You'll stay eight nights in San Pedro de Atacama and from there explore salt flats, geysers, the Valle de la Luna, and as a day trip the Lagunas Altiplánicas at over 4,000 meters. Finally, you fly from Calama to Santiago and continue to the Pacific coast to Valparaíso.
12 Days / 11 Nights
March–November
2 stops
Why This Route?
For nature lovers taking ample time in the high desert, and concluding their trip with a few days in a port city.
Hidden Gems
Valle de la Muerte near San Pedro, quieter than Valle de la Luna in the late afternoon
Laguna Cejar near San Pedro, where you can drift in its saltwater
Paseo Gervasoni on Cerro Concepción in Valparaíso with views over the harbor
Itinerary
Stop 1 • 8 Nights
San Pedro de Atacama
Village
Perfect for an exciting city trip. Rich in culture and history and Culinary highlights.
San Pedro de Atacama is an adobe oasis village at approx. 2,450 meters in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Stay here to experience geysers, salt flats, highland lagoons, and the desert's starry sky: Most regional excursions depart from the Plaza and Calle Caracoles.
4 Sights
9 Restaurants
Culture in San Pedro
Church and Adobe ArchitectureThe San Pedro Church on the Plaza is the town's most famous building: whitewashed adobe walls, a roof structure of algarrobo beams and cactus wood planks, held together with llama leather straps. Its current walls date back to 1744, and since 1951 it has been protected as a historical monument, still serving as a parish church today.Traces of the Atacameño CultureThe archaeological museum, based on the collection of the Belgian Jesuit Gustavo Le Paige, has been closed for about ten years. A new building has been planned for a long time, but it is delayed, and an opening date has not been set.In the surroundings are two more testaments to this culture: the 12th-century fortress Pukará de Quitor on a slope above the Río San Pedro valley, and the adobe settlement Aldea de Tulor, whose round houses were inhabited from around 400 BC. Tulor is managed by the local Atacameño community, and the entrance fee directly benefits them.
Valparaíso is Chile's historic port city on the Pacific coast west of Santiago, stretching steeply up the hills from a narrow strip along the harbor. Colorfully painted houses, stair-filled alleys, murals, and historic funiculars characterize the city, whose historic port quarter has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2003.
4 Sights
4 Restaurants
Culture & History
Port of Early GlobalizationIn the 19th century, Valparaíso became the most important trading port on the South American Pacific coast. Merchants and immigrants from Europe built banks, warehouses, churches, and residential buildings. With the opening of the Panama Canal, the port lost significance, but the buildings from that era remained. In 2003, UNESCO inscribed the Historic Quarter of the Port City of Valparaíso on its World Heritage List as a testament to early globalization in the late 19th century. It encompasses five interlocking quarters by the port and on the adjacent hills, along with Muelle Prat, customs and naval buildings, and its Ascensores and trolleybuses.Cerros and AscensoresThe city consists of the flat 'plan' area by the water and the steep Cerros, where most people live. To connect both levels, over 30 funicular railways, the Ascensores, were built starting in 1883. The oldest is the Ascensor Concepción from 1883. Today, only a small number of them are still operating; many have been closed for years or are being renovated, and even the functioning lifts are frequently out of service for maintenance. Recently, El Peral, Reina Victoria, Barón, and San Agustín were among those in operation; the Ascensor Artillería has been out of service since 2021. Check the current status locally.Art and Pablo NerudaValparaíso has always attracted artists and writers. Pablo Neruda's house, La Sebastiana, on Cerro Bellavista, is now a museum. Nearby is the Museo a Cielo Abierto (Open-Air Museum), opened in 1992, featuring around 20 murals by Chilean artists, including Roberto Matta. Additionally, countless murals and graffiti adorn Cerros Alegre and Concepción, which are also home to many galleries and artisan shops.
