How to Spend 6 Days in the Atacama Desert, Chile
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Why You Should Visit the Atacama Desert
If you’ve ever dreamed of setting foot on Mars, well you don’t have to wait for Elon Musk to make that happen! The Atacama Desert in Chile is seriously out of this world. The landscapes are incredible, from the salt flats to the snow-capped volcanoes and everything in between. Spending 6 days in the Atacama Desert is really like spending 6 days in a whole new world! If you’re looking for a vacation that’s the perfect mix of adventure and relaxation, you have to keep reading. This 6 day Atacama Desert itinerary is perfect for anyone who loves slow travel, breathtaking landscapes, and sour drinks.
What You Need to Know Before You Go to the Atacama Desert
General
The Atacama Desert is in the northern part of Chile, close to the border of Bolivia. It is the highest-altitude desert in the world and also the driest! At 7,900 feet (2,408 meters) elevation, you are likely to experience some altitude sickness if you are unaccustomed to changes in altitude. More on this below! With the high altitude comes less atmosphere between you and the sun. While it may be hot, protecting yourself from the bright glare is also important. Hats, sunglasses, and UV-resistant clothing are a must!
The nature in the Atacama Desert is highly protected, so just about everywhere you go will require you to check in, pay an entrance fee, and stay in marked areas only. Many popular places will also have people posted around to ensure the rules are followed.
Money
The Chilean Peso (CLP) is the currency, and credit cards are widely accepted. If you want to bring cash to convert to pesos, one or two hundred USD is enough. The only times you’ll really need cash are to pay entrance fees to the national parks, and even then it’s less than $10 per person.
Language
Knowing some Spanish would be very helpful for traveling for 6 days in the Atacama Desert. I also highly recommend downloading the offline version of Spanish on Google Translate just in case you get out of service and need to communicate. The conversation translation will be super helpful in many situations! When we were renting our car, the clerk didn’t speak English at all so we had to use Google Translate to get all the info we needed.
Safety
According to the hotel concierge, San Pedro de Atacama is one of the safest cities in Chile. Calama… not so much. The salesperson for the rental car agency told us not to leave the car unattended if we stopped for gas or at a grocery store. So during your 6 days Atacama Desert itinerary, make sure you have a safe place to park (if you don’t stay at the hotel I recommend 😁).
Tips for Travelers with Anxiety in the Atacama Desert
Altitude sickness. If you are unaccustomed to high altitudes, you might experience some altitude sickness. The past few years, we’ve been to Quito, Denver, and Switzerland, in addition to all the other times we’d flown, so neither of us experienced much discomfort. If you are worried that it will affect you, there are a few things you can do. First, drink plenty of water before you leave, and continue to do so while you are there. The number one thing ever tour agency, guide, and hotel worker asked was if we had enough water. Second, avoid alcohol right before you go and the first few days while you are there. Third, put rica rica in all your drinks and eat some cocoa leaves while you’re there. If you do get altitude sickness, take some NSAIDs and take a nap, you’ll feel much better.
Driving. As long as you rent a 4x4 SUV, you’ll be just fine driving around. The roads are empty and wide, with epic landscapes in every direction. Download the offline version of Google Maps so you always have directions to and from where you need to go. Oh, and don’t forget to bring extra water!
Advanced booking for national parks. Most of the places you’ll go require advanced booking online. If you go with a tour company, they will do that for you. Just note, most don’t include the entrance fee in their prices, so you’ll need cash to pay there.
Offline Google Translate/Google Maps. We have T Mobile, which has been amazing for travels because we just step off the plane and turn our phones on and have service everywhere we go. If you don’t have T Mobile, definitely download Spanish from Google Translation and Chile from Google Maps because you’ll be driving far from civilization and will lose service more often than not.
Water. Have I convinced you that you need to bring water with you everywhere yet? Water is a precious resource in the desert, and with the high altitude, dryness, and heat, you are going to want to drink more than you expect. Do not drink the tap water in San Pedro. At Hotel Desertica (where we stayed) they had a water machine to fill up your water bottles. If your accommodation doesn’t have that, stop at the store and pick up several bottles before you go anywhere.
How to get to the Atacama Desert, Chile
The regional airport you will fly into is Calama (El Loa Airport), but you will enter Chile through the airport in Santiago (SCL). From Calama, it’s about an hour’s drive to San Pedro de Atacama, your final destination. For this itinerary, you’ll need to rent a car to drive that remaining hour. Take note of when your flight lands versus when your car rental company has its daily break. We landed at 2:30 PM and the rental agency we chose had a break from 2:30 - 3:30! There is not much in the Calama Airport and nothing within walking distance. I was STARVING and had to subsist on a protein bar until we managed to get our car LOL. Renting a car for your 6 day Atacama Desert itinerary isn’t super expensive, though I would recommend getting the highest level of insurance due to the number of unpaved, bumpy gravel roads you’ll have to take in the national parks.
