Itinerary: (From Bolivia) San Pedro de Atacama, Calama,
Santiago, Valparaíso, Viña del Mar (To Lima, Peru)
From scorching deserts to high alpine skiing and a coastline
to rival the best in the world; Chile has it all.
The Chilean itinerary was one leg of a 4-week journey to
Peru, Bolivia and Chile (links to those pages below) but could be done in
reverse order which is what we’ll be doing in 2026 with some additions! There
are airport hubs with regional flights to help you get around the area so look
out for travel options from Lima and Cusco (Peru), La Paz (Bolivia) and Calama
and Santiago (Chile).
Termas de Puritama
We arrived at San Pedro de Atacama on a 4x4 from the salt
flats in Bolivia (Salar de Uyuni) having quickly made it through border
control. If you intend on spending time here instead of just passing through,
then I recommend hiring a car for a few days. There are a few dealerships nearby to each
other but because there are very few local busses to get you around (and
everyone is only here for the salt flats), it is easiest to get a car. We hired
a (way too) big truck and drove out into the desert in search of some things to
do.
Laguna Cejar is a pretty spot where there are two lakes for swimming in and you can drive the 30km south from San Pedro in less than 25 minutes. Park up here and pay the £4 fee to get in and go for a little dip. If it is swimming you’re after though, look no further than the Termas de Puritama 30km and 40 mins drive north of San Pedro. Park hereand enjoy the gorgeous warm water of the river in small pools of varying temperature for between £13-£27 each. We spent hours here, bathing in the hot pools and enjoying the scenery before heading back to the town for dinner. At night, there are lots of observatories for anyone interested in stargazing which have different packages and experiences. Llama Stargazing for example does tours for £27 per person where you experience some of the world’s best stargazing due to the clear skies and high altitude. As with everything though, shop around and see what’s best for you.
Valparaíso streets
We then headed to Calama on a bus (1.5 hours, numerous
daily, £3) to catch our flight to Santiago. If you’re travelling through
Chile, this flight is highly recommended as it only takes a couple of hours,
and you can do it for as little as £30 if you book in advance. We didn’t
and it was still very cheap. After landing in Santiago, we got a bus to Valparaíso
on the coast (2 hours, numerous daily, £2) and spent a few days there. The
streets of Valparaíso are vibrantly coloured and there are lots of old quirky
funiculars to ride up and down the steep slopes. We followed a walking
trail to see the old city buildings and street art and ended up on the
beach in freezing cold wind (it was winter after all). For rainy days there is
the Parque Cultural de Valparaíso,
a museum-come-art-exhibition where there are different installations all year
round which is free to enter. The next day, we travelled 15 minutes on
the bus to Viña del Mar for a short walk around the cold and windy streets
before settling in a cosy casino on the beach for a few hours before heading
back to Santiago on the bus that afternoon.
Valparaíso graffiti
Santiago is close to the Andes and hundreds of kilometres of
ski runs. As it was the end of the trip, I treated myself to a day’s skiing
with a company called La Parvawho
had an office in the
centre of the city and for (at the time) £100, arranged my travel, ski hire and
lift pass for the day. Their rates have changed and there are a few other
companies which do the same thing but if you wanted a couple of days skiing
without booking hotels in the mountains; it is perfect. The skiing was
incredible, even if my hiking jacket and hastily purchased snood didn’t do too
much to protect me from the cold.
Valparaíso street art
We didn’t have to much time to spend in Santiago as we had a
flight back to the UK via Miami the next day and given it was winter; it was
pretty cold so I can’t say much for what the place it like. It will be the
first stop on our trip next year though, so I’ll update accordingly! Chile
itself is vast and there are lots of open spaces between places of interest but
given it goes from sea level to 5km altitude in less distance than the width of
England; it is pretty spectacular. Use Santiago and Calama as hubs for flights
and where possible, hire cars to get around. Use our advice or not, remember:
it’s what you know, not who you know.
