San Pedro de Atacama

Where should I stay?

Where should I eat?

• Adobe · Calle Caracoles · Chilean / Andean: Long-running restaurant on the main street with a central fire pit, serving Andean dishes like quinoa and llama alongside Chilean classics.
• La Casona · Calle Caracoles · Chilean: Classic adobe-house restaurant serving hearty Chilean dishes, wine and pisco sours after a day of tours.
• Las Delicias de Carmen · Calle Calama · Chilean home cooking: Casual family spot known for good-value set lunches, empanadas and homemade bread and cakes.
• Ckunna · Calle Tocopilla · Andean / Chilean: Upscale restaurant in a restored old schoolhouse, cooking with local Atacameño ingredients like rica-rica, quinoa and llama.
• Tierra Todo Natural · Calle Caracoles · Natural / vegetarian-friendly: Long-standing café-restaurant with fresh juices, salads, homemade bread and vegetarian options.
• Babalú · Calle Caracoles · Ice cream: Popular ice-cream shop where you can try flavors made with local desert plants like rica-rica and chañar.

What should I do?

• Valle de la Luna · Cordillera de la Sal: Eroded salt and clay formations and dunes a short drive from town, best visited at sunset.
• Laguna Cejar · Salar de Atacama: Salt lagoon so dense you float effortlessly, usually combined with nearby Ojos del Salar.
• Laguna Chaxa · Salar de Atacama: Shallow lagoon on the salt flat in Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos where you can watch flamingos feeding.
• Lagunas Miscanti y Miñiques · Altiplano: Deep-blue altiplanic lakes at over 4,000 m beneath volcanoes, often visited on a day trip via Socaire.
• Iglesia de San Pedro de Atacama · Plaza de Armas: Whitewashed colonial adobe church on the main square, with a ceiling built from cactus wood.
• Pukará de Quitor · Quitor: Ruins of a 12th-century Atacameño stone fortress on a hillside 3 km from town, with views over the oasis.
• A stargazing tour · Outskirts of San Pedro: Night tour with telescopes under some of the clearest, darkest skies on Earth; avoid full-moon dates.