When to Plan Your Chile Trip
The peak travel season is Chilean summer (December through February). If you’re looking to save a few dollars and have milder temperatures, fall (March through May) and spring (September to November) are also great times to spend 6 days in the Atacama Desert. We went at the end of February, and when they mentioned it was peak tourist season, I was surprised. The crowds were nothing compared so some places we’ve gone in a shoulder season! The Atacama Desert is truly a hidden gem.
Where to Stay in the Atacama Desert
The most conveniently located town in the region is San Pedro de Atacama. It is also where you’ll find the most options for accommodation for 6 days in the Atacama Desert. We stayed at Hotel Desertica, and it was utter perfection.
Hotel Desertica
Centrally located, Hotel Desertica puts you in the heart of the action, with restaurants, shops, and tour companies steps away from the front gate. It also has private secure parking so you don’t have to worry about leaving your car in the street. With only twelve rooms, it’s got a private, luxurious vibe that’s perfect if you want a getaway where you can venture out to amazing landscapes and relax in comfort by the pool afterward. Make sure to ask for a pisco sour with rica rica to sip while you enjoy a book or the sounds of birds chirping!
Rooms
Hotel Desertica has two room types: Standard and Superior. We stayed in the Standard room and it was more than enough space for us. The bed can be configured as either one king or two twin mattresses, and they were a great balance between softness and firmness. I will say if you’re a side sleeper like us, definitely ask for more pillows! Each room is its own little hut, offering you a semblance of privacy from the other guests among the trees and other landscaping. Actually, the entire walkway and each room are built off the ground so as not to disturb the natural environment. How cool is that!
Amenities
Outside of the serenity of the rooms, the pool and lounge area offer a tranquil spot to rest in the shade or the sun after a long day of exploring. At night, they light fires beside them so you can sip on a post-dinner drink and smell the burning wood. If you don't feel like leaving, Hotel Desertica has a restaurant and bar with gluten-free menu options. It’s also where you’ll eat breakfast every morning!
Extras
If you’re like us and need a massage to fully relax on vacation, you can have one in your room. For couples, you’ll have to go one at a time if you’re in the Standard room. Additionally, the concierge offers tour/ticket assistance or can point you in the right direction if you’re driving off on your own adventure. They also know which national parks require an advanced booking.
6 Day Atacama Desert Itinerary
Without further ado, here is your 6 day Atacama Desert itinerary, sure to help you relax and enjoy the wonders nature has to offer.
Day 1: Arrival + Explore San Pedro de Atacama
Once you arrive at El Loa Airport in Calama, head to the rental car agencies right outside the baggage claim and pick up your car. If you don’t already have a full water bottle, grab one from the little shop in the airport before heading out. The drive from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama is about an hour, but there are several scenic pull-off points along the way that you’ll want to stop at to take pictures. You’ll know they’re coming up when you see some epic red rocks jutting up from the landscape. Both pull-offs are on the righthand side of the road which makes them super easy to access driving into San Pedro de Atacama.
After you’ve dropped everything off at your hotel and settled in, it’s time to explore! While the town isn’t huge, there are a few cute little corners you can’t miss. The first is a church just off the Plaza de Armas that was constructed during the Spanish colonial period. It is the second oldest church in Chile! The plaza itself is adorable, with shops and people laughing and playing instruments. From there, you get a lovely view of one of the volcanoes that surrounds the town. Toco, Lascar, Licancabur, and Sairecabur are all climbable if you’re up for a physical challenge!
The main street where the food, entertainment, and tour companies are is Caracoles. If you stay at Hotel Desertica, it is at the end of this road. Walking along it, you’ll find anything from ceviche to pizza to burgers to eat, as well as ice cream shops to satisfy your sweet tooth when you’re finished. If you’re looking for restaurants with gluten-free options, I recommend Roots Cafe Pizza or Adobe. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of variety available for us gluten-free friends. I highly recommend trying the Pil Pil everywhere, since each restaurant makes it slightly differently. I’m obsessed and will definitely be searching for how to make it at home.
