Some experiences in the Atacama are not about intensity, but about balance.
The Salar de Atacama + wine in Toconao is an exclusive Atacama Connection tour. This experience brings together two complementary moments: the silent immensity of the salt flat and a carefully planned pause in one of the region’s most traditional villages.
We leave San Pedro de Atacama and head south, crossing the transition between the oasis and the open desert. Gradually, the vegetation disappears and the surroundings become a flat, white and seemingly endless landscape.
We arrive at the Salar de Atacama, Chile’s largest salt flat.
Here, the horizon appears to have no end.
The salt crust, formed over thousands of years through intense evaporation, creates irregular shapes beneath your feet. The ground crackles, the air is dry and silence naturally takes over.
Even in this extreme environment, life is present.
Flamingos are an essential part of this ecosystem. They find food and favorable conditions here, and their delicate presence contrasts with the surrounding aridity. Their presence is not incidental: it is fundamental to the identity of this place.
The guide allows time to walk, observe and understand the scale of the salt flat, rather than simply crossing it.
We then continue to Toconao, a small Andean village that preserves its identity, architecture and rhythm.
Built with liparite, a volcanic rock, the village has a simple and authentic aesthetic where everything seems to be exactly where it belongs.
This is where the experience gains greater depth.
The wine served here does not come from elsewhere. It is born here.
The grapes are cultivated in an ancestral grove, a true oasis in the desert where water allows life to flourish amid the arid surroundings.
Production is family-run, carried on by generations who continue to cultivate the grapes and make wine by hand while respecting the natural pace of the land.
We then prepare an outdoor wine tasting, where wine is not merely a drink, but part of the context.
Each glass embodies the contrast between the extreme desert and the rare fertility of this oasis.
Between sips, you can sense the history and essence of the Atacama.
After all, this is not simply about drinking wine in a traditional village. It is about understanding where it comes from and everything it represents.
We return to San Pedro de Atacama with the feeling of having experienced two different expressions of the desert: the silent grandeur of the salt flat and the delicacy of a pause deeply rooted in the Altiplano.
TOUR PRICE: CLP 60,000 per person
MINIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 4
SCHEDULE: 2:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
MAXIMUM ALTITUDE: 2,500 meters
ENTRANCE FEE: CLP 14,000 per person
WHAT’S INCLUDED: Transportation, local guide, wines and snacks
RECOMMENDED FOR: From your first day in the Atacama onward