1 Day Uyuni Salt Flat Tour takes you to train cemetery, Salt Eyes, Incahuasi Island, have lunch in the Salar and later enjoy the sunset on a private guided trip.
The Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia have become the most popular destination and must-see for everyone. Due to your time restriction, you won’t get a chance to visit the incredible surrounding attractions. But this one-day tour will give you plenty of time to soak in the magic of Salar de Uyuni and capture jaw-dropping perspective photos.
Your Tour Features
Tour Type Private
Tour Duration 10 Hours
Pick-up time 9:30 AM
Drop-off time 8:00 PM
Pickup at Hotel
Drop-off Hotel
What You’ll Do
In the morning, your tour guide and personal driver will meet you at your hotel in Uyuni and head on a private 4×4 vehicle to Train Cemetery, Ojos de Sal, Dakar statue, Playa Blanca First Salt Hotel and Incahuasi Island.
After or before the lunch hike the Incahuasi Island. Then, drive away from the crowds for the best and craziest perspective photos and most amazing sunset over the Salt flats. You’ll be dropped at your hotel in Uyuni.
Your Tour Itinerary
9:30 am – Hotel to Train Cemetery
After an early breakfast, you’ll start your day trip with the visit to the train cemetery which is located on the deserted outskirts of Uyuni town, a small trading region high in the Andean plain.
You’ll be picked up at your selected hotel in downtown Uyuni by our team and get transferred to the large salt flats. If you’re staying at Palacio de Sal, Luna Salada or Cristal Samaña hotel then you might skip the train cemetery as it is located some 55 minutes away.
Here steel giants have been abandoned and destroyed by salt winds becoming a cemetery for trains, for locomotives. Most of the trains that can be found in the Graveyard date back to the early 20th century and were imported from Britain. There are many train cars with unique structure and occasional graffiti.
In other places in the world, the mighty steel trains would have held up better. The salt winds that blow over Uyuni, which hosts the world’s largest salt plain, have corroded all of the metal. Without guards or even a fence, these pieces were picked over and vandalized long ago.
Following that, your trip will continue on to the world’s largest Salt flats.
You’ll drive for more than 70 minutes by a private 4x4WD vehicle. You’ll enter the more than 10,000 square kilometers that form the Salar de Uyuni and stop at the Salt Eyes still.
10:45 am – Eyes of the Salt
Eyes of the Salt, literally means “Ojos de Sal”, these are where you could see how the salt flats were formed. These bubble springs are outlets for subterranean rivers flowing under the surface of the meters thick salt but thereafter just salt as far as the eye can see and Fish Island will maroon in the salt.
The Salt Flat is covered with water during the rainy season after raining (from December to March). Then the sun and the wind dry the surface and a layer of white crust is formed. The crust will eventually crack as the salt, which is still wet, underneath dried up and protrude to the surfacing. The end result is polygon patterns that you see during the dry season.
11:00 am – Dakar Statue
After the first stop in the edge of the Salar and taking the first perspectives pictures, you’ll migrate towards the Dakar Monument.
A slat statue honoring the annual rally raid started in 1978, organized by the Amaury Sport Organization, contestants driving across South America in this off-road competition with different motor vehicles – crossing dunes, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks, and erg.
The Uyuni Salt Flat was the stage of the rally since 2014, and the dramatic terrain of the Bolivian highland and the salt flats remained one of the most awaited parts by spectators.
Playa Blanca First Salt Hotel
You’ll continue your journey and you’ll reach an old fashioned hotel in the heart of the salt flat. The Playa Blanca Salt Hotel was once in operation, but now it’s a pit spot for tourists to take pictures of the flags and have a walk inside.
The outside of the hotel has many country flags hanging on a series of poles. In fact, these flags were brought there by the tourists.
12:00 pm – Incahuasi/Cactus Island
After the openings in the salt you’ll head to what they call an Island on the Salt!
You’ll arrive on time for lunch/picnic in the Salar. This lunch will have you revived to explore more spots in the area such as the Incahuasi Island, an island full of cactuses!
Well, since it’s a salt flat, the entire area is really, just salt.
There are several “Islands” in the salt flat and the Incahuasi Island is in the center of the Salar. It’s undeniable that the Incahuasi Island is a visually captivating place. The island is a hilly and rocky outcrop of the land – “Incahuasi” literally means “Inca House” and the island is a giant rock that is filled with coral-like structures and gigantic cactuses.
That’s why sometimes it is called the “Cactus Island” as well. It is also a great view once you reach the top of the island. The view of the salt flat is boundless, and it looks so much more amazing if the salt flat is filled with water but it’s not reachable.
Drive away in the endless white layer for perspective photos with toys, llamas, dinosaurs, etc.
3:00 pm – Perspective Photos
It is t3ime for taking the craziest and funniest optical illusion pictures. The reflection of the water after the rain is the perfect setting for epic photos that allows you to show off to your friends. True, that’s probably the reason that you visit the salt flat. But in case the weather doesn’t go your way, the vast, white flatland is still very impressive.
The dry land may be even friendlier for you to take optical illusion pictures. Imagine the flatland is filled with nothing but salt as far as your eye can see. This is the perfect canvas for taking optical illusion pictures and letting your mind go wild. Play with proportions, and play with distance – the horizon will give the perspective that the objects nearer to the camera are larger than those farther away, and there is nothing else in the frame to ruin your illusion, and there is nothing else in the frame to ruin your illusion.
6:00 pm – Uyuni Salt Flats Sunset
How the Sunset in the rainy season (from January to March) would look like.
By the late afternoon before the sun is gone, before you return to your hotel in Colchani or Uyuni town, bundle yourselves into warm jackets and go out the 4WD transport to watch the sunset over the salt flats.
The vast expanse of salt will turn pink as the sun sinks and the sky deepens to an orange glow reflecting on the ground, this would be the perfect mirror to what is above, an amazing sight which augured well for the days to come.
Since the area is so flat you’ll likely witness some insane color in the sky which provides a great juxtaposition to the endless white color of the ground.
Return to Uyuni town and drop off at your selected place in Uyuni town (hotel or bus station).
Included:
- Pick-up at your hotel in Uyuni city
- Private 4×4 WD transport
- English speaking tour guide
- Entry tickets
- Lunches in the Salar
- Gum boots (December to March)
- Drop-off at your hotel in Uyuni town
Excluded:
- Extra expenses
- Cameras
- Gratuities
- Photographer
What to bring:
- Warm clothes
- Small back pack with toiletries
- Hat, cap, scarf
- Local cash currency
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Warm, light jacket
- Comfortable shoes
Get more. Do more.
Hey! I’m Fredy, one of the support team members, responsible of answering your emails and inquiries at headquarter.
If you have questions about 1 Day Uyuni Salt Flat Tour or need help making your booking, feel free to text me the number below and reference the name of the tour (or send the link). I’d be happy to help.
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+51 965154772
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