2025 Uyuni Travel Guide: Must-see attractions, popular food, hotels, transportation routes (updated in June)

#OverseasSeasonalPlaces In mid-February, I traveled to the Uyuni Salt Flats for two days and one night✈️ Originally, I had planned a three-day, two-night trip, including an extra day, but I had to give up because all the flights were booked. I decided to travel for two days and one night when I was able to make a reservation✨ (Many of the people I met during the tour told me that they had come to Uyuni by night bus because they couldn't get a flight reservation😅) We had to move from the plane we were on to another plane, and the plane departed an hour and a half later than scheduled. I felt that this kind of situation often occurs when traveling in South America💦 I recommend making a schedule with plenty of time! The Uyuni Salt Flats has a spectacular view just like in the picture, and although I participated in a tour conducted in Spanish, no one among the participants could speak Spanish...😹Even if you can't speak Spanish, I think you can get by with gestures!! There is almost no signal inside the Uyuni Salt Flats, so I think it's best to use a translator that can be used offline! This time, we were able to enjoy the mirror-like scenery under the best conditions, but it seems that on some days it may not be possible to see it well, so be careful about that⚠️ In recent years, it has been said that due to climate change, it may become impossible to see the mirror-like scenery😭 It's a spectacular view that you'll want to see at least once in your life, so why not take this opportunity to visit it? #SouthAmerica #uyuni #UyuniSaltFlat #Bolivia #bolivia

At the Uyuni Salt Flats, there are tours where you can take trick photos. Some tours do this and some don't, so you'll need to ask the tour guide. The driver will bring some items, and you can also bring your own items to take photos. It's fun to think about the trick photos you want to take and go! With an iPhone, the focus tends to be on one side, which is a bit disappointing. #Uyuni #Bolivia #UyuniSaltFlats #TrickPhotos

It is within walking distance from the city of Uyuni. Train graveyard. Trains once transported minerals mined near the salt flats. After the defeat in the war with Chile, the trains were abandoned and dumped, but now they have been converted into children's play equipment and are once again entertaining people. You can go there on a tour, but there are a lot of people. If you go on your own at a different time, there are hardly any people there. There were only me and about one other group there. #Uyuni #Bolivia #Train graveyard

The Uyuni Salt Flats, which were like a painting A must-see course for Bolivia travel A Bolivian visa is required Yellow fever vaccination is required There are four tour courses Morning, afternoon, night It seems like there are usually two programs grouped by time slot The guide took all the pictures for you

How to get there: Go to Bolivia and apply for a local sunset tour Attraction: Uyuni Salt Flats Hotel: Uyuni Salt Hotel Recommended food & restaurants: Local South American food Shopping information: Llama dolls A must-see if you go to South America If you book a tour in advance, you can have an unforgettable experience #Bolivia #UyuniDesert #SunsetTour

The salt lake in Bolivia is the best place to capture the reflection of Milky Way. If you want to get a perfect reflection, you need to wait for a moment with no wind and shoot at a low-level angle.

#awesomepic 🦸‍♂️The legendary mirror of the sky is the Uyuni salt marsh, which is located near the small town of Uyuni in southwestern Bolivia. It is the largest salt marsh in the world. The Uyuni salt marsh in Bolivia is the largest salt marsh in the world. The scenery and peaceful surroundings make it a dream place for many travel enthusiasts. Tea card, praised by the donkey friends as the sky of China, compared to Bolivia, the beauty here is more intoxicating green. It's still a quiet place that is rarely touched. As quiet as a virgin, stands quietly on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau like a city in the sky. Entering the tea card, your heart will be much quieter. #awesomepic

What if there was a place where you could see the ever-changing colors of nature all in one place?! Upon arriving at Bolivia's 'Salt Desert of Uyuni', also known as the mirror of the Earth, the exclamation that came out the first time was "This is heaven~!" If you want to see heaven while you're alive, you must go there! You can't throw away a single photo you took in heaven! I already miss that place that I couldn't capture in photos.

