Atacama 3-Day Combo with Moon Valley, Tatio Geysers and Lagoons

Valley of the Moon (Valle de la Luna) at sunset

The Valley of the Moon lies a few kilometres west of San Pedro de Atacama inside the Los Flamencos National Reserve, and it is the first excursion most people picture when they search for a Valle de la Luna sunset tour. Wind and salt have carved it into ridges, caverns and dry riverbeds crusted with white salt, which is why it is so often compared with another planet. The guide leads a walk of about forty minutes along the crest of the Great Dune, between the salt mountains and the Andean volcanoes.

You also stop at the Three Marias, eroded pillars that have become the valley's emblem, before the vehicle climbs to the sunset viewpoint, where the salt crystals and the slopes of Licancabur volcano turn orange, pink and violet. Is the Valley of the Moon worth visiting? For most travellers it is the most photographed moment of their stay, and the entrance fee is included. Bring a windbreaker: the evening breeze is cold even in summer.

El Tatio geysers at dawn

El Tatio is the largest geothermal field in the Southern Hemisphere and the third largest in the world, set in a high basin at about 4,320 metres two hours north of San Pedro. An El Tatio geysers tour leaves town in the dark so that you arrive before sunrise, when the cold air makes the steam columns from dozens of vents rise highest. The spectacle lasts only while the sun is low, and mornings here are always freezing, often minus ten degrees.

Your bilingual guide walks you along the marked paths between the fumaroles and explains how snowmelt is heated by the volcanic rock below. On the way back the vehicle drops into the Putana Valley, a high wetland where vicuñas graze and flamingos feed on a shallow lagoon. The park admits children from nine, and anyone with heart or respiratory problems should weigh the altitude. The El Tatio entrance fee is paid locally in advance; dress in warm layers with gloves and a hat.

Chaxa Lagoon and the Salar de Atacama

The day trip to Piedras Rojas from San Pedro de Atacama begins with the road south across the Salar de Atacama, the largest salt flat in Chile. The first stop is Chaxa Lagoon, a protected sector of the Los Flamencos National Reserve where Andean, Chilean and James's flamingos feed in shallow brine pools ringed by rough white salt. Walkways let you get close to the birds without disturbing them, and the morning light on the salt with the volcanoes behind is one of the Atacama's classic views.

Chaxa is also where you learn how the salar formed and why it holds so much water underground in the driest desert on earth; entrance to Chaxa Lagoon is included in this combo. Before continuing uphill the vehicle pauses at the Tropic of Capricorn marker for a quick photo stop. The day covers a wide range of altitudes and temperatures, from a cold morning on the salt flat to a warm afternoon, so layered clothing is the practical answer.

Miscanti and Miñiques lagoons and Piedras Rojas

From the salt flat the road climbs above 4,000 metres into the altiplano, the high plateau shared by Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. The Miscanti and Miñiques lagoons sit side by side beneath the volcanoes that gave them their names, two sheets of deep blue water fringed by yellow grassland where vicuñas and foxes are often seen. These altiplanic lagoons are the highest point of the three days, so the guide keeps the walks short.

The last stop is Piedras Rojas, the Red Rocks, on the edge of the Aguas Calientes salt flat, where iron-rich volcanic stone has weathered into a red and brown crust framing a lagoon of startling turquoise with snow-capped cones mirrored in the water. A walk of about forty minutes follows the shoreline, and the entrance fees to Piedras Rojas and the altiplanic lagoons are included. The best time to visit Piedras Rojas is late morning, when the sun lights the water before the afternoon wind picks up.

Baltinache Hidden Lagoons

The Baltinache Hidden Lagoons, Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache, are a chain of seven small lagoons in the Cordillera de la Sal about an hour from San Pedro along an unpaved desert track. Each pool is so saturated with salt that its water turns an unreal turquoise, bordered by a thick white crust that crunches underfoot and bare ochre hills stretching to the horizon. Less known than the Valley of the Moon, the site is quieter, and the guide has time to explain how the salt mountains were folded.

Bathing is not permitted at present while the lagoons recover naturally, so this is a walking and photography visit; the viewpoints between the pools give the best pictures in the late afternoon when the colours deepen. The Baltinache entrance fee is paid locally in advance. Many travellers ask how to get to the Baltinache lagoons on their own; the rough track and lack of signs make an organised trip from San Pedro de Atacama the simplest way.