3-Day Uyuni Salt Flats Tour: Train Cemetery & Incahuasi Island

A salt hotel in the world's largest salt flat, surrounded by hexagonal tiles and cacti-covered islands.

A 3-day guided tour of Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni and the Altiplano, departing from Uyuni. You visit the Train Cemetery near town, the salt-processing village of Colchani, hike Incahuasi Island in the heart of the flats, and drive through high-altitude deserts and lagoons colored by algae and mineral deposits. The tour includes an English or Spanish-speaking guide, round-trip transport, and 2 nights' accommodation in basic lodges, with one night in a salt hotel. Children from age 5 are welcome. Entrance fees to specific sites, hot showers, and sleeping bag rentals are separate.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1: Uyuni salt flats and surroundings

• Visit Train Cemetery near Uyuni
• Explore salt-processing village Colchani
• Tour traditional salt factory
• Visit Salt Museum in Colchani
• Explore Salar de Uyuni salt flats
• Lunch stop at Salar de Uyuni
• Hike Isla Incahuasi cactus island
• Watch sunset at Salar de Uyuni
• Overnight stay in salt hotel

Day 2: Volcanoes and desert landscapes

• View Ollague Volcano from viewpoint
• Acclimatize at high altitude desert
• See stone tree in Siloli Desert
• Visit Laguna Colorada red lake
• Overnight stay in basic accommodation

Day 3: Lagoon visits and return to Uyuni

• Visit Polques geysers at sunrise
• Explore Dali Desert landscapes
• Visit Green Lagoon near Licancábur
• View Licancábur volcano
• Return to Uyuni

The experience

How do you cross 4,050 square miles of salt without a car? The tour handles the transport, but the scale of the Salar de Uyuni is something you have to see to grasp. On day one, you start at the Train Cemetery 3 kilometers outside Uyuni: over 100 rusted train cars dating to the early 20th century, imported from Britain and left to corrode in the salt winds. From there you drive to Colchani, a village of 600 people built around Bolivia's largest salt-processing cooperative. A local guide walks you through the salt extraction process (a donation is expected), and you can see handicrafts and textiles made from llama and alpaca fiber. The Salt Museum, made entirely of salt bricks, takes 5 to 10 minutes to walk through. Then the flats themselves open up: a thick white crust extending to the horizon, quilted with polygonal salt patterns rising from the ground.

The heart of the tour is Incahuasi Island, 80 kilometers west of Colchani, a hilly outcrop covered in Trichocereus cactus and surrounded by that flat white sea. A 15-minute walk to the top loops back down, and the views of the salt tiles below and the mountains beyond are the reason most people book this tour. You spend the first night in a salt hotel on the flats, watching the sunset before driving there. Day two takes you into the high Altiplano (the world's highest desert at 15,000 feet), where the landscape shifts to ochre and brown. You pass Ollague volcano on the Bolivia-Chile border, see the Stone Tree (a 22-foot sandstone formation carved by wind), and reach Laguna Colorada, a red lake dotted with white borax pools and home to endangered James's Flamingos. The basic accommodation that night sits near the lake. Day three starts before dawn at the geysers: boiling mud pools and steam jets spraying 160 feet into the air with no safety barriers. You drive through the Dali Desert, named for its surreal hues, pass beneath the 19,555-foot Licancábur volcano, and visit the Green Lagoon (less vibrant than years past, locals say because of climate change) before the drive back to Uyuni.

The altitude is the real constraint here: 3,650 meters at the salt flats, 4,300 meters at the lagoons, 15,000 feet in the desert. The tour includes tea and coffee, a first aid kit, and basic lodging. Private rooms cost an extra $35 per person for both nights if you want them. Entrance to Incahuasi Island, hot showers at the hostels, sleeping bag and towel rentals, and visits to the national reserve are paid separately. The guide speaks English or Spanish, and the pace is set by the group.

What’s included

• Round-trip transport from Uyuni.
• 2 nights' accommodation in basic lodges with one night in a salt hotel.
• tea and coffee throughout the tour.
• a first aid kit.
• and an English or Spanish-speaking guide for all three days.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDeparts at 10:30

Book up to12h before

AgesAdult (18 to 65 years) · Senior (66 and older) · Youth (12 to 17 years) · Child (5 to 11 years) · Under 5: can't be included in the booking

GroupUp to 5

Live guideEnglish and Spanish

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.

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

Prices and times updated yesterday

Good to know

Easy physical levelNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditions

Operated by Skyline Traveller

Is this one for you?Book this if you want all three landscapes (salt flats, high desert, and colored lagoons) in one fixed itinerary with a guide handling navigation at extreme altitude, rather than coordinating your own 4x4.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English and Spanish.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (12 to 17 years); Child (5 to 11 years). Under 5: they can't be included in the booking.

What is the Train Cemetery and why is it in Uyuni?

The Train Cemetery is a collection of over 100 rusted train cars, mostly from the early 20th century and imported from Britain, scattered 3 kilometers outside Uyuni on the outskirts of town. In the early 1800s, Uyuni was planned as a major transportation hub for a vast rail network across South America, but the project was abandoned due to technical difficulties and political tensions. The trains and equipment were left behind to rust in the salt winds, and today visitors can climb on and inside the cars for photographs.

Can I actually climb Incahuasi Island, or is it just a drive-by stop?

Incahuasi Island is a hike, not a viewing point. The walk to the top takes about 15 minutes and loops back down, and you'll pass Trichocereus cacti on the trail. The island sits 80 kilometers west of Colchani in the heart of the salt flats, surrounded by hexagonal salt tiles. There is an entrance fee (Bs 30) to climb it, and the hike is inaccessible during the wet season when the flats flood.

What are the lagoons like, and will I see flamingos?

Laguna Colorada is the main lagoon on day two, a red lake tinged by algae and microorganisms, dotted with white pools of borax deposits. It sits at 4,300 meters and is home to endangered James's Flamingos, a rare species nearly extinct in the 1950s. The Green Lagoon on day three lies beneath Licancábur volcano and has a vibrant hue, though it is less green than it was years ago due to climate change. Both are part of the high-altitude Altiplano landscape and surrounded by mountains and rock shores.

How high is the altitude, and what should I know about it?

The tour operates between 3,650 meters at the Salar de Uyuni and 15,000 feet (4,550 meters) in the Siloli Desert. The altitude is extreme, and the tour is not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health. It is suitable for all fitness levels otherwise, and children from age 5 are welcome. Acclimatization before the tour is advised. The landscape is dusty, barren, and isolated at that elevation.

What is included in the price, and what costs extra?

The tour includes round-trip transport from Uyuni, 2 nights' accommodation in basic lodges (one night in a salt hotel), tea and coffee, and a first aid kit. Entrance fees to Incahuasi Island (Bs 30), the Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve (Bs 150), hot showers at the hostels (Bs 15 each), sleeping bag rentals (Bs 50 each), and towel rentals (Bs 20 each) are paid separately. Private rooms cost an extra $35 per person for both nights if you prefer them to shared accommodation.