In a nutshellA full tour of Arica, a city located in the Atacama desert. We will discover its history and culture, admiring artefacts, mummies and wonderful geoglyphs from the pre-Columbian era, and its deserts and plateaus, in a truly special setting.

Main stops

Morro de Arica: a cliff overlooking the ocean with panoramic views of the city, weapons museum
Archaeological museum: artefacts and mummies from the pre-Columbian era
Geoglyphs in the valley of Azapa
Handicraft village
St Mark's Cathedral

The programme

Our tour of Arica will begin with a visit to the Morro de Arica, a 139-metre-high cliff, which overlooks the ocean and protects the city from the winds from the south. From the cliff top, we have spectacular panoramic views of the city and of the green Azapa Valley. There is also a small weapons museum commemorating the battle of Arica in 1880 during the Pacific War, when Chilean troops conquered the city, defeating the Peruvian army.
Our next stop is the Archaeological Museum, which boasts a significant collection of pre-Columbian artefacts and mummies preserved in the sand and dating back to 5000 BC. These are the oldest mummies in the world and they are truly unique because of the artificial preparation method used.
Our excursion will continue to the surroundings of Arica as we discover the fantastic geoglyphs along the slopes of the hills of Azapa valley. They are drawings carved into the land by the pre-Columbian people using stones or scratching the salty surface of the desert soil, which depict human and animal shapes and pastoral scenes.
We will stop for photos there and then continue on to the handicrafts village where there are several shops selling typical Chilean items made from wool and ceramics.
After our visit to the village, we will head back towards the centre of Arica to visit the main square and St Mark’s Cathedral, with its unique iron structure, built by French engineer Gustave Eiffel and opened in 1876.
After visiting the cathedral, we will return to the ship.

Good to know

Flash photography is not permitted inside the Archaeological Museum and there is an extra charge for video recordings.
Entrance fee the museum at Morro is not included in the tour.
Appropriate clothing for places of worship is recommended; avoid shorts and vests.