Mexico, Central & South America > Chile > Atacama > San Pedro de Atacama > Articles > Chile: North or South?

The one irritating thing about Chile, blessed with more natural wonders than probably any other country on earth, is its string-bean shape. This major strip of the west coast of South America is 3000 miles long, and as international flights go straight to the middle, first-time visitors must immediately deal with the dilemma of whether to turn right or left.

Few can resist heading south - the glaciers, fjords and peaks of Patagonia are a powerful draw. But northern Chile is no less spectacular, despite the absence of ice - here are snow-capped volcanoes, bubbling geysers, dunes, salt flats, rock paintings and the bowler-hatted Indians associated with neighbouring Bolivia. The presence of indigenous tribes, not to mention the nightlife and retail therapy harder to find in the south, make a strong case for turning north from the capital gateway of Santiago.

Atacama, the natural base for all Chile’s northern glories, is the driest desert in the world. So clear are its skies that astronomers make pilgrimage from all over the planet to its observatory, while adventurers queue up to climb its volcanoes. But you can also enjoy the snow-capped peaks from a Jeep window on the drive to El Tatio geysers, and walk gently on the roof of the world in the nearby Andean meadows.

Frankly, you could have a great week doing none of the above and just hanging out in the wonderful little inland resort of San Pedro de Atacama; sitting round its restaurant firepits at night listening to chill-out music under the stars, one is sorely tempted. But the surrounding spectacles are too wonderful not to get up early to explore - and five days in San Pedro would allow alternate days to chill between each unmissable excursion.

The jumping-off point for San Pedro is Calama, a three-hour flight north of Santiago. An afternoon arrival would permit a sunset tour to the nearby Valle de la Luna to see the colourful rocks, best viewed at this time of day, and worth the slightly difficult hike - like sloshing through sugar - up a dune to get a full panorama.

This builds an appetite for dinner at El Adobe in San Pedro, built around an open courtyard. The firepit in the middle of the yard, plus the chill music, gives the place a magical atmosphere and probably accounts for its popularity, given that the food is adequate but not amazing. Like many visitors, we never moved on, as the place is faintly addictive. It was also within walking distance - about 15 minutes - of our hotel, the Altiplanico, which was just as well given the paucity of taxis in the village.

The Altiplanico, simple but so satisfyingly in character with its surroundings with its thatched roofs and gardens, makes an ideal base for Atacama, and it’s worth spending the whole of your first day in the area just getting to know the walk from here into the centre of San Pedro and back. The village itself has some interesting shops - there are at least two working silversmiths - and there is a craft market at the top of the town. Apart from jewellery - expect to see stunning silver and lapis pieces - good buys include alpaca sweaters and cactus wood carvings.

Following a good rest, it’s time for the major excursion to the geysers of El Tatio, a journey which of necessity starts in the dark at 4am to arrive by sunrise. Sixty miles of tortuous road wind past those volcanoes, but eventually you’re 4300 metres above sea level watching the spectacle of several hundred hot springs spouting through the mist - an inevitably, boiling your own breakfast egg in one.

The journey to El Tatio is easily combined with a visit to Caspana, a real gem of an Andean village, with plenty of thatch, verdant terraces and a colonial church. There are also wonderful opportunities, perhaps on a separate day, to hike on flat ground at high altitude around the Laguna de Miscanti and its neighbouring lake, enjoying the Andean meadows, volcano views and sweet, thin mountain air.

Another excursion day should be reserved for Toconao, a village 30 miles south of San Pedro known for its volcanic stone houses and agricultural valley, the Quebrada de Jerez, which is a veritable Shangri-La. Here flourish pomegranates, almonds, quince, grapes, pears and plums in an impossibly verdant valley, through which walk the bowler-hatted Indian women and children with donkeys. A great little shop had super llama and alpaca wool products - look for rugs and throws with animal motifs as well as the wearable stuff - and souvenirs hewn from the local stone. Not far from here are salt flats shimmering with flamingoes far off in the distance - another example of the extraordinary contrast of landscapes in this area.

There’s more to northern Chile than just the Atacama; if time allows, consider sauntering northwards towards the Peru border, stopping first at Iquique. This boom town of the 19th century still has many fine mansions built by miners who struck it lucky, and today’s chancers are still trying to emulate them in the town’s glitzy casino. Far from homogenised, Iquique stretches back from a rustic port to the higher ground, with its Georgian mansions, and a slew of seaside skyscrapers evocative of that later modern-day boom town, Miami.

Also notable for some fine examples of 19th century architecture is Arica, one of Chile’s best beach resorts. Gustave Eiffel, who built Paris’s eponymous Tower, designed many landmark buildings for Latin America, which include Arica’s customs building, now a house of culture. Eiffel also built the city’s Iglesia de San Marcos, creating the building blocks in Paris and assembling them on site in 1876. There’s also a station dating back to 1913 with a charming little railway museum.

Arica is also a jumping-off point for the Lauca National Park, even closer to the Peru border, and another slew of interesting mountain villages, as well as some ancient ruins. Close to the Pan-American Highway are some ancient geoglyphs, llama figures picked out in dark stone to depict the animal pack trains which were the main means of transporting goods until the roads brought by the motor age.

While the capital, Santiago, may seem the obvious place to get a day or two’s respite from the long flight from London before heading up north, it’s really worth making the 90-minute trip to Valparaiso and making that your layover base. This city, a World Heritage Site, combines all the best elements of New York (city buzz), San Francisco (colourful Victorian hilltop houses), Lisbon (art nouveau funiculars) and Liverpool (grand port architecture). It also has fabulous old deco bars like the Ingles where you can also get a good lunch, and for dinner it would be hard to beat the quirky Cinzano, and its cabaret of aged tango singers. Bartenders rule OK in Valparaiso, where the cocktail is still king, unlike the firemen, who are all volunteers! If the atmospheric little Hotel Brighton is full, consider one of the seaside hotels in neighbouring Vina del Mar.

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