San Pedro de Atacama is a small oasis town in the driest desert on earth, sitting at 2,400 metres on the altiplano of northern Chile, surrounded by salt flats, volcanoes, and landscapes that look like nothing else on the planet. It is the base for exploring the Atacama Desert, and most travellers spend several days here doing exactly that — heading out each day to a different corner of this extraordinary terrain and returning in the evening to eat, debrief, and recover.
The town itself has adobe walls, a few unpaved streets, a pleasant central square with an ancient carob tree, and the whitewashed Church of San Pedro de Atacama that dates from the 17th century. It is a small place, and tourism has overtaken everything else as the main economy — the streets closest to the plaza are dense with tour operators, gear rental shops, and restaurants. This can feel overwhelming at first, but the quality of facilities for such a remote location is genuinely impressive, and the guides and tour companies are generally excellent.
The big-ticket excursions are to the Valle de la Luna at sunset, the Pukará de Quitor fortress, and the flamingo-studded lagoons of the altiplano. The El Tatio geysers at 4,300 metres — visited at dawn, when the steam columns are at their most spectacular in the cold morning air — are among the most dramatic natural sights in South America. The Museo Gustavo Le Paige holds a remarkable archaeological collection from the Atacameño people who have inhabited this desert for thousands of years.
Altitude is the main physical challenge. San Pedro sits above 2,400 metres and the surrounding sites range up to nearly 5,000 metres. Take a day to acclimatise on arrival before heading to the high-altitude sites. Drink water constantly — the air is extraordinarily dry, and dehydration creeps up fast. Nights are cold even in summer; a down jacket is essential.