It is said that Bolivia is a South American Tibet. Indeed, snow-capped mountains, lakes, plateaus, deserts and blue skies are very similar to Ali in Tibet. They are my favorite country in South America, but the vast deserts, magical animals, and primitive Africa. The chartered car went from the Atacama in Chile to the third day before reaching the famous pink lake. The leisurely alpacas in the sun are pacing, and the fiery flamingos in the lake are flying, so harmonious and beautiful. Suddenly, this is the embodiment of true nature. It is recommended that you must charter the backpack to the ultimate route!

Local travel agency "Hodaka Mountain," popular among Japanese tourists, offers the Uyuni Salt Flats tour. [Starlight & Sunrise] Time: 3:00 AM - 7:30 AM Price: 200 Bolivianos or 25 USD A shared tour for up to 7 people. Rental of rain boots is included in the price. This late-night tour is undeniably cold. Even during the rainy season (summer), it can be unbearably chilly without proper winter clothing. Make sure to dress warmly.

#AbsolutelyFreeTravel The train that connects Villazon, a town on the border with Argentina in the south of Bolivia, to Oruro still runs, though not often. There is one train a week from Uyuni, both up and down. Both depart late at night. The night bus from La Paz to Uyuni is notorious for frequent thefts, so I used the train as an alternative.

A popular tour offered by the local travel agency "Hodaka Mountain," favored by Japanese travelers. [Starlight] Time: 11:00 PM - 3:00 AM Price: 200 Bolivianos or 25 USD (April 2025) A shared tour for up to 7 people. Free rental of rain boots. This tour allows you to fully enjoy stargazing. The travel time to the site is about 1 hour one way, making the round trip 2 hours, leaving approximately 2 hours for stargazing. Nights can be chilly, so warm clothing is recommended.

A popular tour offered by the Japanese-favored travel agency "Hodaka Mountain" in Uyuni. Time: 16:30-22:00 Price: 200 Bolivianos or 25 USD Shared tour for up to 7 people Free rental of rain boots The journey from Uyuni city to the entrance of the salt flats takes 30 minutes, followed by another 30 minutes to find the perfect spot, making it a total of 1 hour one way. This tour is highly popular as it allows you to enjoy the Uyuni Salt Flats while the sun is still up, witness the sunset, and even stargaze under the night sky.

Located about 3 kilometers from the town of Uyuni, a 40-minute walk away, the Train Cemetery is a unique attraction. While it is often included in tours to the Uyuni Salt Flats, this means the area can be crowded with tourists in the morning. The best time to visit is in the afternoon. With fewer people around, you can take stunning, photogenic pictures here. In fact, portraits taken at this location are particularly striking. The site is much larger than you might expect, and if you’re serious about exploring, you can easily spend up to three hours having fun here! If walking isn’t your preference, you can also charter a taxi to reach the cemetery. One thing to watch out for is stray dogs. Occasionally, stray dogs may be present, so be cautious when visiting.

#AbsolutelyFreeTrip A small town that serves as a base for going to the Uyuni Salt Flats, some travelers may even call it a village. The city of Uyuni is that small. There are many accommodations and travel agencies in the city. You won't have any trouble finding a place to stay or going on a tour to the Uyuni Salt Flats. It's a small but fun town, with a variety of options, from tourist restaurants to local eateries, if you look around. A feria (street market) is held every Thursday and Sunday.

