Salar de Uyuni: Train Cemetery & Salt Flats 4x4 Tour

The Train Cemetery Comes First, Then You Step Into the Largest Salt Desert on Earth

You visit the Train Cemetery's abandoned locomotives, watch artisans craft salt handicrafts in Colchani, drive across the world's largest salt flat in a 4x4, explore Incahuasi Island's giant cacti, and photograph the optical illusions the Salar creates. Lunch and all entry fees are included. The tour returns by early evening.

Step-by-step itinerary

Stops and time spent at each

1. Train Cemetery45m · entry included
2. Llama and Salt Museum1h · entry included
3. Salar de Uyuni3h · entry included

Explore Salar de Uyuni highlights

• Visit Train Cemetery
• Explore Colchani Population and handicrafts
• Tour the Salar de Uyuni salt desert
• Walk among giant cacti on Incahuasi Island
• Enjoy sunset with appetizers

The experience

You start the morning in the ruins of locomotives: rusted iron skeletons from the late 1800s and early 1900s, when mining money flowed through the Altiplano. The Train Cemetery sits on the outskirts of Uyuni, and it's the first stop on this full-day tour, a way to ground yourself in the region's history before the landscape opens up. Your 4x4 driver and guide know the stories: which trains carried silver, which ones carried workers, why they were left to decay. You'll have time to walk among them, photograph the detail, feel the weight of a century sitting still.

Then comes Colchani, a small settlement right on the salt flat's edge where locals hand-craft jewelry boxes, picture frames, and tiny llamas from salt itself: each one unique, decorated with Andean patterns. It's a working community, not a shop, and the artisans are there. After that, the flat opens. The Salar de Uyuni spreads in front of you, 10,582 square kilometers of white, and the 4x4 becomes your only way across it. You'll stop at the Hotel de Sal, the first salt hotel ever built, now a museum with walls and furniture carved from salt. The optical illusions the tour mentions. They're real, especially if rain has fallen recently and the surface mirrors the sky. You take the classic perspective photos here: you standing small, the flat endless, the horizon gone.

Incahuasi Island rises in the middle of the salt, ringed with giant cacti that grow nowhere else like this. You walk among them, see sea fossils embedded in rock, climb to a viewpoint where the salt flat curves away in every direction. Lunch happens somewhere in the day (included, eaten in the vehicle or at a stop), and by late afternoon you're heading back toward Uyuni. If you've timed it right and the light is good, the tour can include a sunset stop with appetizers, though that depends on the season and how the day has moved. You're back in town around 5pm, which gives you the evening to rest or eat in Uyuni itself.

What’s included

• All entry fees to the Train Cemetery, Colchani, the Salar de Uyuni, and Incahuasi Island.
• lunch during the tour.
• 4x4 transport throughout the day.
• a local guide with knowledge of the region's history and culture.
• stops for perspective photos and time to explore each site.
• optional sunset viewing with appetizers if extended.

Options for this experience

3 options

Shared TourGuide in Spanish · 10:30Lunch and 4WD, shared tour, pickup is included

Private tour with a guide who speaks Spanish09:30Lasts 9 hours, includes lunch, travels by 4WD, pickup is included

Driver with a bilingual guideGuide in English or Spanish · 09:30Lasts 9 hours, includes lunch, 4WD vehicle, private guide in Spanish or English, pickup is included

You pick the guide language when booking.

You'll see the exact price of each option when you check availability.See dates and prices

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 09:30 and 10:30

Book up to9h before

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish and Spanish

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup is optional; you can also go straight to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.You can choose from 19 pickup points.

Cancellation and refundsNo refund if you cancel.

Prices and times updated 7 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effort

Operated by Intiraymi Expediciones

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see the Salar de Uyuni's main highlights (history, local craft, the flat itself, and the island) without arranging transport, permits or timing yourself. The 4x4 and guide handle all logistics so you focus on the landscape and the stops.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

In Spanish, at 09:30 and 10:30. In English, at 09:30.

How long is the full-day Salar de Uyuni tour?

The tour runs the full day and returns to Uyuni around 5pm.

What's included in the tour price?

All entry fees, lunch, 4x4 transport, and a guide are included.

Is the Train Cemetery part of this tour?

Yes, it's the first stop: a historical site with abandoned locomotives from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Can I take perspective photos on the salt flat?

Yes, you'll have time for classic perspective photos at multiple stops, especially on the flat itself.

What is Incahuasi Island?

An island in the center of the salt flat, also called the Island of the Cactus, where giant cacti grow and you can see sea fossils and panoramic views.

Is there a sunset option?

The tour can include a sunset stop with appetizers if you want to stay longer, depending on the season and daylight.

Who is the guide on this tour?

A local guide who knows the history and culture of the Uyuni region and the Altiplano.

What's the Hotel de Sal?

The first salt hotel ever built, now functioning as a museum. Its walls, furniture, and ceiling are made entirely of salt.