San Pedro de Atacama Guide
Welcome to our guide to San Pedro de Atacama.
Located within the driest desert on earth, the town of San Pedro (short for San Pedro de Atacama) is one of the highlights of a trip to Chile.
With its small town feel, you’ll feel part of the community within hours, with locals and travelers from all walks of life gathering here.
As well as it’s interesting mix of local-feel and tourism, San Pedro is also the best place to base yourself to explore the Atacama Desert.
There are a ton of things to see and do in the region, including the Valle de la Lunar and Geysers del Tatio, which we’ll explore in more detail later.
San Pedro de Atacama Guide
In this guide we’ll explore San Pedro, what to see and do, the best places to stay as well as our own top tips for a backpacking trip here.
Is San Pedro worth visiting?
Despite it being a very small town, San Pedro is one of the most visited destinations in Chile and a great addition to any Chile itinerary.
The main reason most travelers head here is to explore the scorching Atacama Desert, which is home to some truly epic, otherworldly sceneries.
The Valle de la Lunar is a must-visit, with its canyons and rock formations appearing something like that out out a Sci-Fi film.
Another major pull is the Geysers del Tatio, which are some of the largest steaming geysers in South America.
Whilst San Pedro itself used to be one of those elusive destinations that few headed to, it has since become very touristy.
On a good note, this means that there’s lots of hostels and restaurants that have now sprung up around town, which makes it easier to stick to an affordable budget.
Despite losing its authenticity somewhat, there’s still some worthwhile things to see in town such as it’s market, and the local eat-outs where you can try some of the best Chilean dishes such as Cazuela (a hot meat soup) as well as the tasty Pebre sauce (perfect for bread dippin’).
How to Get to San Pedro
As San Pedro is a small town, there’s no airport that you can fly to get here directly. You’ll need to make your way overland, and there’s two main options.
The first is taking the bus from Calama, where the closest airport to fly into is around 86km away (which is great as distances in Chile can otherwise be humongous). The bus takes around 2 hours to get from Calama to San Pedro.
The other popular option is to arrive from Bolivia, which is usually the finishing point after a trip to the Salar de Uyuni Salt Flats.
For the more adventurous, you can also arrive here from Salta in Argentina, with the trip taking 9 hours (plus the time at the border crossing which can sometimes take a while depending on the day).
Best Things to do in San Pedro
Here we’ll now explore the very best destinations you can visit in San Pedro, including the top day trips.
San Pedro Town
Like we mentioned before, the town of San Pedro itself has a few gems which you can easily see by yourself.
First go for a walk around the Plaza de San Pedro, and also see the Iglesia as well as the Artisanal Market. The street of Caracoles also has lots of bustling market shops worth exploring.
You can also rent a bike and head along the Calama-San Pedro Road, where you can stop off at the Cross (quite easy to spot), and then further up to La Ruta del Desierto mirador with its stunning views.
The best time to do the bike ride is in the afternoon, where you can then watch the sunset over the desert from the mirador.
Geysers del Tatio
A geothermal field full of bubbling and steaming pools, Geysers del Tatio is actually the third largest of its kind in the World.
These Geysers are spewing non-stop, so you can visit anytime of the year. They’re located at a pretty high altitude of 4300 meters, so it’s best to acclimatise a few days before in San Pedro.
If you’re prone to altitude sickness, then follow our altitude sickness guide for our best tricks for how to overcome it.
The Atacama Desert
Without a doubt, The Atacama Desert and it’s gems are the main reason travelers head to San Pedro. This vast desert is the driest in the World, and is home to some surreal landscapes.
From San Pedro you can organise day tours out to the very best of them.
The Valle de Lunar is hands down the top pick, where you’ll first see some canyons made out of salt, and then the picturesque road with desert to one side and sprawling canyons out into the distance.
Other top sites to see in The Atacama Desert include the Petroglyphs of Hierbas Buenas, and also the Salar de Atacama.
Stargazing
Due to its very secluded setting and lack of clouds/rainfall, The Atacama makes for a perfect place to see the stars.
On a good day (you’ll need to go with a tour who knows what their doing) you can see Globular Clusters, Planets such as Saturn and Jupiter as well as the Milky Way.
The best time to see the stars is when the night sky is at its darkest, so anytime around a new moon will be perfect. Be sure to layer up well, as temperatures often drop below freezing at night!
We recommend coming with this stargazing tour, which includes professional telescope equipment as well as a hot drink (which will be much needed given how cold it gets here!).
Salar de Uyuni Tour
Despite most of the sites actually being located in neighbouring Bolivia, the Salar de Uyuni is simply unmissable.
San Pedro is also located quite close, making it a perfect jumping off point to explore this incredible region.
On this 3 Day Tour you’ll see red and green lagoons, pink flamingos, towering volcanoes as well as the incredible salt flats themselves too. Definitely not one to be missed!
The rest of the year the flats will be perfect for taking those forced perspective images, and also better for exploring deeper.
San Pedro Backpacking Tips
Below are some of our best tips for exploring San Pedro, based on our time spent here.
- San Pedro is pretty touristy, however for those who want to try authentic Chilean foods (as well as to save money), then head to the row of local eat-outs along Licancabur, which are located a block north of the Plaza. Here you’ll pay 5000 Chilean Pesos (around £4) for a pretty decent two-course meal.
- We recommend spending a minimum of four days in San Pedro. Whilst the town itself is pretty small and can be seen well within a day, you’ll need the time to see all of the top sites which are often half-day or full-day trips.
- Overall, January and February are the best months to visit San Pedro. Whilst rainfall is virtually non-existent anyway throughout the year, these months will be warmer (and trust us – it can get bitterly cold in the night other times of the year!).
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Where to Stay in San Pedro
The town of San Pedro is pretty small, and you can easily walk around the touristy part in 20 minutes.
For this reason, there’s no point discussing certain areas like we normally would with bigger cities (although there is the more local part of town just outside, which doesn’t really have any benefit for you the traveler being located there).
The best area to stay is near the Plaza de San Pedro, and also along the bustling street of Caracoles where most of the hostels are located.
We recommend staying at Anka Hostel which is located perfectly in the centre of San Pedro.
Best Time to visit San Pedro
One of the driest places on Earth, it’s not really worth looking that much into rainfall!
San Pedro averages roughly 5 days of rainfall throughout the year, so you’re almost guaranteed clear skies throughout your stay.
The warmest time to visit San Pedro is from between October until April, where average temperatures range from 58-65°F, with highs of up to 80°F and evening lows of down to 43°F (the hottest month to visit is January).
The cooler period runs from May until September. Average daily temperatures here range from 49-55°F, with highs of 73°F and lows of down to a chilly 34°F (July is the overall coldest month for a visit).
Let’s face it – regardless of when you visit, it’s going to be cold (especially at night on the tours). You’re going to need a thick winter coat to keep you warm, and we recommend this one for the guys as well as this one for the ladies.
San Pedro de Atacama
And that’s all for our backpacking guide to San Pedro!
One of the staples on any trip to Chile, San Pedro is an arid desert town that is close to some of the most striking and scenic landscapes in South America.
In this guide we’ve covered everything you’ll need to know about San Pedro. This includes the best things to see and do, the best time to visit, where to stay and much, much more.
We hope you enjoyed reading this guide! If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
Also see our backpacking South America guide for more travel inspiration!
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