Valle de la Luna is the Atacama landscape most visitors picture before they arrive: salt crusts, folded ridges, dunes, and rock formations shaped by wind and extreme dryness. Late afternoon light turns the valley theatrical, with long shadows and colours that make the desert feel almost lunar.
It is deservedly popular, so expect company at sunset viewpoints. The best visits mix short walks with time simply looking, and they require basic desert common sense: water, sun protection, and respect for marked paths on fragile salt and clay formations.