Compare San Pedro de Atacama to Uyuni Salt Flats Roundtrip – Superior Lodging (4 Days, 3 Nights) by Keteka

Day 1: San Pedro to Ojo de Perdiz

Meals: Lunch and Dinner

You’ll be picked up from your lodging in San Pedro between 07:00am – 07:30am and take a group transfer to the Bolivian border at Hito Cajon (we will provide further instructions of this service). Your local Bolivian guide will meet and greet you at the border, and commence the tour of the region. Not far from the border the first highlight – the turquoise shining “Laguna Verde” at the foot of the majestic volcano “Licancabur”. Afterwards you will travel through the Bolivian desert into the Valle de las Damas del Desierto, also known as the “Salvador Dali Desert”, a group of rock formations that has been uniquely shaped by wind and weather over centuries. Following this, a huge plain opens before you and the Salar de Chalviri – a dried-out salt plain – is in front of you. Here, the hot springs of Polques invite you to take a relaxing bath after the hardships of these first kilometers ride through the desert Bolivian hills. After this you will arrive to the geyser “Sol de Mañana”, a spectacle of hissing steam columns, located at almost 5,000 meters above sea level. As you continue northward, you’ll reach “Laguna Colorada” – the absolute highlight of this southern desert region. You’ll finish the day viewing the “Arbol de Piedra”, a stone figure created by erosion at the entrance of the Siloli desert. Overnight stay is in the Hotel Tayka del Desierto.

Day 2: Ojo de Perdiz to Tahua

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

After a hearty breakfast, you’ll head off to visit the bouquet of colorful highland lagoons: Cañapa, Hedionda, Chiarkota, Honda and Ramaditas where you can spot a large number of flamingos or other birds of the region. Here you’ll have the opportunity to take amazing photos. On the shore of these lakes you will enjoy the view of the currently active Ollague volcano, whose peaks are often covered with snow caps in the desert sky. For lunch, you’ll stop in San Pedro de Quemes at the Hotel Tayka de Piedra. You will then shortly pass through the Pueblo Quemado and enter the main attraction of your trip: Salar de Uyuni. You’ll cross the salt lake from north to south, passing the Campanas islands enjoying “white” landscapes with salt crystals that manifest beautiful optical illusions. You will ultimately arrive in Tahua where your overnight stay will be in the Hotel Tayka de Sal.

Day 3: Tahua to Salar de Uyuni

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Today you’ll have the chance to experience the magical sunrise over the  Salar de Uyuni. After an early morning, you’ll have a chance to return to the hotel to eat a nice breakfast, before continuing to explore the area. You will visit the Incahuasi Island, located in a salt lake, and completely covered by a forest of giant cacti. A short trail takes you across the island where you can admire the centuries-old cactus that rise up to 12 meters into the blue sky. From the peak of the island you have a 360 ° viewpoint of the entire salt flat. On the horizon, the volcano Tunupa hovers above. After an hour drive you will reach Coquesa, where you will climb up the flanks of the Tunupa volcano to explore the cave full of the mummies of Coquesa. After the visit to the museum in Chantani, you’ll head towards the east, where not far from the small salt-processing site of Colchani, you’ll find the salt mounds, which make for a  very interesting landscape for photographs. You will visit one local family that runs a micro-enterprise. Upon your arrival in Uyuni, you will enjoy a short tour to the train cemetery. Afterward, you’ll continue on your journey having now experienced one of the truly amazing wonders of the world. Overnight stay is in Hotel Tambo Aymara in Uyuni.

Day 4: Uyuni to San Pedro de Atacama or Calama

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Option 1 (Bus Transfer)

At 4am you’ll be transferred from the hotel in Uyuni to the bus station. The bus leaves at 5am and arrives in San Pedro at 4:30pm (Calama 6pm). These times are estimates, as there can periodically be delays of up to 2 hours at the border crossing. It is likely that you will arrive earlier, but we recommend setting your expectations to the above times.

Option 2 (Semi-Private Tour/Transfer)

You’ll be picked up from your hotel at 8 am in the morning to start your tour in the town of San Cristobal, located 2 hours from Uyuni. Here, you’ll visit a local church that is considered one of the oldest in the Bolivian Highlands. You’ll then pass through the village of Alota and visit the Katar lagoon, where you can enjoy a beautiful landscape and take your first pictures of the flamencos on this route. We will arrive at the Ciudad de Piedra where you can enjoy the thousands of geometric forms that the erosion of the wind has formed in this valley of rocks and we will head towards the town of Villamar. Passing through the beautiful landscapes of the Quetena bofedales we will reach the beautiful highland lagoons of Kalina and Collpa. Next we’ll pass through the salar of Chalviri where you’ll experience the unbelievable Green Lagoon. From this imposing landscape we head to the Bolivian border with Chile at Hito Cajón to take our private transfer to San Pedro de Atacama. Arrival at San Pedro de Atacama is at approx. 4:00PM.