Experience the best of Iquique

Iquique sits on a narrow ledge between the ocean and a towering wall of desert hills, with a tall dune, Cerro Dragón, rising behind the city. Its fortune came from nitrate, and the wooden mansions along Calle Baquedano and the Palacio Astoreca, now a museum, date from that boom. The clock tower on Plaza Prat and the theatre beside it are from the late nineteenth century. The town was Peruvian until the War of the Pacific, and the naval battle fought off its harbour in May 1879 is still remembered here.

Inland, the ghost towns of Humberstone and Santa Laura, saltpetre works abandoned in the twentieth century, are a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the Pampa del Tamarugal beyond is a desert plain with groves of tamarugo trees and ancient hillside geoglyphs. The oasis town of Pica has orchards of limes and mangoes.

Pica's limes go into the city's pisco sours, and ceviche and fried fish are staples along the seafront. In mid-July the desert village of La Tirana fills with costumed dancers for a pilgrimage festival. Rain is rare in Iquique, and the city stays dry through the year.