Uyuni is a tourist town in Potosí Department, Bolivia, which serves as the main gateway to Salar de Uyuni, the enormous salt flat nearby.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons contributors.
Uyuni is a small town in the middle of nowhere. It originally blossomed as a transportation junction and then as a railroad hub, and though this is still an important aspect, tourism is now its main source of prosperity. What would otherwise be a fairly dull stopover en route between Salta, Argentina and La Paz or Potosí, has become absolutely mandatory on this leg of the gringo trail. The sole reason: salt flats, the world's biggest: the Salar de Uyuni. There's not that much to do in Uyuni itself, so just plan to stay for as long as it takes you to do your salt flat tour.
Despite its modest size and geographical isolation, Uyuni is worth an hour or so walking around. Particularly the Avenida Ferroviaria has many monuments, mostly railroad related. Allegedly Bolivia's first locomotive, stands in the middle of Avenida Ferroviario, by the corner of Calle Santa Cruz. The first locomotive is in Pulacayo almost 20 km on the road to Potosi. Used in the Huanchaco mine. Train Graveyard - a couple of km south of town, by the railway to Chile, there are dozens of old, rusted locomotives, a few wagons and some other antiquated machinery. Usually a stop on salt flat trips. 1 Museo Ferrocarril y Museo Arqueologico Antropologico (Museo Ferrocarril), ☏ +591 73899769.
Salar de Uyuni – The salt flats can be visited on day trips, or longer trips, up to 4 days, including a swipe down towards the Chilean border and the lagoon and geysers of that area. Be aware that during the longer trips of 3 or 4 days going towards the Chilean border, you will travel up to 5,500 m above sea level. Rising quickly by car could cause altitude sickness. Most tours leave at about 10:00, and it's easy to arrange one at the tour companies' offices around the train station. As of 2018, the best prices from Uyuni for the 3 day tours go for around Bs. 600, plus Bs. 50 if you want onward transport to San Pedro de Atacama.
Western food for tourists is generally overpriced and bad. Stick to Bolivian dishes. For a cheap lunch (Bs. 10 for soup and main) head for any little joint with the sign Almuerzo outside. Minuteman Pizza, Ferroviaria 60, ☏ +591 2 693 3186. Breakfast 07:30-10:00, Dinner 17:00-22:00. Closed for construction as of December 2017. Within the Tonito Hotel, backpackers congregate here in the evenings (enter through the hotel reception, this keeps wandering petty thefters from entering). Large variety of pizzas (including spicy llama), great breakfast, English-speaking owner, travel-book library.
If the sun is not shining in Uyuni and the salt flats, it can get extremely cold. Make sure you wear a lot of layers and to bring thermal underwear, a scarf, a hat and gloves. When the sun is shining, it will get very warm in the car and outside if you are out of the wind. If traveling by (rental) car, find and pay for a gated and secured car park. (Or you may lose some external parts.) Do not lose sight of your luggage when taking public buses from Uyuni. Some bus companies might 'forget' and then it will be nearly impossible to get your luggage back.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
Top-rated tours and tickets from €85 — book ahead for the popular ones.
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In Jul, Uyuni typically sees ~12°C daytime highs and 0 rainy days.
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