Astrotour Chile San Pedro de Atacama : Astronomical Tour and Astrophoto
Badge of Excellence
San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
- 2 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
What's Included
- Pick up from accommodation
- Blankets - Chairs
- Astro Photography (Without Moon)
- Alcoholic Beverages
- Coffee and/or Tea
- Soda/Pop
- Snacks
- W.C.
- We do not collect from en ayllu de Cucuter, Tulor, Coyo, Solor or Quitor
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
We do not pick up passengers in the ayllus of Coyo, Tulor, Quitor, Cucuter and Solor. Some hotels located on downtown streets have restrictions on the circulation of cars, for these cases we define a meeting point very close to each accommodation.
Operating hours.9:30 pm
What To Expect
1
San Pedro de Atacama
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.4
based on 164 reviews
Daniel_Z, Mar 2026
Really cool view through the telescopes! Was really amazing and got great photos of the full moon! Would recommend going either in a night with a bright moon for the photos or one with a dark moon for a clearer naked eye view of the night sky
Penny_H, Feb 2026
Franklin was very knowledgeable and passionate about our night sky. He was a great teacher—a difficult task for such complexities. We were even able to see the brown stripes on Jupiter! Highly recommend--just don't go if it's cloudy or a full moon!
Brian_W, Jan 2026
Excellent guide, very educational and beautiful sights through the telescope. Our full tour was in English.
Lauren_L, Jan 2026
This was just amazing to see the night sky but to look at objects so far away with a telescope and a very knowledgeable host. It was one of the coolest things we have ever done as a family. Highly recommend! We didn't want it to end!
Chris_J, Dec 2025
A truly awesome experience - at first we were a little disappointed that the moon was so bright we wouldn’t see the ‘Milky Way’ but in the end that didn’t matter as the narrator gave a really interesting explanation of the cosmos and the mind blowing numbers behind what we could see with our eyes which was even better when the telescope itself exposed the true beauty of the night skies. Champagne provided for our honeymoon (I still don’t know how they found out) helped finish the tour as a once in a lifetime visit to Atacama for us. Thank you for making so much effort into the tour.
GOWTHAM_T, Dec 2025
Picked up from hotel in Atacama and taken to an area outside the city. They have a telescope setup and a guide will focus various objects in the sky. Similar experience to an observatory but with lesser powerful telescopes. You also get pictures taken with a professional camera setup as a souvenir.
Ben_P, Dec 2025
Most of the time of the experience is spent waiting around to look through the two telescopes as each person in the group takes their turn. You look at circa 4 stars/clusters in each scope. You have an explanation from the leader and the secondary leader, who translates into English, before looking at the stars.
About 15-20 minutes of the activity was spent picking people up from hotels and it was then about a 10-15 minutes ride to the site. It was a similar time for the return journey.
The leader spoke Spanish and a secondary leader translated into English. The explanation was good although at times the leader started speaking next to his telescope to people looking through it or explaining things to several people and the secondary leader could not translate as he was busy with people looking through his scope.
The stargazing was brief due to the waiting around. I probably had 3-4 minutes in total looking at stars.
You do receive a good quality photograph taken at the end of the experience.
Food was also provided after we looked at the stars. However we were abruptly told we had to leave after all photographs were taken with no warning.
If you want a good quality photo of yourself with the stars then the tour is worth it.
For others, you can have a longer and similar output if you set up a phone, with night vision, or a good mirrorless camera on a tripod and use an app to view the constellations via your phone. You could also take good quality photos with some practice . You could rent a car to do this or find a spot just outside San Pedro with little to no light pollution.
Hana_I, Nov 2025
The stars were gorgeous but we were the only 3 English speakers in the group and didn’t realize we would be in a group with mostly Spanish speakers. The guide was bilingual but spent most of the time speaking Spanish so sometimes we didn’t know what we were looking at when he was pointing at starts with the laser. The English parts felt rushed. How good your experience is will probably depend on what guide you get.
Janet_J, Mar 2025
Interesting facts, guides with lots of knowledge. Got great pictures of the full moon (we still got to see many stars even though it was full moon), with help from the guide. Free wine, whiskey, coffee, tea etc after the activity.
