Chile · South America

Best Time to Visit Atacama Desert (north)

Best: Nov-Feb

⛷ Skiing & Winter Sports🌋 Natural Wonders
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Best Great OK Avoid

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Weather

Rain is a non-factor here almost every month — the real story of the year is temperature, swinging from June's cooler stretch to January's peak heat. In December, expect highs around 21°C with rain on roughly 1 day of the month.

Things to Do

Some of the clearest, darkest skies on Earth make this one of the world's premier stargazing destinations, alongside otherworldly salt flats and geysers.

Local Cuisine

Try Atacama-style llama dishes and quinoa-based plates.

Month-by-month weather

Daylight, sunrise, and sunset are calculated exactly from this region's latitude. Temperature and rainfall are modeled from its general climate type, not measured station data. Month summaries are generated from those modeled figures.

JanuaryBest

Expect mild days around 21°/9°C, with mostly dry conditions (~3 rainy days).

High / Low21° / 9°C
Rainfall24 mm
Rainy days3
Sunrise5:22 AM
Sunset6:38 PM
Daylight13h 16m
FebruaryBest

Expect mild days around 21°/9°C, with mostly dry conditions (~3 rainy days).

High / Low21° / 9°C
Rainfall24 mm
Rainy days3
Sunrise5:37 AM
Sunset6:23 PM
Daylight12h 46m
MarchOK

Expect mild days around 20°/6°C, with mostly dry conditions (~1 rainy days).

High / Low20° / 6°C
Rainfall8 mm
Rainy days1
Sunrise5:55 AM
Sunset6:05 PM
Daylight12h 10m
AprilOK

Expect mild days around 19°/3°C, with mostly dry conditions (~0 rainy days).

High / Low19° / 3°C
Rainfall0 mm
Rainy days0
Sunrise6:16 AM
Sunset5:44 PM
Daylight11h 28m
MayOK

Expect mild days around 18°/1°C, with mostly dry conditions (~0 rainy days).

High / Low18° / 1°C
Rainfall0 mm
Rainy days0
Sunrise6:33 AM
Sunset5:27 PM
Daylight10h 54m
JuneOK

Expect mild days around 17°/0°C, with mostly dry conditions (~0 rainy days).

High / Low17° / 0°C
Rainfall0 mm
Rainy days0
Sunrise6:42 AM
Sunset5:18 PM
Daylight10h 36m
JulyOK

Expect mild days around 17°/1°C, with mostly dry conditions (~0 rainy days).

High / Low17° / 1°C
Rainfall0 mm
Rainy days0
Sunrise6:38 AM
Sunset5:22 PM
Daylight10h 43m
AugustOK

Expect mild days around 18°/2°C, with mostly dry conditions (~1 rainy days).

High / Low18° / 2°C
Rainfall8 mm
Rainy days1
Sunrise6:24 AM
Sunset5:36 PM
Daylight11h 12m
SeptemberOK

Expect mild days around 19°/3°C, with mostly dry conditions (~0 rainy days).

High / Low19° / 3°C
Rainfall0 mm
Rainy days0
Sunrise6:04 AM
Sunset5:56 PM
Daylight11h 53m
OctoberOK

Expect mild days around 20°/5°C, with mostly dry conditions (~0 rainy days).

High / Low20° / 5°C
Rainfall0 mm
Rainy days0
Sunrise5:44 AM
Sunset6:16 PM
Daylight12h 33m
NovemberBest

Expect mild days around 21°/7°C, with mostly dry conditions (~0 rainy days).

High / Low21° / 7°C
Rainfall0 mm
Rainy days0
Sunrise5:26 AM
Sunset6:34 PM
Daylight13h 7m
DecemberBest

Expect mild days around 21°/9°C, with mostly dry conditions (~1 rainy days).

High / Low21° / 9°C
Rainfall8 mm
Rainy days1
Sunrise5:18 AM
Sunset6:42 PM
Daylight13h 24m

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