San Pedro de Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama is a tourist destination located in the northern part of Chile.

It is also a strategic starting point for visiting the Atacama Desert and its wonders, reaching the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, or reaching the Chilean coast, which despite its altitude of 2,400 meters, is less than two hundred kilometers away.

Arriving in San Pedro de Atacama is like being catapulted to the moon, where everything takes on the red color of the desert sand. The desert extends to an altitude of 2700 meters, and one would expect to see everything but a sand desert.

Sand can be found everywhere at these altitudes and is even used to build the village's houses, which are all a yellow ochre color, as well as the roads. Here, one can breathe a hippie, peaceful, serene, and carefree atmosphere, enlivened by street performers from all over the world who play and perform for tourists.

San Pedro de Atacama is also surrounded by imposing volcanoes, including the majestic Licancabur (5,916 meters), sacred to the Inca and located on the border with Bolivia. Once in San Pedro de Atacama, one is usually met with hot, dry weather but is overwhelmed by a special and wonderful energy that only those who have experienced it can understand.

The village is pleasant, lively, and provides a great opportunity to deepen one's knowledge of the Atacameña civilization, which established its settlement in the high plateau region and the desert gorges more than 11,000 years ago. International tourism, post-pandemic, has restarted much faster here than in nearby Bolivia. Getting there is not complicated, as one can fly to the El Loa airport in Calama with layovers in Santiago and Madrid.

This flight plan is certainly convenient for Europeans, who are quite numerous here year-round, but many people also come from Brazil and Argentina. The nerve center of the village revolves around the main street, Calle Caracoles, where the vast majority of restaurants, souvenir shops, and tourist agencies that offer all the excursions in the surroundings can be found. In the main square of San Pedro de Atacama, on the other hand, one can find the small Iglesia de San Pedro, built in the seventeenth century following the destruction of the previous church, which was about 100 years older.

The tower, on the other hand, is more modern, dating back to 1964, and replaces the older one made of wood.

This small church, recognized as a Monumento Nacional de Chile since 1951, is the largest and most beautiful in the region. It is made of stone and adobe in a perfect Andean style and is surrounded by an adobe wall with three doors crowned by an arch.

Following the Tocopilla earthquake of 2007, which heavily damaged it, a restoration campaign was initiated, thanks to which a painting of two thurifer angels was found in the central niche of the altarpiece, under four layers of paint. Another major restoration work was the recovery of the choir organ, dating back to 1776, which was partially destroyed by a fire in 1838 and rebuilt again in 1844.

Just outside the pedestrian zone, you can find the Meteorite Museum, which houses a collection of meteorites found in the Atacama Desert. But that's not all. The museum also features an exhibition of over 1,400 photographs that detail the meteorites and their impact craters.

In San Pedro, there is also another museum (currently closed) that is worth a visit.

The Gustavo Le Paige Archaeological Museum was founded in 1963 by the Jesuit priest Gustavo Le Paige, who dedicated almost his entire life to researching, collecting, and studying the archaeological remains of the area. Inside, this small museum contains the largest collection of archaeological pieces from the Atacameña culture (around 380,000) and several well-preserved mummies.

What to see around San Pedro de Atacama?

San Pedro de Atacama is the starting point for tours, managed by local agencies, to explore the Atacama Desert and its wonders. Although the roads are modern and well-paved, it is easy to reach these places independently, perhaps with a car rented locally.

Among the most beautiful places to visit are:

• Valley of the Moon: the most famous place in San Pedro de Atacama. A visit to this majestic valley will immediately transport you to the Moon, or, given the colors, to Mars.

Click here to see a beautiful reportage about it.

• Rainbow Valley: 75 km from San Pedro, it will take you to one of the most surprising places in Chile. You will walk among the colorful mountains and discover prehistoric inscriptions carved into the rock.

• El Tatio Geysers: the third largest geothermal area in the world.

• Laguna Chaxa: this lagoon in the middle of the salt flat is a protected natural area, where you can admire many species of flamingos.

• Lagunas Escondida de Baltinache: nine small lagoons in the middle of the Salar.

• Piedras Rojas: a fantastic place about a hundred kilometers from San Pedro. It is always very windy here, with crisp air, but once you're here, you'll be amazed by the contrast between the red rocks and the milky blue of the lagoon.

• Miscanti and Miñiques Lagoons: two beautiful lagoons nestled between mountains, divided only by a strip of lava.

• Inca Trail - Tropic of Capricorn: an isolated place in the middle of the Salar, where you can stop for a photo of the sign indicating the Tropic of Capricorn, perhaps on the way back from Piedras Rojas and/or Miscanti and Miñiques Lagoons.

Click here to watch a nice video and discover what to visit around San Pedro de Atacama