Uyuni Salt Flat 3-Day Tour: Colored Lagoons & Sunset
White hexagons stretching 200 kilometers: the Uyuni salt flat in three days
You spend three days crossing the Uyuni salt flat and the colored lagoons of the southwest altiplano, staying in salt and stone hostels, soaking in hot springs at 4,410 meters, and watching three species of flamingos move across remote lagoons. The tour includes all transport in a 4×4, six meals (three lunches, two dinners, two breakfasts), accommodation with private bathroom on night one, and a bilingual driver guide. You choose on day three whether to exit into Chile or return to Uyuni.
Step-by-step itinerary
Day 1: Uyuni Salt Flats and Colchani visit
- Depart office at 10:00 am
- Visit Train Cemetery for 30 minutes
- Arrive in Colchani salt refinery and salt craft shops
- Visit salt eyes and Dakar monument on salt flat shore
- Lunch at ex-salt hotel Playa Blanca
- Visit Incawasi Island with giant cacti
- Photo and video session on salt flat
- Watch sunset on salt flat
- Arrive at 3-star salt hotel for dinner and rest
Day 2: Laguna Colorada and Siloli Desert
- Breakfast and depart at 7:30 am
- Visit Chullpas cemetery and Chiguana desert
- Stop at Ollague volcano viewpoint and short walk
- Visit Cañapa, Hedionda (lunch), Chiarcota, and Honda lagoons
- Climb Siloli desert and see 7 colors of volcanoes
- Visit Stone Tree rock formation
- Arrive at Laguna Colorada and observe flamingos
- Visit Sol de Mañana geysers and fumaroles
- Arrive at Laguna Polques hot springs for dinner and overnight
Day 3: Salvador Dali Desert and Laguna Verde
- Breakfast and depart from hot springs at 8:00 am
- Stop at Salvador Dali Desert viewpoint
- Visit Laguna Verde and photograph Licancabur volcano
- Travel to Hito Cajones border for transfer options
- Option 1: Transfer to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
- Option 2: Return to Uyuni via Villamar community and lunch
- Visit Villa Mar lagoon and Lost Italy rock formation
- Pass through Villa Alota canyon and visit San Cristobal church
- Arrive in Uyuni at 5:00 pm
What’s included
- Transportation throughout in a Toyota Land Cruiser 4×4 with a bilingual English-speaking driver guide.
- three lunches, two dinners, and two breakfasts (vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available on request).
- first night accommodation in a private room with private bathroom at Magia del Salar salt hostel.
- second night in a shared room at Hostal Los Andes near Laguna Colorada.
- an oxygen tank for the second night.
- entry to all attractions including the Train Cemetery, Incawasi Island, Laguna Colorada, Sol de Mañana geysers, and Laguna Verde.
- access to Laguna Polques hot springs.
Times
- Every day 10:00
Before you book
Operated by Andes Salt Expeditions Tour Operator
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The experience
The white expanse starts at the horizon and doesn't stop. You're standing on the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, and the ground beneath your feet is salt: 64 billion tons of it, stretching 200 kilometers long and 80 kilometers wide. The 3-day tour departs from Uyuni at 10 a.m. on day one, and your first stop is the Train Cemetery, where rusted steam locomotives from the 19th century sit abandoned in the dust, their metal frames still holding the shape of machines that once hauled silver across the altiplano. After thirty minutes there, you drive into Colchani to watch salt being processed (the iodization plant, the craft shops where artisans carve flamingos from salt blocks), and then you're on the flat itself, heading toward Incawasi Island, a mountainous outcrop covered in giant cacti that rises from the white like something from another planet.
Day one ends at a salt hostel on the shore, but the real shift happens on day two. You leave at 7:30 a.m. and spend nine hours climbing from 3,660 to 5,000 meters, crossing the Siloli Desert where volcanic rock formations show seven distinct colors, passing Laguna Cañapa and Laguna Hedionda (where you eat lunch), and finally reaching Laguna Colorada at 4 p.m. A lagoon stained red by algae and plankton, ringed with white borax deposits, and crowded with three species of flamingos. The landscape is so remote and so high that the cold is physical. You'll need every blanket the hostel provides. That evening, after dark, you're driven to Laguna Polques hot springs, where you can soak in thermal water at 4,410 meters while flamingos move in the distance and the sky fills with stars you've never seen before.
Day three starts at 4:30 a.m. with breakfast, then a visit to Sol de Mañana, a geyser basin at 4,850 meters where boiling mud pots and sulfur fumaroles rise from the ground in columns of steam. The air smells like the earth is still forming. From there, you cross the Salvador Dalí Desert (named for the surreal rock formations that look like they belong in one of his paintings), and reach Laguna Verde, a lake the color of jade, poisoned by arsenic from the Licancabur Volcano (5,960 meters) that rises behind it. At this point the tour splits: some travelers cross into Chile and end in San Pedro de Atacama at 1 p.m., while others return to Uyuni, stopping at the Villamar community for lunch and passing through the Valley of Rocks before arriving back at 5 p.m. The whole experience is driven by a bilingual guide in a Toyota Land Cruiser LC 100, the only vehicle that can handle this terrain.
Is this one for you?This tour suits travelers who want to see the Uyuni salt flat, the colored lagoons, and the geysers in one continuous journey without arranging transport, accommodation, or meals separately: the fixed itinerary and included guide handle all logistics so you only have to show up and acclimatize.
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Top questions
What languages is the tour guided in?
Live guide in English and Spanish.
Can children come?
Yes. Ticket types: Youth (10 to 17 years); Child (4 to 9 years); Infant (under 1): free.
What happens if it rains?
It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.
What is the highest altitude reached on this tour?
The tour climbs to 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) in the Siloli Desert on day two.
Are meals included?
Yes. The tour includes three lunches, two dinners, and two breakfasts. Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available if you request them before the tour starts.
What kind of accommodation is provided?
Night one is in a private room with two separate beds or a queen bed at Magia del Salar salt hostel. Night two is in a shared room with shared bathroom at Hostal Los Andes near Laguna Colorada. Both have private bathrooms and hot showers (except in winter).
Is there a choice of ending location?
Yes. On day three you can either cross the border into Chile and end in San Pedro de Atacama at 1 p.m., or return to Uyuni, arriving at 5 p.m.
What vehicle is used?
A Toyota Land Cruiser LC 100 4×4, which holds one to six passengers.
Is an oxygen tank provided?
Yes, an oxygen tank is included for the second night at high altitude.
How long is the drive on day two?
Day two covers 350 kilometers over nine hours, with multiple stops at lagoons, viewpoints, and the Siloli Desert.
Can I soak in the hot springs?
Yes. You arrive at Laguna Polques hot springs on the evening of day two and can bathe before or after dinner, or the next morning before departure.
What is the best time of year to see the mirror effect?
The mirror effect (when the salt flat reflects the sky like water) occurs during the rainy season, roughly December to March.
Uyuni Salt Flat 3-Day Tour: Colored Lagoons & Sunset
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from US$ 290 per person
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