Big North and Little North Tour: the best of Chile

Day 1. Santiago

Arrival in Santiago. Transfer to the hotel by private taxi. Free afternoon to rest. Dinner and accommodation.

Day 2. Santiago

Free morning. In the afternoon, city tour, visiting the historic center with its Cathedral, the Palacio de la Moneda (government seat), Cerro Santa Lucía, Cerro San Cristóbal, from which you can admire a complete panorama of this enormous metropolis, and the town of Los Dominicos. Lunch in the center. Return to the hotel and accommodation. Dinner.

Day 3. Santiago – Isla Negra (House of Neruda) – Valparaíso

Breakfast. Visit of a town near Santiago: Pomaire, very characteristic for its clay crafts. We will continue the trip to Isla Negra, ideal for those tourists who are lovers of poetry and Pablo Neruda. Visit of the House-Museum. Typical lunch in a restaurant. Arrival in Valparaiso. Dinner and accommodation.

Day 4. Valparaiso full day

Breakfast. Full day visit of Valparaíso (declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO) and Viña del Mar, two cities on the Pacific coast, very popular with the inhabitants of Santiago and people from the world of entertainment, in the summer times. In Viña, the International Song and Folklore Festival is held every year. Visit of both cities: the characteristic Valparaíso, with its houses of various colors from the hills to the port. With a funicular we will go down again to the lower part of the city. Visit to Sebastiana, the other house of the poet Pablo Neruda. Lunch in a typical restaurant. We will continue our visit to the city of Viña del Mar, with its beautiful beaches. Dinner and accommodation.

Day 5. Valparaiso – Airport – Arica

From Valparaíso, travel to the Arturo Merino Benitez airport, to take a flight to Arica, reception at the airport and transfer to the hotel in Arica. Dinner in a restaurant by the sea.

Day 6. Arica-Putre

Departure of the Tour at 10:30 hrs. We will visit the Agricultural Terminal to see a typical market. We will enter the Azapa Valley, on the way we will observe the La Tropilla Geoglyph. Then we will visit the San Miguel de Azapa Museum. We will cross towards the Lluta Valley where we will have a view of both valleys. We will have lunch in an Ecotruly ecological community. We will appreciate the candelabra cactus and the magnetic zone, we will visit a pre-Inca fortress in Copaquilla and we will visit a foothill town of Socoroma 3000 meters above sea level. We will walk towards this town for approximately 1 hour, a short break (coffee and cookies). Arrival at Putre 3500 MSN at 6:30 p.m. approximately. Dinner and accommodation.

Day 7. Putre – Lauca – Putre National Park

Departure from the accommodation in Putre at 08:30 hrs. approx. We will have breakfast in Putre or in Termas de Jurasi. To continue later to the Bofedal de las Cuevas where we will walk for 40 min. On the way we will see wild vicuñas, vizcachas and we will visit bofedales, the base of the ecosystem in the altiplano (Mirador Bofedal de Parinacota). We will be able to admire a great variety of birds such as the northern pitios, guallatas, coots, among others.
We will admire the Chungara Lake and the Cotacotani Lagoons where we will hike for approximately 3 hours (optional). We will have a picnic - lunch in the town of Parinacota, we will tour the town. Dinner and accommodation in Putre.

Day 8. Putre – Surire Salt Flat

Breakfast in Putre Departure to the Salar de Surire at 8.30 hrs. approx. Later visiting Ancuta and Guallatire, two highland towns over 4000 meters above sea level at the foot of the active Guallatire volcano. Arriving at the Salar de Surire at 12:00 hrs. approx. We will visit Chilcaya making a walk of approximately one hour, to photograph the flora and fauna, highlighting the three types of flamingos that exist in this Salar (Andean, Chilean, James); Then we will go to the Polloquere Hot Springs (4,270 masl), waters of volcanic origin that emerge at 80º C, with high mineral content that allow us to rest pleasantly at 4,270 masl. Picnic. Dinner and accommodation at CONAF Refuge.

Day 9. Salar de Surire – Isluga Volcano National Park – Enquelga – Colchane

Breakfast at the CONAF shelter. Departure towards Mulluri – Arabilla Viewpoint, Enquelga. We will visit the Isluga Volcano National Park, where we will get to know the Isluga town with its church and abundance of bofedales. We will visit the giant cacti of Rio Grande, we will also observe geological formations of moving beauty. We will arrive later in Colchane, at approximately 4:00 p.m. Dinner and accommodation.

Day 10. Colchane-Humberstone-Huara-Pica

Breakfast in Colchane at 08:00 hrs. From Cariquima, famous for its skilled artisan weavers for centuries, we will go down to the Felicidad ravine. We will stop at the Mirador de Victoria with a beautiful view of canyons and volcanic rocks. Next we will visit the Chusmiza and Pachica viewpoints, the latter on the edge of the Atacama Desert. Then we continue to Cerro Unitas to observe the largest geoglyph in the area "El Gigante de Atacama". We will have lunch in Huara and then we will visit the Humberstone and Santa Laura saltpeter mines, arriving at the town of Pica at 5:00 p.m. approx. Dinner and accommodation.

