When I think of a desert, I usually picture endless sand dunes. However, the Atacama Desert is something entirely different. After crossing into Chile from Bolivia, we found ourselves surrounded by snow-capped mountains. At the feet of such towering beauty, the swirling orange dust and rocky landscape reminded us that we had arrived in a truly unique place.
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 draw comparisons to the surface of Mars. Historically, this area was contested during the War of the Pacific in the 1800s, with both Bolivia and Chile claiming ownership. Ultimately, Chile gained control, cutting Bolivia off from the sea in the process.
Table of Contents
Itinerary & Map
We entered Chile through the Bolivian border. We then spent a total of 10 days in the Atacama Desert and Arica. During these days, we did multiple day trips while keeping San Pedro de Atacama as our home base.
San Pedro de Atacama
Originally, when we were planing our South America trip, Chile was not part of the itinerary. But, since it was on our way anyways, we decided that we could not miss it!
San Pedro de Atacama (3,159m / 10,364 ft) is located just a couple of km away from the border with Bolivia. It is a very popular destination, and during our time there, we met many tourists from different parts of the world. Our transfer to Chile was arranged through the same agency that organized our Uyuni tour, making the process seamless. We simply had to 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 reflected this higher cost 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 itinerary with a few self-organized biking trips, trekking, and bus tours. Throughout our stay, we used San Pedro de Atacama as our main base and enjoyed daily excursions from there.
If you have any logistical questions or you need information about tourist attractions, I highly recommend visiting Sernatur, next to the main square.
Below are the places we’ve visited. But there are many more you can choose from.
Valle de la Luna
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.
You can explore the valley on an organized half-day tour, or choose to visit by bike or car.
Pietras Rojas and Laguna Altiplanicas
Among the many tours on offer, we decided to book a full day trip to visit the scenic lagoons of the Atacama Desert.
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.
If you’d have to ask me what I remember of this day, one thing would definitely be the cold wind. I mean, the lagoons were incredible! But after having already spent two days visiting the lagoons in Bolivia, this didn’t feel much different. These two 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 thinking that you are in the Atacama desert and that it will be always warm. The lagoon is located above 4,000m / 13,123 ft, so even during a sunny day it is not warm. Despite this, the wind is the main enemy. When we got out of the minibus, a blast of cold air made us all shiver! I basically spent the whole time outside running from left to right, to keep myself warm.
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. The contrast of the red rocks and the turquoise water make this landscape unique!
If you have a car, this tour can also be easily organised independently. 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 lagoon, we were ready for a delicious meal. As we began our descent, the driver unexpectedly veered left and parked behind some rocks 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.
What felt like a relatively short day was already coming to an end. The last stop was the Salar de Atacama. With the background of the salt flats, we enjoyed the view of flamencos and the Andean mountains.
During this tour we appreciate spectacular landscapes with vibrant colours. Also we received insights about the vegetation, history and fauna of the Atacama desert.
Stargazing
The lunar-like landscapes and the behemoth mountains encapsulating 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 and 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. The best part was sitting in silence with our heads up, thinking about how big our universe really is.
Laguna Cejar
There are several lagoons that can be discovered on tours departing from San Pedro de Atacama. But, we really wanted to avoid the bustle and the crowd, so we decided to do it on our own. How? By renting a bike. In fact, this time we rented more comfortable bikes than during the Valle de la Luna and we also started quite early to beat the crowd.
The lagoon is approx 20 km away from San Pedro de Atacama. Although the road there was flat, it was surely bumpy. 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. Nevertheless, my body was starting to get numb. Also I was starting to lose sensitivity, so we did not stay in the water for too long.
We managed to escape the crowd 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 here in the morning.
Cerro Toco
When we first arrived in San Pedro de Atacama, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We had heard about the stunning landscapes and had looked up some activities online, but we were surprised to discover that we could actually hike to around 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 approx 5,600m, the experience is slightly different. In our case, Cerro Toco was the only available option for the day, but the decision was not easy.
Arica
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. 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.
