3-Day Uyuni Salt Flats Tour: Salar de Uyuni & Tunupa Volcano

Three days crossing salt polygons, volcanic peaks and mirror lagoons on the Altiplano

A private 3-day tour of Salar de Uyuni and the surrounding Altiplano from Uyuni, traveling by 4WD with a professional guide, staying at two Tayka Hotels, and including all transport, meals and accommodation. The route covers the Train Cemetery, Incahuasi Island, Tunupa Volcano, flamingo lagoons, Sol de Mañana geysers, Laguna Verde and Laguna Colorada. Minimum age is 12; a live guide speaks English, Spanish or Portuguese; hotel pickup and drop-off are included.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1: Uyuni to Tayka de Sal Hotel

• Visit Train Cemetery outdoor museum
• Enter Salar de Uyuni at Colchani
• See salt processing and piles
• Visit salt hotel and eyes water
• Explore Incahuasi Island and viewpoint
• Visit Salar de Uyuni with photo stops
• Travel north to Tunupa Volcano
• Visit Pucara of Ayque ruins and Coquesa Mummies
• Ascend Mirador de Tunupa viewpoint
• Overnight at Hotel Tayka de Sal

Day 2: Tahua to Siloli Desert

• Visit Fish Island in the morning
• Explore Mala Mala Bay
• Visit Galaxy Cave burial site
• Arrive at Tayka Red Stone Hotel for lunch
• Visit lagoons with flamingos and birds
• Enter desert of sand and pebbles
• Overnight at Hotel Tayka del Desierto

Day 3: Siloli Desert to Uyuni

• Visit Sol de Mañana geysers at dawn
• Photo stops at various desert sites
• See boiling mud pools and colorful desert
• Bath and breakfast at Termas de Polques
• Visit Laguna Verde at Licancabur volcano
• Lunch stop at Laguna Colorada flamingo nesting
• Return to Uyuni by 5:00 pm

The experience

You start at the Train Cemetery, an outdoor museum of rusted locomotives left from Bolivia's mining era, then enter the Salar de Uyuni at Colchani to watch salt processing and walk among salt piles. The route climbs Incahuasi Island, a volcanic rock outcrop studded with giant cacti that rises above the white plain and gives a vantage point across almost 7,500 square miles of salt. From there the tour heads north to Tunupa Volcano, where you visit pre-Columbian ruins at Pucara de Ayque and the Mirador de Thunupa, a viewpoint near the crater rim that overlooks the entire Salar. You overnight at Tayka de Sal, an ecological hotel built of salt blocks with private bathrooms and heating, positioned at the volcano's foot.

Day two takes you to Fish Island and Mala Mala Bay at the opposite end of the salt flat, then to Galaxy Cave, where ancestral burials and petrified cacti sit in the rock. The landscape shifts as you head south into the Altiplano's high desert. You pass flamingo lagoons (Cañapa, Stinking, Chiarkota, Honda and Ramadita), where green-throated birds gather against snow-capped volcanic backdrops. The terrain turns to sand and pebbles painted in ochre and rust tones as you reach Tayka del Desierto, your second hotel, located in San Pedro de Quemes.

On day three you rise before dawn to reach Sol de Mañana geysers at the first light, at roughly 5,000 meters elevation. The ground steams in red, gray and scarlet mud pools. You can walk the shorelines and bathe in the hot springs at Termas de Polques. The route then passes Salar de Chalviri, a white salt lake ringed by ocher desert and blue water, before reaching Laguna Verde at the foot of Volcano Licancabur: the water shifts from emerald to duller green as the sun rises. On the return, you stop at Laguna Colorada, the main nesting site for three flamingo species whose pink plumage is fed by algae and plankton activated by sun and wind. You arrive back in Uyuni by 5 p.m.

What’s included

• Transport by private 4WD vehicle.
• two nights accommodation at Tayka Hotels (Tayka de Sal and Tayka del Desierto).
• two breakfasts, three lunches and two dinners.
• hotel pickup and drop-off in Uyuni.
• professional guide speaking English, Spanish or Portuguese.
• all entrance fees and activities as described in the itinerary.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 10:00

Book up to8h before

AgesAdult (12 and older) · Under 12: can't be included in the booking

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish, Spanish and Portuguese

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.You can choose from 22 pickup points.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 5 days ago

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportInfant seats availableNot for pregnant travelersInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Joker Expedition, Bolivia.

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you have three days free and want to see the Salar de Uyuni, the flamingo lagoons and the high-altitude geysers in one journey. The private vehicle and fixed itinerary mean you move at a steady pace across the Altiplano without arranging transport or accommodation separately, and the guide handles the route and timing so you focus on the landscape.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

What's the Train Cemetery and why is it on this tour?

The Train Cemetery is an outdoor museum of abandoned locomotives from Bolivia's mining era, located near Uyuni. It opens the tour as a historical contrast to the natural landscapes that follow, and offers the first photo stops of the journey.

Can I bathe in hot springs on this tour?

Yes. On day three you can bathe in Termas de Polques, natural hot springs in the high desert, after visiting Sol de Mañana geysers.

What are the flamingo lagoons like, and which ones do you visit?

The flamingo lagoons (Cañapa, Stinking, Chiarkota, Honda and Ramadita) are shallow water bodies on the Altiplano flanked by snow-capped volcanoes, where large numbers of flamingos gather alongside geese and Andean gulls. You pass them on day two as you travel south through the high desert.

What happens on the final morning at Sol de Mañana?

On day three you arrive at Sol de Mañana geysers at dawn, the highest point of the route at roughly 5,000 meters. The ground steams in colored mud pools (red, gray and scarlet) that you can walk alongside, and the cold is intense at that altitude.

How does the accommodation work on this tour?

You stay two nights at Tayka Hotels: night one at Tayka de Sal, built of salt blocks with private bathrooms and heating, positioned at the foot of Tunupa Volcano. Night two at Tayka del Desierto in San Pedro de Quemes, in the high desert landscape. Both are ecological model hotels with excellent service.

What meals and drinks are included?

The tour includes two breakfasts, three lunches and two dinners across the three days, plus drinks. One meal is a unique dining experience with regional flavors at Tayka Red Stone Hotel on day two, and breakfast on day three is served outdoors near the hot springs.