The Uyuni Salt Flat and South Lípez,
stop by stop.

The largest salt flat in the world and its endless mirror, followed by the red and green lagoons of Sud Lipez, geysers and flamingos. A 4x4 circuit between 3,600 and 5,000 metres.

By PierrickLocal Guide ★8 · 14M+ views on Google MapsBy PierrickLocal Guide ★8 · 14M+ Maps views

🗓️ 8 days 📍 5 stops 🧭 ≈ 882 km 💶 ≈ €750/person

📄 Salar de Uyuni and Sud Lipez guide: weather, budget, what to avoid and FAQSalar de Uyuni and Sud Lipez guide: weather, budget, FAQ →

Uyuni · Photo Lenta Moebiusa from Russia / CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Customise:

🚆Transport≈ 882 km

When to go? Best time: May to October

■ Strongly recommended■ Fair■ Not recommended

The full tour in Salar de Uyuni and Sud Lipez

5 stops · 8 activities · ≈ 882 km · ≈ €795/person5 stops8 activities≈ 882 km≈ €795/person

Uyuni

Days 1-3

Photo Lenta Moebiusa from Russia / CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

The base town on the edge of the salar, with a hundred locomotives and wagons rusting in the desert 3 km away.

🎟️ Things to do · activities

The Salar de Uyuni mirrorhalf a day

In the rainy season a thin film of water covers the salt crust, more than 10,000 km² at about 3,650 m, and reflects the sky so exactly that the horizon disappears.

from via GetYourGuide →

✦ Free · not to be missed

The Uyuni train graveyard

Three kilometres south-west of Uyuni, around a hundred locomotives and wagons rust in the open desert. They came from Britain and ran on the Antofagasta-Bolivia line, opened at the end of the 19th century to carry ore from the Altiplano to the Pacific. The collapse of mining left them there from the 1940s onwards. Wind-borne salt did the rest: gutted carcasses, open boilers, axles lying on the ground. No fences, no guards: you walk between the wrecks and climb on them.

🛏️ Where to stay · under €180/night

Hotel Jardines de UyuniPremium · Hotel with indoor pool and sauna · Uyuni centre, near the station

€174/night

Book

🚕 Taxi · 30 min · ~22 km

Colchani

Day 4

Photo Herr stahlhoefer / Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

The village at the entrance to the salar, about 20 km north of Uyuni, which has lived from salt for generations.

✦ Free · not to be missed

Colchani and its salt hotels

This gateway village to the salt flat, some twenty kilometres north of Uyuni, has lived off salt for generations. Families scrape the crust into small conical mounds that are left to dry in the sun before being crushed and iodised in breeze-block workshops. Stalls lined up along the track sell llamas carved from salt, alpaca jumpers and flags. This is also where the hotels built from salt blocks begin: walls, tables, beds and floors are all made of the same material, and the Playa Blanca, further out on the crust, can be visited over a coffee.

🛏️ Where to stay · under €180/night

Hotel de Sal Luna SaladaFrom €264 - the cheapest (above your cap here)

€264/night

Book

🚙 4x4 with driver · 1 day · ~120 km of dirt track (first day of the South Lípez tour)

Chuvica (salt hotels on the south side of the salar)

Day 5

Photo Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

A night in a hotel built of salt on the southern edge of the salar, after crossing it by way of Incahuasi island.

🎟️ Things to do · activities

Incahuasi Islandabout 1h

In the middle of the 10,582 km² of the Salar de Uyuni, a rocky outcrop of some twenty hectares rises out of the salt crust like an island.

from via GetYourGuide →

🛏️ Where to stay

Night included in the 4x4 tourThe agency assigns the salt hotel: nothing for you to book.

🚙 4x4 with driver · 1 day · ~240 km of dirt track (second day of the tour)

Laguna Colorada (Huayllajara refuges)

Day 6

Photo Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

The high country of Sud Lipez: a brick-red lagoon, geysers at 4,850 m, the green lagoon under Licancabur and a night in the Huayllajara refuges.

