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San Pedro de Atacama

Travel Guide South America Chile San Pedro de Atacama

Introduction

San Pedro's small church...

San Pedro de Atacama is a town in northern Chile and is one of the main hubs to visit the extraordinary beauty of the surrouding landscapes. It's a real tourist town, with all the amenities one desires (or not, depending on your taste!): luxurious hotels, small scale hostels, restaurants and a cold beer after a day in the desert.

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Sights and Activities

San Pedro itself hardly has to offer anything, although it's nice narrow streets with adobe structures and a nice church (Iglesia San Pedro) are a few small highlights. One exception is the Museo Gustavo Le Paige.

Still, the oasis village has most of its attraction elsewhere, starting outside the build-up area:

El Tatio Geyser.
Valley of the Moon (Valle de la Luna).
Laguna Chaxa, the biggest saltlake in the country, with numerous flamingos, including the Andean, James and Chilean species (three out of a total of five!).
Volcanoes like symmetrical Licancábur (5,916 metres high), clearly visible from town.
Altiplano in the Andes mountains.
Atacama Desert - the driest in the world and also one of the most scenic.
Termas de Puritama, volcanic hot springs en route to El Tatio Geyser.

Sunrise at the Geysers del Tatio...

If you want to go to these places, you can partly travel with your own car, or book something with one of the Tour Operators in San Pedro.

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Climate

It's located at more than 2,400 metres above sea level and although nights are generally cool to cold, days (even in winter) can still be hot during the afternoon. Temperatures rise quickly during the first hours of the day.
Summers last from December to February when temperatures are usually between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius, winters from June to August with around 18 to 24 degrees Celsius. Nights during winter can plummit to -10 degrees Celsius!
Rain is almost absent, it's one of the driest towns in the world!

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Getting There

By Plane

El Loa International Airport near Calama is the nearest airport, where there are shuttle services to/from San Pedro de Atacama.
LAN Chile flies to/from Santiago, Antofagasta, La Serena and Iquique. Sky Airline flies to/from the places mentioned above plus Lima, Salta and Arica.

By Car

San Pedro is reached by well maintained tarmac roads from other Chilean cities, like Calama which is a few hours away. Roads to Argentina are also paved, but to Bolivia they are just partly paved, after which roads are rough and not recommended to travel with your own wheels.

By Bus

There are regular buses to Calama and overnight buses to Santiago (20-24 hours).
Arica and Antofagasta are among other places with (multiple) daily connections.
On Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, there are buses to Salta and Jujuy in Argentina, leaving at 11.30am and taking around 12 hours to complete the journey over the Paso de Jama in the Andes. The road is also completely paved.

Tour operators also offers multiple-day trips to Uyuni in Bolivia, visiting the Altiplano, Salar de Uyuni and lakes like Laguan Colorada.

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Getting Around

By Car

There are a few taxis, but they are pretty useless.

By Public Transport

Within the town, there is no need to take any transport other than your legs or bike.

By Foot

San Pedro itself is easily explored on foot in 30 minutes. If you go outside town, be sure to take other modes of transport.

Valley of the Moon 2

By Bike

Bikes are for rent to explore the region.

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Eat

For an extensive overview of restaurants, have a look at the San Pedro Restaurants website.

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Drink

Most of the establishments mentioned above, have bars as well.

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Sleep

Budget

Property	Address	Type	Popularity
Hostal Iquisa	Calle Puripica 172	Guesthouse	73
Hostal Solor	Volcan Tatio 737 Poblacion Licancabur	Guesthouse	82
Incahuasi B&B	El Carmen 132	Guesthouse	80
Rent a House San Pedro	Domingo Atienza 3a San Pedro de Atacama	Apartment	79
Hostal Laskar Cabur	Las Parinas 471	Guesthouse	74
Hostal Campo Base	Toconao 535	Hostel	88
Hostal Nuevo Amanecer	Calle Los Geisers 161	Hostel	-
Puripica Hostel	Guadalupe 446	HOSTEL	75
Hostal Candelaria	Calle Candelaria 170	Guesthouse	81
Hostal Sumaj Jallpa	Volcán el Tatio 703	Guesthouse	78
Hostal Vilama	Lascar 346	Hostel	78
Hostal Rural	Centro, Calle Calama 257	HOSTEL	82
Viento del Norte	Pasaje Vilama 432-B	GUESTHOUSE	80
Backpackers San Pedro	Portal del Inca #486, Condeduque	HOSTEL	78
Hostal Millantú	Aduana s/n Villa Alto Mirador	GUESTHOUSE	76
La Casa del Sol Naciente	Tocopilla 310	HOTEL	-
Towanda Hostel	Ignacio Carrera Pinto no633	HOSTEL	-
juriques hostal	Calle Toconao Esquina	Guesthouse	75
Incanorth	San Jose 443	HOSTEL	-
Hostal Tuyasto	28 De Agosto 535	HOSTEL	88
Sol Atacama Hostel	Ignacio Carrera Pinto 664	GUESTHOUSE	78
Hostal Quinta Adela	Toconao 624	GUESTHOUSE	-
Hostel Mamut	Las Parinas 471	HOSTEL	80
Hostal Mamatierra	Pachamama 615	Hostel	81
Mamatierra Hostel	Pachamama 615	HOSTEL	-
Hostal Tikaisy	Ignacio Carrera Pinto 692	HOSTEL	-
hostallaruca	toconao 513	Hostel	-
Hostal Masairi	Los Tamarugos 147	GUESTHOUSE	-
Hostal Andino Longe	Toconao 500	GUESTHOUSE	-
Hotel Pachamama	Domingo Atienza 352 San Pedro de Atacama	HOTEL	-
Hostal Talar	Pachamama 657	HOSTEL	-

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Keep Connected

Internet

There are internet cafes in town and several restaurants, hostels and hotels have services as well.

Phone

Post

Correos de Chile is the national postal service, and although relatively slow it is reliable with post offices throughout the country. On the website you can find more information about prices to send letters, postcards and parcels, both domestically as well as internationally. Post offices are generally open Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 6:00pm and Saturday until 2:00pm, although there are sometimes longer opening hours in the bigger central post offices and shorter ones in small places. Ask around.

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