Coquimbo is the port city across the bay from La Serena, rougher around the edges and less immediately graceful than its neighbour. That is part of the point. Where La Serena sells colonial calm and beach promenades, Coquimbo gives you working harbour, football, seafood, a jumble of hills, and some odd monuments that could only belong to a port with a long immigrant history.
The sight everyone notices first is the Cruz del Tercer Milenio, an enormous concrete cross on El Vigía hill. More interesting, in a quieter way, are the old port streets around the Barrio Inglés, the little Fuerte Lambert, and the Moroccan-style Mohammed VI Center. South of the centre, La Herradura is the easiest beach escape.
Coquimbo works well as a half-day or full-day trip from La Serena. It is not prettier than La Serena, and it knows it, but it has more grit, better harbour atmosphere, and enough eccentricity to reward travellers who enjoy places that do not tidy themselves up too much for visitors.