HOWENH CHILE
The Licancabur volcano above the red rock formations of the Atacama Desert at sunset
22°55′ S · 68°12′ W

San Pedro de Atacama

The driest desert in the world
The journey
Northern Chile

An experience designed for those who seek the silent beauty of the driest desert on the planet.

At 2,400 metres above sea level, between volcanoes and salt flats, San Pedro de Atacama is the point where the earth stops resembling Earth. The dry air turns the air transparent, colours saturate without help and silence becomes audible.

This journey crosses the desert from north to south in eight days: dawns in the highest geothermal fields in the world, afternoons floating in salt water, a sunrise seen from a balloon and whole nights devoted to a sky that has almost no rival.

Duration
8 days
Highest point
4,320 m
Latitude
22°55′ S
Day by day

Eight days, eight ways of looking

Gardens and pool of the hotel in Santiago, with the Andes behind
Day 01

The beginning of a new adventure

Chile welcomes you with the calm of someone who knows the best is still to come. Santiago is only the threshold — one night of rest before entering the driest desert on the planet. Here begins a journey measured not in kilometres but in the depth of what you are about to feel.

  • Arrival and private transfer
  • One night in Santiago
  • The first breath before the desert
Rock ridges of the Atacama Desert turned orange at sunset
Day 02

Where the desert becomes a mirror

The flight north reveals a landscape that seems to belong to another planet. On arrival, the desert wraps you in its golden silence. In the afternoon you float effortlessly in the salt waters of Laguna Cejar, while the sun sinks behind the volcanoes and the sky becomes Atacama’s first gift.

  • Arrival in San Pedro de Atacama
  • Floating in Laguna Cejar at sunset
  • A welcome under an infinite sky
A traveller walking among the fumaroles of the El Tatio geysers at dawn
Day 03

Where the earth breathes at dawn

Before the sun rises, the desert takes you to one of the highest geothermal fields in the world. Columns of steam rise as if the earth itself were breathing. Sunrise among the fumaroles of El Tatio is a silent reminder that you are standing in a place where time is measured differently.

  • Sunrise at the El Tatio geysers
  • Altiplano wildlife in the wetlands
  • The village of Machuca
An altiplano lagoon at the foot of volcanoes, among golden grassland
Day 04

Between volcanoes and endless lagoons

The altiplano unfolds in impossible colours: red rocks emerging from turquoise water, white salt melting into the horizon. Every lagoon reflects a different sky, every volcano keeps its own silence. This is a day to walk slowly and let the immensity do the rest.

  • Piedras Rojas at first light
  • Miscanti and Miñiques lagoons
  • Lunch in the village of Socaire
A pool facing the Licancabur volcano lit by the first light of day
Day 05

Floating above a world still asleep

Before dawn, a hot-air balloon lifts you above the sleeping desert. From up there, the Licancabur volcano turns pink while the sun wakes the whole world at your feet. Later, the thermal waters of Puritama return the body to the earth, warm between the walls of a hidden canyon.

  • Private balloon flight at sunrise
  • Views of the Licancabur volcano
  • The Puritama hot springs between canyons
A starry sky above the lights of a village in the Atacama Desert
Day 06

Where the stars seem to touch the ground

Atacama holds one of the cleanest skies on Earth. By day, a private photographic tour reveals the most sculptural corners of the desert. By night, a telescope brings you close to the Milky Way while a guide shares the way the original peoples read the firmament.

  • Private photographic tour of the desert
  • Stargazing through a telescope
  • The clearest sky in South America
A herd of vicuñas crossing the altiplano under a cloudy sky
Day 07

One last breath of silence

The morning unfolds without haste: a final walk through the oasis, a coffee facing the Licancabur, the silence of the desert settling into memory. In the afternoon, the flight back to Santiago closes the circle — but something of the desert already travels with you.

  • A free last morning in the desert
  • Return to Santiago
  • A night of rest in the city
Snow-capped volcanoes reflected in the turquoise water of Laguna Miscanti
Day 08

The echo of a desert that already lives in you

The journey ends where it began, but nothing is the same. Chile says goodbye with the same calm with which it welcomed you, and on the flight home the desert is still present — in the silence, in the light, in the certainty of having touched something true.

  • Transfer to the airport
  • International flight home
  • A desert that is now part of you
Gallery

See you soon

A HOWENH journey does not end when you return home — it continues every time you close your eyes and feel the immensity of the desert again. We hope to welcome you soon, to design your next transformation together.

Write to us
The other journeys