Atacama Desert Travel Guide

How you are gonna move is definitely something you have to decide before going on a trip in Atacama. So in this post, I’ll start with the tips that matter to your planning and my road trip experience in Atacama, so you have some ideas before you embark the journey 😊

Table of Contents

• Logistic

  • Compare your choice by cost and experience

    • Join a tour

    • Rent a car

• My road trip experience in Atacama

Logistic

Compare your choice by cost and experience

Renting a car isn’t necessary in Atacama. Some travelers I met there didn’t rent a car but just joined tours, which seemed fine as well. But better ask yourself the following questions before making a decision:

Join a tour

So joining tours is the way for you to visit different tourist spots if you don’t have a car, which is definitely feasible. But there are some things to consider in terms of cost:

• It costs ~$50/per person for a one-spot tour; ~$80/per person for a farther one-spot tour like Geysers Del Tatio 

• You can find tours that offers 3 spots and costs ~$80/per person, which isn’t bad. But it usually doesn’t bundle with the famous one like Geysers Del Tatio, so you’ll have to buy extra tours.

• The extra transport cost here is that you’ll have to pay shared shuttle service taking you to and from the airport - Airport El Loa Calama (CJC), which costs ~$30/per person per ride. (reference - Getyourguide)

• The following table shows the cost breakdown:

Rent a car

• It costs ~$50 (tax included) per day

• For some spots, like Geysers Del Tatio, it’s a tough drive (many sharp and big stones on the last 1/3 journey. I promise you it’s worse than what I mentioned in my another post about Costa Rica). So you may consider paying for a tour rather than driving on your own.

• The following table shows the cost breakdown:

In terms of experience for both options, you may want to consider the followings:

• Driving offers flexibility and saves money. But if you really hate driving, this may not be a good option for you. Because it takes 5 hours to complete a round trip reaching the farthest spots - Piedras Rojas for example.

• Joining a tour costs more but a tour guide can guide you to the most ideal entrance for accessing “Laguna” (small lakes), which may not be that easy for you to identify because they look similar and sometimes is not as close as what you think.

My road trip experience in Atacama

I decided to rent a car because I wanted to save money and also have a road trip experience. Before going on the trip, I actually listed the spots that I wanted to check out. But during the trip, I found myself super immersed in the journey and almost forgot what I wanted to check out. Because I was so amazed and satisfied with the view on the way to a point that I thought it didn’t matter anymore if I really checked the exact spots that people reviewed. It’s just…breathtaking I would say.

The more south you head to, the higher the altitude is, which means it’s colder and super windy (so be prepared!) I really like the transitional landscapes of the vegetation. At the beginning when I was still close to the town of San Pedro de Atacama, it was warm and relatively humid so you could still see some dry grass.

As you go farther, the land gets a bit drier. There are still some bushes, but the dry grass becomes sparser. This part of journey is where you can see some goats.

When you head even more south (I reached to Piedras Rojas), the altitude gets higher so is the level of humidity, so you can see some dry grass again. This part of journey is where you are getting closer to the mountains and are able to see llamas/vicuñas (not sure which one I saw, I had trouble distinguishing them 😂), which is the highlight of the whole trip.

The mountains was surrounded by the clouds, even so, the river’s winding path covered with snow was still clear on the mountain. There wasn’t much plants so the view was supposed to be grey. But somehow I felt it shimmering with purple light. Compared to the harmonious mountain scenery of New Zealand, I’m more into this rugged kind of beauty. The thought that even such badlands can nurture life blows my mind and makes me want to just stand here in awe. That was definitely the most breathtaking view I had ever seen. It feels so unreal that I wonder if such a place really exists on Earth.

During this part of journey, I stopped at a spot and walked down so I could get closer to a laguna where the red and blue caught my eyes. That was an adventures. The laguna isn’t that close as what I thought and the path isn’t flat. And the most challenging is that I had to guard myself from the SUPER STRONG wind. That was an experience. My reward is seeing a group of llamas/vicuñas walking on trail that’s shield from rocks so you couldn’t see if you stayed on the car roads.

Next week I’ll share about the cute town - San Pedro Atacama, stay tuned!