BrandonJames_B, Mar 2025
I booked the experience of time, and received confirmation and a ticket. The day of i received no communication. I waited outside for about 15 minutes passed the pick up time and messaged to see if everything was ok. 45 minutes after pickup they messaged amd said it was cancelled because of clouds. It was the clearest night in my 5 days in San Pedro, i could not see a single cloud. I still have not received signs of a refund.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Dear Brandon,
We're sorry for causing this unpleasant experience. Sometimes, many cancellations need to be processed, and the person in charge of canceling the service at the time probably didn't contact you and didn't double-check it. However, the customer is also responsible and has their own responsibility. If I book a service, I make sure my reservation is processed and that someone is in charge of it. The Viator/TripAdvisor platform handles reservations, email, and WhatsApp (it's the fastest, with instant communication). In the case of a cancellation due to bad weather, we made the decision at 8 p.m. based on the weather forecast and sky observations at that time. The refund was issued the same day. In fact, your reservation appears as refunded in Viator's reservation system. The reservation was made through an external channel, and they must refund your reservation. We only notify this channel of the cancellation, and we do not process payments.
Montgomery_S, Nov 2024
Our guides were punctual, friendly and extremely knowledgeable! There were 3 telescopes to 12 people to share. We took turns looking at various celestial bodies across the cosmos and never felt rushed! At the end of the tour, we enjoyed a glass of wine and took a photo under the stars.
To_b, Nov 2024
Unfortunately, not as expected. The pick-up and drop-off each took 45 minutes. Too many people, over 20 people. You had to wait most of the time. For the photo or to look through the telescope. There were two guides, one spoke Spanish and the other translated more or less into English. However, it was difficult to understand everything because there were too many people and both spoke at the same time. Drinks were only available at the end, hot drinks to mix yourself or plain alcohol. Unfortunately, the photo with the Milky Way was a bit blurry. All of that for 40€/ 40,000CLP. A shame, maybe others will enjoy it more.
Response from Host, Nov 2024
Hello. I am going to respond to the same opinion you left us on TripAdvisor and Google. We regret not having met your expectations. The truth is that you are absolutely right, during those days San Pedro de Atacama was full of people everywhere, because it was a holiday weekend, I think you could experience it in the center of town, in all the parks you visited and our astronomy tour was no exception. Many people did not want to miss any place to visit and of course, sometimes with groups it can become a bit chaotic because not all people have the same behavior, but that is how it is when you pay for a tour to go with more people. According to the price of the tour, it can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the reservation channel you use, because there are some reservation channels that charge commissions. We hope that next time you can visit us during the months we call low season (between April and August, except for holiday weekends) because fewer people visit the place during those dates.
Marc_B, Oct 2024
Beautiful and very interesting the guy is super knowledgable but go when there’s no moon or very little
Niamh_M, Oct 2024
This was a fantastic experience which I would highly recommend. Patricio offered loads of information which was translated for us. We got offered drinks at the end which was needed as it can get quite cold. Overall, an excellent experience - a must do for your time in San Pedro de Atacama
Chris_D, Aug 2024
The tour takes place in Patricio's specially configured courtyard, a few minutes away from the center of San Pedro. There were two telescopes and chairs arranged around them in a circle. Patricio is an excellent host, very knowledgeable about stars, and explains things in a simple and accessible way. The tour consisted of Patricio pointing the telescopes to some stars, or planets and then we would take turns looking through the telescopes, while he would talk and explain things about the life of stars and galaxies, and respond to questions. Unfortunately, when I took the tour the moon was half full and we could not see the milky way or other special things. In fact, the visibility was not very different from what it would look like from my home town in the USA on a clear night. The things Patricio pointed at were not that interesting (except Saturn and the moon) and the telescopes did not offer huge magnification. So, overall, I found the experience below my expectations. It seems that to get the wow experience people talk about, one needs to do this when there is no moon.
