Salar de Uyuni 3-day itinerary

Start your first full day at the Cementerio de Trenes on the edge of Uyuni town — a graveyard of 19th and early 20th century British-built steam locomotives left to rust on the salt-encrusted plain. At sunrise, the rusted iron boilers and tender cars glow red-orange against a perfectly blue Altiplano sky. The site is free to access and completely open — you can climb on the locomotives for striking silhouette photographs with nobody else around at 7am.

Join a 4WD jeep tour onto the main Salar. The flat white hexagonal salt crust extends 10,582 km² at 3,656 metres elevation. On the way to Isla Incahuasi, stop in the open flats for forced-perspective photography — dinosaur toys next to humans, one person appearing to hold another in the palm of their hand. Incahuasi Island rises from the middle of the flat: a rocky outcrop covered in giant cardón cacti up to 10 metres tall, some over 1,000 years old. Walk the island circuit for 360° views of the salt horizon.

Position the jeep on the open salt flat 30 minutes before sunset for the day's finest light show — the low sun turns the white surface pink, orange, and deep purple in succession. In the wet season (January–April), thin water on the surface creates a perfect mirror reflecting the cloud formations above: the horizon disappears and you appear to float inside the sky. Overnight in a salt hotel near Colchani — the walls, floor, furniture, and ceiling are all constructed from salt blocks.

Leave at 5am by jeep south towards the Bolivian Altiplano highlands. The Sol de Mañana geyser field sits at 4,850 metres elevation and is most active in the cold early morning — mud pools boil, sulphur vents hiss, and steam plumes rise 30 metres into thin Andean air. The alien landscape of bubbling red mud craters and mineral-stained rock is unlike anywhere else on the continent. The altitude makes exertion feel demanding — move slowly and stay back from unstable geyser edges.

Drive to Laguna Colorada, a shallow salt lake coloured deep brick-red by algae and mineral sediments. Thousands of James's flamingos wade in the shallows, filtering the water with their curved beaks — the pink of their feathers against the red water and white borax islands is extraordinary. Three species of flamingo (James's, Andean, and Chilean) all breed here. Walk the lakeshore path for close views without disturbing the birds. The surrounding ochre and rust-coloured mountains complete a landscape that feels primordial.

At Bolivia's southwestern tip, Laguna Verde sits directly beneath the 5,960-metre Volcán Licancabur on the Chilean border. The lake's extraordinary emerald-green colour comes from arsenic and lead minerals. In windy conditions the minerals disperse and the colour fades to turquoise. Overnight at a basic refuge near the lagoon at 4,400 metres. The sky at night here has zero light pollution — the Milky Way is visible as a solid band. The Southern Cross, Magellanic Clouds, and Andromeda are all clearly visible to the naked eye.

Drive north through the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve past the surreal wind-eroded rock formations of the Dalí Desert — named for its resemblance to the landscapes in Salvador Dalí's paintings. The centrepiece is the Árbol de Piedra (Stone Tree): a 7-metre isolated sandstone column sculpted by millennia of Andean wind into an impossibly thin mushroom form. Surrounding volcanic rock formations in shades of ochre, green, and red extend across a flat plain with the snow-capped Andes behind. No painting could make this landscape more dramatic.

Stop at Aguas Termales de Polques — natural geothermal hot spring pools at 4,300 metres, sitting at the edge of Laguna Salada. Bathing in 28°C water while looking out across a snow-white salt lake, surrounded by Andean peaks, is one of the tour's most memorable moments. Change into swimwear beforehand — facilities are basic. The drive back north to Uyuni crosses the full width of the salt flat at speed: 90 minutes of white nothing in every direction, the horizon a perfect line.

Return to Uyuni town by early evening. The town itself is small but has decent restaurants serving llama steak, quinoa soup, and local trout — eat at Minuteman Pizza or Restaurante Arco Iris for reliable options popular with returning tour groups. Uyuni has an airport with daily flights to La Paz, or night buses that run directly to Potosí and Sucre. Pack salt crystals and llama wool souvenirs bought from the market on Avenida Ferroviaria before departure — prices here are a fraction of La Paz tourist shops.