🎟️ Things to do · activities

Laguna Coloradaabout 1h

At 4,278 m in the Eduardo Avaroa reserve, this shallow 60 km² lake turns brick red when the sun warms it. The colour comes from algae and micro-organisms, and white islets of borax cut across the surface.

from via GetYourGuide →

The Sol de Mañana geysersabout 30 min

A geothermal field at about 4,850 m, which makes it one of the highest on the planet.

from via GetYourGuide →

Laguna Verde and the Licancabur volcanoabout 30 min

At the far south of Sud Lipez, a few hundred metres from the Chilean border, a salt lake that turns emerald green when the wind stirs its copper-rich sediment. Without wind it stays a dull grey.

from via GetYourGuide →

✦ Free · not to be missed

The Stone Tree and the Siloli Desert

In the middle of an expanse of sand and volcanic ash lying at around 4,600 metres, a block of rock about five metres high balances on a narrow foot. Sand-laden wind has worn away its base faster than its top, hence the mushroom silhouette everyone calls the stone tree. Other eroded rocks surround it over a few hundred metres, less photographed but just as twisted. The Siloli Desert, one of the driest in Bolivia, stretches all around to the volcanoes that mark the Chilean border.

🛏️ Where to stay

Night included in the 4x4 tourA simple refuge above 4,000 m, assigned by the agency: bring a warm sleeping bag.

🚙 4x4 with driver · 11 to 13h · ~500 km of dirt track (third day, via the geysers and Laguna Verde, leaving around 5 am)

Uyuni (return)

Days 7-8

Photo Diego Delso / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

The long drive back to Uyuni, 11 to 13 hours by 4x4, then a last night in town.

🛏️ Where to stay · under €180/night

Hotel Jardines de UyuniPremium · Hotel with indoor pool and sauna · Uyuni centre, near the station

€174/night

Book

"Book" (hotels), "via GetYourGuide" (activities) and "Rent" (car) are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide). Prices, distances and times are approximate.

Altitude of the stops

Here you don't just pass through at altitude, you sleep there: the stops range from 3 654 m to 4 914 m. Allow two nights to acclimatise on arrival before any exertion, drink plenty and save the big hikes for the end of your stay.

Salar d'Uyuni3 654 m
Isla Incahuasi3 663 m
Laguna Colorada4 288 m
Laguna Verde4 353 m
Geysers Sol de Mañana4 914 m

Altitudes measured at each stop (Open-Meteo, Copernicus terrain model). Above 2 500 m, the body starts to feel the lack of oxygen: these stops are flagged. If in doubt, talk to your doctor before you leave.

Take this plan everywhere

The full PDF guide (Salar de Uyuni and Sud Lipez): map, day-by-day stops, hotels by budget and insider tips. Free and available offline.

📥 Download for free

Want some help?

Don't feel like organising everything? A local partner travel agent can set it all up for you (flights, hotels, activities). We pass on your preferences and they call you back. Free and with no obligation.

Good to know before you go

🍽️ Must-try food

Salteñas

Photo Tamorlan / CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

baked pastries holding a sweet, juicy stew, eaten as a mid-morning snack.

Pique a lo macho

Photo PeñayLillo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

beef, sausage, chips, egg and hot peppers piled on one plate for sharing.

Sopa de maní

a peanut soup, the best known of the filling soups of the highlands.

Quinoa and potatoes

the Altiplano grows hundreds of varieties, including chuño, freeze-dried in the open air.

Api morado

Photo Patito silvestre / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

a thick, hot drink of purple corn, served at breakfast with a fried pastry.

⚠️ Best avoided

Rushing the altitude: take the first two days in La Paz slowly, drink water and go easy on alcohol.
Drinking tap water, or diving into street food in the first days.
Choosing a Salar agency on price alone: ask about its drivers, its vehicles and its safety record.
Planning to the hour: road blockades are common, so leave a spare day or two.

Before you pack