Response from Host, Aug 2024
We appreciate your point of view, we regret that you just booked during the lunar period, however, we always do this tour because there are enthusiasts who are not interested in anything, not even the moon, they just want to have a good time talking, debating with the guide and observing what they can through the telescope. Regarding the magnification of the telescope we must remember that we use reflecting telescopes that use concave mirrors to capture the greatest amount of light from the sky, therefore, we have the barrier of the atmosphere and atmospheric pollution that make it difficult for us to obtain images similar to those obtained by space telescopes or huge scientific telescopes that use supercomputers to process the information and deliver the result of images with many details and colors.
Ariel_H, Aug 2023
This was an excellent tour. Patricio is very knowledgeable about astronomy, and will surely keep you entertained during the whole tour. He also offers a wide variety of drinks and snacks. To top it all, he takes amazing pictures of you and the stars. Would definitely recommend it to everyone who's interested in science and astronomy.
Brian_S, Jul 2023
It was fantastic, totally recommend. the astronomer is very knowledgeable, he explained many things and answered our questions. Professional photos are beautiful
Kieran_M, May 2023
Overall, it was a nice experience. Easy pickup/drop off at my hotel. The guide, Patricio felt so knowledgeable about the subject of astronomy. Explained things is a way that anyone could understand whether they had experience or not. Served nice wine and/or warm drinks if you wanted.
It was only available in Spanish, which was a little tough for a non-native speaker but I managed.
The only reason I have 4 stars, is that it was a little bit inefficient- a lot of time was spent trying to take a picture of people with the sky as a background. Pics were great but everyone seemed to crowd around the camera and tried to take so many that it took up way too much time. Maybe it would’ve been better to control that time a little more. There were also people talking amongst themselves throughout the tour which detracted quite a bit.
Cesar_O, Jan 2023
Please be aware that this tour is not anywhere near Santiago, even though it comes up under Things to do in Santiago at night. This should be in the description, but it is not. We asked for a refund from Viator, but it was rejected. Just don’t want anyone else to lose their money.
Response from Host, Feb 2023
Sincerly I don't know what I can answer, this tour is called: Tour Astronomico con Guía y Pick Up San Pedro de Atacama.
Aisha_H, Jan 2023
Great tour that is not too far from San Pedro Dr Atacama. We were able to see many planets through the telescope, and we were able to take photos of the moon with our cell phones. Also provided us with free photos of ourselves. Very informative tour!
Omar_F, Oct 2022
Really good trip with a great guide!
He was very knowledgeable and shared a lot of good info with us. We had plenty of time to take it all in and use the telescope to see great stars and objects.
Alex_D, Oct 2022
Brilliant. The guide made the your really interesting. I'd do this trip again. We saw storms on Saturn & Jupiter!
Chris_B, Sep 2022
Wow. This was my favorite part of my trip to atacama. Fortunately we had a new moon and no cloud cover. Guide pointed out planets, stars, constellations, etc and explain everything in perfect English.
Erik_B, Feb 2022
My son and I had an amazing experience with AstroTour. Our astronomía guide was extraordinarily knowledge and his command of English was excellent. My son and I both understand Spanish, but his decision to use English was very inclusive. We are grateful for the experience at such a good price and in even more out of the universe in which we live.
Ben, Mar 2020
This was an excellent experience seeing the constellations and having detailed explanations of them. Lovely to also have hot drinks and snacks! Only shame was the time of night and day of month meant the moon was bright and the planets weren't out.
Horacio, Feb 2020
Very interesting tour, well explained. The host was able to find the observation targets in the sky really quick, even with a full moon. The view of the moon was astonishing, my kids coulnd't believe their eyes. And the telescope was powerful enough to see star clusters in detail.
drnamratashah, Feb 2020
This is a must do tour while in Chile. We were really worried when the tour got cancelled 2 nights in a row because of poor visibility but Astrotours was wonderful about communicating with us and we were finally able to attend the tour on day 3. We were lucky to end up with Nathan again who had been our tour host for another tour. His knowledge of astronomy was impressive and his passion for all things astronomy definitely was infectious. We each had enough time to look through the powerful telescope and he even patiently helped me set up my own camera to teach me a bit of amateur astrophotography. I highly recommend this tour.
