Atacama and Patagonia were high on my list of places to visit in Chile. Given we chose August to optimize for Machu Pichu and Tambopata, it was not a good time for Patagonia. We decided to park that for a combined tour with Argentina later sometime. Atacama shares similar landscape as Altiplano region of Bolivia with lagoons, geysers, volcanoes in the area. Chile is more expensive though. After a lot of research, it felt repetitive to cover them immediately after a 3 day Uyuni trip.
We decided to use Chile as a transit point. If we had not gotten the Bolivian visa, we had made plans to be in Chile for 5 days- sharing that here. This is all focused on Atacama desert only
Best time to visit
In general, spring and autumn have reasonable temperature between March- May, September- November. If your focus is star gazing, you can have clearer skies in July- August.
Getting In
Calama airport is the nearest to San Pedro Atacama. Calama El Loa Airport is well connected to Santiago with flights every 30 minutes
We just took the route to get back to Lima after 3 day Uyuni tour since the flights were cheaper, had a refundable option and could avoid another night bus journey back to La Paz. We heard Day 3 of Uyuni tour is repetitive to Day 1, tracing way back and not missing much . It also gave us a day in Lima to visit the city
Currency
Chilean Pesos are used here. Be careful about usage of $ interchangeably for pesos, along with swapping commas for dot. $45.000 can mean USD 45 or 45k CLP. Since both are close in value currently, it is not a huge problem
There are hardly any banks offering free ATM withdrawals. Best to bring USD to exchange for CLP in case you are cost conscious
Getting around
We took Ubers within the city. For transfer from San Pedro Atacama to Calama airport, we took a bus from San Pedro Atacama to Calama bus station, followed by Uber from Calama bus station to airport. While Uber showed a price from San Pedro Atacama to Calama airport, we couldn’t find any cars. There are multiple bus companies operating from San Pedro bus Atacama station with a bus leaving almost every half an hour for 5k CLP per head
TransVIP is another reliable transfer provider from San Pedro Atacama to Calama Airport in case you are able to book in advance
Visa
You can submit the form here if you need to apply in advance. Interview is mostly waived if you have a travel history. You will have to visit the embassy to make the payment ($42) and get the passport stamped. We never went through the process and this information is basis what we had researched before travel
We entered through Chilean border at Atacama desert and our visa was waived since had US B2 visa. There was no paperwork or fee involved. You can show this circular to the officer in case there are doubts on Indians being able to enter through land borders
Places to visit in Chile
San Pedro de Atacama
The features and landscapes are supposed to be like that in Bolivia.
Valle de Luna
While we didn’t get the time to hike up here, the bus journey from San Pedro Atacama to Calama gave a wonderful view from the top front row into desert formations without paying an entry fee. Sunsets are popular and require tours to enter in the evening
El Tatio
Geysers and fumaroles here are supposed to be much grander than Sol de Manana on the Bolivian side
Laguna Cejar
Nice salt lagoon, 30 minutes from the city
Laguna Baltinache
Another high altitude lagoon, similar to the ones in Bolivia. The drone photos looks absolutely wonderful
Piedras Rojas
Known for copper colored rocks and views of lagoons
Puritama Hot Springs
As the name suggests, a place to have a dip and relax
Things to know
- Atacama is the best place for star gazing with clearest skies. Take a night tour to experience the natural wonder. If you are keen, you can also visit the ALMA observatory
- Chile is much more expensive than Bolivia. The same 3 day Uyuni tour can cost 2x if you start from San Pedro Atacama. It is better to start from Bolivia and end in Chile
- There are hardly any direct flights from Calama to Lima. Budget time to go via Santiago, which takes almost a day
- It is cheaper to buy tours in person. If you have a day to spare, arrive early and compare prices across tour operators who are lined up at the tourist street
- Ubers might not operate long distances. Plan to take buses like from San Pedro Atacama to Calama and then taxis to Airport
- Book hostels / hotels well in advance as prices shoot up more than 2x last minute. Cancellations are not typically free within a week- pay attention to the terms
How much does it cost
Our expenses are not reflective of actual price. Typical budget should include
- Flights: $2500, to Santiago and internal flight to Calama
- Hotel : $50-100 per night
- Food: $20 per meal. Airport food was really expensive costing $20 for a sandwich
- Tours: $400 for 4 days; $50 for half day tours, $100 for day tours per person.
- Insurance: $25