Santiago and Atacama: an 8-day itinerary, day by day

Santiago and Atacama work very well as one trip, for a practical reason: the flight to Calama, the desert's airport, leaves from Santiago. The capital is not a detour, it is on the way. This eight-day itinerary splits three days in the city and five in the desert, in the order that makes most sense.

Why start in Santiago?

Altitude. Santiago sits at 570 metres; San Pedro at 2,400. Spending three days in the capital before going up is, in practice, the start of acclimatisation: you reach the desert with your body less surprised than if you stepped off a long-haul flight straight into it.

There is also no choice about the connection: there is no direct flight from Brazil to Calama. If you are passing through Santiago anyway, you may as well sleep there.

Days 1 to 3, Santiago

• Day 1. Arrival and the historic centre: Plaza de Armas, La Moneda, Cerro Santa Lucía. In the afternoon, Sky Costanera for the full sweep of the Andes. Dinner in Lastarria or Bellavista.
• Day 2. A Maipo Valley winery in the morning, with a tasting. In the afternoon, Cerro San Cristóbal and the Bellavista neighbourhood.
• Day 3. Day trip to Valparaíso and Viña del Mar: the coloured hills, the funiculars, the street art and the beaches. Back at dusk.

Day 4: Santiago to Atacama

Flight from Santiago to Calama (about two hours), then an hour and a half by road to San Pedro de Atacama.

This is the most important day of the itinerary, and the advice is counterintuitive: do not book any excursion. Arrive, have lunch, walk around the village, drink plenty of water and sleep early. You have just climbed nearly two thousand metres and your body needs it.

Days 5 to 7: Atacama, in ascending order of altitude

The order is not aesthetic: it is what lets you do El Tatio without suffering.

• Day 5, Valle de la Luna. Low altitude, half a day, and the desert's most famous sunset. Perfect for a first excursion.
• Day 6: Salar de Atacama and Laguna Chaxa, with the flamingos, or the salt lagoons for floating. Moderate altitude, easy day. This is acclimatisation happening without feeling like it.
• Day 7: El Tatio geysers. Departure between 5:00 and 5:40am, 4,320 metres, back by midday. Now with two days of adjustment behind you. Rest in the afternoon, and at night, if you still have energy, astrotourism.

Day 8: home

A free morning in San Pedro for shopping and a last coffee looking out at the desert. Transfer to Calama and the flight home, connecting in Santiago.

Can it be done in fewer days?

It can, but something gives. With six days, cut one day in Santiago and one in the desert, but never cut the arrival day with no excursion, or the ascending altitude order. That is exactly what separates enjoying the geysers from suffering through them.

With ten days, the best additions are more desert: the Altiplanic Lagoons with Piedras Rojas and the Valle del Arcoíris, the two excursions that short itineraries drop first.

Best time for this trip

April to December. January and February are the altiplanic winter, with rain that can close roads and cancel precisely El Tatio and Piedras Rojas. If summer is your only option, December is the best of the three months.

For the Santiago half, the same window works well: spring and autumn deliver the capital's best weather, and March adds the grape harvest at the wineries.