The Archaeological Museum, two blocks east of the Plaza de Armas, holds one of the best pre-Columbian collections in northern Chile. Diaguita ceramics in geometric black-and-red, Molle-period pottery, mummies from the Atacama, and the museum's prize possession: an Easter Island moai, one of only a handful off the island.
Modest from the outside, well-curated inside, and quiet — most visitors to La Serena bypass it on their way to the Elqui Valley. Allow an hour. Closed Sundays and Mondays.