Uyuni Salt Flats tours

Tours to the Uyuni Salt Flat

The Salar de Uyuni is, with more than 10,500 km of surface, the largest salt desert in the world, leaving us with a landscape difficult to describe, where it seems as if the earth meets the sky. This leaves us with a landscape difficult to describe, where it seems that the earth meets the sky. Thinking of enjoying a Salar de Uyuni tour? In Howlanders we offer you a wide variety so you can find just what you are looking for and enjoy this wonder of nature.

If your starting point is Bolivia, you should keep in mind that most tours to the Salar de Uyuni depart from Uyuni, the closest city to the salt flat. To choose your tour in the Salar de Uyuni, you should be clear about the number of days you have available, because most of them differ in duration. These are the most popular tours:

3-day classic tour to the Salar de Uyuni.

The 3-day tour to the Salar de Uyuni is the most requested option by our travelers. It is the most complete tour that will allow you to see the Eduardo Abaroa National Reserve from beginning to end, the altiplanic lagoons (including the famous Laguna Colorada), the famous train cemetery, Incahuasi Island and of course the Uyuni Salt Flat. In addition, the first night you will stay in a lodge built with salt from the salt flat itself.

There are also shorter options:

• 2-day Uyuni Salt Flat Tour: a shorter version of the classic 3-day tour in which you will mainly visit the Uyuni salt flat as in a day tour. The second day you will visit altiplanic lagoons and Andean villages.
• 1 day tour to the Uyuni Salt Flat: for those who have just enough time but do not want to miss this gift that Bolivia gives us.
• Sunset or sunrise in the Salar de Uyuni: either of these two options offers a picture that you will not be able to forget.

San Pedro de Atacama, besides being one of the great destinations in Chile, is the gateway to the Salar de Uyuni from the neighboring country. The itinerary is very similar to those departing from Bolivia, but it is done in the opposite direction, so you visit the Salar de Uyuni on the third day instead of the first.

3-day tour to the Uyuni Salt Flat from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.

The 3-day tour to Uyuni from San Pedro is the shorter version. It is very important to note that this tour ends in Uyuni after visiting the salt flat, so it is perfect for those who continue their trip in Bolivia.

4-day tour to the Uyuni Salt Flat from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.

The main difference of the 4 days tour to the Uyuni Salt Flat from San Pedro compared to the 3 days tour is that, after visiting the salt flat, having lunch and visiting the train cemetery, instead of finishing the tour you start your way back to San Pedro de Atacama, staying at the same lodging of the first night, to finally arrive to San Pedro de Atacama the next day.

In addition, you can choose to do all the tours in private or shared service, where you can stay in hostels or hotels. In this case, there is also a 3-day private tour with departure and return to San Pedro de Atacama.

In order for you to know more about the experience of visiting the Salar de Uyuni with Howlanders, we have written an article in our blog in which a colleague tells her experience visiting the Salar de Uyuni .

The list of what to bring on a tour to the Uyuni salt flat depends on the tour you take, but there are two major differences.

Day tours to the Uyuni Salt Flat

If you are going on a one-day tour, in which you do not sleep in the salt flat, the list is much smaller, and it is essential that you take into account the season in which you are traveling to bring the necessary shelter. In addition, sunglasses and sunscreen are a must.

Multi-day tours to the Uyuni salt flats

If you are going on a multi-day tour, it is important that you take, in addition to the above, adequate clothing for sleeping in the accommodations with little heating. In addition to personal hygiene products, some snacks and your passport and the necessary additional documentation in case the tour you do has a border crossing between Chile and Bolivia.

We recommend reading our post about what to take to the Uyuni salt flat.

We can not really indicate which is the best month to take a tour to the Uyuni salt flat, but it is important to take into account several things:

• The weather in Uyuni: during the winter months (especially July and August) the weather is very cold and the accommodations do not have a good heating system, so it is highly advisable to bring a good coat.
• Rainy season in Uyuni: during the months of January to March it is common for the salt flat to flood, which generates the famous mirror effect. This same flooding often does not allow vehicles to enter the salt flat, so the itinerary is usually modified and it is not possible to visit Inca Huasi, the cactus isa located in the center of the salt flat.

Are you familiar with the famous mirror effect of the Salar de Uyuni? This is an effect that occurs during the rainy season (January, February and March), in which the Salar de Uyuni is flooded and generates that mirror of water in which the sky is reflected in the salt ground covered with water.

If you are lucky enough to travel during this time of year, you can enjoy an image that looks like something out of a movie.

This is another thing that catches your attention when you take a tour in the Salar de Uyuni. In this place there is an optical illusion that gives the sensation of depth, so get your imagination ready to be the envy of the social networks with the most original photos in the Salar de Uyuni. Our guides will be prepared for this, and will give you tips and ideas to get the best photos!

If you don't know which Salar de Uyuni tour to choose, or which one best suits your needs, contact us and we will advise you, we are here for you!