The day I truly thought, "I'm glad I came all the way here." It was the dry season so I wasn't expecting any reflections, but thanks to the rain a few days before, it was mirror-like 🌈 Sunrise, blue sky, sunset, starry sky... I don't know how many times I said "wow" in one day. I travel with all sorts of feelings in my mind, but when I saw this view, I felt like it was all worth it. #SaltFlatUyuni #SouthAmericaTrip #TripMoments #AmazingViewsOfBolivia #ViewsIWantToLookAtForever

The Mirror of the Sky and Crossing the Andes. 🚆 Expreso del Sur (Bolivian National Railways) to Uyuni To travel from La Paz, Bolivia to the Uyuni Salt Flats by train, you first need to take a bus to Oruro, where the train station is located. From there, you board the "Expreso del Sur." This train operates a few times a week and is a comfortable and cost-effective local transportation option. As you can see from the photos, the exterior has a classic look, but the interior is relatively clean, and they even provide a welcome pack with snacks. 🚉 The atmosphere at the station and inside the train is full of local charm, offering a relaxed pace you won't experience on other trips. Through the train windows, you can enjoy the majestic Andes scenery and even spot flocks of flamingos, making you feel like you're in a documentary. ⸻ 🧂 Uyuni Salt Flats: The World's Largest Mirror The highlight of the Uyuni Salt Flats is undoubtedly the "mirror-like scenery." During the rainy season (January to March), the water creates a perfect reflective surface. In Alvin's photos, the blue sky, starry night, and sunsets are all mirrored on the lake, creating a landscape that looks almost like CGI. •🚙 Tours are conducted in Land Cruisers, giving you the surreal feeling of driving on water. •🌌 Night tours offer a breathtaking view of the Milky Way. The stars reflect on the salt flats, creating a mystical experience where you can't tell which side is the sky. •📸 Guides also help with trick photography, capturing fun shots like being chased by dinosaurs or miniature-style photos. ⸻ 🎒 Summary: Key Points of the Experience • Train Travel: Less bumpy than buses and highly recommended if you want to enjoy the scenery. • Uyuni Salt Flats: The landscape changes throughout the day—daytime, sunset, and nighttime all offer unique views. Choose a tour that covers multiple time slots for the best experience. • Don't forget your camera! Bring a DSLR or a smartphone with a wide-angle lens. Waterproof shoes can be rented, so you don't have to worry about wet areas. ⸻ 💡 Bonus Tips: • Train tickets can be purchased through FCA (Empresa Ferroviaria Andina)'s official website or via travel agencies. • Internet connectivity in Uyuni is weak, so download offline maps and translation apps in advance for peace of mind.

The world's largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, is often referred to as "the place closest to the sky on Earth." During this trip, I was fortunate to visit at the perfect time, experiencing the best of both the dry and rainy seasons, and witnessing breathtaking views that felt like a miracle. 🚙【Transportation】An Extraordinary Journey in a Land Cruiser The tour, led by a reliable local guide, takes you deep into the salt flats aboard a Toyota Land Cruiser. Driving across the water-covered surface feels like gliding over water, with the vehicle's reflection creating scenes straight out of a movie. The driver was incredibly helpful, offering tips for trick photography and composition, making the photo sessions immensely enjoyable! 📸【Highlight】Don't Miss the Trick Photos! The driver brought along dinosaur figurines and toys, enabling us to take iconic photos using forced perspective, such as "humans being attacked by giant monsters." Even the process of taking these photos was picturesque. 🌅【Mirror Effect】Divine Beauty at Sunrise and Sunset The "mirror effect," where the sky reflects on the lake's surface, is indescribably beautiful. Especially during sunrise and sunset, the scene becomes so surreal that the boundary between sky and earth disappears, enveloping you in a timeless silence. 🌌【Night Tour】Stargazing and the Milky Way I also joined the night tour to experience the "starry sky reflection," where stars are mirrored on the lake's surface. The crystal-clear sky reveals the Milky Way and shooting stars, making it a dream come true for photography enthusiasts. ⸻ 🔧Key Points 📍Location: Uyuni, Bolivia 🚗 Transportation: Land Cruiser (local tour companies like Brisa Tours) 💡 Best Season: Rainy season (January–March) is ideal for the mirror effect. I visited in April and was lucky to find some remaining water ✌️ 📸 Essentials: Waterproof boots, tripod, wide-angle lens, warm clothing (tour companies often provide saltwater-resistant boots) ⭐️ Experiences: Mirror effect, stargazing, trick photography, scenic drives

