The hook
The driest desert on Earth, where some weather stations have never recorded rain, a high, otherworldly landscape of salt flats, steaming geysers, flamingo lagoons, and skies so clear that the world's great telescopes gather here.
01Why it's worth it
The Atacama, in northern Chile, is the driest non-polar desert in the world, so arid that parts of it are used to test Mars rovers and some spots have no record of rainfall, and that extremity produces astonishing landscapes. From the adobe oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama, excursions fan out to a surreal array of sights: the sculpted rock and sand of the Valley of the Moon at sunset, vast white salt flats where pink flamingos wade in shallow lagoons, high-altitude altiplano lakes of impossible blue beneath volcanoes, the El Tatio geyser field steaming at dawn in the freezing high air, and hot springs to soak in. Because the air is so dry, high, and free of light pollution, the Atacama has some of the clearest skies on the planet, home to major international observatories and to superb stargazing tours where the southern night sky blazes overhead. It is high (much of it well above 2,000 metres, with excursions far higher), so acclimatisation matters, but for sheer strange beauty and star-filled skies, it is one of the world's great desert destinations.
02How to experience it
Base in San Pedro de Atacama and take excursions to the Valley of the Moon (sunset), the salt-flat flamingo lagoons and altiplano lakes, and the El Tatio geysers (a cold pre-dawn start). Do a stargazing tour for the extraordinary skies. Acclimatise to the altitude, and pack for hot days and freezing nights.