The small adobe town of San Pedro de Atacama in northeastern Chile is a perfect base to use for exploring the Atacama Desert’s fascinating range of natural landscapes. We knew the surrounding desert environment would be arid, dusty and rugged. But we didn’t expect to have so many options to visit salt flats, volcanoes, geysers and hot springs.
In this guide we show you the 10 things you can’t miss when you visit San Pedro de Atacama, based on our experiences.
Our Experience
We spent 4 nights in San Pedro de Atacama back in February 2019. The town was a bustling tourist hub with countless tour operators, dozens of small hotels and a few great places to eat (Emporio Andino’s empanadas were our favorite). We hired bikes to tick off the closest attractions and shared a hire car with other tourists we met at our hotel to reach the further out spots.
Our South America travel budget was quickly depleting so we couldn’t try as many tours as we probably should have. But we had booked a one-way Bolivian salt flats tour from San Pedro de Atacama to Uyuni, so we knew we’d get a lot of those same types of landscape anyway. Having a car gave us flexibility and kept costs down, but the tours would have been easier and more relaxing. Read more about us.
READ: How to plan your San Pedro de Atacama itinerary
1. Valle de la Luna
- Distance: 5.7km (3.5 miles)
- Hours: 9:00am-6:00pm
- Fees: 13,000 Chilean Pesos (US $14)
- Location: Valle de la Luna
Valle de la Luna, or Valley of the Moon, is the most heavily trafficked attraction near San Pedro de Atacama. You can visit by hire car, bike or as part of a popular sunset tour. We hired bikes at Ciclo Aventura Atacama in town and cycled through the valley to keep costs down. Tickets can be bought in advance online but we paid by card in person at the entrance.
The best places to stop, hike and enjoy the views are Duna Mayor and Mirador Achaches. You’ll see exactly why this unique landscape gets its celestial name and why NASA have used it for testing a Mars rover prototype. It’s easy to visit, the price is reasonable and we think the rugged terrain is well worth the trip. Here’s our guide on how to visit Valle de la Luna by bike.
2. Valle de Marte
- Distance: 2.2km (1.4 miles)
- Hours: 8:30am-8:00pm
- Fees: 6,000 Chilean Pesos (US $6.50)
- Location: Valle de Marte
Valle de Marte, or Mars Valley, is another super easy and affordable places you should visit when you’re in San Pedro. Less than 2 miles from town, you can hike a roundtrip trail which leads to a superb viewpoint overlooking Licancabur Volcano and sandboard down a giant dune. It’s also known as Valle de la Muerte which means Death Valley, but either name will work for your GPS.
Unfortunately, this area was closed for a few years which coincided with our visit. Otherwise we’d have kept our bikes for another day, hired sand boards and taken them with us to Mars Valley. The volcano viewpoint and entire valley are great for photography, so don’t forget your camera! Here are the latest Google reviews.
3. Pukara de Quitor
- Distance: 3.1km (1.9 miles)
- Hours: 8:00am-6:00pm
- Fees: 5,000 Chilean Pesos (US $5.50)
- Location: Pukara de Quitor
Pukara de Quitor is a national monument containing the remains of a 12th century walled fortress city which once held firm against Spanish conquistadores for years. Today, you can climb a hiking trail to various viewpoints which includes some fun photo spots with stone arches. It’s easy to combine this attraction with a visit to Mars Valley by bike because they’re very close together.
We wouldn’t say this stop is essential, so if you’re short on time skip it in favor of other attractions a bit further from San Pedro. But with a longer itinerary you should definitely plan to stop in for a few hours, especially because it’s so close to town. Here’s the latest comments on Google.
4. El Tatio Geysers
- Distance: 79km (49 miles)
- Hours: 6:00am-4:00pm
- Fees: 15,000 Chilean Pesos (US $16)
- Location: Geysers del Tatio
El Tatio Geysers is a geothermal field situated at 4,320m (14,170 feet) above sea level in the mighty Andes Mountains, close to the border with Bolivia. It’s the third largest geyser field in the world after Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Dolina Geizerov in Russia, so as you can imagine it’s definitely among the most popular things to do near San Pedro de Atacama. Just be aware that at this elevation you might start to see signs of altitude sickness. See latest comments on Tripadvisor.
We shared a hire car with other tourists (who became friends!) to drive from San Pedro to El Tatio for sunrise. In truth, the drive was pretty sketchy with rough rocky roads and almost 2,000 meters (6,500 ft) elevation gain in the dark. And while the sunrise was attractive, we’re not sure it was great enough for the early morning effort. But the geysers were well worth seeing, and we got a lot closer to the vents than we could at Yellowstone. Consider going on a geyser tour or driving up in daylight hours.
5. Valle del Arcoiris
- Distance: 62km (39 miles)
- Hours: 8:30am-6:00pm
- Fees: 5,000 Chilean Pesos (US $5.50)
- Location: Valle del Arcoiris
Valle del Arcoiris, or Rainbow Valley, was once the most underrated and least advertised of all tourist attractions around San Pedro de Atacama. We didn’t even know it existed when we visited. The number of highly rated tours has increased since we left but it’s still a bit of a hidden gem. One of the most popular tours of Rainbow Valley combines a stop at Yerbas Buenas to see clearly carved petroglyphs.
We read through comments on Tripadvisor and noticed comparisons being made to places like Zion in Utah or Death Valley in California. Everyone says it’s much quieter than other tourist hotspots like Valle de la Luna and it can be accessed by hire car if you’d rather do it on your own. Here are the latest Google reviews.
