La Ligua

La Ligua is known for two things sold together. The first is knitwear: the town has a long tradition of hand and machine knitting and its shops sell sweaters, blankets and wool by the kilo, which is why buses stop here. The second is dulces de La Ligua - manjar-filled pastries, alfajores, empolvados and chilenitos - sold at the highway turnoff by vendors in white coats and caps who stand at the roadside waving baskets at passing cars, a practice that has been going since the mid twentieth century and is unlike anything else on the Chilean road system. The town itself is inland from the stop.

What you actually see

• Vendors in white coats at the roadside - flagging down cars with baskets.
• Manjar-filled pastries - alfajores, empolvados and chilenitos.
• Knitwear shops in the town - sweaters, blankets and wool by the kilo.
• A practice from the mid twentieth century - still running the same way.

When to go

Year round. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The famous roadside stop is at the turnoff, not in the town - the two are a few kilometres apart. Stopping on a fast highway needs care. The pastries are extremely sweet. Knitwear quality varies widely between shops.

Nearby

Papudo and Zapallar are on the coast west; Santiago is south.