Day 11. Pica – Pintados Geoglyphs – Quillagua – San Pedro de Atacama or Calama

From Pica (1325 MSN), after our breakfast, we will walk towards Cocha de Resbaladero, one of the many adits used to extract water in the Atacama Desert. These waters are semi-thermal and the locals say that they have medicinal properties. After this relaxing bath we will leave Pica to visit the Pintados Geoglyphs that contain approximately 400 figures in 66 panels that represent men, animals, birds and abstract drawings. We will leave from this place crossing the Pampa del Tamarugal National Reserve to later arrive at the small town of Quillagua, an oasis next to the Loa River with crops and a town, where a church and the railway station stand. Quillagua Customs. To then cross the desert until you reach Calama or continue to San Pedro (2438 MASL). Dinner and accommodation.

Day 12. San Pedro de Atacama – Salar de Atacama – Altiplanic Lagoons – San Pedro de Atacama

Breakfast at the Hotel. Departure from San Pedro de Atacama at 08:30 hrs. We will head south to the town of Toconao, an oasis on the edge of the Salar de Atacama. We will continue on our way to the town of Socaire (3218 masl), to go up to the Miscanti and Meñiques Altiplanic Lagoons located at 4350 masl within the Los Flamencos National Reserve, one of the 5 zones protected by CONAF.
Return to Socaire for lunch. After lunch we will go down to the edge of the Salar de Atacama to visit the Chaxa Lagoons, brackish lagoons where Chilean, Andean and James flamingos feed. Return to the hotel in San Pedro de Atacama. Dinner and accommodation.

Day 13. San Pedro de Atacama – Pukara de Quitor – Tulor – Valley of the Moon – San Pedro de Atacama

Breakfast at the Hotel departure from San Pedro de Atacama at 08:30 hrs. We will leave in the direction of Pukara de Quitor, an impressive Atacameño fortress from the 12th century.

Later we will visit the village of Tulor, it is the oldest habitation vestige in the salt flat (800 ac). It is composed of circular enclosures interconnected with each other. There is a replica of them in the surroundings, which allows us to contextualize this visit in situ.
Visit the Padre Le Paige Museum, it is the most important in the north. Lunch in San Pedro de Atacama, in the afternoon excursion to the Valley of the Moon. Departure from San Pedro at 4:00 p.m. Approximately towards Valle de la Luna, a protected sector of the Los Flamencos National Reserve. It is a folding area of ​​the Cordillera de la Sal that at sunset allows you to see shade and colors in the Atacama desert. We will walk through an area of ​​caves from a large dune of 500 meters. To observe the sunset from that height. Return to the hotel in San Pedro. Dinner and accommodation.

Day 14. San Pedro de Atacama– Calama or Airport

Departure in the direction of Geisers del Tatio at 04:00 a.m., to arrive at this geothermal field, one of the most important in Chile, at 07:30 a.m. With the dawn we will witness the emanations of water, gases and steam, coming from mother earth, breakfast.
On the way to Calama, we will pass through the picturesque towns of Caspana, Chiu - Chiu to have lunch in the town of Lasana. Transfer Calama Airport. Flight to Santiago. Transfer to the hotel.

Day 15. Santiago

Breakfast at the hotel Transfer to the airport to take the flight back to Europe.

Includes:

Accommodation:

3 nights in a hotel in Santiago de Chile.
1 night in a hotel in Valparaiso.
1 night in a hotel in Arica.
2 nights in a hotel/hostel in Putre (according to availability).
1 night at the CONAF Refuge in Surire.
1 night at the Refuge in Colchane.
1 night in a hotel/hostel in Pica.
2 nights in a hotel/hostel in San Pedro de Atacama.

Feeding:

14 breakfasts in Putre, Surire (CONAF), Colchane, Pica, San Pedro, Santiago, Valparaíso.
12 lunches (Ecotruly, picnic in Parinacota, Polloquere and Isluga, Huara, Quillagua, Socaire, San Pedro, Lasana, Santiago and Valparaíso.
11 dinners in restaurants in Putre, Surire (CONAF), Colchane, Pica, San Pedro, Santiago and Valparaíso with wine included.
Soft drinks and mineral water without gas.
Fruits, coffee, cookies.

Guide:

Experienced guide/driver in Spanish.

Vehicle:

Minibus (van) with oxygen equipment.

Others:

Flights Santiago-Arica and Calama-Santiago.
Tickets to San Miguel de Azapa and Padre Le Paige Museum, Jurasi and Polloquere Hot Springs, Cocha de Resbaladero, Miscanti and Meñiques Lagoons, Chaxa Lagoon.
Walks in Socoroma, Bofedal de las Cuevas, Cotacotani Lagoons, Salar de Surire, Isluga, Chaxa Lagoons, Valley of the Moon.
Minimum number of passengers per vehicle: 01.
Maximum passengers per vehicle: 06.