The area near San Pedro de Atacama has minimal light pollution, making it an ideal place to observe the night sky. For this reason, nearly every tour agency in San Pedro de Atacama offers some kind of astronomical tour.
The tours will all be pretty similar (though the size of your group and number of telescopes may differ), but that’s ok. The important thing is that you get out of town and observe the night sky to see as many stars and planets as you can. If you’re lucky, you’ll also be able to see the Milky Way.
Astronomical Tour Near San Pedro de Atacama
This is all based on my experience. While there are several companies that offer Astronomical Tours, nearly every tour follows the exact same itinerary. That said, unlike most tours from San Pedro de Atacama, you’ll be spread out across different sites. So, when you get to your stargazing location, your group will be the only group there, which definitely makes things easier.
Pick Up
When I booked my Astronomical Tour, I was told that I needed to be at the tour office at 9:00 pm. A few hours before the start of the tour, I got a message on WhatsApp stating that they’ll be picking me up at my hotel. It didn’t matter to me one way or the other, but I wasn’t going to complain about getting picked up at my hotel.
Once everyone is picked up, it’s a short drive out of the town of San Pedro de Atacama to one of the many astronomical tour spots.
An Introduction to the Night Sky
When you arrive, you’ll sit around benches while your guide gives you an introduction to the night sky. Your guide will point out various constellations, planets (if any are visible), and tell stories about the stars. There’s also a very powerful laser pointer to help you see which stars she’s mentioning. This is very helpful if you’re like me and cannot identify any stars in the night sky.
This talk was in both Spanish and English, though I was able to understand a good portion of the Spanish talk as well and my Spanish isn’t great. If you need English, make sure to speak up and ask for it.
When I did this tour, our guide suggested that we put our phones away for this talk, but my group only half listened. Basically, when our guide was giving her talk in the opposite language, that’s when we took our opportunity to take some photos of the night sky.
My recommendation? Learn how to take photos of the night sky with your phone. Your phone can probably do a pretty decent job with its automatic settings, but if you learn how to use different shutter speeds and change the exposure, you can get some even better photos. It won’t be as good as the photos that come from powerful cameras, but it’s not bad for a cell phone.
Using High-Powered Telescopes
Now that you’ve had an introduction to the night sky, it’s time to use the powerful telescopes that you’ve likely walked passed as you entered on your tour. These telescopes allow you to see incredible detail on the moon’s surface as well as get an up close look at some of the stars that your guide talked about.
There was no real order to this when I took my tour. There were two telescopes and we just kind of bounced back and forth between the telescopes as they were adjusted for different locations in the sky. I didn’t always know what I was looking at, but it was very cool getting those close up views for the various stars in the night sky.
Note that at least on my tour, the telescope operator spoke very little English. However, don’t let that discourage you. If you step up to the telescope and can’t see anything, flag down the operator and say “No veo”. They’ll step up and adjust it again. With so many people using the telescopes, they’ll get bumped eventually and those few millimeters can make a huge difference in what you can see in the night sky.
Astrophotos
Here’s one area that I think could have been organized a little better, at least during my tour. Nearly every astronomical tour in San Pedro de Atacama offers astrophotos. This just means that you get to pose and take some really nice pictures of the night sky.
Personally, I think they should start this early and have people rotate through the astrophotos and the telescopes simultaneously, but that’s not what happened. Instead, they waited until we were done with the telescopes to start on the astrophotos. There were about 15 people in my group and everyone got to take two or three photos. And since some people wanted group photos, it can take a little bit of time.
Don’t get me wrong. The photos that they take are fantastic, but I just think that it could be organized just a little bit better.
Bonfire and a Snack
It’s not a tour in San Pedro de Atacama without food. Even at 10:30 at night, there’s still snacks and drinks available. So as the photos are wrapping up, it’s time to eat. There’s cookies, chips, and even marshmallows for roasting over the fire (though no graham crackers and chocolate, so no s’mores). There’s also alcoholic drinks and coffee, tea, and hot chocolate if you want something a little warmer.
Back to San Pedro de Atacama
Your tour is over and you’ll be driven back to San Pedro de Atacama. Unlike most tours in San Pedro de Atacama, you’ll actually be dropped off back at your hotel. Since you won’t be getting back to San Pedro de Atacama until 11:30 pm or later, I was pretty appreciative of the hotel drop off.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long is a Astronomical Tour from San Pedro de Atacama?
An astronomical tour lasts about 3.5 to 4 hours. That time does include pickup and drop off from your hotel. You’ll spend anywhere from 2.5 to 3 hours doing activities related to the astronomical tour.
How to Book Your Astronomical Tour?
You can find tour agencies on websites like GetYourGuide or Viator, but I’d be hesitant to use these sites. It’s definitely easy to do this, especially if you want to have everything booked before you arrive in San Pedro de Atacama, but I think it’s better to wait until you’re in town. If you meet with the tour agency in person, you’re likely to be able to work out a deal where you’ll get a discount if you book multiple tours (and if you’re taking one tour, it’s likely you’re going to take multiple).
Note that most tour agencies will try to sell you a bundle where you can do a Moon Valley Tour and an Astronomical Tour for one low price.
Should You Take an Astronomical Tour?
Yes. Too often the night sky is polluted by artificial light, but here in the Atacama Desert, you can escape that light and really see the night sky. And I say this as someone who grew up in a pretty rural area. This has some of the most impressive night sky I have ever seen.
Note that the moon will affect your tour. The fuller the moon is, the brighter the night sky. Ideally, you want to have a new moon where there’s no light from the moon and the stars themselves can light up the sky.
I obviously wanted a new moon, but that’s not what happened during my visit and I had a quarter moon which provides a lot of light in the night sky.
Final Thoughts
Many of the tours in San Pedro de Atacama focus on the natural beauty of this area of Chile. The astronomical tour still offers beauty, but of a different variety and I think it’s an incredibly good use of your time to get to see the night sky with minimal light pollution.
Continue Your Adventure
San Pedro de Atacama: I recommend three days in San Pedro de Atacama to see the highlights. The Tatio Geysers are some of the largest in the world. For some of my favorite scenery, visit Rainbow Valley. To explore on your own, rent a bike and visit the Devil’s Throat. Continue your adventure by departing on a tour to the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia.
Chile: Start planning your trip with my Chile Travel Guide. Get my best budget travel tips and a 9 day Chile itinerary.
