From Uyuni: 3-Day Salt Flats & Altiplano Tour Ending in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Cross the Altiplano for 3 days
from Uyuni to Atacama, Chile

When you arrive in Uyuni, whether by bus, plane or from a hotel in town, a staff member will meet you and take you to the operator's office. After checking in, meeting your driver and fellow travelers and a short briefing, you set off in a shared 4x4 vehicle at 10:30 AM.

Over 3 days you visit the salt flats, deserts, volcanoes and lagoons of the Bolivian Altiplano, and on the last day you cross the Bolivia–Chile border and finish the tour in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. You stay 2 nights in shared hostels, with 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 2 dinners included.

Day 1: the Train Cemetery and the Uyuni Salt Flats

First visit the train cemetery, home to Bolivia's first steam locomotives, then learn about salt processing in the traditional village of Colchani and browse handicrafts made of salt, alpaca and llama wool. Then enter the salt flats and stop at the salt water eyes, Playa Blanca, the salt hotel museum, the Flags of the World and the Dakar monument.

Enjoy panoramic views from Incahuasi Island, with its giant cacti and ancient coral formations, and take perspective photos on the white salt plain. At dusk, watch the sunset in the middle of the salt flats with wine and snacks, then head to a salt hostel in Atulcha for dinner and the night.

Day 2: flamingo lagoons and the Stone Tree

After breakfast, cross the Chiguana Desert and stop at the viewpoint of the semi-active Ollagüe Volcano. Then visit the Cañapa, Hedionda and Chiarcota lagoons, surrounded by volcanoes and colorful mountains, where you can see flamingos gathering by the water.

Enter the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and pass through the Siloli Desert to see the Stone Tree, a rock shaped by centuries of wind. The day ends at the Red Lagoon, famous for its red waters and flocks of flamingos. Dinner and the night are at a hostel in Huayllajara or Polques.

Day 3: geysers and hot springs, then on to Chile

Set off early to the Sol de Mañana geysers at nearly 5,000 m above sea level and walk among steaming fumaroles and bubbling mud pools. After a break at the Polques hot springs, cross the surreal landscapes of the Dalí Desert and visit the Green Lagoon and White Lagoon below the Licancabur Volcano.

After completing immigration formalities at the Bolivia–Chile border, take shared transport down to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. You arrive around 1 PM Chile time, where the tour ends.

※ The itinerary is for reference only and may change depending on local conditions.
※ Flamingos and other wildlife live in the wild, so sightings are not guaranteed.