Northern Chile Highlights

How it works: You receive a rental car with unlimited mileage, a road map and detailed itinerary, and hotels booked en route.

Day 1: Arrive in Arica - Azapa Valley (25 km / 16 mi)
You will pick up your car at the airport or downtown rental office. Arica offers interesting points to visit, like El Morro, a steep hill to the south of the center. The Azapa Valley is a fertile valley where olives, tomatoes, and tropical fruits are grown. It is famous for its archaeological sites that date back to the 10th century AD and for the archaeological and anthropological museum "San Miguel de Azapa". Overnight in Arica.

Day 2: Putre (3.500 m/11.483 ft above sea level) (148 km/93 mi)
Breakfast at the hotel. Drive up towards the highland village of Putre, located at an altitude of 3500 m / 11,483 ft. In the afternoon, you will enter the valley of Putre that is surrounded by snow-capped volcano peaks. Pre-Hispanic Putre is the capital of the Parinacota Province. Overnight in Putre.

Day 3: Lauca National Park - Arica (225 km / 141 mi)
Breakfast at the hotel. Discover the captivating beauty of the Lauca National Park with an impressive variety of exotic flora and wildlife such as vicuñas, alpacas, Andean flamingos, as well as other species. In the park you will be able to visit Lake Chungará, the highest in the world, and the village of Parinacota with its beautiful church. In the afternoon you will return to Arica, stopping in the Lluta Valley to admire the geoglyphs on the arid hillside made by the pre-Columbian inhabitants. Overnight in Arica.

Day 4: Arica - Iquique (318 km / 198 mi)
Breakfast at the hotel. Drive through the "Pampa", a dry desert at 1.000 - 1.200 m /3,280 - 3,940 ft above sea level. Various deep canyons intersect this high and dry plain. You will then enter the region of the 19th century saltpetre boom around Iquique. Overnight in Iquique.

Day 5: Iquique - San Pedro de Atacama (550 km / 342 mi)
Breakfast at the hotel. For most of this long ride, you will be heading south through the Pampa del Tamarugal before you turn east to the famous Atacama Desert. During the whole trip roads will be paved. Overnight in San Pedro de Atacama.

Day 6: Salar de Atacama and Moon Valley (100 km / 62 mi)
Breakfast at the hotel. San Pedro de Atacama once was the center of the Atacama civilization; the museum Padre le Paige in the centre of town has a collection of over 380,000 exhibits, including mummies discovered in this area. We recommend visiting the Salar de Atacama, the largest of the Chilean salt lakes in the morning or early afternoon (100 km/62 mi from San Pedro). Then drive to the Moon Valley. When the sun sets on this rocky landscape, its colors will be just impressive. Overnight in San Pedro.

Day 7: El Tatio and Puritama (4.321 m/14.177 ft above sea level)(94 km / 58 mi)
Breakfast at the hotel. After an early start (about 04.00 a.m.) you will be able to visit the El Tatio Geysers, a geothermal field flanked by soaring Andean peaks at an altitude of 4,321 m/14,177 ft above sea level. At dawn, powerful spurts of steam shoot out of various blowholes. After your visit to the geysers, you will drive back to San Pedro; on your way you can visit the Hot Springs of Puritama to relax and warm up in the beautiful thermal baths. Overnight in San Pedro.

Day 8: San Pedro – Fly out from Calama (100 km/62 mi to Calama)
Breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, you will return your car in Calama airport or city office.