Welcome to Salar de Uyuni
An evocative and eerie sight, the world’s largest salt flat (12,106 sq km) sits at 3653m (11,984ft). When the surface is dry, the salar is a pure white expanse of the greatest nothing imaginable – just blue sky, white ground and you. When there’s a little water, the surface perfectly reflects the clouds and the blue altiplano sky, and the horizon disappears. If you’re driving across the surface at such times, the effect is positively surreal, and it’s hard to believe that you’re not actually flying through the clouds.
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Salar de Uyuni activities
Uyuni Salt Flats Full-Day Tour from Uyuni
The Salar de Uyuni or “salt flats” is one of the world's highest deserts, surrounded by mountains and volcanoes that reaches 5000 meters (16,400 feet) above sea level.Start your tour with a visit to Uyuni's 'train graveyard' to see the first locomotives in Bolivia. Then, visit the small village of Colchani (salt miners workshops next to the salt flats) before continuing on to the great salt flats of Uyuni. Along the way, see many piles of salt and the 'eyes of the salt' (big holes in the salt flats where the water, from underneath this death lake, still comes out by high pressure). Take photos as you cruise along the vast white expanse of salt, and visit a hotel made completely of salt. After lunch, travel to Inca Huasi (Fish Island), in the middle of the salt flats, where you will have time to take a hike to the top of the island to see giant cactus and rock formations made of petrified coral. Take time to organize your group for fun perspective and proportion-distorted photos on the blinding white surface of the salt flats. Then make your way to the foot of the big Volcano Tunupa (5,434m / 17,828 feet) to appreciate a nice view and get some pictures. Return back to Uyuni around 7pm, stopping along the way to enjoy a fantastic sunset in the Salar of Uyuni.
Uyuni Salt Flats Full-Day Tour with Lunch from Uyuni
Starting the day(around 10:30 am), our guide gives you a short briefing on some recommendation for the tour, and shortly after you'll hop on a 4x4 drive Toyota Land Cruiser that will firstly take you to the Train Cemetery where a full story of the first trains that arrived in Bolivia, and their purposes will be uncovered. Soon after the crew takes you to the small village of Colchani, where you could expect many handicraft shops for souvenirs, and also the salt factory, where the salt is being refined and packed for consumption. The lunch takes places in a Salt hotel with plenty of option for any taste. Once the drivers packed all the dishes etc, you'll head toward the majestic Salar de Uyuni, (being the same size as the Bahamas) and start the real journey into the biggest salt flat on earth. Your first stop will be next to the only construction allowed in the Salar, which is called Playa Blanca, the first salt hotel build in the salt flat, plus you'll also find there the Flags and Dakar Race monument. Next on, is a 30-min drive toward the middle of nowhere into a special location to take the best pictures of yourself and your friend, helped of course, by your experienced guide that tell you how to do everything perfectly. Once we finish the “photo shooting session”, we'll go to the central point of the Bolivian White desert, which is the Inca Wasy Island (Cactus Island) where will be able to see giant cacti and rock formations of petrified Coral that will make you feel on another planet for sure. A small hike of 40 min will be realized on this very island all the way up the top, reaching the highest point of view in the trip with 3750 m.a.s.l (12,303.14 feet) where a 360* view of the hole Salt Flat awaits for you. After finishing your little, but amazing hike, it will already be time for the breathtaking sunset to come (that usually takes place around 6:00pm) and your driver will choose to the best location for it. At the end of our tour we'll return back to Uyuni at approx 6:30-7:00 pm. So don't miss out on this amazing opportunity and get your reservation now !
