As travel experts, itinerary planning is something we pride ourselves on. It’s our bread and butter. But sometimes we visit a place that throws us a few curve balls. San Pedro de Atacama is one of those challenging travel destinations to plan a one size fits all itinerary because so much depends on your budget, whether or not you plan to do a Bolivia salt flats tour and most importantly whether or not you hire a car. And everyone will do it differently.
In this guide we show you how to spend 4 fun days exploring the top attractions near San Pedro de Atacama with or without a hire car, based on our experiences.
Our Experience
We visited San Pedro de Atacama in February 2019. We’d just hiked the W Trek in Patagonia and spent a few days recharging in Santiago before flying up to the Atacama Desert. It was around a third of the way into our 10-week adventure through South America, and we were on a pretty tight (and quickly diminishing!) budget. After arriving into San Pedro, we booked a one-way Bolivia salt flats tour from San Pedro to Uyuni at one of the many tour operators in town.
Our plan was to visit the closer attractions by bike the first day to keep costs down and stay at the same elevation. Then we’d either hire a car or book a bunch of tours to the further out attractions. But we met another couple at our hotel and they already had a hire car, so we split costs in half and set off exploring geysers and hot springs. Because we’d booked a salt flats tour, we didn’t visit the salt flats near San Pedro. Read more about us.
READ: The 10 places you can’t miss near San Pedro de Atacama
What You Need To Know
Before we get into the itinerary example, we want to explain a little bit about the most important aspects you should consider before visiting San Pedro de Atacama so you can make the best decisions to suit your travel plans.
Hire Car vs No Hire Car
There aren’t many attractions near San Pedro that you can visit by foot or by bike. If you want to visit the geysers, hot springs, lagoons and salt flats you’re either going to have to hire a car or book tours. It’s as simple as that. If you go the tours route, you can book online before you arrive or book in person at tour operators in town.
Hiring a car gives you more flexibility and control over planning your itinerary, but some of the roads are pretty sketchy. You’ll pay for the daily cost of hiring, fuel and entry tickets to attractions. It’s important to know that if you DIY it, certain attractions require tickets to be bought online in advance and you can only visit at certain times of day, so you must be organized. Plus, we’ve read a lot of reviews saying that locals are less receptive when you don’t book tours. Note: Make sure you hire your car at Calama airport, not in San Pedro.
Booking tours would result in less itinerary flexibility because you’d be beholden to tour times. But they would also take stress, organization and driving out of the equation. If you only plan to do one or two tours, it could be more cost effective than hiring a car. Whereas if you intend to book lots of tours, it might not be as cost effective as hiring a car and paying for entry tickets yourself.
Bolivia Salt Flats Tour
Unless you have a very healthy travel budget and lots of time, you might want to reconsider your plans for San Pedro if you plan to do a Bolivia salt flats tour either before or after visiting the Atacama Desert.
Many of the salt flats, volcanoes and lagoons around San Pedro aren’t as high in elevation or as spectacular as those you’ll see on the salt flats tour to Uyuni. And you’ve already paid a premium for that tour anyway, so why pay to see more of the same?
With that said, if you won’t be doing a Bolivia salt flats tour, you absolutely should include the salt flats near San Pedro. They’re still amazing to see. In our itinerary example below we’ll assume you are not doing a salt flats tour so you can see how to make the most of your time in the Atacama Desert.
Budget
If budget was of no concern to us, we would have ditched the cheap bikes and even the notion of hiring a car. We definitely would have booked tours left, right and center because they’re just so much easier. And also, having locals running tours means you never get messed around at any attractions. Sadly, that does seem to happen based on reviews left on Google and Tripadvisor.
Are you visiting San Pedro de Atacama on a super tight budget? We recommend you take cheap airport transfers, hire bikes for one day to see the nearby valleys and then book one or maybe two tours to the attractions you’re most interested in.
We were actually quite surprised at how expensive it was to travel through the Atacama Desert. Hotels, food, tours and attraction entry tickets were definitely inflated. And that was back in 2019, we know prices have significantly increased since covid. Be prepared for a bit of a budget buster! Top tip: Make sure you always carry Chilean Pesos and your credit card to pay entry to attractions.
How Many Days Do You Need?
Let’s assume it’s your first time in San Pedro and you’re not planning to do a Bolivia salt flats tour. We recommend planning an itinerary lasting between 3-5 days depending on how many attractions you want to visit. You could tick off some of the major highlights in two days but you’d have to compromise. And there’s really no need to stay longer than five days.
We stayed for 4 days and found that we were ready to move on by the end. One important thing we have to mention is altitude sickness. Try to spend your first day at lower elevations around town, then work your way up to the higher elevation attractions on days 2, 3 and 4.
Okay, let’s get into the itinerary. Here’s how to spend 4 days in San Pedro de Atacama (with or without a hire car)!
Day 1
The first day is about acclimatizing to the elevation, so stick around San Pedro and tick off the closest attractions.
Hire car – Start with a short drive to see Pukara de Quitor, 12th century remains of an old walled fortress city. Next, go to Valle de Marte (but make sure you hire sand boards in San Pedro before setting off in the morning) to hike a short trail and sand board down the giant dunes. Head back to San Pedro for a late lunch, then head into Valle de la Luna in the late afternoon. Hike up to Duna Mayor and Mirador Achaches for the best views, then drive back out to Mirador de Kari for sunset.
Without hire car – Hire bikes at Ciclo Aventura Atacama, here’s the Google Maps location. They have a 5/5 rating on Google and we had absolutely no issues with them. Cycle to Valle de la Luna entrance, arriving when they open at 9:00am. Spend a few hours admiring views then return to San Pedro for lunch. Then cycle to Valle de Marte and Pukara de Quitor in the afternoon. Alternatively, spend the day relaxing in town (don’t miss amazing empanadas at Emporio Andino) and book this popular sunset tour of Valle de la Luna.
