Northern Chile

The dry north of Chile, made up of the Atacama Desert, highland salt lakes and volcanoes, stargazing in the Elqui Valley and Pacific seaside cities.

Northern Chile follows Chile's official natural macro-regions, merging the "Norte Grande" and the "Norte Chico". It includes five regions: Arica y Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama and Coquimbo, stretching from the Peruvian border to north of Santiago. At its core is the Atacama, one of the driest non-polar deserts in the world. Using the small town of San Pedro de Atacama as a base, you can visit the Valley of the Moon, the El Tatio geysers, the Atacama Salt Flat and its flamingos, the highland lakes of Miscanti and Miñiques, as well as the Séd and Puritama hot springs, and it is also one of the world's top astronomical observation sites. At the far north, Arica and Lauca National Park have Chungará Lake at more than 4,000 m and the Parinacota volcano, and the Humberstone saltpeter works near Iquique is a World Heritage Site. In years with heavier rainfall, the Atacama region sees the "flowering desert". In the Coquimbo region, the Elqui Valley is known for its vineyards, pisco and observatories, and the seaside city of La Serena is good for a beach vacation. A classic route is 4–5 days in San Pedro (the altitude requires gradual acclimatization), plus 2–3 days in the Elqui Valley and La Serena, about one week; from San Pedro you can also join a three-day cross-border tour of the Uyuni Salt Flat. It is very convenient to fly from Santiago to Calama, La Serena, Iquique or Arica. Most highland sights are at over 4,000 m, so watch out for altitude sickness, strong UV and huge day–night temperature swings.

Destinations

Itineraries