San Pedro de Atacama is one of the most important tourist destinations of the Atacama Desert. A small city with extensive accommodation and service facilities is a base for trips to the surrounding volcanoes, salary and the Moon Valley.
The city has low-rise buildings centered around San Pedro de Atacama Square. Brick, painted white houses hide many guesthouses and service points. There are also tourist offices that offer trips to nearby attractions and volcanoes. There are also two famous museums in the city, the Gustavo Le Paige Museum with a collection of ceramics, textiles and objects related to the extraction of psychoactive substances, and the Meteorite Museum.
The main attractions of San Pedro de Atacama are the surrounding landscapes and natural wonders. The city is in a desert setting, but there are also lakes and geyser fields. Two valleys, the Valley of the Moon and Mars and the Valley of Death, are places where no rainfall has been recorded for over 400 years. This makes them the driest places on Earth. In the Valley of the Moon and Mars, which is one of the major attractions of San Pedro de Atacama and the whole of Chile, you can admire fantastic landscapes, deep canyons and rock formations. There are many viewpoints, such as the Kari-Piedra del Coyote viewpoint.
When visiting the area of San Pedro de Atacama, you can also come across the Salar de Atacama, one of the largest salt deserts in the world. Huge, flat spaces with mountains looming on the horizon, despite their austerity and monotony, fascinate. The more that you can observe various optical illusions here. Among the attractions of these areas are also the salt lakes Cejar and Piedra and Puritama - a region famous for geysers and natural thermal pools.
A great attraction of San Pedro de Atacama for people who like active tourism are trips to the surrounding volcanoes. In one day, you can enter Saurecabur, Lascar and Tocco, and longer trips are organized for almost 5,000. m above sea level Licancabur and Llullaillaco.
