San Pedro de Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama is a small town in the north part of Chile. If this is your first stop in Chile, let me say that this town is a wonderful introduction to endless possibilities. If San Pedro is a continuation of your journey throughout Chile, let me say that this small town will not disappoint.

San Pedro de Atacama is built around a rare oasis in the driest desert in the world, The Atacama desert. It’s perfectly located between volcanoes, salt flats, sand dunes, lagoons, and geysers. At night you can witness some of clearest skies in the world and star gaze through some one the biggest telescopes available in the world. So if you’re looking for adventure, you’ve come to the right spot.

On the surface, you might think that San Pedro is just another tourist destination but if you look beyond the main street of Caracoles, you find there is so much history just waiting to be told.

The town is named after its patron saint, San Pedro (Saint Peter), who are honored each year along with San Pablo (Saint Paul). There is a weeklong festival at the end of June featuring regional music, traditional foods, and a parade that ends with a special mass in the town historic Church. This area is the official archaeological capital of Chile so you can imagine what kinds of fossils, mummies, and hieroglyphics can be seen around the area.

When you compare tourism in Chile to Bolivia and Peru, you will find it can become quite expensive. However, you can find something for all types of travelers from luxury hotels to budget-friendly hostels. You can organize your tours prior to arriving in Chile with several agencies or shop around for the best deal once you arrive.

In my experience in San Pedro, the agencies that allow you to pre-book have been around the longest and provide better customer service and their guides are the most knowledgeable. The competition runs high between agencies because, at the end of the day, they are all selling the same 4-6 tours.

I personally recommend using Denomades.com. Their site is super user-friendly and they work with some of the best agencies throughout Chile and surrounding countries. You can book everything you could possibly want all in one place. Sounds easy enough right?

If you’re the kind of person who likes plan the tours once you arrive, I would recommend you go speak with Juan from Vive Atacama Travel Agency. They are really professional, their guides are extremely knowledgeable, and I loved my time spent with them. You can book directly through their site as well or through their offices. I put the location in the map which you can find at the end of this post.

There are four popular tours: Geysers del Tatio and high planes lagoons with or without Red Rocks that can only be done via Van or a 4×4 Jeep. The Moon Valley and Laguna Cejar can be visited via van/bus, 4×4, bike, or hiking if you’re really feeling up to it. At night you must go see the starts with an astronomy tour. You can also try sand boarding down Death Valley, relax in the Puritamas thermal baths, or hike up the mighty volcano Licancabur.

Most tours are half day tours so you can schedule two in one day or if you want to take it easy, just do one a day and relax within the town. Most guides and agencies speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese but when it comes to restaurants and shops you’ll find that most people only speak Spanish. So it might be time to brush up on your español if you haven’t already

If you want to learn about the history of San Pedro and how it has evolved throughout the years I would definitely recommend taking a free walking tour with Tours 4 Tips. Tours are every day at 10 am and 3 pm and they meet right next to the church. Tours last about 2 hours and then you just tip them what you feel is correct. Most people tip between 5,000 and 10,000 CLP.

I’m sure you’ll get hungry and there are countless restaurants that offer great daily menus for lunch. Make sure you try Pataska, a traditional indigenous dish that can roughly be translated into Mother’s Leftovers.

When you want to cool down from the dry desert air you must try the ice cream. It’s fantastic. Ask for Rica Rica, Chañar, or Algarrobo, flavors if you want something from the region. They are quite different than anything else I’ve personally tried and very delicioso.

When you get thirsty, you must try a Pisco Sour Rica Rica which is Chile’s national cocktail infused with the Rica Rica herb.

The nightlife here in San Pedro is quite interesting, as it has become against the law to dance. Remind anyone from the story plot of Footloose? The reason behind it isn’t because of religious reasons. The local people of San Pedro don’t want the town to become a huge party destination. Remember, the focus here is the adventure, you can still find something fun to do! There are several places that will play live music and even have karaoke. Come hungry, because you cannot buy a drink without ordering food and make sure get there early because everything closes between midnight and 1:30 AM.

What else can I prep you with? Remember, you are in the driest desert in the world so that means water is scarce. Take your showers quickly and make sure you stay hydrated. Sunscreen will be your best friend and take the time to get to know the locals. They love sharing their stories of their town with people around the world.

Want more?

I’ve written two other posts about San Pedro and the Atacama Desert. Check out the 7 things you must do and the best way to get in and out of town.

I’ve also created a Google map with my favorite points throughout the town and surrounding areas which I feel helps you get an idea on how far things really are from each other.

Remember, when you give good you get good.

