Experience the best of Antofagasta

Antofagasta is the largest city of northern Chile, a port squeezed between the Pacific and the dry coastal range of the Atacama, one of the driest deserts in the world. The nitrate and copper trade built it, and the ruins of the Huanchaca silver smelter, now a museum, stand at the southern edge. The Plaza Colón has a clock tower modelled on Big Ben, and the old nitrate pier recalls the boom years.

North of the city, La Portada is a natural arch of sea-cut rock rising from the surf. Inland, the road crosses the desert to Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, one of the largest open-pit mines in the world, and goes on to San Pedro de Atacama. The Mano del Desierto, a giant hand rising from the sand beside the Pan-American Highway, stands south of the city.

Seafood comes off the boats at the fishing cove: ceviche, fried fish and shellfish are the standard orders. The sea is cold from the Humboldt Current, so days are mild, almost rainless, and often start with coastal fog.