San Pedro welcomes visitors from all over the world. While it is a popular destination for Europeans, it also attracts many travelers from across South America, particularly from Brazil.

There are several activities for visitors in the area of Atacama. From San Pedro de Atacama is also possible to cross the border into Bolivia to visit the breathtaking Salar de Uyuni with our popular trips starting from San Pedro de Atacama and ending in Uyuni, Bolivia or trips starting and returning to San Pedro, Chile. Check this travel report with beautiful pictures made by photographer Andy Mumford who traveled with us from San Pedro to Uyuni.

Our Salar de Uyuni tour includes not only the Uyuni salt flats but also other attractions such as the red and green lagoons (laguna Colorada y laguna Verde) as well as the geysers Sol de Mañana and the hot springs (Aguas Termales de Polques), located in the Reserva Eduardo Avaroa in Bolivia.

As San Pedro is located at 2400 meters above sea level it also make for a good starting point for such tour as you can gradually get used to the altitude. Getting acclimatised by making excursions into the higher Altiplano of around 3500-4000. During the tour from San Pedro to the Uyuni salt flats you will travel over parts that are as high as 5000 meters.

Another possibility to visit the Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia is to travel from San Pedro to the village of Uyuni. From San Pedro you can take a bus or taxi to Calama. Then from Calama you can catch a bus to Uyuni (approx. an 8 hour drive + 1 hour to cross the border). Note that the busses are not super comfortable. From Uyuni you can do 1, 2 or 3 day trip to the salt flats (and surroundings, when doing a 2 or 3 day tour). The 3 days tour from Uyuni can either end in Uyuni or in San Pedro de Atacama (Chile).

What to do around San Pedro:

Other popular (day) tours from San Pedro are:

• Geyser del Tatio (90 km from San Pedro). Tatio Geysers are a volcanic geothermal field located at approx. 4000 meters above sea level. Tours leave early in the morning. Be aware of the cold! To warm up you can bath in the thermal pools near the geysers! You can do a half day tour from San Pedro to the geysers.
• Moon valley (valle de la luna) is located in Los Flamencos National Reserve, approx. 15 KM from San Pedro. Moon valley is known for its moonlike landscape of dunes, mountains and distinctive rock formations. You can do a half day tour from San Pedro to Moon Valley.
• Atacama salt flats. 55 KM from San Pedro you can visit the Atacama salt flats although this is not as big and impressive as its Bolivian counterpart. Even if you are not planning an extensive travel program in Bolivia, if you’ve made it until here we strongly recommend to visit the impressive Bolivian Uyuni salt flats.

Other attractions that can be visited from San Pedro are the Puritana Natural Springs, Toconao Village & Valle de Jere and Laguna Piedras Rojas.

How to get there:

You can reach San Pedro de Atacama by flying to Calama, Chile (El Loa Airport). San Pedro is a 90 minutes drive from Calama. There are busses and taxis at the airport that can take you to San Pedro. A private transfer is also possible.

There are also multiple busses each day from Santiago de Chile to San Pedro. And 6 days a week there is a bus from Salta (Argentina) to San Pedro.

Hotels in San Pedro? You can find a good deal here.

Weather:

San Pedro de Atacama has desert climate. It is very dry. The average rainfall is about 15 mm per year. The Atacama Desert is considered the driest non-polar desert on the planet.  Some areas of Atacama have recorded zero precipitation for decades!! Its extreme aridity is due to a combination of factors, including the Humboldt Current, which cools the air and reduces evaporation, and the Andes Mountains, which block moisture from reaching the region from the Amazon.

The weather in San Pedro is characterized by sudden changes in temperature, strong winds, high solar radiation, low rainfall and a big difference between day and night temperatures. In the summer time (December – March) the average temperature is about 29 degrees Celsius during the day and 15 degrees Celsius at night. During winter time (June, July and August) the average temperature is 23 degrees Celsius and 5 to -3 degrees at night. During wintertime occasional snow falls may occur in the surroundings of San Pedro.