Day 2: Laguna Cejar + Laguna Chaxa
Laguna Cejar + Piedra
30 minute drive
Originally, we planned on going to Laguna Baltinache, but when you type only that into Google Maps, it takes you to some random place on the way to Lagunas Cejar + Piedra. If you do want to go there, you need to type in Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache (it’s about a 90-minute drive from San Pedro). So, we ended up at Laguna Cejar. This is a location where you have to book a time slot online in advance, but we were able to drive in luckily! I think it helped that we were some of the first people there. As we were finishing our walk, twenty cars showed up and it was getting quite crowded. So whether you plan on going to Laguna Cejar on purpose or by accident, get there EARLY. Like 9 AM early. Especially if you want one of those cool "I’m just chilling here floating and having a good time” photos without having to edit people out of them like the one of me above! The Lagunas are only a 30-minute drive from San Pedro, which makes them a super easy visit on your 6 day Atacama Desert itinerary.
Laguna Chaxa
90 minute drive
In the evening, head to Laguna Chaxa. The salt flats surrounding them are incredible. The rock structures are so complex you could stare at them for hours. You’ll also see some flamingos! The sun setting over them is stunning. If you are wearing a hat, hold onto it! It was so windy the day we went, and my poor husband was constantly turning his hat this way and that so it didn’t fly off his head. You’ll need to book this one online in advance as well.
Day 3: Piedras Rojas + Laguna Miscanti
This day includes the most driving on your 6 day Atacama Desert itinerary. It takes two full hours to reach Piedras Rojas from San Pedro, but you have to stop in Socaire one hour before your entrance time to check in before you continue on to the national park. Basically, you’ll leave San Pedro two hours before your timeslot, and then you’ll stop in Socaire to get your paperwork, and then continue on. You must book this one online in advance, and I recommend doing it ASAP as it books up quickly. And for good reason! Piedras Rojas was my absolute favorite spot while we were there.
Piedras Rojas
2 hours from San Pedro, 1 hour from Socaire
At 13,700 feet (4200 meters) above sea level, the air is thin and cold but you’ll lose your breath for an entirely different reason. From the stunning red rocks set against the bright white and blue of a salt lagoon to the rolling mountains, there isn’t an angle to this spot that leaves you with breath to spare. I couldn’t get enough! We booked a 1 PM slot to ensure we had enough time to get there from San Pedro, but that left us with very little time to stop and appreciate everything. The park closes at 4 PM, so you have to be out of Piedras Rojas and the Lagunas before then. I would definitely recommend going earlier in the day because it is not going to be hot, though you will still want to cover up against the added UVs of the sun.
Laguna Miscanti and Miñiques
45 minutes from Piedras Rojas
Along with Piedras Rojas, you’ll visit Laguna Miscanti and Miñiques. The road to reach them is ROUGH. This is why you need to have a 4x4 rental car. It is also narrow, so if you come across a car heading in the opposite direction, one of you will need to pull over to allow the other to pass. When you start climbing the side of the mountain, it gets more tricky. We were the very last ones to arrive there because of our late entry time, which made navigating this part easier, and then we had the Lagunas basically to ourselves. It was incredible, so if you’re willing to rush a little bit for a few moments of solitude, then I recommend booking the last slot!
Day 4: Rainbow Valley + Andean Cultural Site
One of your 6 days in the Atacama Desert should most definitely be spent visiting Rainbow Valley, or Valle del Arcoiris.
Andrean Cultural Site
45 minutes
On your way to Rainbow Valley, there is a small village on the side of the road (B-207) where people still live in the traditional indigenous ways. If you want to pop it into maps, it’s Yerbas Buenas - Petroglyphs. And yes, there are petroglyphs there! They are so cool. When you buy your ticket, you’ll get a guide to take you through them and tell you all about them. It’s a fascinating stop on your way to Rainbow Valley.
Rainbow Valley
1 hour from San Pedro, 15 minutes from the Petroglyphs
We’ve all seen the pictures of Rainbow Mountain in Peru on Instagram. But in the Atacama Desert, there is an entire valley you can explore! The same minerals that give the Rainbow Mountain its striated appearance paint Rainbow Valley in incredible hues. As you follow the path, shades of red, purple, green, and white blend and separate to give you an out-of-this-world vibe.
We did an organized tour for this one after reading about how difficult it was to find the petroglyphs online. Trust me when I say, it’s not hard. You’d have to be daydreaming while driving to miss the town and the entrance to it. Plus it’s a giant rock that kind of sticks out from the landscape around it. Skip the tour and do the Rainbow Valley and Petroglyphs on your own so you can spend more time taking pictures and appreciating the wonders of nature!
If you do want to go on a guided excursion, I highly recommend this tour. They take you to both the Petroglyphs and the Rainbow Valley, plus make you a delicious breakfast!
Day 5: Sandboarding + Stargazing
You’ll need to do an organized tour for both sandboarding and stargazing, so you can leave your car where it is for this part of your 6 day Atacama Desert itinerary!
