Uyuni Salt Flats

The 1-day tour stays on the salt flat itself: train cemetery, the salt-harvesting village of Colchani, Incahuasi Island and sunset on the crust. The 3-day tour does all of that on day one, then continues south into the Eduardo Avaroa reserve for the coloured lagoons, the Árbol de Piedra, the Sol de Mañana geysers and the Polques hot springs — scenery you cannot reach in a day. Take the 1-day if Uyuni is a stop on a longer route; take the 3-day if the south-west of Bolivia is why you came.

The 1-day tour is $69 per person in a shared 4x4, or $390 for a private vehicle whatever the party size. The 3-day tour is $209 per person shared, or $1190 private. An English-speaking guide is an optional supplement (+$25 on the 1-day, +$50 on the 3-day, per person on shared departures). Prices are in US dollars and paid online by card. Park and entrance fees are the only extra, and they are paid on site in bolivianos.

Entrance fees are not included and are collected on site, in cash, in bolivianos: 30 BOB for Incahuasi Island on both tours, plus — on the 3-day — 150 BOB for the Eduardo Avaroa reserve and 30 BOB for the Polques hot springs. A sleeping bag rents for 120 BOB, rubber boots for 15 BOB at our office, and the bus on to San Pedro de Atacama costs 120 BOB. Bring roughly 100 BOB in cash for the 1-day tour and 350–500 BOB for the 3-day, plus anything you want to spend. There is no cash machine after Uyuni.

Driver-guides speak Spanish by default — that is how tours out of Uyuni work, and it is why other operators quote a lower headline price. An English-speaking guide is available on every departure and on both tours, as an add-on you tick when booking. On a private vehicle the English guide is included in the private rate.

The reflections need a thin sheet of rainwater on the crust. The wet season runs from roughly November to April, but the water builds through it: January and February are the peak, December and March the shoulders. From May to October the salar is dry — no mirror, but hexagonal salt tiles in every direction and full access across the flat. The trade-off is real: when the water is deepest, Incahuasi Island can be unreachable.

The salar sits at about 3,660 m. The 3-day route climbs higher still, sleeping near 4,200 m and crossing close to 5,000 m at the Sol de Mañana geysers. That is high enough for headaches and broken sleep in travellers who arrive straight from sea level. Spend at least one night in Uyuni, Potosí or La Paz before departure, drink far more water than feels necessary, and go easy on alcohol the day before.

Yes. Instead of driving back to Uyuni on day three, you can be dropped at the Hito Cajón border post, where a bus continues to San Pedro de Atacama for 120 BOB, paid on the spot. Tell us when you book so the driver plans for it. Bring your passport and check Chilean entry rules — fresh food, coca leaves and some seeds are confiscated at the border.

Night one is a salt hostel in the village of San Juan — walls, beds and floor built from blocks cut out of the salar. Night two is a shared mountain refuge in the Eduardo Avaroa reserve, six to a room, basic and cold. Both nights are included, along with every meal from day one. A private bathroom on night one can be arranged on request, and a sleeping bag rents for 120 BOB.

A shared departure puts up to six travellers in one Toyota with a driver-guide, and is priced per person. A private tour is the whole vehicle for your group — up to four travellers, one flat price however many of you there are, an English-speaking guide included, and the pace is yours: you decide how long to spend on the photographs and when to move on.

Most travellers arrive from La Paz on an overnight bus, roughly ten to twelve hours, or on the short domestic flight into Joya Andina airport. From Potosí it is a four-hour bus, and from Oruro there is the train. Tours leave Uyuni at 10:30, so an overnight bus arriving in the early morning connects the same day — but that is also the arrival that leaves you least acclimatised.

Booking is entirely online: pick a date, choose shared or private, pay by card, and the seat is confirmed straight away — there is nothing to settle at an office in Uyuni. Cancel more than 48 hours before departure and the tour is refunded in full. Cancel within 48 hours and we keep 10% of the price. Cancel under 12 hours before departure, or fail to show up, and there is no refund. If we cancel, you are refunded in full.