Uyuni · 4 Days

Uyuni 4 Days Tour: the full Sud Lípez circuit

This Uyuni 4 Days tour crosses the Bolivian Sud Lípez end to end, from red canyons to the Uyuni Salt Flat.

Day 1 — From red canyons to the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve

Departure at 7:30 am from Tupiza, meeting point confirmed at booking. The route winds through the reddish rock formations of Quebrada Palala, shaped by centuries of erosion, then climbs by 4×4 to the Sillar viewpoint, dominated by vertical rock ridges.

Awana Pampa unfolds the altiplano at its gentlest, llamas grazing against the horizon. At Ciudad del Encanto, lava became cathedral — shapes carved by wind and rain over millennia (closed in the rainy season). Further on, the Ruinas and Laguna Morejón, a salt mirror reflecting the Uturunco volcano. The day ends with entry into the Eduardo Avaroa National Andean Fauna Reserve and the first night in Quetena Chico, at 4,200 m.

Day 2 — Lagoons of color and steaming waters

Three lagoons follow one another in the morning — South Hedionda, Kollpa and the Chalviri salt flat — before a stop at the Polques hot springs, natural thermal waters where the altiplano’s cold stops mattering for a while. The Dalí Desert, its scattered rocks straight out of a surrealist painting, gives way to Laguna Verde, colored by suspended sulfur, watched over by the Licancabur volcano (5,950 m), the natural border with Chile.

Above 4,850 m, the Sol de Mañana geysers release sulfurous steam and bubbling mud — the altiplano is still alive underneath. The day ends at Laguna Colorada, stained red and dotted with flamingos, with the night spent near its shores.

Day 3 — One day, two possible routes

Before setting off, the guide lays out both options and the group decides together which to take. The first leads to the Stone Tree, carved by the wind until it looks weightless, and to the entrance of the Siloli Desert — one of the driest places on earth alongside the Atacama, at 5,000 m — followed by the four altiplano lagoons (Cañapa, Hedionda, Charcola and Honda, all with flamingos) and a viewpoint over the Ollagüe volcano (5,865 m). The second passes Copa del Mundo and Camello Sentado, two wind-carved rock formations, before Laguna Negra and Anaconda Canyon.

Both routes meet again for sunset over the Uyuni Salt Flat, before a night at a salt hostel in Puerto Chuvica, at 3,660 m.

Day 4 — The world’s mirror

Departure before dawn to reach Incahuasi Island with the first light — a lava islet covered in centuries-old cacti, in the middle of the 10,582 km² of the planet’s largest salt desert. The route continues across the salt flat, with stops for the classic perspective photos, the old Salt Hotel museum, Flag Island and the Dakar monument. In Colchani, artisans work the same material that shaped the landscape just crossed. The Train Cemetery closes the circuit, where rusting 19th-century locomotives have rested since they stopped hauling ore. Services end in Uyuni, around 1 pm.

Before you book this Uyuni 4 Days tour

Before you book: this circuit rises above 4,800 m at several points and requires good physical condition. We recommend 24 to 48 h of altitude acclimatization before starting. Not suitable for pregnant travelers, those with heart conditions or severe hypertension, or children under 7.

Rates per person — from USD 349.

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