end with the Corso de Flores (Flowers Parade), which consists of a parade of dancers and allegorical floats and constitutes the actual carnival aspect of the event.
If you’re interested in wine making and brewing, then you shouldn’t miss the Fiesta de la Vendimia de Vicuña (Vicuña Harvest Festival). It’s usually held on the last Sunday of February and brings together not only the valley’s pisco and wine producers, but also the area’s few but not less noteworthy breweries.
Autumn (March to June)
This is a fantastic time to visit northern Chile, when things are winding down after the summer high and daily temperatures are quite pleasant, ranging between 49° F and 75° F.
If you’re here in April, you’ll probably get to experience some of the many activities held to celebrate the birth of Nobel Literature Prize poet Gabriela Mistral, who was born on April 7, 1889.
Poetry readings, live performances by musicians who have turned her poems into songs, painting and photograph exhibitions, as well as the awarding of writing competitions are all part of the varied offer during the Month of Poetry in Vicuña.
Winter (June to September)
Our winter is considered low traffic season, although some families travel to northern Chile during their children’s two-week winter recess, usually in July. Prices are also lower but with less alternatives to choose from, as some businesses will be closed at this time.
This is the coldest time of the year, with daily temperatures range between 44° F and 66° F. In some of the towns closer to the Andes Mountains, when it gets very cold there will even be snow, especially in Pisco Elqui and El Colorado.
If you’re here in July, you may be able to experience some of the hype surrounding astronomical tourism in the area. On July 2, 2022, a law was enacted establishing July 2 as the National Astrotourism Day in Chile. This date was chosen in honor of the solar eclipse that took place in 2019, which attracted thousands of visitors to the Coquimbo region to witness this unique astronomical phenomenon.
Astrotourism Day has become an important date here, and it’s a time when the Elqui Valley really shows off its broad astronomical tourism offerings, providing visitors with the opportunity of enjoying solar observation with telescopes, participating in talks and workshops, launching paper rockets, and watching alien movies, among other fun events.
Spring (September to December)
This is a great time to travel north. The weather is mild and pleasant, and attractions and services are open, but you won’t find any large crowds. It is likely that most days will already be quite clear and suitable for visiting swimming pools or rivers, if the winds allow, since we still find many windy days during this season. Daily temperatures range between 48° F and 73° F, but you must consider the wind-chill factor!
If you come on the week of September 18, you might run into some people celebrating Chile’s independence from Spain. In fact, the Pampilla de San Isidro – held during Independence week in Vicuña - is one of the most important traditional festivals in the Elqui Valley.
Only about a mile from the Plaza de Armas in Vicuña, you will find food stalls, various folkloric shows, popular games, Chilean races on bare horseback, and art fairs.
How long to spend
The Elqui Valley is not generally considered to be a multi-day destination, at least not for most visitors. Therefore, tourists (both international and domestic alike) come here mostly on day trips, either on their own or with a local tour operator, typically starting from the city of La Serena.
While a day will give you time to see some of the main sights, as I mentioned above, I really love this part of the country, so I would recommend spending a full two days here, staying overnight in the Valley, rather than traveling back and forth to La Serena each day.
Here’s what I’d suggest for a 2-day itinerary:
Day 1
Ideally, on you first day in the region, you’ll be picked up at or depart from your hotel in La Serena by no later than 8:30 AM. You should arrive to the town of El Molle, your first stop, by about 9:30. Here, you’ll find a lovely lodge that also harbors Ruta 41, one of the few artisan breweries in the valley. You can enjoy a tour and tastings if you’re up for it (although it’d be a bit early, I admit!).
Alternatively, if it’s too early for a tasting, you can head straight to the Puclaro reservoir, from where you will have a beautiful panoramic view of the valley. Here, you can also practice non-motorized watersports such as windsurfing, kitesurfing, and kiteboarding (there are companies that rent the necessary equipment).
Next, continue on towards the town of Vicuña. Take a walk through the Plaza de Armas to see the famous Bauer Tower and visit the artisans' village. Enjoy lunch at the Solar de Villaseca restaurant, known for being powered entirely by solar energy.
After lunch, visit the Capel plant to learn how this cooperative of small wine growers became one of the largest pisco producers in the country and enjoy a tour and some tastings of the various varieties they produce.
Next, for something easy and relaxing, how about a visit to any of the nearby spas for some treatments and pampering? You’re in a mystic valley after all, so a bit of alternative healing is definitely in order!
In the evening, you absolutely need to head out to one of the observatories (as mentioned above, there are multiple around here - Mamalluca Observatory is right in Vicuña) for what will undoubtedly be some of the best star gazing of your life.
Overnight in Vicuña
Day 2
On your second day here, start the morning off with a visit to the Gabriela Mistral museum in Vicuña. From there, continue to Montegrande, to visit its beautiful church and the Gabriela Mistral House-School Museum.
