The key moments
This one-week trip offers you the opportunity to discover the disruption of Atacama, the Mapuche culture and Valparaiso.
This trip to Chile will allow you a total immersion in the Chilean way of life!
- Private driver and English-speaking guide at almost every excursion
- Valley of the Moon and its salt mountains in the Atacama desert
- Discovery of the city of Santiago
- Immersion of the Mapuche community of Currarehue: Hikes, traditional workshops and sharing of stories and legends
- The Matriz Valparaiso, UNESCO World Heritage
Detailed itinerary
Day 1 – Arrival in Santiago
Pick-up at the airport and Overnight in a hotel in Santiago.
Day 2 – Moon Valley – Astronomic Tour
Private transfer to Santiago’s airport for your flight to Calama (2 hours).
Once you arrive in Calama, go to Transvip offices and take your shared transfer to San Pedro de Atacama (1 hour).
Upon your arrival, we will head to the Moon Valley and its ravines in a small group, going towards the Salt Mountain Range in the Atacama Desert, the most arid place in the whole world, to see one of the most picturesque points. The names already give you a clue of how is the landscape, ruled by the rock formations shaped by erosion, the salt cloaks over the ground and viewings that make you feel like if you were in another planet.
We will visit its famous rock formations: Las Tres Marías, El Cañón, El Amphitheater, and the Coyote Stone. Finally, we will enjoy the sunset from a natural viewpoint, where you can see how the desert changes its colors, with great volcanoes in the horizon, offering a speechless spectacle.
The Atacama sky is one of the best in the world for stargazing. Local guides will teach you, and a small group, the Andean constellations and occidental stars, and how to understand the cosmos according to the ancient inhabitants of the Andes. Using modern telescopes, they will teach and show you the most amazing objects of the universe. You will be back in your accommodation late at night.
Night at Hotel in Atacama
Day 3 – Lickan Antay Experience – Atacamenian Lunch – Ancestral Caravan
Transfer to Coyo Ayllu (15 minutes).
The Atacameños, or Lickan Antay, have inhabited the desert for thousands of years. In all this time, they have learned to live with it and to discover all its secrets. In this excursion, Wildo will show us the history of his family and the economic activities they have developed in the desert. We will learn about corn and alfalfa crops, animal husbandry and other trades typical of an Atacamenian family.
You will enjoy a « fusion » Atacamenian lunch, with preparations based on products traditionally used by the Lickan Antay, such as corn, quinoa, llama or lamb meat and fruits and vegetables produced in the community orchards. After lunch, you will return to the hostel to rest or stay at the restaurant’s gardens.
The Ancestral Caravan allows us to relive the beautiful experience of walking with llamas through the Atacama Desert. Sandra and Carlos, our local guides, will tell us about the stories of the desert and the relationship of men with llamas and travel., while we enjoy a beautiful sunset with the colors of the desert.
Night at Hotel in Atacama.
Day 4 – Altiplanic Lagoons, Atacama Saltflat
This morning you will have an early start. With a small group, you will visit the Miscanti and Meñiques lagoons, the town of Socaire, the great Salar de Atacama, the Chaxa lagoon and the town of Toconao. You will have the whole day to enjoy the impressive landscape that the desert offers, choosing a good place for lunch. You will be back in the afternoon.
Overnight at hotel in Atacama.
Day 5 – Hierbas Buenas, Rio Grande & Rainbow Valley
After breakfast, you will be picked up in a private transfer that will take you to Hierbas Buenas (1:30 hours), where you will meet your local guide, Pamela Condori. She will lead you in the visit of old petroglyphs and the magnificent Rainbow Valley, enjoying the multiple colors.
On your way back, you will visit the small village Río Grande. It has been built in a deep ravine. You will walk through its small streets visiting its houses and orchards. We will enjoy a typical lunch prepared by Pamela.
Night at Hotel in Atacama
Day 6 – Tatio Geysers geothermal field
Today we will wake up very early, before the sunrise. You will be picked up at your accommodation to head north-east with a small group, climbing the hills and mountains of the Andes, to reach the Tatio Geysers after approximately 1:30 hours of travel. Located about 89 km from San Pedro de Atacama, and 4,230 meters above sea level, this geothermal field consists of more than 80 active Geysers of different magnitudes. In summer the temperature can be -6ºC and in winter -20ºC.
On the way back, you will pass through the village of Machuca.
Return to the hotel at around midday to rest before your transfer to Santiago’s airport for your flight return to Santiago.
Night at hotel in Santiago.
Day 7 – Santiago City Tour
The tour begins in the traditional centre of Santiago, walking among heritage buildings such as La Moneda, Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral, etc. Afterwards, we will go to the emblematic Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center, passing through Cerro Santa Lucía with the best views of Santiago, Barrio Lastarria, Parque Forestal and the Museo de Bellas Artes. This neighbourhood, full of art, shops and alternative cafes, has the most beautiful architectures in the city.
Finally, the Barrio Bellas Artes is connected to Cerro San Cristóbal and the Museo Casa la Chascona* by the poet Pablo Neruda.
Afterwards, you are already in Barrio Bellavista, a very known bohemian neighbourhood in Santiago, so you are in the best place to eat typically Chilean food or try pisco or wine.
Night bus in confortable reclinable flat seat from Santiago to Pucón (9:30 hours).
Day 8 – Mapuche Culture – Homestay
Private transfer from Pucon to Curarrehue.
