Things to do
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El Tatio
Every sunrise, the Southern Hemisphere's largest geyser field sends its steam up tallest into the freezing air, and you can stand on the paths among the columns while it does.
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Iglesia de San Pedro de Atacama
San Pedro's church is the largest of the old adobe churches in the Atacama villages, and a few minutes inside show you how desert builders worked with mud and cactus wood.
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Laguna Cejar
A collapse lagoon in the northern Salar de Atacama whose brine carries enough salt to float a swimmer with no effort at all. Bathing is confined to the neighbouring Laguna Piedra under community rules that require a rinse before and after, and the sector keeps fixed hours set by the Atacameño community that runs it.
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Laguna Chaxa
The flamingo lookout of the Soncor sector, a short boardwalk over the salt crust where Andean, Chilean and James flamingos feed in shallow brine. It is the most reliable place on the salt flat to see all three species at once, and the birds are most active at first light and again in the last hours of afternoon.
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Laguna Miscanti
Standing on the marked path at Laguna Miscanti, you look over deep blue water to the Andean volcanoes behind it, with horned coots and flamingos feeding on the lake below you.
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Piedras Rojas
Go to Piedras Rojas to see red volcanic boulders lining an emerald salt lagoon, high on the altiplano beyond Socaire. One flat loop takes you out among the rocks and back to the car.
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Valle de la Luna
At opening time you can walk the salt flats and climb the Duna Mayor before the sunset tours arrive in the afternoon.
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Valle de la Muerte
Steep enough to ride on a board and only minutes from San Pedro, the dunes here fill a basin of pale sand walled by red rock, and from the ridge above them you look straight across to Licancabur.
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Aldea de Tulor
The excavated remains of a circular adobe village occupied from about 800 BC, its interlocking rooms half buried under the dune that preserved them. Only a small section is uncovered, so a full scale replica hut stands at the entrance, and the site is reached on a flat road west of the plaza that many ride by bicycle.
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Cerro Toco
A 5,604 metre cone on the Chajnantor plateau, climbed as the standard high acclimatisation ascent above San Pedro. The trailhead lies at about 5,200 metres so the walk itself is short, but the ground is loose scree at thin air, guides carry oxygen, and the climb is only attempted after several days spent at altitude.
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Explora Atacama
A low adobe lodge on old farmland at the edge of town, built around courtyards, a stable and four pools, with guided exploration counted into the stay. Its programme runs treks, rides and high altitude drives every day, and the house holds the concession that operates the Puritama pools.
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Laguna Tebinquiche
Around this shallow lagoon in the north of the salt flat, the white crust turns pink and orange in the last light, with the line of volcanoes standing behind the water. Most half day tours to Laguna Cejar end here for sunset. Bring a warm layer, because the temperature drops quickly once the sun goes down.
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Lagunas Escondidas de Baltinache
Seven shallow salt pools hide on the western edge of the Salar de Atacama, at the end of a long gravel track, and the local community sells tickets at the entrance, in cash. The water is salty enough to float in, but bathing is suspended for weeks at a time so the pools can recover. Some visitors rate it the best stop of the trip; others find it not worth the drive alone.
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Machuca
A hamlet of adobe houses around a small church sits on the road back from the El Tatio geysers, at about 4,000 metres. Tours make a short stop here on the way down. Stalls sell grilled llama skewers and empanadas, a welcome snack on the way down after a four in the morning start.
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Pukará de Quitor
A twelfth century Atacameño fortress of stacked stone terraces on a slope above the Río San Pedro, stormed by a Spanish force in 1540 and later given back to the community that holds it today. A stepped path climbs to a viewpoint over the whole oasis, the walk takes under an hour, and there is no shade anywhere on the terraces.
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Salar de Tara
A salt flat at 4,300 metres in the far east of the Los Flamencos reserve, ringed by wind carved ignimbrite pillars known as the Monjes de la Pacana and the Catedrales de Tara. The track leaves the Paso de Jama highway and needs high clearance, so the site is reached on a guided day that runs from dawn to late afternoon.
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Termas de Puritama
Eight terraced thermal pools strung down a reed lined canyon at about 3,500 metres, fed by a stream that holds close to 33 degrees all year. Entry is timed and capped and tickets are usually bought in San Pedro before setting out, and a wooden walkway links the pools down the gorge.
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Tierra Atacama
A design hotel raised on an old cattle yard in the ayllu of Yaye, south of the plaza, with a stone spa and rooms that open straight onto the volcano line. Excursions are included and graded by effort, and the walk into the village along the irrigation channels takes about twenty minutes.