The museum offers a really great opportunity to see what life was like back then in the early 1900’s and to get an appreciation for how a girl from such an isolated town could become a Nobel laureate and a beacon of hope and inspiration for so many.
From Montegrande, continue on up the road until you reach Pisco Elqui, the last town in the Elqui Valley and the one closest to the Andes Mountains. Walk around to see the church, the square, and the crafts fair before enjoying lunch at Hotel Elqui, the oldest lodging establishment in the valley.
And in case you’re looking to sample a bit more pisco, you’ve got to head over to the Pisco Mistral or Doña Josefa distilleries. In the words of the famous Chef Gordon Ramsay: “Taste everything!”
At this point, it’s tome to hop back in the car and start heading back toward Vicuña and La Serena, but first make a stop at the town of Paihuano, where a UFO allegedly crashed in 1998. There’s even a lookout where you can observe the crash site!
From here, continue on another hour or so and you’ll be back in La Serena, recharged and ready for some more Chilean adventures!
Connect with Carola in Patagonia for help perfecting your itinerary, answers to all your travel questions, and fabulous local tips for a better visit!
Where to stay in the Valley - best bases
Being an important tourism destination, you’ll find plenty of lodging options when visiting the Elqui Valley. The main base that most travelers choose, especially those who plan to visit the Valley only on a day trip, is the city of La Serena, the regional capital, which is also a hub to other popular destinations.
There are other very nice towns to visit within the valley itself though, and if you’re after a more serene experience, that’s what I’d recommend. Here’s a quick overview of my suggested bases:
La Serena
With a population of nearly 270,000 people, La Serena is a big city and the capital of the Coquimbo Region. Founded in 1544, it’s the second oldest city in Chile after Santiago.
La Serena has an active university life and all kinds of financial and logistics services, and because of its broad tourism offerings, many people prefer to stay in La Serena and from there visit the nearby destinations.
Here, you’ll find accommodations for any budget, including hostels, serviced apartments, and five-star hotels.
The city was built on coastal terraces and boasts a beautiful coastline with extensive beaches. Avenida del Mar is one of the most famous promenades, and starting at the Faro Monumental - a lighthouse that has become a symbol of the city - you can walk along the avenue for 2.7 miles, enjoying the palm trees and adjacent bike trail.
La Serena is a prominent tourism destination, especially during the summer, when thousands of people come to enjoy its beaches, architecture, green areas, and gastronomy. The city is also known for its production of a native fruit called papaya, which needs to be canned before being consumed.
Vicuña
With a population of approximately 31,000, Vicuña is known as the capital of the Elqui Valley and Chilean Pisco, in addition to being the birthplace of Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945.
The current city of Vicuña was founded on February 22, 1821, with the name of Villa de San Isidro, and kept it until 1872, when it obtained the title of City and was renamed simply Vicuña, in honor of its founder.
This is the largest city in the Elqui Valley and the only one where you will find a proper grocery store. I mention this because while you will see small shops in almost all other towns or localities, they do not offer too much variety and the prices may vary quite a bit (they’ll be more expensive).
This is also the only sure place where you can find an ATM in a bank, but even so, I recommend withdrawing cash in La Serena, just in case the ATM in Vicuña is out of order or out of money (not frequent, but it happens).
Being the biggest city in the area, this is also where you’ll find the widest selection of accommodation, ranging from hotels to hostels, lodges, and cabins.
Pisco Elqui
With a population of approximately 700 people, Pisco Elqui is the smallest town on my list of potential bases. However, it’s very popular among travelers, and despite its small size, it ranks second to Vicuña in terms of the array of lodging alternatives.
Hotels, hostels, cabins, and lodges can all be find here, and the array of accommodations even includes domed structures dedicated to astronomic tourism.
Located in the heart of the Elqui Valley, tourists come here to find leisure, relaxation, and good drinks, since you’ll be able to try some of the best hand-distilled piscos in the country.
Paihuano
A little over 4,700 people live in this quaint town that became famous after a UFO allegedly crashed here in 1998. Since then, this “Chilean Roswell” – as some call it - has attracted a growing number of tourists seeking to take a look at the crash site and even hoping to establish contact with aliens.
So much so that there’s even a movie underway – Misión UFO - as a joint production between filming companies from Spain and Chile. If you want to be part of the cast, you can apply here!
Although this is a very small town, you’ll find that there is one hostel and a few cabins where you can stay and relax. Walk along its streets and admire the old Paihuano Church and the area’s colonial architecture. Enjoy the rural ambience of its restaurants while having a glass of pisco mixed with local fruits.
