Hi. I'll be spending two full days in San Pedro de Atacama. I can then fly out the next morning and spend 2.5 days in Santiago, or spend an extra day in the Atacama and fly out the following morning, giving me 1.5 days in Santiago. So, would you choose 3 days in Atacama and 1.5 in Santiago, or 2 days in the Atacama and 2.5 in Santiago?

It depends a bit on the time of year and depends a lot on your interests. In general though, I would say spend the extra time in San Pedro.

I agree w/ Huentetu unless you like to do Valparaiso and Viña del Mar on that extra day.

i thought 2 full days in the desert was plenty. since santiago is a big city, you can always find more things to do there.

I just wrote a report on Santiago. We were there for thirteen days and returned nine days ago. If you click on my name you will find it.

We liked Santiago although we were probably there longer than we needed.

Have a good trip!