San Pedro de Atacama
An adobe village at 2,400 metres from which a day trip climbs to 4,300 — which is why day one does nothing
- When to go
- October 17° · 0 rainy days
- Per day
- €€€price 3 of 5
- How many days
- 3days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 85 km Calama
- Right now
San Pedro is an adobe village with one street, and everything you do here is a trip out of it. The problem is not distance but altitude: the village sits at 2,400 metres, the Tatio geysers at 4,300, and anyone who goes up on day two without acclimatising will spend it with a headache and nausea.
Day one plans nothing beyond the Valle de la Luna before sunset — it is at the village's own altitude and that is the right load for a first day. Day two is the Salar de Atacama with its flamingos and the high lagoons Miscanti and Miñiques, which sit at four thousand metres but involve no walking. Day three is the Tatio geysers at 4,300, leaving at four in the morning — because the steam only rises while it is cold and stops around nine.
Every tour is bought in the village a day ahead, from one of the twenty-odd agencies on the main street, and the prices barely differ. Your own car is an option for the valleys but not for the geysers, where the road is bad and it is dark. Entry to most sites is charged separately from the tour, and you ask about that in advance because it is often not included.
The sky is why some people come only for the night. Humidity here is the lowest on the planet, there is no light pollution, and ALMA and the other large telescopes stand a hundred kilometres away. Astronomy tours run every night except around the full moon, when they are cancelled — worth knowing before you fix a date.
Guides for San Pedro de Atacama
Shorter, practical pages for one concrete question each — how many days, how much money, where to sleep, where to escape the city.
San Pedro de Atacama in 3 days
→Three days ordered by altitude rather than by beauty — because you do not go from 2,400 metres to 4,300 on day two.
What to see in San Pedro de Atacama
The Valle de la Luna
Salt and sand formations fifteen kilometres from the village, at village altitude — which is why it is the first day's trip. Go before sunset, when the rock changes colour; entry is charged and numbers are capped.
The Tatio geysers
Some eighty geysers at 4,300 metres, the third largest field in the world. Departure is at four in the morning because the steam stops around nine. Go on day three, not earlier, and dress for winter.
The Salar de Atacama and the lagoons
A salt flat the size of a small country, with three species of flamingo. The Miscanti and Miñiques lagoons sit at four thousand metres and are a colour that is hard to believe in a photograph.
- A
An astronomy tour
Telescopes in the desert, ninety minutes of the northern and southern skies at once. Cancelled around the full moon — check the phase before you fix a date.
Pukará de Quitor
A twelfth-century Atacameño fortress on a hill above the river, three kilometres from the village. Reached on foot or by bike, in the morning, and the only history in a region that is otherwise all geology.
The Puritama hot springs
Eight warm pools in a canyon at 3,500 metres, thirty kilometres north. Numbers are capped and tickets are bought ahead; best in the morning.
Two things you probably did not know
The Atacama is the driest desert in the world; some weather stations have never recorded rain. That is also why the largest telescopes are here: the air is so dry that it barely distorts the light of the stars.
NASA tests Mars rovers in the Atacama, because the soil is closer in composition to Martian ground than anything else on Earth. In parts of the desert no bacteria have been found at all.
Ready for San Pedro de Atacama?
Within reach from here
Places sorted by straight-line distance from San Pedro de Atacama — day trips or weekends.
Chile
→A country 4,300 kilometres long and 180 wide — driest desert on earth to glacier, without a single turn
Argentina
→A country 3,700 kilometres long, where the far south is seen in December and the whales and the snow in August
Brazil
→A country where the flight between two cities is often cheaper, and always faster, than the overnight coach
All 277 places we write about sit on one page — narrow them down by continent, country, price or what you are travelling for.
Within reach from here: Mendoza, Valparaíso and Santiago
See how much of that actually suits you — or pin San Pedro de Atacama if you have been.
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