# Uyuni Salt Flat: map, what to do and when to go

Uyuni is a railway town founded in 1890 at 3,669 m, on the Bolivian altiplano, and the gateway to the 10,582 km² salt flat, the largest in the world. In the middle of the white crust, the ground blends into the sky and distances become hard to judge.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Uyuni Salt Flat: can you arrive from Sucre or Chile and head straight into the circuit?** Not without acclimatizing: the route sleeps above 4,200 m in Huayllajara and passes through Sol de Mañana at about 4,850 m.
- **Uyuni Salt Flat: how do you get there by plane?** The Joya Andina Airport (UYU) is about 4 km north of town and receives daily flights from La Paz on Boliviana de Aviación, lasting just under an hour.
- **Uyuni Salt Flat: what do you see on the three-day southwest circuit?** The classic jeep circuit passes the Laguna Colorada (4,278 m), with flamingos, the Sol de Mañana geysers at dawn, the Polques hot springs, the Stone Tree and the Laguna Verde, at the foot of the Licancabur (5,916 m).

## Acclimatizing, trains and choosing an agency
Arrive in the morning, drop your bag and walk slowly: at 3,669 m, the first day is for moving little and drinking water and coca tea.
- Train Cemetery

## Crossing the salt flat to Incahuasi
Head out around 10:30am toward Colchani (22 km) and see the salt mounds, the cooperative, the museum and the craft market where the blocks are sawn.
- Colchani and the salt mounds
- Isla Incahuasi
- Playa Blanca, the Dakar monument and the flag plaza

## North of the salt flat: Tunupa, Coquesa and Ojos del Salar
Leave at 8am crossing the salt flat toward Tahua, at the northern foot of the Tunupa volcano (5,321 m), 3 to 4 hours by jeep depending on the route.
- Ojos del Salar
- Tunupa volcano
- Coquesa mummies

## Salar de Uyuni
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-salar-de-uyuni
Departamento de Oruro
The world's largest salt flat covers 10,582 km² of salt crust at 3,656 m. In the dry season the surface forms hexagonal polygons 0.8 to 1.5 m on a side, shaped by brine convection beneath the crust; in the rain, a sheet of 5 to 15 cm of water turns everything into a mirror; above that, parts of the salt flat close to traffic.
Check access

## Train Cemetery
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-cemiterio-de-trens
About thirty British steam locomotives and railcars from the 1900s to the 1940s, abandoned 3 km southwest of the city after the tin collapse. Free entry, no fence and no guard; the light is best before 9am.
Check access

## Colchani and the salt mounds
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-colchani
Antonio Quijarro · Up to half an hour
Family cooperatives scrape the crust into cone-shaped mounds about 1 m tall to dry before grinding and iodizing. The region's artisanal output runs around 25,000 tons a year, almost all for Bolivian domestic consumption.
Check access

## Isla Incahuasi
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-isla-incahuasi
Daniel Campos · Up to half an hour
A former reef of a submerged volcano, now a rocky island of 24 hectares about 80 km from the city, covered in Echinopsis atacamensis cacti up to 10–12 m tall that grow about 1 cm a year. Entry 30 Bs in cash; a 45-minute trail to the top, 100 m above the crust.
Check access

## Ojos del Salar
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-ojos-del-salar
Up to half an hour
Pools where pressurized groundwater breaks through the crust and bubbles to the surface, a few kilometers from Colchani. They're unprotected: the edge is thin and the water is saturated with salt, so you don't step in.
Check access

## Playa Blanca, the Dakar monument and the flag plaza
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-playa-blanca-o-monumento-dakar
Up to half an hour
A cluster on the crust with the old salt hotel turned into a museum, the salt-block monument raised for the Dakar Rally's passage (2014–2018), and a grove of masts with flags left by visitors.
Check access

## Tunupa volcano
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-vulcao-tunupa
A stratovolcano of 5,321 m on the northern edge, with slopes streaked red, ochre and green by oxidation. The usual climb starts from Coquesa and goes up to the lookout at about 4,200 m, in 2 to 3 hours round trip.
Check access

## Coquesa mummies
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-mumias-de-coquesa
Up to half an hour
Pre-Hispanic bodies in fetal position, attributed to local populations from about 500 to 1,200 years ago, preserved by the dry air in a lava cave on the Tunupa's slope. Visit with a community guide and a local fee of 15–20 Bs.
Check access

## Laguna Colorada
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-laguna-colorada
Departamento de Potosí
A shallow lake of 60 km² at 4,278 m, inside the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve, colored red by algae and sediment. It's home to all three Andean flamingo species, including the James's flamingo (parina chica), rediscovered there in 1957.
Check access

## Sol de Mañana and Laguna Verde
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/uyuni/#g-lugar-sol-de-manana
Departamento de Potosí
A geothermal field of fumaroles and boiling mud pools at about 4,850 m, visited at dawn, and the turquoise-green lagoon at 4,350 m at the foot of the Licancabur volcano (5,916 m), whose color comes from dissolved arsenic and magnesium.
Check access

**Uyuni Salt Flat: can you arrive from Sucre or Chile and head straight into the circuit?**
Not without acclimatizing: the route sleeps above 4,200 m in Huayllajara and passes through Sol de Mañana at about 4,850 m. Without 24 to 48 hours at 3,600 m, soroche ruins the second day.

**Uyuni Salt Flat: how do you get there by plane?**
The Joya Andina Airport (UYU) is about 4 km north of town and receives daily flights from La Paz on Boliviana de Aviación, lasting just under an hour. A taxi to downtown costs 15 to 30 Bs.

**Uyuni Salt Flat: what do you see on the three-day southwest circuit?**
The classic jeep circuit passes the Laguna Colorada (4,278 m), with flamingos, the Sol de Mañana geysers at dawn, the Polques hot springs, the Stone Tree and the Laguna Verde, at the foot of the Licancabur (5,916 m).

**Uyuni Salt Flat: how should you carry money for the trip?**
In bolivianos in cash, withdrawn in La Paz, Sucre or Potosí: Uyuni runs on cash, and the city's ATMs run empty on holidays and in July. The exchange rate has started floating, so confirm the rate on the day.

**Uyuni Salt Flat: is it better to go in the dry season or the rainy season?**
It depends on what you want to see: from May to October, in the dry season, the sky is clear and the firm crust shows the hexagons; from mid-January to early March, the rain can leave the sheet of water for the mirror effect, but it's not guaranteed on any date. You can't have both in the same week.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 3 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/uyuni/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/uyuni/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/uyuni.md