I visited in March, which is the latter part of the rainy season. Since I was traveling around Latin America, I took a long-distance bus from Chile's Atacama Desert to Uyuni. The early morning walk to the bus stop was pitch dark due to the lack of streetlights, but Atacama is quite safe, and wandering alone didn’t seem to be a problem. I’m sorry, I forgot the bus fare, but it was incredibly cheap. Bus fares are generally very affordable throughout Latin America. The scenery from the bus during the journey was breathtaking. The bus made one stop at a cheap and delicious eatery. Uyuni town was exactly as I imagined—a well-prepared tourist hub. Even arriving without a plan wasn’t an issue at all. I joined a 3-night, 4-day tour. I highly recommend this over tours that only cover the Uyuni Salt Flats. The landscapes are truly stunning and give you that "this is South America" feeling. Laguna Negra was absolutely beautiful. Most tour companies follow similar routes. It seems they contact contracted drivers once a reservation is made. You can choose a tour company based on the impression you get from the drivers who approach you in town. There are tour companies popular among Japanese and Asian guests. If you want to take fun and creative photos with other participants, these tours are recommended. I heard from people who joined these tours that they take lots of group photos together. Uyuni is essentially a town for people joining small tours. Once you arrive, withdraw local currency from an ATM, stock up on snacks at a mini-mart, and definitely join an overnight tour. ☺︎

#Overseas travel Overseas travel ⭐️Plaza de las Banderas Uyuni⭐️ in the Uyuni Salt Flats of Bolivia is a small square with flags of various countries. Nearby is the Salt Hotel, where you can travel around the Uyuni Salt Flats, take pictures, take a break, and eat the food you brought. You can also use the restrooms here, but you must make a reservation in advance to use it for regular tourists who are not staying at the hotel. 🎯Colchani,, Uyuni, Bolivia #Plaza #lasBanderas #Uyuni #Uyuni #UyuniDesert

#Overseas travel Overseas travel Bolivia's representative tourist destination, ⭐️Uyuni⭐️, has an area of ​​about 12,000km and is located at an altitude of 3,653m. It has the world's largest salt desert, which is also called the Uyuni Salt Lake. In the past, local merchants made a living by cutting salt and exchanging it for daily necessities, but now they make a living through the tourism industry. There is a market, a church, large and small marts, and restaurants in the city. Since there are many travel agencies that offer Uyuni Salt Flat tours, I recommend finding the type of tour product you want and traveling. 🎯Uyuni, Bolivia #Uyuni #Uyuni #Bolivia #BoliviaTravel #UyuniTravel

Bolivia's ⭐️Atardecer Salar de Uyuni⭐️ is a salt flat located not far from areas with many hotels, making it an ideal spot to catch the morning sunrise in Uyuni. Typically, tours to view the sunrise or sunset are conducted in this area close to the hotels. The vast, seemingly endless salt flats offer breathtaking sunrise and sunset tours, which can be booked through hotels or nearby tour programs. Even those who aren't skilled at photography can capture stunning pictures with just a simple click of the shutter here. 🎯J277+JP6, Uyuni, Bolivia

#Overseas travel Overseas travel Hotel de Sal Cristal Samaña, where you can stay near the Uyuni Desert in Bolivia ⭐️Hotel de Sal Cristal Samaña⭐️It is a very large salt hotel. It is a hotel with sculptures and wall lamps made of actual salt here and there, and the size of the rooms is large and the salt desert is right outside, so it is a hotel that shows a very moody atmosphere. The hotel has a gym, a table tennis table, a garden that is good for walking, and there is a small room in the room, so it is good to spend time looking at the outdoors. 🎯Colchani, 4 Km ingresando hacia el salar de Uyuni, Colchani, Bolivia #Hotel #SalCristal #Samaña #SaltHotel #UyuniHotel #UyuniTravel

