If you’re thinking about booking a tour to the Uyuni Salt Flats then keep reading for insider info!

The Salt Flats will either be dry or wet depending on the season you visit. During the rainy season, you will experience the mirror effect (like us) or when the weather is drier, a more crusty appearance to the Salt Flat. Both are different, we weren’t able to visit Cactus Island due to the water level on the Salt Flats, so there’s pros and cons to visiting during each season. I can say that I was blown away by the mirror effect, seeing the clouds reflected on the surface of the water and watching the sunset on the salt flat. 

You won’t be the only group on the Salt Flat, even though photos make it look like a really secluded location there will be many other groups on the salt flat at the same time. Try not to be disappointed by this, the salt flat is a huge area and your guide will help you get the best photos, sometimes using props like toy dinosaurs for perspective shots, trust their knowledge. 

Stock up on supplies in Uyuni that you’ll need for the Salt Flat tour including toilet roll, water and snacks.

I highly recommend (if possible) booking the tour in person when you arrive in Uyuni as you will be able to get a better price this way, however the company we used (Skyline Traveller) does accept online bookings too. There are cash machines in the town centre of Uyuni if the tour company you want to book with asks you to pay in cash, which is common. 

We paid extra (around £190 each in total) for a private room for the 3 day tour, as it turned out each couple in our tour group got a private room anyway however by paying extra we did get the best rooms at each overnight stop, on one night we were the only couple to get a private bathroom which I was over the moon with. This could just be luck though, as the tour company does warn that some rooms might be shared. There were 6 people in total in our group, which was ourselves, a couple from Venezuela and a father and daughter from Brazil. Our guide spoke in both English and Spanish.

If heading to Chile after Bolivia I recommend getting dropped off at the Chilean border at the Avaroa-Hito Cajones crossing, from there you can get onward travel to San Pedro de Atacama, tour companies can organize this for you for a small extra charge.

Be mentally prepared for early mornings and a lot of off-road jeep travel, pack motion sickness medication if this is something that affects you.

The altitude may affect you during the tour, pack medication or coca leaves. We had been traveling for weeks through the altiplano so were fine, however a Brazilian doctor in our group was very sick with the altitude so we saw the effects first-hand. 

Don’t expect wifi or internet access when staying in accommodation in the national park or on the Uyuni Salt Flats. 

The accommodation will be very basic; if you have a sleeping bag or extra blankets, pack this. It gets cold at night and the blankets provided might not be very efficient. You can rent a sleeping bag in Uyuni (if returning) or from the tour company. We didn’t need one in the end but had one as a backup. 

And remember, the Uyuni Salt Flats tour isn’t just a tour of the Salt Flat, you might also get to visit the Train Cemetery, various lagoons in the national park with flamingos, geysers, hot springs and interesting rock formations such as the Dali desert. 

Have fun!

The Uyuni Salt Flats tour was one of our favourite experiences in South America, the three-day tour was well worth the price and also provided us with onward transport to Chile. If you are considering booking then do it! You can also get a tour departing from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile, this would presumably take in most of the same sights but in reverse order, and would likely be a lot more expensive due to the astronomical prices in San Pedro.

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