The reason most travellers find themselves in Calama is the surrounding landscape. The Chuquicamata mine to the north makes a half-day visit on a free Codelco-run tour. The Atacama Desert and the oasis village of San Pedro de Atacama lie 100 km east on a fast paved road — but San Pedro deserves at least two nights of its own rather than a day trip, since the geysers, salt flats, and altiplano lagoons are best reached on early-morning departures from there.
For a true day-trip option, the village of Chiu Chiu (33 km northeast) has a whitewashed 17th-century adobe church, one of the oldest in Chile, and the nearby Lasana fortress — a pre-Inca pukara built in the 12th century. Easy to combine in a half-day with a hire car or a local tour.