What to see and do in the Valley
1. Conquer the Andes Mountains on horseback
If you’re feeling brave and want to experience a different side of the Elqui Valley, I totally recommend going on a horseback riding tour to the mountains. There are several local operators offering all kinds of excursions on horseback, including day and night rides.
The most popular is the one that leads you to the lookout point in Pisco Elqui, which takes approximately 1 hour and can be booked through Elqui Experience.
However, if you have more time and would like to see stunning landscapes, I suggest you book a 2-hour horseback riding tour along the Cochiguaz River that will take you to a nature sanctuary located at almost 5,250 ft above sea level in the Andes Mountains.
After a brief introduction with your horse, you will enter the semi-arid forest, while receiving instructions to make the most of this experience. Some tour operators will allow time for you to bathe in one of the famous natural pools that the river is known for.
It’s a great way to replenish your body and soul! You can book this tour with Elqui Experience and Ecoturismo La Serena.
Views from Cochiguaz. Photo: Rosario Nieto Chadwick, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped from original.
2. Find new constellations in the southern sky
Boasting over 300 days with clear skies per year, the Elqui valley is a privileged location to observe constellations and galaxies far, far away. You may be surprised to know that the sky is also divided into northern and southern hemispheres and that the constellations in them are not the same. For instance, you can’t see the Southern Cross in the northern hemisphere.
There are two scientific observatories and nearly a dozen tourism observatories in the Elqui Valley that you can visit. Additionally, some hotels have begun to install professional telescopes on their roofs or terraces and some local entrepreneurs are organizing open-air tourist activities to offer astro experiences with the naked eye or with smaller telescopes while enjoying a catering service with bonfires and pisco sour.
The two scientific observatories are located south of the Puclaro Reservoir, on the Tololo and Pachón hills. Both of them are owned by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NSF NOIRLab) and offer free guided tours.
The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is open for public visits on Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. The Gemini South or SOAR telescope on Cerro Pachón is open for public visits on Fridays at 9:00 a.m. For both observatories, you need to book your visit at least 24 hours in advance, organize your own transportation, and be at the Observatory Access Gate one hour before your tour so you can board the bus.
If you want to visit any of the tourism observatories, you can either book a tour with a local operator, like Elqui Experience, or directly with your preferred observatory.
Just keep in mind that you’ll require transportation to reach the sites where this activity takes place and that you should make sure to eat and/or carry a snack because these tours end late at night, when the majority of restaurants and shops are closed.
Some of the most popular tourism observatories are: Mamalluca, one of the oldest and best equipped, located close to Vicuña; Migrantes, which offers to take a photo of you against the starry night, located in Pisco Elqui; and Chakana, which is named after the word the Quechua peoples used when referring to the Southern Cross constellation, located in downtown Pisco Elqui.
The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Photo: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Sparks, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
3. Uncover the secrets of pisco
Pisco is Chile’s national spirit, made from a variety of white grapes called Moscatel and with a designation of origin in the Elqui Valley since 1931. The planted vineyards reflect the efforts of small- and medium-sized farmers who created cooperatives such as Capel, which stands for Cooperativa Agrícola Pisquera Elqui Limitada (Elqui Agricultural Pisco-producing Cooperative Limited) and has more than 80 years of history.
The well-known pisco route consists of visiting different distilleries around the Valley. Each of the pisco distilleries offers a tour of their processing plant to learn about how they make the spirits.
At the end of the tours, you can taste the piscos they produce and purchase a few of their products. Some of the distilleries that you can visit are: Capel and Aba, in Vicuña; and Fundo Los Nichos, Mistral, and Doña Josefa, in Pisco Elqui.
While most wines in Chile have an Alcoholic Beverage Volume (ABV) that, on average, ranges between 11% and 15%, Pisco is much higher!
There are four categories of this spirit according to Chilean regulations: 1) Pisco Corriente o Tradicional, with an ABV of 30% to 35%; 2) Pisco Especial, with an ABV of 35% to 40%; 3) Pisco Reservado, with an ABV of 40%; and 4) Gran Pisco, with an ABV of 43% or higher.
So, drink it carefully, keeping in mind that this is a pretty high alcoholo content beverage! Also, note that Pisco is rarely consumed alone, or on the rocks. Rather, it’s usually mixed into a cocktail, and the two most common versions are Piscola (Pisco and a cola drink of your choice), normally available at any party or bar, and Pisco Sour (Pisco, sugar, lemon juice, and ice), served with appetizers at restaurants.
Rows of grape vines in the Valley. Photo: ZKP, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4. Too much pisco? Try some local wine and beer instead!
Believe it or not, there is another alcoholic beverage with designation of origin in the Elqui Valley. It’s the pajarete! This is a sweet wine, like a late harvest, which is also produced by the pisco plants and has its own national day to celebrate it on September 15.
