The spectacular setting on a windswept ocean headland makes it easy to understand why Isla Negra was Pablo Neruda’s favorite house. Built by the poet when he became rich in the 1950s, it was stormed by soldiers just days after the 1973 military coup when Neruda was dying of cancer.
Overenthusiastic commercialization gives a definite Disney-Neruda vibe to visits here: indifferent guides quick-march you through the house, and they’d rather you lingered in the gift shop than over the extraordinary collections of shells, ships in bottles, nautical instruments, colored glass and books. Despite this, the seemingly endless house (Neruda kept adding to it) and its contents are still awe-inspiring. There’s no one to stop you taking your time on the terrace outside, however, where Neruda’s tomb and that of his third wife, Matilde, overlook the sea. Reservations are essential in high season.
