Chile

Atacama Desert

Atacama Desert, Chile
The Altiplano, Atacama Desert, Chile
Atacama Desert, Chile
Atacama Desert, Chile

Why visit the Atacama Desert

The Atacama Desert offers one of the most distinctive landscapes on Earth. Vast salt flats, sculpted valleys and high-altitude lagoons sit beneath an immense Andean sky, creating a sense of scale and stillness that is hard to match elsewhere in South America.

This is a place of striking contrasts. One day might begin at dawn among steaming geysers high in the Andes, followed by a walk through wind-shaped rock formations in Valle de la Luna. Another might involve visiting remote lagoons where flamingos gather in mineral-rich waters beneath snow-dusted volcanoes.

The region’s extreme dryness also creates remarkable clarity. Days are defined by sharp desert light and far-reaching views, while nights reveal some of the clearest skies on the planet. Guided stargazing experiences bring the southern constellations, planets and distant galaxies into view with exceptional detail.

Despite its remote setting, the desert is easy to explore from the small town of San Pedro de Atacama. From here, a network of excursions leads to geyser fields, salt flats, archaeological sites and high Andean plateaus, making the region accessible while still retaining a strong sense of wilderness and isolation.

Atacama Desert, Chile

Highlights of the Atacama Desert

  • Luna Landscapes – Wind-carved ridges, salt formations and vast dunes form a stark lunar-like landscape. Late afternoon light and sunset bring shifting colours across this dramatic desert valley.

  • El Tatio Geysers – One of the world’s highest geyser fields. At dawn, columns of steam rise from dozens of geothermal vents in freezing air beneath snow-dusted volcanoes.

  • Salar de Atacama – Chile’s largest salt flat stretches across a vast desert basin. Mineral lagoons attract flamingos while volcanoes rise on the horizon.

  • Lagunas Altiplánicas – High-altitude lakes such as Laguna Miscanti and Laguna Miñiques sit above 4,000 metres, surrounded by open plains, distant volcanoes and wide Andean skies.

  • Stargazing – The clear, dry atmosphere offers some of the best night skies on Earth, ideal for guided astronomy experiences.

  • San Pedro de Atacama – A small adobe town and the main base for exploring the desert, with access to valleys, geysers, salt flats and high-altitude lagoons.

Lunar Rehersals

The Atacama Desert has been used to test equipment and techniques for future Moon and Mars missions. Its extreme dryness, salt crusts and barren terrain resemble conditions found on other planets. Scientists, including teams working with NASA, study the desert’s soils because they contain some of the lowest levels of organic life on Earth. This makes the region an ideal natural laboratory for testing rovers and instruments designed to search for life beyond our planet.

Biodiversity

Despite being one of the driest places on Earth, the Atacama Desert supports surprising biodiversity. Flamingos feed in mineral-rich lagoons, viscachas live among rocky slopes and hardy plants and microbes survive in extreme conditions. Periodically, rare rainfall triggers the desierto florido, when thousands of wildflowers briefly carpet parts of the desert in colour.

Good to know

Getting to the Atacama Desert

The central point for the Atacama is the town of San Pedro. The nearest airport to this is in Calama, around 1hr 15mins drive away. There are daily flights to Calama from Santiago; these take approximately 2 hours.

When to go

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OUR FAVOURITE TIME TO VISIT

While the most popular times to explore the Atacama (and Chile) tend to be between November and March, if we could go to the Atacama at any point it would likely be in June. It’s the start of winter and the skies are often incredibly clear, making this an incredible time for stargazing in particular.

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