If you prefer more traditional wines, however, you may want to visit Viña Falernia, in Vicuña, and Viña Cavas del Valle, in Paihuano. Both wineries produce premium varieties and blends and offer tours of their vineyards and cellars to small groups.
Are you really a beer person? That’s OK, we’ve got you! Ruta 41 brewery at Refugio El Molle, in El Molle, and Guayacán brewery, in the town Diaguitas, offer tours and tastings of their production plants. Both also have ‘beer gardens,’ which are like small pubs where you can enjoy good food along with their different beers and ales.
5. Learn about the ancient El Molle civilization in the town of Diaguitas
Aside from tasting wonderful beers, while you’re visiting the town Diaguitas you can learn about the ancestral cultures that inhabited the valley.
The El Molle peoples – discovered here in 1938 - established the first pre-Hispanic farming and pottery village in this area of northern Chile, where they lived from the 3rd century BC until the 8th century, when they gave way to the Diaguita culture, which flourished here between the 13th and 15th centuries.
This town with cobbled streets and adobe houses is mainly inhabited by artisans who identify with the Diaguita culture and try to keep its spirit alive through replicas of their pottery. Don’t hesitate to show your support by getting a souvenir.
6. Do some watersports at the Puclaro Reservoir
The Puclaro Reservoir is one of the largest engineering works that can be found in the Coquimbo region. The initial studies for its construction began in 1991, while it wasn’t finished until 1999, when it was filled with more than 7 billion cubic feet of water.
The reason for the delay in its construction is that it required flooding the town of Gualliguaica, which was known for its large vineyards and small country houses, as well as the hamlets of La Polvada and Punta Azul.
The reservoir is open for visitors, free of charge, from Tuesday to Sunday between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Activities with motorized vehicles are banned in order to keep the water 100% free of contamination to supply drinking water to cities such as La Serena and Coquimbo. However, you can enjoy non-motorized sports such windsurfing, kitesurfing, and kiteboarding.
On the shore of the reservoir, in the Gualliguaica sector, you can find different academies like PROKITE and Kitesurf Gualliguaica where you can book individual lessons on the activity you wish to master.
Photo: de:Benutzer:Bahnhofsralf, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons
7. Get inspired by the life and work of the poet Gabriela Mistral
“I'm called Hope and you're called Rose:
but losing our names we'll both go free,
a dance on the hills, and nothing more,
a dance on the hills is all we'll be.”
(Translation into English of the last stanza of the poem ‘Give Me Your Hand’ by Gabriela Mistral)
Born in Vicuña, in 1889, as Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, this Chilean poet became the first woman and Latin-American writer to receive the Nobel Literature Prize in 1945. Under the pen name Gabriela Mistral, she wrote articles in the local newspapers of Vicuña and La Serena and published eight books of poems.
She became a teacher and then a diplomat. Due to the influence of her views on education, she travelled to Mexico to provide advice for that country’s educational reform in the 1920s. Gabriela Mistral died in 1957 in New York, while serving as Chile’s consul.
In her will, she stipulated that the money produced from the sale of her books in South America should go to the poor children of Montegrande, where she spent her best childhood years.
You can learn about the origins and life of the Chilean poet by visiting the Gabriela Mistral Museum, in the Plaza de Armas of Vicuña, and the Gabriela Mistral House-School Museum in Montegrande, where she lived when she was between three and nine years old.
Here, you can also visit her final resting place, which was established according to her last wishes, surrounded by the hills where she danced and laughed as a child.
The Gabriela Mistral monument in Montegrande. Photo: Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
8. Try out some alternative healing and therapies
The alleged sighting of luminous points in the latitudes of the Elqui Valley by astronauts of the Gemini mission in 1967 prompted many people from all over the world to come here in search for the earth’s new geomagnetic center.
The logic behind this is that many of our planet’s most important religious or spiritual structures are located on parallel 30° Latitude north, such as the Egyptian pyramids, Jerusalem, and Tibet in the Himalayan Mountains. All of them geomagnetic centers at some point during recorded history!
In fact, Tibet was considered to be the geomagnetic center during the Age of Pisces. However, believers of the New Age are convinced that with the coming of the Age of Aquarius, the center has shifted to the same parallel in the southern hemisphere, that is the Elqui Valley in Chile.
As a result, over the following decades a large influx of foreigners came to live here in search for a place with mystical properties, therapies, and cosmic energy.
As you can imagine, there is no shortage of health and spiritual centers offering all kinds of therapies in this relaxing setting. Most of them are located close to the towns of Pisco Elqui and Cochiguaz.
Enjoy harmonizing your chakras to the sound of bowls made from quartz at Punto de Luz or by meditating on a bed of quartz rocks at Arte Vivo. For a more holistic experience, visiting different centers, you can contact specialized tour operators such as Turismo Migrantes or TourMisticos.
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