San Pedro de Atacama is the main hub for Atacama Desert tours. Walking through the town you’ll see numerous tour agencies advertising numerous different tours… but which ones should you choose?
The main Atacama desert tours
The main Atacama Desert tours are:
- Stargazing
- Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon)
- Hot springs
- Salt lagoons, some with flamingos
- El Tatio Geysers
- Multi-day tour to Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats) – either one way over three days, or a return trip over four days
How to book Atacama Desert tours
The tours in the Atacama Desert are noticeably cheaper if you book them in person at the tour agency and pay for them in cash, rather than booking online and/or with card. It’s therefore best to come prepared with cash if you can. There are a few cashpoints around San Pedro but they can run out of cash until they are restocked.
When deciding which tour agency/agencies to book your tours with, I would say that in general none of them is any better or worse than the others, given that they are all essentially offering the same tours.
You might therefore wish to make your decision based on price. This can be confusing. The prices the agencies list online are not necessarily the same prices they offer in person, and in person they also tend to propose one price and then immediately offer a discount. The best way to find out the prices of Atacama Desert tours without having to go in and have a conversation with each tour operator is to simply ask for their list of prices. Many of the agencies will have a hawker outside distributing paper price lists, so you can gather a few and narrow them down on that basis.
When you go in and book your tours, be aware that you may have to do so in Spanish! Here, Google translate is your friend. It may take a little while to break down the language barrier and book what you were intending, but you will get there.
Finally, some of the tours do not run every day so this might influence your decisions. For example, I had a specific day I wanted to start my tour to the Salar de Uyuni so I selected a tour agency which offered this tour on my chosen day.
Which tours should you book?
The tour(s) you book will depend on your interests. For example:
Nature and landscapes
If you are into nature and landscapes then the Valle de la Luna and the salt lagoons tours might be your thing.
Stargazing
The Atacama Desert is reportedly one of the best places on Earth for stargazing so a stargazing tour is worthwhile. Bear in mind that the phase of the moon might influence your experience. You’ll get a better view of the Milky Way if there’s a new moon.
Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni
This is on the expensive end of the tours on offer (see more on this below) but completely worth it.
I would say that if you are considering the tour to Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, you can probably skip the salt lagoon/flamingos tours from San Pedro as you will encounter these on your Bolivia tour.
I would also say that the Valle de la Luna is probably the most Atacama-specific landscape you’ll see here. I highly recommend signing up for that one as it’s like nowhere else I had ever been before!
How much do Atacama Desert tours cost?
As to how much the Atacama Desert tours cost, you’re not realistically going to get anything super cheap. But I would say they are generally fairly priced and good value. As I’ve said above, if you pay in cash in person then you’ll get the best rates.
At the lower end, for example, our stargazing tour was about £30 (USD38) per person, including transport and snacks.
At the higher end is the tour to the Bolivian Salt Flats. Including exchanging money (the agency recommends bringing 300 bolivianos in cash on the tour, which is about £34 or USD43), the one-way tour cost around £187 per person (USD235). This included all food, accommodation and transport. Not bad!
Tour logistics
When you’ve signed up for your tour(s), it’s likely that you’ll be added to a WhatsApp group for each one. The tour guide will share details of pickup, timings and other logistics in the group.
A minibus will collect you from your accommodation provided you’re staying in the town itself. There are a few hotels and campsites outside the bounds of the tour pickups, meaning you have to make your way to and from the town square for pickup and drop off. This is something to be aware of when choosing accommodation, especially as San Pedro has a very limited taxi service which might impact whether or not you do a stargazing tour as you’ll obviously come back when it’s dark!
Some of the tour organisation is a bit slapdash. But this is Chile! You have to go with the flow to some extent. And the landscapes you see on the tours will be wholly worth any logistical uncertainties you might experience in the planning phase.