Chile
Atacama and the Altiplano
11 days
The Atacama is the driest desert in the world: there are weather stations that have gone decades without recording a drop. That is why the night sky is what it is, and why there are more telescopes there than anywhere else. The route then crosses into Bolivia over the salt flat, which is the natural continuation.
Day by day
Day 01 · Spain / Santiago
Direct overnight flight.
Day 02 · Santiago
Arrival and the city: the centre, Cerro Santa Lucía and the central market.
Day 03 · Valparaíso
The hills, the hundred-year-old wooden funiculars and the murals. Lunch at a fishing cove and back through the Casablanca valley with a stop at a vineyard.
Day 04 · San Pedro de Atacama
Flight to Calama and transfer. A quiet afternoon at two thousand four hundred metres to acclimatise.
Day 05 · Valle de la Luna and the salares
The Miscanti and Miñiques altiplano lagoons, the Atacama salt flat with its flamingos, and sunset in the Valle de la Luna.
Day 06 · El Tatio geysers
Leaving at four in the morning to reach four thousand three hundred metres at dawn, when the temperature difference makes the fumaroles visible. At night, stargazing with a telescope.
Day 07 · Jama Pass / Uyuni
Into Bolivia past Laguna Verde and Laguna Colorada, which is red from the algae and full of flamingos at four thousand metres.
Day 08 · Uyuni Salt Flat
Ten thousand square kilometres of flat white salt. Between January and March a film of water turns it into a mirror.
Day 09 · Uyuni / Santiago
Flight back via La Paz and a last night.
Day 10 · Santiago / Spain
Flight home.
Day 11 · Spain
Arrival.
Usually includes
- International flights and internal flights
- A 4×4 with driver and an English- or Spanish-speaking guide on the Bolivian crossing
- Selected accommodation, including a salt hotel on the edge of the flat
- Full board on the Bolivian section
- Reserve fees, the stargazing session and border taxes
- A travel document with every detail and a direct phone number
This trip, your way
Length
11 days
Route
Santiago · Valparaíso · San Pedro de Atacama · Uyuni Salt Flat · Santiago
Format
Private and tailor-made, on your dates
Let us make this trip yours.
Change the dates, add days where you want them, or simply tell us how you like to travel. We reply within 24 hours.
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