Ultimate 10 Day Atacama Desert Itinerary in the Northern Chile
When I think of a desert, I usually picture endless sand dunes. However, visiting the Atacama Desert is something entirely different. After crossing into Chile from Bolivia, we found ourselves surrounded by dormant volcanoes, salt flats and jagged rock formations. It was the perfect start to our Atacama Desert itinerary and helped to shape our plans for how to spend 10 days in the Atacama Desert.
Northern Chile, home to San Pedro de Atacama, is one of the driest regions in the world. Its sparse vegetation and striking red-orange terrain often remind of the Mars surface. The region also has a complex past; Bolivia and Chile claimed ownership of his area during the War of the Pacific in the 1800s. Ultimately, Chile gained control, leaving Bolivia landlocked.
If you’re planning a Chile itinerary including Atacama Desert, San Pedro is the perfect base. It’s also the getaway if you’re heading into Bolivia from San Pedro de Atacama or deciding where to go from San Pedro de Atacama next.
Overview: 10 Day Atacama Desert Itinerary & Map
We crossed into Chile from Bolivia and spent 10 days exploring the Atacama Desert and Arica. Our Atacama Desert itinerary was centered around San Pedro de Atacama, which we used as a convenient home base for multiple day trips. From there, we set out to discover some of Atacama Desert’s most iconic landscapes. This included salt flats, desert valleys, colorful lagoons and dormant volcanoes.
- Where: San Pedro de Atacama, Atacama Desert in Northern Chile
- How long: 10 days
- Best time to visit: year round; but March to May or September to November for fewer crowds
- Temperature: hot during the day (30°C / 86°F); freezing at night (-5°C / 23°F)
- ATMs and Cash: ATMs are limited in San Pedro and some tours prefer cash
- Top Attractions: Valle de la Luna, el Tatio Geysers, Cerro Toco, Laguna Miscanti & Miñiques, Salar de Atacama & flamingos, stargazing
Best time to visit the Atacama Desert
If you’re planning an Atacama Desert itinerary, the best time to visit is between March and May (autumn) or September and November (spring). During these months, there are less tourists compared to the peak season (December to February).
Between December and February, it can get very hot during the day. Also, you can expect occasional showers during these months, which might affect some of your trips.
Keep in mind, that Atacama is one of the driest and sunniest places on Earth. However, despite the heat during the day, nighttime temperatures can drop drastically below 0. Also, although the lowest point in the Atacama desert is San Pedro ( 2,400 m / 7,874 ft), the desert is at a high elevation reaching more than 5,000 in some areas. For instance, Tatio Geysers are above 4,300 m / 14,107 ft.
How to get around the Atacama Desert
The main getaway to the Atacama Desert is San Pedro de Atacama. To get there there are several options, which I list below:
- Fly to Calama: located 100 km (62 mi) north of San Pedro de Atacama and is the closest airport to the Atacama Desert
- By Bus: long-distance buses are another option if you’re traveling from Santiago or other northern cities in Chile
- By Car: the closest place to rent a car is in Calama; about 1.5 hour drive to San Pedro de Atacama
- Tours: if you’re crossing the border from Bolivia, you can organize a transfer as part of your Uyuni tour
Once you’re in San Pedro de Atacama, the most common way of exploring the desert is through guided tours. But, if you prefer more flexibility, you can rent a car and visit each attraction independently.
For instance, as we were crossing the border from Bolivia, we decided to rely mainly on guided tours. But one of our favorite days was when we went cycling in the Atacama Desert to Valle de la Luna. If you’re wondering where to go from San Pedro de Atacama without booking a tour, this is a great option.
San Pedro de Atacama: Home Base for an Atacama Desert Itinerary
Originally, when we were planning our backpacking trip in South America, a Chile itinerary including Atacama Desert was not on our list. Since it was on our way anyway, we figured we couldn’t pass up the chance!
San Pedro de Atacama (3,159m / 10,364 ft) is located just a few kilometers from the border with Bolivia. This makes it for a popular stop for travelers. During our time there, we met tourists from all over the world. Our transfer to Chile was organized through the same agency that arranged our Uyuni tour, which made the process incredibly smooth. All we had to do was fill out a few documents at the border, and that was it!
After enduring some frigid nights during our Uyuni trip, the heat of the Atacama desert felt like a welcome relief, at least for the first few minutes. Upon arrival, we immediately noticed the significant price difference compared to Bolivia and Peru. Not only were tour prices nearly on par with European rates, but restaurants and general facilities were more expensive as well.
Having already experienced numerous lagoons, geysers, and sandy landscapes during our Uyuni trip, we decided to skip some of the popular tours from San Pedro de Atacama. Instead, we balanced our Atacama Desert itinerary with a few self-organized biking trips, trekking, and bus tours. Throughout our stay, we used San Pedro de Atacama as our home base and enjoyed daily excursions from there.
Travel Tip: If you need information about tourist attractions, I highly recommend visiting Sernatur, next to the main square.
How to Spend 10 Days in the Atacama Desert
Wondering how to spend 10 days in the Atacama Desert? This itinerary covers the region’s most breathtaking sights. But, as I mentioned above, I left out some attractions that we we covered in our 4-day Uyuni tour. In fact, I highly recommend visiting Bolivia from San Pedro de Atacama on one of the Uyuni Salt Flats tours.
Valle de la Luna: Cycling in the Atacama Desert
Located just 13 km from San Pedro de Atacama, Valle de la Luna (“Moon Valley”) feels like a journey to the moon. Its stony and sandy landscape not only makes it one of the driest places on Earth but also closely resembles the lunar surface.