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Transportation Chile Whether you’re a wild wanderer, a planner, or somewhere in between, it always comforting to know where you’re going. Chile unique geography can be challenging to take on

However, transportation in Chile is pretty straightforward and very accessible. In a previous post, I talked about how to move around the capital city of Santiago. That came with an overflow of requests from you guys about how what is the best way to move around the country.

Here is what I know:

Arriving in Santiago:

Almost everyone who visits Chile will arrive in Santiago. If you have a connecting flight to another destination within Chile you most likely will not leave the airport. If you decide to stay in Santiago or need to travel to a train station these are your options:

Public Taxi

You just go out the street, there will be plenty of drivers offering to take you anywhere you want. Have them charge by the meter or if they insist on a set price, try and negotiate a price that you feel comfortable with.

Shared Transfer

This is my preferred method of transportation to and from the airport. You share a large van with other passengers who are staying in the same area as you. It might take a bit longer than a taxi but it’s half the price. If you purchase you’re to and from together online, you can save 10%There are several companies that offer this service but Transvip is my preferred and the only one I’ve personally used.

Public transportation:

Every 10 minutes from 5:55 AM to 22:30 there is a bus called CentroPuerto that goes to and from the Airport. If you want to take this option, you can take them from several subway station stops throughout the Red Line (Linea 1) such as Estacion Central, Universidad de Santiago, and Los Heroes. This is the cheapest option at about 3 USD

Ride Sharing Apps:

Uber and Cabify are available for pickup. There are designated pickup areas for both apps which should pop up once the GPS picks up your location. No worries, there is free WIFI at the airport.

Types of Transportation available for moving throughout the country:

Trains:

Train rail system has been around since the 1880’s and has had plenty of ups and downs throughout the years. Currently, there are several destinations that you can travel to via train within the Central Valley Region. The information online isn’t very clear but leaving from Santiago you can ride to Rancagua via Metro Tren or to Chillan via TerraSur. You would need to arrive at Estacion Central, which is also a stop along the Red line of Metro of Santiago.

Flying:

This will be your fastest option to move around the Country. There are a few national airlines that offer great deals occasionally. You might have already heard of LATAM, as it is Latin America’s largest airline holding company and based in Santiago, Chile. They also are part of the One World Loyalty program. So if you frequently fly with American Airlines, British Airways or Iberia just to name a few, you can continue to rack up miles or even possibly use your miles to book these national flights. I personally just used my miles to book my round trip to visit San Pedro de Atacama for 7.000 Kilometers and just paid about 25 USD in Taxes.

The other airline that is competing closely with LATAM is Sky Airlines and JetSmart. Sky is a low-cost airline flies to 18 different destinations and constantly has offers to fly at very low cost. JetSmart is another low-cost airline that has recently launched this year arrived in Chile with 8 destinations this year and continuously growing.

The most popular destinations usually have their own Airport but a few require flying into a near-by city and then taking a local bus or taxi to reach final destination. Let me give you an example:

If you want to go to San Pedro de Atacama: Fly into Calama, take a taxi to the bus terminal and then take 1hr 30 minutes bus ride to San Pedro. Taxi should cost about 8.000 CLP and then bus rides are about 3.000 CLP each way

If you want to go Torres Del Paine: Fly into Punta Arenas, and take a bus to Puerto Natales. To reach the park from the city you will find two routes via BUS or Rental Car:

Take Route 9, which links to Sarmiento and Laguna Amarga entrances of the Park
Take Route Y 290, which takes you to the Serrano enterance of the park.

Bus

This is the most popular option as this is also provides the widest selection of destinations. If you’re going to the extreme areas of Chile, most buses offer an overnight service. The roads are very safe and have plenty of rest stops along the way. In Santiago, Estacion Central is the main terminal and can be confusion. This area is right next to a subway station with the same name, a huge street market, and also several malls. Please be careful when walking around this area and go directly to an information booth if you need help. There are several bus companies that provide services throughout the country. I’ve always gone with Pullman or Turbus. They are the largest and have the most options of destinations. There websites are only available in Spanish but the sites are pretty easy to navigate.

Renting a car:

Renting a car in Chile is a fairly easy process. You just need to be over 25 years-old, have an international drivers license, and a credit card. I would go with renting a car if you want to visit areas that have difficult access via public transportation. Renting a car an automatic vehicle will be much higher in price than a stick shift as it is not a popular option. Gas in Chile is quite pricey. At the time of this post, the average price of 1 liter of gas is 735 CLP. (USD 1.10) For my US readers, that’s about 2.940 CLP per gallon (USD 4.46)

So I think I’ve covered all the possible ways to move around. Let me know what destination you’re looking to travel to that I have covered it and I can add more information to this post.

Remember when you give good, you get good.