Today, we will be received at Curarrehue Square by our local guide, who will welcome us and tell us about the next days’ program.
We will go to a Mapuche house with fireplace called Inaltuleufu Ruka, where we will be able to have a conversation about the Mapuche cosmovision.
After a very interesting conversation, we will learn how to make « Tortillas de Rescoldo », cooked with fire and ashes.
The lunch will be in Elisa restaurant, a famous place in Kurarewe where the recipe includes local ingredients. Afterwards, we will get to know diverse aspects of the rural Mapuche livelihood.
In the afternoon, next to Curileufu river, a local entrepreneur will show us his reforestation work with native species: seeds picking, greenhouse and reproduction.
At the end of the day, a local family will receive us in their home for dinner and sleep.
Day 9 – Mapuche Culture – Homestay
You begin the journey with a traditional Mapuche breakfast.
We will arrive at Quillelhue lagoon, on the border with Argentina and inside Villarrica National Park, where you will begin the trekking by an old international pass that crosses the template rainforest with araucarias, watching many endemic birds.
The circuit goes up until wonderful Andean lagoons. The Roquiñ (picnic) will be in the foothills of the majestic Lanín volcano, also called Awel Ñamku (3.747 above sea level) by the locals, with magnificent views over the mountains around the Trankurra river.
Day 10 – Mapuche Culture – Homestay
After breakfast, the trip takes us to a Longko’s home, an ancestral authority, who will offer a talk on the traditional medicine of the Mapuche people and will show his orchard of medicinal plants.
In Pocolpén you will be received by a seed protector. The hostess will take us through her agro-ecological garden, sharing her extensive knowledge about plants, the stories of the seeds and the medicinal use.
After lunch, the Camilo Coñuequir Lloftonekul Indigenous Community will receive us in Ruka Trankurra, where you will taste a lunch based on traditional Mapuche food.
After the meal, there will be a short walk to the Copihupulli Waterfall. On the way back, the community Longko will share with you the history of their family and their relation with the territory. The program will end with a visit to a workshop on processing products derived from honey and natural herbs within the community.
Day 11 – Mapuche Culture – Homestay
After breakfast, a transfer will take you to the Panqui sector, one of the best-kept secrets of Araucania.
The day will begin with trekking through native forests to the Wenuco lagoon, surrounded by Araucaria trees and wild birds. There, you will enjoy the place savouring a yummy picnic.
After lunch, you will reach the Panqui Hot Springs, where you will find four open-air thermal pools. You will be able to enjoy the silence and tranquillity of the place.
Day 12 – Mapuche Culture
After breakfast, a young palife will explain the history, technique, values and sense of palín, a traditional Mapuche game.
Then you will participate in a cuisine workshop. You will learn how to make locro, a typical dish of several Andean villages based on pumpkin, beans, corn or potatoes. You will then taste this delicious meal for lunch.
Afterwards, you will go to a weaving workshop where a textile artisan will show you the process of using a traditional loom and natural dyeing techniques in wool.
Private transfer from Pucon to Curarrehue.
Night bus in confortable reclinable flat seat from Pucón to Santiago (9:30 hours).
Day 13 – Free day in Santiago
Night at hotel in Santiago.
Day 14 – Day excursion to Valparaiso : La Matriz Valparaiso – City tour Valparaiso
Today, early morning, you will take public transport to the bus station and then a bus to Valparaiso (2 hours).
Valparaiso, the UNESCO World Heritage Site –a cliff-clinging seaside town. Our local guide will be waiting for you to visit the oldest neighbourhood of the city with a local poet. Interesting characters and beautiful views towards the colourful hills are waiting for you.
You will begin the journey in the foundational sector of Valparaiso, visiting the oldest temple in the city, Church of La Matriz. Then we will go through the social dining room 421, where we will get to know the social work carried out by neighbours and volunteers in aid of the homeless brothers.
Afterwards, we will go up the stairs of the Santo Domingo Hill, that keeps countless secrets of architecture and heritage and is the first one inhabited in the city. You will arrive at the house of ‘La Chinita’, who will receive you in her home to enjoy lunch with a pleasant conversation about life in Buenos Aires neighbourhood.
We will go to the city center through the patrimonial zone of the hill. Together with the local guide, we will continue the walk appreciating the street art that highlights Valparaiso as a bohemian city and cultural center nationwide. Afterwards, a visit to Pablo Neruda’s house museum, La Sebastiana, it is a must.
Overnight in Santiago.
Day 15 – Transfer
Private transfer to Santiago’s airport.
Budget
Our travel programs are given as an example, to inspire you and give you ideas.
Then we create with you together the trip of your dreams. Depending on the duration of your trip, we advise you on the sites to visit, you choose your accommodation, the means of transport and if you want a guide who accompanies you during your discovery of Chile.
Contact us by email at info@phimavoyages.com or by our contact form. We return to you within 24 hours.
This program includes
- English-speaking guide and local guide as indicated
- Private transfers
- Entrances for excursions as indicated
- Accommodation in 3-star hotels in a double room or a bed and breakfast, including breakfast
- Meal as indicated
- Personalized assistance during the trip 24 hours a day
- A donation to the WINTA (Global Alliance for Indigenous Tourism) organization, with which we have a strategic alliance of collaboration to strengthen the global tourism network.
This program does not include
- Food not specified in your program
- Alcoholic beverages
- Expenses for souvenir purchases