One of the best ways to experience Valle de la Luna is cycling in the Atacama Desert. You can rent a bike easily in town and explore the valley at your own pace. In fact, there are plenty of options for bike rental in San Pedro de Atacama. Of course, if you prefer, there are also organized half-day tours or the option to visit by car.
Piedras Rojas and Altiplanic Lagoons: a must-see day tour
Out of all the tours available, we chose to visit Piedras Rojas and the Altiplanic Lagoons. This was definitively a highlight on our Atacama Desert itinerary.
We got picked up at our hostel in the morning and after about 1 hour drive, we stopped to have breakfast in Socaire. Typical fresh bread, avocado and hot coffee… couldn’t get any better! After replenishing our bellies, we first stopped at the Miscanti and Miñiques Altiplanic lagoons.
Miscanti and Miñiques Altiplanic lagoons are located at the feet of the volcanoes and welcome a rich wildlife of vicunas, ducks and flamingos.
Next, we drove to the place we really booked this tour for: Pietras Rojas Lagoon. Don’t make the mistake of assuming it will always be warm during your Atacama Desert itinerary. The lagoon is located above 4,000 m (13,123 ft), so even during a sunny day it is not warm. Despite this, the wind is the real enemy.
From the parking area, there is a path along the lagoon that takes you around its panoramic viewpoints. The large red outcrop of rocks, distributed around the area, is the reason for its name. The intense red colour is mostly due to iron oxidation.
If you have a car, this trip can also be easily organized without a tour. The roads leading here are very well marked and paved, so there is no danger of getting lost.
After about 40 minutes of exploring the Pietras Rojas lagoon, we were ready for a delicious meal. As we began our descent, the driver unexpectedly veered left and parked in the middle of nowhere. To our surprise, this became our lunch spot! I cherish that memory and absolutely loved enjoying a well-prepared meal in the heart of the Atacama desert.
Salar de Atacama: surrounded by Andean mountains and flamingos
If you booked a tour to Pietras Rojas and Laguna Altiplanicas, your last stop will be at Salar de Atacama. With the background of the salt flats, we enjoyed the view of flamingos and the Andean mountains.
As we got to explore the Atacama desert, we received insights about the vegetation, history and fauna of this amazing place.
Stargazing on your Atacama Desert Itinerary
The lunar-like landscapes and the behemoth mountains surrounding San Pedro de Atacama are not the only views you can enjoy. At night, the sky takes over and covers the horizon in a coat of stars.
The Atacama desert benefits from perfect conditions for stargazing. The main reasons are the lack of humidity, high altitudes and low light pollution. Also, just think that half of the world’s ground-based astronomy projects are performed here!
Many tour agencies offer a stargazing tour, but we decided to do it on our own. In fact, our hostel was slightly outside of the city, at the outskirts of the Atacama desert. So, one night, we decided to chance our luck and see if we could catch some stars.
The outcome was fantastic and definitely a highlight when visiting the Atacama Desert.
Laguna Cejar: float in the middle of the Atacama Desert
There are several lagoons that can be discovered on tours departing from San Pedro de Atacama. But, if you’re wondering where to go from San Pedro de Atacama to avoid the crowds, cycling in the Atacama Desert is a great option. This time though we rented more comfortable bikes than those used when cycling Valle de la Luna.
Laguna Cejar is about 20 km from San Pedro de Atacama. While the road was mostly flat, it was quite bumpy in spots. It is not on the main road, so you get to enjoy the view the entire ride there. We used maps.me for navigation and it was easy to find the right direction.
Initially, we parked the bikes at the entrance of the lagoon and bought our tickets. Then, we visited a viewpoint right next to the entrance. Finally, we got our swimming suits on and reached the lagoon.
If you’re thinking, “The lagoon is in the middle of the desert, so the water must be warm,” think again! The water was not just cold, it was freezing! But we knew we had to take the plunge. After taking a few deep breaths to muster our courage, we finally dove into the circular part of the lagoon.
After lifting up one leg then another, we were floating! Because of the high concentration of salt in the lagoon, it is very easy to float.
We managed to escape the crowds and we had the lagoon all to ourselves. On our way back to San Pedro de Atacama we noticed all the tourist buses approaching the entrance. So, if you’re thinking of doing the same, rent a bike and cycle to Laguna Cejar in the morning.
Cerro Toco: hike a 5,600 m dormant volcano in the Atacama Desert
When we first arrived in San Pedro de Atacama, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We looked up some activities online, especially options for hiking in South America. But we were surprised to discover that we could actually hike up to 5,600 m (18,372 ft)!
We then had to decide whether to hike up Cerro Toco or Lascar. Although, they’re both volcanoes at about 5,600 m, the experience is slightly different. In our case, Cerro Toco was the only available option for the day, but the decision was not easy.
Drive to Arica and cross the border with Peru
From San Pedro de Atacama we traveled to Arica on an overnight bus. As there were no direct routes, we had to change in Calama. This city is also the closest with an airport to San Pedro de Atacama, in case you’re flying in.
Arica, in fairness, was unexceptional and allowed us to relax without planing much. We originally wanted to surf here, but during our stay there were no waves. Instead, we explored the local food market and had long walks along the beach.
From Arica we took a bus to Tacna, where we re-entered Peru, to continue our journey to Arequipa. This is where our Atacama Desert itinerary came to an end. At the border, the controls were organized and rather quick. To reach Arequipa, we had to change buses in Tacna. All in all, a very uncomplicated journey logistically speaking.
Conclusion: 10 Day Atacama Desert Itinerary
Chile is undoubtedly one of the best countries to visit in South America, with its diverse landscapes and rich cultural heritage. On our South America trip, we had the opportunity to experience some of the best things to do in the Atacama Desert over the course of 10 unforgettable days. This leg of our journey was definitely one of the highlights of our backpacking trip in South America.