Sandboarding
I was nervous to do this because I didn’t want to go too fast and fall and hurt myself. If you’ve never been snowboarding or skiing, it’s understandable! And if you have, sandboarding is very different from that. First, you have to really wax the board if you want to go fast. Second, falling on sand is very soft. Third, it’s hard to get going, let alone go fast! It was so much fun though once I got the hang of it, and I highly recommend giving it a try. It’s a unique experience you won’t find many other places! We went with Sanboarding San Pedro, and our instructor was fabulous. He talked me through my nervousness, was very knowledgeable, and overall super cool. You can book with them online or in person in San Pedro!
Stargazing
Note that some stargazing tours will be canceled if there is too much moonlight interference (like ours), but there are plenty who will still go around the full moon. Check to see if one of your 6 days in the Atacama Desert falls around the full moon, or when you arrive in the town, pop into one of the tour companies and ask them. I was so excited about this one because the Atacama Desert has some of the clearest, darkest skies in the world. Please go do this one and let me live vicariously through you! Most tours start around 8 PM, which leaves plenty of time for activities like sandboarding earlier in the day. They go late into the night, so don’t plan something crazy early the next morning!
Day 6: Valle de la Cactus + Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Cactus
30 minute drive
The Atacama Desert boasts many hot springs due to the surrounding volcanic activity. If you want to save a few bucks and get even more off the beaten path, then you need to go to Valle de la Cactus (in Google Maps, you need to search for Termas Bajas - Guatin). Just a short hike from the parking lot, you’ll find a gorge with a river warm enough to swim in. The water is crystal clear and covered in reeds that give it a mysterious, hidden vibe. If you go early in the morning, you might even have it all to yourself! There are two spots to swim. The first is close to the parking lot, just a quick climb down the rocks and you’ll be right on top of it. The second is a bit of a walk past that one. You’ll find a bridge among the reeds (also very cool), and once you cross it, take a left and continue down until you see another clear spot along the riverbank. Besides the Piedras Rojas, this was my favorite spot of our whole 6 days in the Atacama Desert!
Valle de la Luna
I highly recommend taking a sunset tour to the Valle de la Luna. While every other place I think skipping the tour is feasible, this is one I definitely wouldn’t do on my own. If you do this Moon Valley tour, your guide will take you to the best trails in the Moon Valley and also provide you with a snack and pisco sour (seriously, my new favorite drink) before you head to an overlook point to watch the sunset. When I say that everyone in San Pedro turns out to watch the sunset, I mean it. Buses as far as the eye can see with people scrambling for a spot! I wouldn’t want to navigate my way out of that.
Day 7: Return to Calama
Sleep in, grab some breakfast, and pack your bags before you say goodbye to what is likely to be one of your favorite vacations too. If you didn’t stop at the viewpoints on your way to San Pedro from Calama, now is your last opportunity to grab those Insta-worthy shots as you return to the airport!
A few notes on connecting between Calama and Santiago. We thought 1 hour 20 minutes would be a long enough layover between the two… spoiler alert, it was BARELY enough time. The domestic and international terminals are separated in Santiago, which means once you land in Santiago, you’ll need to race outside, through a parking garage, and then go to your airline’s ticket counter for passport verification, then through security and customs, before finally reaching the international gates. If we had checked bags, I’m not sure we would have made it to our flight. As it stands, we ran from the domestic terminal to the international one, then after we finished all our screenings, we ran to our gate which happened to be the furthest one. The board said it was a 10-minute walk and we made it in 5 so #winning. The gate agents asked if we ran, though so we must have been red-faced and sweating by the time we arrived 🤣
Other Things to Do in the Atacama Desert, Chile
Volcano hikes - book with one of the tour companies in San Pedro to take you to these high-altitude volcanoes with breathtaking views! Some are easier hikes than others, but all are cold, so you definitely need a jacket. But if you’re doing this, you’re likely already far more prepared than what I found from a quick Google search so… I believe in you. Take that victory photo at the top!
Other Lagunas - honestly, you could spend two weeks visiting all the lagoons in the area! Laguna Baltinache is a gorgeous one that’s less popular than some of the others (hence why we wanted to go there), but I’ve heard the road to get there is rougher than most in the area. Others you could visit are Laguna Tebinquinche, Laguna Chita, or Laguna de Tara.
Geyser del Tatio - this tour leaves around 4 AM because the geyer is most active in the early morning, so don’t book your stargazing tour the night before or after this one unless you’re a superhuman who doesn’t need sleep 🤣
Final Thoughts on 6 Days in the Atacama Desert, Chile
Have I convinced you to spend 6 days in the Atacama Desert yet? While some people may choose to spend a few days here, I love to travel slowly and let the feel of a place sink in. The Atacama Desert is certainly at the top of my list of favorite places I’ve ever been now!