Atacama Desert

Altitude:
• San Pedro de Atacama: ~2,400 m

How to arrive:
• Fly to Calama (CJC), usually from Santiago
• Shared airport transfers are the simplest connection to San Pedro
• Calama airport → San Pedro is about 100 km / 1.5 hours
• Public buses also run from Calama city, but require an additional airport-to-city transfer

From Argentina:
• International buses can reach San Pedro from Salta / Jujuy through Paso de Jama
• Check operating days before building the itinerary around this connection

What to do:
• Rest after the transfer
• Walk around the compact town center
• Use the first evening for dinner, tour confirmations, and views toward the Andes

Altitude:
• Around ~2,300–2,600 m

This is the easiest full excursion day and combines two different landscapes without a significant altitude jump.

Morning – Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache:
• Standard half-day tour, usually returning around midday
• Seven turquoise salt lagoons surrounded by salt crust and open desert
• Floating / swimming is possible only in the lagoon currently designated for bathing and may be suspended for conservation

Alternative salt-lagoon route:
• Laguna Cejar / Laguna Piedra + Ojos del Salar + Laguna Tebinquinche
• Laguna Piedra is the usual floating area
• This route normally operates in the afternoon, so it is better as a separate half-day if you also want Valle de la Luna

Afternoon – Valle de la Luna:
• Standard sunset tour
• Cordillera de la Sal, dunes, folded salt-and-clay formations, and broad desert viewpoints
• Usually runs from mid-afternoon until sunset
• Ckari or another currently open viewpoint is normally used for the final light

Why combine them:
• Salt water and salar landscapes in the morning
• Dry salt-cordillera formations and sunset in the afternoon
• Both stay close to the altitude of San Pedro

If you have more time, split the two tours into separate days instead.

This is the core landscape excursion of the Chilean Atacama.

Altitude:
• Socaire: ~3,200 m
• Piedras Rojas / Salar de Aguas Calientes: ~4,000 m
• Lagunas Miscanti and Miñiques: ~4,100–4,200 m

Typical full-day tour:
• Laguna Chaxa / Salar de Atacama – salt-flat landscape and flamingos
• Socaire – highland settlement on the route south-east
• Lagunas Miscanti and Miñiques – deep-blue lagoons directly below the namesake volcanoes
• Piedras Rojas / Salar de Aguas Calientes – red volcanic rock, pale salt, turquoise water, and broad high-Andes views

The road continues toward the high Andes close to the Argentine frontier, with volcanoes dominating most of the route.

Why visit:
• Best combination of lagoons, volcanoes, salt flats, wildlife, and high-altitude scenery
• The strongest single landscape day around San Pedro
• Gives a real Altiplano experience while returning to sleep at ~2,400 m

Most tours run for the full day and include breakfast / lunch.

Altitude:
• ~4,300 m

El Tatio adds a completely new element to the itinerary: a large high-altitude geothermal field.

Typical tour:
• Very early pickup, usually around 04:30–05:00
• Arrival around sunrise
• Steam columns, fumaroles, boiling pools, and geothermal activity
• Breakfast is commonly included
• Short stops around the northern Altiplano may be added on the return
• Back in San Pedro around midday

Why visit:
• One of the world's major geyser fields and the largest geothermal field in the Southern Hemisphere
• Steam is most visible in the cold air around sunrise
• Northern route with a different volcanic landscape from Piedras Rojas

Keep the afternoon free.
Temperatures before sunrise can be well below freezing.

San Pedro has some of the clearest skies used for astronomy, but this tour should not be fixed to one exact night too far in advance.

Typical format:
• Evening / night departure from San Pedro
• Naked-eye explanation of the sky
• Telescope observations
• Some operators also include astrophotography

Planning:
• Cloud cover can cancel the tour at short notice
• Bright moonlight reduces faint-star and Milky Way visibility
• Some operators suspend standard astronomy tours around the full moon, while others switch to a lunar-focused program
• Avoid placing it before El Tatio or another excursion with a very early pickup

If astronomy is important, try to schedule it before the final night so there is room to rebook after a weather cancellation.

Altitude:
• Around ~3,500 m

Puritama is a half-day thermal stop in a narrow Andean canyon.

What to expect:
• Warm natural pools connected along the canyon
• Developed access and changing facilities
• Morning and afternoon entrance periods depending on the current schedule

Why add it:
• Good recovery option after Piedras Rojas and El Tatio
• Requires little physical effort
• Easy way to add a thermal experience without another long sightseeing route

This is optional rather than a core Atacama landscape.
If you continue to Uyuni, the standard Bolivian route normally includes the Polques thermal pools, so Puritama becomes less important.

The natural extension from San Pedro is the Uyuni & Southwest Altiplano itinerary.

Standard formats:
• San Pedro → Uyuni: 3 days one-way
• San Pedro → Uyuni → San Pedro: 4 days return

Why continue:
• More remote and much less developed landscapes
• Laguna Blanca, Laguna Verde, Laguna Colorada, volcano viewpoints, geothermal fields, rock formations, and finally the Salar de Uyuni
• Far less road infrastructure and a stronger expedition feel than the Chilean side

Altitude progression:
• San Pedro: ~2,400 m
• Hito Cajón border: roughly ~4,500–4,600 m
• Highest road / geothermal areas: close to ~4,900 m
• First overnight around Villamar: roughly ~3,900–4,000 m

This extension is substantially more demanding than the Chilean Atacama route.
Use a 4×4 expedition tour rather than attempting it with a normal rental car.

These are high-altitude summit days and belong at the end of the itinerary.

If you return to San Pedro after Uyuni, that is the best point to consider one because acclimatization is usually much stronger.
Otherwise, add a summit only after the regular high-altitude Atacama excursions have gone well.

Cerro Toco:
• Summit: ~5,600 m
• Vehicle approach reaches roughly ~5,000 m
• Around 2–3 hours of ascent in normal conditions
• Non-technical by mountaineering standards, but physically difficult because of altitude
• Wide views over the Chilean and Bolivian Altiplano

Volcán Láscar:
• Summit / crater area: ~5,600 m
• Vehicle approach reaches roughly ~4,900 m
• Longer and steeper ascent than Cerro Toco
• Active volcano with crater and fumarole views when access is permitted
• Check current SERNAGEOMIN volcanic information and operator access before planning it

Both should be done with a mountain guide.