Day 2
The second day is your lower elevation introduction to salt flats and lagoons to the south of San Pedro (with optional high elevation extras).
Hire car – Pre-book morning tickets for Laguna Cejar and arrive before your time slot or they won’t let you in. Next take a look around Ojos del Salar and Laguna Tebinquiche. They also have entry fees. Continue south into the Salar de Atacama and set your GPS for Parque Laguna Chaxa (pre-book tickets) to watch flamingoes wading around in shallow lagoons. Optional: Make a full day of it and continue south to see Piedras Rojas, as well as Lagunas Miscanti and Miniques. They’re at higher elevation and you must book tickets in advance.
Without hire car – You can’t reach these areas by bike, so you’d have to book a tour instead. The good news is you have countless options to include floating in Laguna Cejar or making the full day trip down to the higher elevation lagoons. Here are the top rated tours to consider heading south from San Pedro:
- Half day tour – Laguna Cejar, Ojos del Salar and Laguna Tebenquiche.
- Full day tour – Laguna Chaxa, Piedras Rojas, Lagunas Miscanti and Miniques.
Day 3
The third day heads north out of San Pedro and goes high into the Andes Mountains to see geysers and relax in hot springs. Today you’ll be at 4,320 meters in elevation (14,170 feet)!
Hire car – Sunrise is the iconic time to arrive at El Tatio Geysers, but you absolutely don’t have to do that. We woke up super early and drove up to arrive for sunrise with the friends we met at our hotel. The road was pretty treacherous and it was pitch black, so it was certainly an adventure. It’s the third largest geyser field in the world after Yellowstone National Park in the US and Dolina Geizerov in Russia, so it’s worth seeing. On the drive back, stop at Puritama hot springs (pre-book your time slot) and relax in the thermal baths.
Without hire car – El Tatio Geysers is one of the most popular tourist attractions near San Pedro, so you won’t have any issues finding a tour. You can book in person in San Pedro, or book online in advance if you’d prefer to go with a reputable company. Here are the best options:
- 6 hours tour – El Tatio Geysers only (for sunrise)
- 8 hours tour – El Tatio Geysers for sunrise and swim in Geyser Blanco
Day 4
The fourth day takes you east towards Chile’s borders with Argentina and Bolivia. You’ll be heading back up to 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level, so it’s important to stay hydrated.
Hire car – Of all the places you can visit around San Pedro, we think the Salar de Tara is up there with the very best spots. It’s only one hour 30 minutes away on good roads, the landscapes are stunning, you can see flamingoes and it’s completely free. The various roadside observation areas have stellar reviews on Google and Tripadvisor has this salt flat region at 5/5 after thousands of reviews. Once you’re back in San Pedro, finish your itinerary with a stargazing tour. We did one and it was one of our favorite activities from the Atacama.
Without hire car – Unfortunately, we can’t find any tours online for Salar de Tara. So unless you can find one in town when you arrive, we recommend taking a tour to a different area called Rainbow Valley (Valle de Arcoiris). It’s a bit of hidden gem and it has excellent reviews online, think along the lines of Zion and Death Valley in the US. Not a bad backup plan! Again, finish with a stargazing tour because you’re in one of the best places on the planet to see the stars.
Map
Click or touch the map below to activate. Zoom in and out, move around the map and you’ll see the attractions for each day. You can also click on the view larger map icon in the top right to expand the map, which is much easier to see.
Map key:
- Day 1 – Red
- Day 2 – Green
- Day 3 – Orange
- Day 4 – Blue
- Day 4 Alt – Yellow
The Morgan Conclusion
For us, 4 days is the perfect amount of time to spend in San Pedro de Atacama on a first visit to the Atacama Desert. We spent the first day or two acclimatizing at lower elevation attractions before climbing to the higher elevation places on the third and fourth days. It worked out perfectly because we then went even higher on the Bolivia salt flats tour.
Choosing between hiring a car and taking tours is the biggest decision you’ll have to make. Both have pros and cons. We’d say if you have a bigger budget, book tours because you’ll have an easier and less stressful experience. If you’re on a budget, try to split the cost of a hire car with others or hire bikes and then do just one or two tours to keep overall costs down.
More From Chile
We hope our 4 days in San Pedro de Atacama itinerary example helps with planning your visit to Chile!
Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.
Happy Travels,
Mark and Kristen
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Mark and Kristen Morgan are travel, hiking and photography experts. Over the last 6 years traveling full time, they have explored more than 40 countries and 30 US states.
Where Are Those Morgans has been featured in USA Today, Gestalten, Get Your Guide, CityPASS and Condé Nast Traveler along with various other publications. Read more about us.
If we are planning to do the Salar de Uyuni tour, which SPA tours are similar and can be skipped? And what is really unique and should be seen even though we are doing Salar de Uyuni?
Hi Charlie, it is worth doing Valle de la Luna and El Tatio Geysers, plus the Stargazing Tour if you are interested. Some of the lagunas that you can swim in (like Baltinache) are worth it because you won’t do that on the Salar de Uyuni tour. Hope that helps and have a great trip to San Pedro de Atacama!
Would you be able to offer the name of tour operators you used in SPA? I am particularly interested in day tours, not multi day. Thanks
Hi Jacob, we rented a car and drove around San Pedro de Atacama ourselves so we don’t have an exact tour to recommend. However, there are many tour operators right in town so you have plenty to choose from when you arrive. The only tour we took was SPACE Stargazing which we would recommend if you are interested in the night sky!