San Pedro de Atacama: the highest desert on Earth
San Pedro de Atacama is a small village of adobe houses in northern Chile, 2,400 metres above sea level in the heart of the Atacama Desert. The Andes surround it with volcanoes rising over six thousand metres, and its location — close to the Salar de Atacama and the Bolivian and Argentine borders — made it first a crossroads for the caravans of the ancient Atacameño people, and today the base for exploring one of the most extreme landscapes on the planet.
What to see
Excursions run from the village itself. The classics are the Valle de la Luna at sunset, with its salt and clay formations; the Tatio geysers at 4,300 metres, before dawn, when the steam is at its densest; the Salar de Atacama and the Miscanti and Miñiques lagoons up on the altiplano; and the Cejar and Piedra lagoons, where the high salinity lets you float.
Altitude and health
Acclimatisation matters: it’s best to keep the first days low-key and drink plenty of water. Excursions above 4,000 metres are demanding for travellers with heart or blood-pressure issues.
When to go
The best time to go is March to May and September to November: clear days, mild temperatures and fewer visitors. Austral winter is cold at night but crystal-clear; January and February can bring altiplano rains — the “Bolivian winter” — that close some roads.
Stargazing and how to combine it
The Atacama sky is one of the cleanest in the world: this is where the ALMA and Paranal observatories operate. Several outfits run guided astronomy tours that are absolutely worth the time if the sky is clear. San Pedro pairs well with Torres del Paine and Easter Island for a trip that crosses Chile north to south.