Salar de Uyuni Salt Lake Tour
Itinerary: 10:30am - Departure from the city of Uyuni to visit the Train Cemetery, and then go to the salt lake 11am - Make a brief stop in the town of Colchani, where you will pass the processing plant for artisan salt 12pm - Enter the Salar to visit waterholes, observe the extraction of salt, and visit the Playa Blanca Hotel (one of the first hotels in the Salar) 12:30pm - Lunch in the middle of Salar de Uyuni 1:30pm - Visit Incahuasi Island where you see the famous giant cactus 3:30pm - Arrive at the foot of Tunupa Volcano to take pictures, see flamingos, and watch the sunset 5:30pm - Sunset at the Salar de Uyuni (alternative to the direct return to Uyuni) 6:30pm - Return to Uyuni
La Paz to Uyuni Salt Flats Day Trip by Air Including Lunch
Escape to the desert on a private, guided trip to the Bolivian salt flats called the Salar de Uyuni. Begin the full-day tour by being picked up at your hotel in downtown La Paz for a transfer by private vehicle to El Alto airport. On the short flight to Uyuni, in southern Bolivia, you’ll fly over the Altiplano (‘High Plain’) and get jaw-dropping views of the Andes Mountains.Less than 1 hour away by air, the town of Uyuni provides easy access to the world’s largest salt flats. Stretched between distant Andean peaks like a shimmering white carpet, the Salar de Uyuni resembles a snow-covered lake and covers 4,000 square miles (over 10,000 square km). It’s home to pink flamingos, 1,000-year-old cacti, rare hummingbirds and hotels built entirely from blocks of salt. Don’t forget your camera, as the blinding white salt flats, framed by mountains and blue sky, create picture-perfect opportunities. You can observe mirages and optical illusions caused by solar radiation and the crystallized ground. Weather permitting, you’ll hang out on Cactus Island, home to a plethora of cacti, unusual flowers and strange fauna. And you’ll graze on a picnic lunch smack in the middle of the salt flats, creating the feeling that you’re eating in the middle of nowhere. After your unforgettable visit to this wondrous landscape, you’ll fly back to La Paz and be dropped off at your hotel.
Private Visit to the old Mines and trains of Pulacayo
Our tour begins with pick up from your preferred place, to take the road to Pulacayo located 10 km from Uyuni, in a comfortable private transport with air conditioning, accompanied by your professional English or Spanish speaking guide (according to your requirement).On the way we can find llamas, and observe very beautiful Andean landscapes, we arrive to the Mirador from where we can observe and take photographs of Salar de Uyuni and the town of Uyuni.We continue with our tour and when we arrive to the historic town of Pulacayo, we head for a short walk to the open Museum of ancient trains that were the first to arrive in Bolivia. Six locomotives are manufactured exclusively for this section, two English and four American. At first they worked with carbon, but since in Bolivia there was no carbon imported from the outside was very expensive, in the 20's oil is discovered in Bolivia, that is why they are modified so that later they work with oil. These locomotives only made the section Pulacayo - Uyuni, from there were other locomotives with greater width of troche that went to Antofagasta, that is why these locomotives are small, called locomotives of Mountain. As part of these locomotives are the remains of the train assaulted by Busch Cassidy, Sundance Kid. After taking photos and entering the past in this site, our tour continues with the exterior visit of what was one of the most important mines of the country in its time, we can observe the type of work, the machinery and much more.After enjoying a little snacks, we continue the walk to visit the old streets that were built at that time in a German and English style, because those who ran the company at the time were foreign, that is why of the touches in the construction Of the houses that nowadays are silent witnesses of how important the place was at that time.After enjoying a hot tea, we embark to our private mobility to return to Uyuni.The tour ends at your preferred place.
2-Day Private Tour Uyuni Salt Flats including Tunupa Volcano
1rt DAY: We start at approximately 10:00 a.m. hours and visit the train cemetery before heading to the Great Salt Lake.Along the way we'll meet the people of Colchani, where we will see an artisan salt processing plant.Then we'll enter Salar de Uyuni and head to Incahuasi Island (known as Fish Island) where you can observe the famous giant cacti.Next we'll encounter the town of Coqueza located at the foot of Tunupa Volcano the banks of the Salar. We'll spend the night at a salt hotel with private rooms. We may have time to head to the banks of the salt flat to witness a breathtaking sunset.After dinner enjoy an evening walk near the hotel to stargaze.night tour.Overnight at SALT HOTEL , 3 Stars.2nd DAY: Watch the sunrise from near the Hotel followed by an optional breakfast in salar or at the hotel.Then we'll continue our trip to Chantani's art museum, followed by a visit to Coquesa. Here we'll climb to the top of Tunupa Volcano for panoramic views of the salt falts. Next we'll visit the cave of mummies before a slow descent to the base of the volcano.Then we'll begin our drive back to Uyuni, enjoying breakfast along the way as well as a dazzling sunset. We'll toast to the beauty of the region before arriving in Uyuni.