how to get to the atacama
San Pedro Atacama is a town located in Northern Chile along the Andes mountains and known for star gazing, geysers, and unspoiled desert scenery.
From Santiago to Calama
If you are looking to travel to this place, the fastest and easiest bet would be to fly from Santiago. If you have the time, you can also take a bus Santiago to Calama and then transfer from there with the bus that goes to San Pedro Atacama. The total time for this bus journey would be approximately 24 hours. The flight from Santiago (SCL) to Calama (CJC) is approximately 2 hours.
From Calama to San Pedro Atacama
There is a shuttle bus at the Calama airport that costs approximately 16 dollars and takes about an hour 45 minutes. You can also rent a car from the airport. Of note a little Spanish can go a long way as many of the rental places spoke minimal English The drive from the airport to San Pedro Atacama is 1 hour 15 minutes, the main road is paved as it heads towards the city. The city itself is unpaved dirt roads. Also, of note, many of the roads to the tourist sites are on unpaved roads. The roads are generally in very good condition and we felt very comfortable driving a rental car to the tourist attractions. We did not get a 4×4 but if you are interested in going off roading or to more remote places this may be a better option for you.
In my opinion, renting your own vehicle is the best way to experience the Atacama.
There are no gas stations between Calama and San Pedro de Atacama and many tourist attractions are located outside of the main city. It is essential that you have sufficient gas to get to where you’re going and back. There is one gas station in San Pedro and that sometimes means waiting in line to get gas and no flexibility on the cost. Make sure to get gas before you’re in a hurry to get some more else.
Some car coverage (insurance/credit cards), doesn’t cover incidents on unpaved roads so just verify this before renting a car so you have appropriate coverage.
From San Pedro Atacama to tourist spots
From San Pedro Atacama, you can elect to take tours to the most common tourist sites.
If you have your own rental car, you have the flexibility of driving yourself to all the tourist spots. You can also download offline maps as there is minimal cell service in these areas. Many of the roads are paved but some are not. The road to El Tatio Geysers is known to be curvy and bumpy and many blogs advise going for sunrise which could be a little treacherous if you are uncomfortable driving in these conditions in the dark. Many people also elect to drive it during the daylight if renting their own car.
our three day driving tour
Day 1 Tonaco, Laguna Chaxa, Altiplanic Lakes, Socaire, Tropic of Capricorn sign
On the drive down, we stopped at the Tonaco Bell tower- this town was quite small, and we spent minimal time here as we had a full day ahead of us. Of note, this town doesn’t have a gas station. From there we went to Laguna Chaxa – this is the area where you see the salt flats and Flamingos. The drive from Tonaco to Laguna Chaxa is about 1 hour and 20 minutes. After this we proceeded to Miscanti and Miniques lakes. The altiplantic lakes are about 1 hour 30 minute drive from San Pedro de Atacama but from the Laguna Chaxa it took us approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. After exploring this area, we started the journey back to San Pedro Atacama. Along the way we stopped in Socaire which was about 30 minutes and stopped to get a picture at the Tropic of Capricorn which was about 17 minutes after Socaire on the way to Pedro de Atacama.
Day 2 Laguna Cejar, Valle de Muerte and Valle de la Luna
Laguna Cejar which is approximately 30 minutes from San Pedro. We came back to the city in the afternoon to grab some lunch, shower and relax for a little bit. Later in the afternoon we decided to visit Valle de Muerte and Valle de la Luna. We time this so that we could explore both of these locations and be there for sunset. Valle de la Luna and Valle de Muerte are about 10 mins from town heading back to Calama – we did Valle de Muerte in the afternoon and then Valle de Luna for sunset.
DAY 3 EL TATIO GEYSERS
We did a tour to catch El Tatio Geysers at sunrise. We chose to do a tour to El Tatio Geysers as most places recommended to get to the geysers for sunrise with many blogs mentioning the winding and unsafe roads in the dark. We were very happy with this decision but I had read a number of blogs before going noting they went in the afternoon when less crowded and so did not have to worry about driving roads in the dark and were very happy with their decision too. Either way it is not a place to miss! On the way back you will pass through the town of Machuca, which has some lakes typically filled with various bird and wildlife, and lastly stopped at the Quebrada Escalera Canyon.