Vastiane_T, Mar 2025
Lamentablemente nos toco muy nublado por lo que no pudimos ver casi nada y nos quedamos con las ganas de ver el cielo estrellado. Si bien es una condición climática que la agencia no puede controlar, si pienso que debieron advertirla. Esto es sabido por los lugareños; que durante Enero, Febrero y Marzo hay lluvias altiplanicas (por lo que yo aconsejo no entusiasmarse si vas en estas fechas a San pedro) . Y el tour no fue cancelado y fue una perdida de tiempo y un mal rato para todos los asistentes incluso para quienes estaban a cargo de la actividad. Yo incluso pregunte 30 min antes y aun así la agencia decidió seguir adelante con el tour. Yo aconsejaría a la agencia advertir y colocar una cláusula a la hora de tomar esta atividad de que están sujetos a cambios de itinerario. Al menos puedo reconocerles que me regresaron el total de mi dinero después de quejarme con ellos (aun que tuve que ser yo quien tomo la iniciativa).
También advertir que con luna llena el Tour ya no se llama astrónomico sino lunar y que con la luna tan brillante no se puede apreciar bien el cielo (lugareños nos dijeron que cuando es así el precio debiera ser más económico)
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Estimado.
Tal y como conversamos a traves de la plataforma, te repito nuevamente que: Las opiniones externas "de lugareños" no pueden influir respecto de las decisiones que tomamos en nuestra organización, nosotros siempre tomamos las deciciones basados en los reportes meteorológicos (vientos, humedad, nubosidad, etc.) y vistas de satelite meteorológico, nosotros no trabajamos basados en suposiciones. Si bien hay inestabilidad climatológica entre diciembre a marzo, nos debemos apegar a lo que digan los reportes de clima y lo que muestre el satélite. Siempre se hace de esta forma porque después se nos generan situaciones en donde ha estado nublado durante todo el día, suspendemos, después se despeja completamente y hay clientes reclamando acerca de: "¿por que les anulamos el tour si era una noche espectacular?", de hecho, hace poco nos escribieron una pesima opinion haciendo alusión a la anulación del tour. Por lo tanto, debemos hacer caso omiso de opiniones externas y guiarnos por nuestras conclusiones, repito, basados en los reportes meteorologicos y vistas del setelite, debo agregar que nosotros tambien somos lugareños que vivimos hace mas de 20 años en San Pedro de Atacama, por lo tanto, no se nos puede invalidar nuestras decisiones si nos basamos en la premisa de que los "lugareños dicen".
Nuevamente, "lugareños dicen" que deberian cobrar mas barato y que durante la luna no es "tour astronomico". Respecto al de lo que dicen "lugareños" te puedeo dejar un estracto de una opinion pasada de clientes que hicieron el tour con luna llena, cito: "Interesting facts, guides with lots of knowledge. Got great pictures of the full moon (we still got to see many stars even though it was full moon), with help from the guide".
Nuestros guías tienen los conocimientos del cielo y años de experiencia para apuntar los telescopios a los diferentes puntos del cielo y seguir mostrando lo mismos objetos con o sin luna (planetas, estrellas, cumulos, nebulosas, la luna, etc.). Por lo tanto estas aludiendo a un supuesto de algo que te dijeron y yo te presento la realidad con la opinión de otro cliente.
Amapola_G, Mar 2025
Don Patricio, wow, un disco duro infinito de conocimiento sobre los astros y siempre en la mejor disposición de responder cualquier pregunta y de la mejor manera. De verdad que si te interesa conocer más sobre nuestro cielo, recomiendo 100% tomar este tour. Nosotros no pudimos ver algunos planetas porque había luna y nubosidad, y aún así, intentaron compensarlo con otras cosas que igual fueron fantásticas y no sentí que nos hiciera falta nada.
Ivette_G, Nov 2024
Excelente excursión, las explicaciones excelentes, las observaciones a través de los telescopios fenomenales, son muy profesionales y amables, los recomiendo ampliamente
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