Uyuni

Things to do

• Train cemetery
• Book your Salar tour (compare several agencies)

What to eat

• Llama meatLean and tasty meat, often grilled or as “charque” (dried). Very common in Uyuni and on the Altiplano.
• Quinoa realThe world's best quinoa grows around the Salar: in soups, patties or as a side.
• Quinoa soupA hot soup of quinoa and vegetables, served in refuges and high-altitude comedores. Perfect when it's cold.

Also here

• Border Ollagüe (to Calama)Between Uyuni and Calama, among the volcanoes. A few buses a week from Uyuni: check the days before you go.

How to get to Uyuni

• Salar de Uyuni 4x4 tour or excursion · Included in the tour

  4x4 tour with a driver-guide and a cook. Book in Uyuni (compare agencies) or in advance.

• La Paz Flight · 1 h flight

  BoA flights almost every day.

  Saves you a night on the bus.

• Potosí Road (bus, car) · 4 h

  Frequent buses.

• Tupiza Road (bus, car) · 4 to 6 h

  Daily buses.

• Tupiza Train · 5 h 30

  The same FCA line as from Oruro (continuing to Villazón).

• Oruro Road (bus, car) · 6 to 7 h

  Buses from the Oruro bus terminal.

• Oruro Train · 7 h

  FCA trains, the Expreso del Sur and the Wara Wara del Sur, only a few departures a week (check times at fca.com.bo).

  The most comfortable and scenic option: flamingos along Lake Poopó.

• La Paz Road (bus, car) · 9 to 11 h (overnight)

  Tourist night buses (Todo Turismo, Trans Omar…) from the La Paz bus terminal.

Photos of Uyuni

More places in this region

• Sajama National ParkBolivia's highest peak (6,542 m), geysers, hot springs and llamas.
• Curahuara de CarangasThe “Sistine Chapel of the Altiplano”: an adobe church covered in murals.
• OruroAn Altiplano mining city, famous for its UNESCO-listed carnival. Starting point of the train to Uyuni.
• Obrajes and Capachos hot springsNatural hot-water pools on the Altiplano, less than an hour from Oruro.
• Machacamarca railway museumOld steam locomotives and the history of the mining railways, south of Oruro.
• Lakes Uru Uru and PoopóShallow Altiplano lakes on Oruro's doorstep, visited by flamingos.
• ChipayaVillage of the Uru-Chipaya, one of the oldest peoples of the Andes, with round earthen houses.
• Coipasa Salt FlatBolivia's second-largest salt flat, wild and almost without visitors.
• Salar de Uyuni + Sud Lípez (tour)The world's largest salt flat, then the colourful lagoons of the Sud Lípez. The highlight of many trips.
• TupizaWild West scenery: red canyons, cacti and the last ride of Butch Cassidy.
• CotagaitaA small green town in a fruit-growing valley, on the road from Potosí to Villazón.
• VillazónThe border with Argentina, facing La Quiaca: the crossing travellers use most.