San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) is the closest to Atacama Desert town, which you can reach by bus from the bigger town Calama.
To stay there you don’t need any transport other than your feet. Usually, it’s a reason for me to call the place village.
Everything is on the main street. And there is a lot of everything – tourist agencies, shops, and restaurants.
I was there in the beginning of October, not the highest season, but village still was full of of tourists. There are crowds in the evenings, when everybody comes back from the desert. Nice crowds.
There are bikes for rental and marked trails in the desert. With my navigation skills these marks were not enough to go by myself. Instead I spent a week in Atacama Desert with 4 Desert Race.
The best hostel I spend a week after the Desert race was Corvatsch. I was lucky not only with price, but with roommates too. Yang guys, a couple from Santiago.