#Overseas travel Overseas travel ⭐️LONGMEN⭐️, a Chinese restaurant in Uyuni, Bolivia, is a restaurant where you can eat delicious Chinese food for a reasonable price. They sell wontons, dumplings, fried rice, and stir-fried meat. Although it is a small restaurant, it is a place where you can fill your stomach in Uyuni, where there are not many restaurants selling Asian food. They also sell Shin Ramyun from Korea. 🎯Av. Ferroviaria No.14, Uyuni, Bolivia #LONGMEN #Uyuni #UyuniRestaurant #UyuniTravel #Bolivia

#Overseas travel Overseas travel Bolivia Uyuni Train Graveyard ⭐️Uyuni-Cementerio de Trenes⭐️ usually provides a different kind of attraction to Uyuni tourists who come to see the desert. This place where old trains are arranged in a disorderly manner has become a good place to spend time taking pictures with various types of trains, street artists' graffiti, and the weather in harmony. 🎯G596+9R2, Uyuni, Bolivia #Uyuni #Cementerio #Trenes #Train Graveyard #Train #Bolivia #BoliviaTravel #UyuniTravel

Salar de Uyuni spreads across the highlands of Bolivia in South America. This place, located at an altitude of about 3,700m, is the world's largest salt flat, and is known as a place where a pure white horizon appears in the dry season and a "mirror world" appears in the rainy season. I visited during the rainy season. There had been moderate rain the day before, and the lake was slightly watery. The boundary between the sky and the ground had completely disappeared, and a world where it felt like "walking on the sky" unfolded before me. ⸻ 📍Location Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia Nearest town: Uyuni Accessible by bus or plane from La Paz or Sucre 🕰️Best season Rainy season: December to March (aiming for mirror-like scenery) Dry season: May to October (pure white salt land, great for starry sky photography) 💸Estimated cost ・Sunrise tour/Sunset tour: 150 bolivianos each (approx. 3,000 yen) ⸻ 🌟Recommended tour company Hodaka Tours Tours) - Popular with Japanese tourists - Polite staff and proactive support for photography - Free rental of rubber boots - Supports English, Spanish and Japanese ⸻ 🌟Points - Checking the weather is important if you want to aim for the best timing for mirrored scenes - With a multi-day stay, you can cover all conditions such as clear skies, sunsets, starry skies and sunrises - Be sure to prepare for cold weather (especially in the morning and night) and salt (camera and shoes) - Rubber boots can often be rented for free on tours, but check just to be sure ⸻ #SaltFlatUyuni #SalarDeUyuni #BoliviaTrip #HotakaTour #MirroredWorld #SunriseTour #SunsetTour #AroundTheWorld

Figures 1–6: Driving across the Bolivian plateau, experiencing the highland scenery and diverse varieties of alpacas. Figure 7: Quinoa Figures 8–15: Colonial Church in Tomave, Bolivia 🇧🇴 During the colonial period, European countries such as Spain carried out large-scale colonial expansion in Latin America, bringing not only political and economic dominance but also Christian culture. Churches, as important symbols of religious dissemination and colonial rule, were built in large numbers. The Colonial Church in Tomave, built in the 17th century, was born under such a historical background. The Colonial Church in Tomave blends traditional European architectural styles with local characteristics. It incorporates elements of the Spanish Baroque style, such as intricate carvings and curved shapes, while also integrating local building materials and techniques, reflecting regional characteristics. Figure 16: High-altitude lagoon (4,800 m above sea level) Figure 17: Green lagoon Figure 18: Cactus Figures 19–20: Highland scenery

#aprilblooms #bolivia My visit to the Train Cemetery in Uyuni was surreal. Just outside town, this field of rusted steam locomotives tells the story of Bolivia’s mining boom and collapse in the early 20th century. Left to decay in the high desert, the trains sit quietly under the vast sky, weathered by time and salt winds. Walking among them felt like exploring a forgotten industrial graveyard. The silence, the open space, and the history in every corroded bolt made it an unforgettable stop.