Atacama Desert Tours Ranked: The Best (and Worst) Experiences in San Pedro
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Atacama Desert, Chile
Most people arrive in San Pedro de Atacama and do roughly the same set of tours. The order varies, the guides differ, but the destinations are largely fixed.
Atacama also isn’t a budget destination. The cost of visiting all the main sites adds up quickly, and many of them are time-consuming to reach - spread out across the desert rather than clustered together. If you’re short on time, you’ll likely have to choose.
Having done them, here’s how I’d rank the classic Atacama experiences - not just by how they look in photos, but by how they actually feel to be there.
Note: Many of these tours sell out quickly so I would recommend booking in advance!
No. 1: Piedras Rojas & Altiplanic Lagoons
Reflections at Piedras Rojas
The most complete day in Atacama - varied, expansive, and quietly impressive. If you only do one full-day trip in Atacama, make it this one.
The journey takes you high into the Altiplano, where the landscape shifts constantly - from vast desert plains to deep red rock formations to glassy, high-altitude lagoons framed by volcanoes.
Piedras Rojas itself is striking, but it’s the contrast across the day that makes this stand out. You’re not just arriving at a single viewpoint - you’re moving through a series of them, each slightly different in scale and colour.
Good to know:
High altitude (4,000m+); pace yourself
Early start, but not painfully early (unlike Geysers del Tatio)
Often combined with Miscanti & Miñiques lagoons
Bonus: Get a tour that includes the Chaxa lagoon to see the flamingos - the landscape is truly stunning!
No. 2: Stargazing
Incredible and different to everything else… but heavily dependent on conditions.
The Atacama Desert is one of the best places in the world for stargazing, thanks to its altitude, dryness, and lack of light pollution. On a clear night, the sky is extraordinary. If you book with the right tour guides, they are incredibly knowledgeable and will teach you a lot about constellations and outer space.
That said, your experience depends a lot on:
The guide
The equipment
The weather and lunar cycle
When it’s good, it’s unforgettable. When it’s average, it can feel slightly underwhelming after a long day.
Good to know:
I would recommend specifically this tour; the guides were very knowledgeable and communicated well around the changing weather.
If there is too much cloud cover, a good tour guide will cancel the tour and arrange for a full refund, a bad one will run the tour and take your money with little view of anything more than clouds.
Full moon is the worst time to do the tour as the moon can be very bright.
The stargazing tours sell out very quickly so definitely book this one in advance.
Start time depends on the time of year but it will typically be 1.5-2 hours after sunset. Tours usually run for 2-3 hours.
No. 3: Geysers del Tatio
Brutally early, freezing cold - and still worth it. This is the one everyone debates.
You’ll leave around 4:30–5:00am, question your life choices in the cold, and arrive just before sunrise to a field of steaming geysers at over 4,300m altitude.
Is it the most visually dramatic place in Atacama? Not necessarily.
But standing there as the sun rises and the steam cuts through the freezing air feels… different. Slightly surreal, slightly uncomfortable - in a way that makes it memorable.
Good to know:
It is cold (well below zero pre-sunrise) - bring more layers than you think you need
Highest altitude most people reach in Atacama
No. 4: Valle De Luna
Valle De Luna, Atacama Desert
The most accessible and the most popular.
At times, it can feel a bit like a school trip to a museum - a steady flow of buses and tour groups moving through the landscape in a way that makes it feel more managed than wild.
That said, it’s popular for a reason. The terrain is dry, sculpted, and almost lunar in places, with formations that feel distinctly different from elsewhere in the region. Sunset is the main event, when the light softens and the colours shift across the valley.
It’s not the most peaceful experience in Atacama, but it remains one of the most recognisable - and for many, a worthwhile introduction to the desert.
Good to know:
Can be done independently (bike or car)
Sunset = busiest time
Short walks rather than full hikes
Half day tour; if you choose to cycle it could end up being a full day - the cycling is relatively arduous in the heat so go prepared!
No. 5: Laguna Cejar
Floating in salt water in the middle of the desert - novel, but not essential.
Laguna Cejar is known for its high salt concentration, which makes floating effortless. It’s a fun, slightly surreal experience - but compared to the scale and variety of other Atacama landscapes, it feels more like a single activity than a full experience.
Worth doing if you have time, but not a priority if your schedule is tight.
Good to know:
Strict rules (no showering before entering, mandatory rinse after)
Often done as a half-day tour
Can feel a bit structured
Half day trip