6. Termas de Puritama
- Distance: 28km (17 miles)
- Hours: 9:30am-1:30pm and 2:30pm-6:00pm
- Fees: 35,000 Chilean Pesos (US $37)
- Location: Termas de Puritama
Termas de Puritama, or Puritama thermal baths, is a series of hot springs connected by wooden boardwalks and surrounded by vegetation. The pools contain revitalizing minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium and boron at temperatures between 28-31C (82-88F). There aren’t any showers and it can be very cold between pools so make sure you take a towel, robe and flip-flops. Here’s the official site you need to book tickets.
We booked a morning slot at the thermal baths and stopped on the way back from the geysers. It was so peaceful and relaxing, so we thought it was well worth it. The price has gone up since, which means it’s now one of the more expensive things to do near San Pedro. But it is a totally unique experience. When are you going to get another chance to sit in natural hot springs in the Andes Mountains?
7. Laguna Cejar
- Distance: 30km (19 miles)
- Hours: 9:00am-6:00pm
- Fees: 15,000 Chilean Pesos (US $16)
- Location: Laguna Cejar
Laguna Cejar is one of a few salty lagoons you can swim in near San Pedro de Atacama. Well, you can’t actually swim in Laguna Cejar but you can swim in its nearby twin called Laguna Piedra. The two lagoons are located near other popular tourist spots called Ojos del Salar and Laguna Tebinquiche (no swimming), so you might want to combine the three on this tour or by driving yourself.
Now, the comments on Tripadvisor and Google are very mixed about Laguna Cejar so we highly recommend you look into this one thoroughly before booking or planning your itinerary. If you visit by yourself, you have to buy tickets online in advance and you can only enter between 9:00am-12:00pm. The tours all arrive later in the afternoon. Plus, you only get 30 minutes in the lagoon and you have to be on time, otherwise the staff won’t let you in.
8. Laguna Chaxa Park
- Distance: 63km (39 miles)
- Hours: 7:00am-6:00pm
- Fees: 13,700 Chilean Pesos (US $15)
- Location: Laguna Chaxa Park
Laguna Chaxa Park is a fantastic place to see three species of flamingo (Chilean, Andean and James) wading through a lagoon with pristine reflections. Access roads are comparatively pretty good for the region and it’s located within the Salar de Atacama, Chile’s largest salt flats. If you want to try a superb all day route, combine Laguna Chaxa with Piedras Rojas and Lagunas Miscanti and Miniques.
We paid on arrival at Laguna Chaxa Park but some comments on Tripadvisor and Google say that tickets must now be bought in advance online at Punto Ticket. If we went back to San Pedro we’d definitely book a full day tour to include the red rocks and high altitude lagoons further south because they look awesome but it’s a long way to drive yourself.
9. Salar de Tara
- Distance: 115km (71 miles)
- Hours: All day
- Fees: Free
- Location: Salar de Tara
Salar de Tara is one of the best things you can do by yourself when you visit the Atacama Desert. Located in the Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos, it’s the only major tourist spot east of San Pedro and it’s located near Chile’s borders with both Bolivia and Argentina. We did the Bolivia salt flats tour and we’d say Salar de Tara is about the closest you’ll get to it if you can’t do the tour through Bolivia.
You can hire a car and drive yourself to Salar de Tara, but it’s at a lofty altitude of 4,300 meter (14,000 feet) so you’ll need to stay hydrated and take it slowly. We’d also recommend doing it in a 4WD vehicle. The Tara salt flat has outstanding reviews on Google and Tripadvisor and it’s completely free to enjoy, so this is our top recommendation for a DIY road trip near San Pedro.
10. Atacama Stargazing
- Distance: A few miles
- Hours: Evenings
- Fees: Various
- Location: South of town
The Atacama Desert is widely accepted as one of the very best places on the planet for stargazing. So if there’s only one thing you pay for when you visit San Pedro de Atacama, make it a stargazing tour. High altitude, extremely low relative humidity and almost zero light pollution create the perfect conditions to see stars dazzle in the night sky.
You can book a tour in person at one of many operators in town, book a tour in advance with a well known company or book directly with the people who run the stargazing tours. We had a perfectly clear February night on our stargazing tour, so we were able to easily see the various celestial bodies through giant pre-set telescopes. Trust us, this one is well worth it.
Attractions Map
Click or touch the map below to activate. Zoom in and out, move around the map and you’ll see locations for the region’s top attractions. 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:
- Red – Top attractions
As you can see, the top things to do are spread across the region. You need to decide if hiring a car and paying for all attractions yourself is a better option versus booking tours. There are only a few things you can do close to town with a rental bike.
The Morgan Conclusion
What we like: The Atacama Desert is a truly unique travel destination and there are plenty of fantastic places to visit. We’d say Valley of the Moon, Mars Valley, El Tatio Geysers, Puritama hot springs, Salar de Tara and stargazing are the unmissable attractions.
What we don’t like: A lot of the attractions are unreasonably priced and at times the locals treat tourists a bit too much like walking dollar signs. If you plan to do the Bolivia salt flats tour, it’s probably not worth doing any of the lagunas or salt flats near San Pedro. Finally, we think there are too many tour operators in town.
Is San Pedro de Atacama worth visiting? Yes, it’s definitely worth visiting San Pedro de Atacama to see a diverse range of natural attractions like geysers, hot springs, salt flats, volcanoes, lagoons and rugged alien-like landscapes. The town serves as a vibrant tourist hub for exploring the best of the Atacama Desert.
More From Chile
We hope our San Pedro de Atacama attractions guide 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
Enjoy this guide? Pin it for later!
Note: This article contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase using one of these affiliate links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
All Rights Reserved © Where Are Those Morgans, LLC. Republishing this article and/or any of its contents (text, photography, maps, graphics, etc.) in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.
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.