Uyuni Salt Flats Tour Cost: What You Really Pay

What Each Tour Type Lists For

The cheapest way onto the salt is an evening run. A 5-hour sunset and stargazing group tour lists at $45 and a 4-hour version at $60. Full-day loops from Uyuni town cluster between $78 and $95, and most name the train cemetery, Colchani and Incahuasi Island, some with a sunset finish. The 3-day routes through the colored lagoons list at $290, $309.90 and $450 depending on operator and endpoint. Starting in San Pedro de Atacama instead of Uyuni costs $332 for a 4-day round trip. A package from La Paz by overnight sleeper bus is $299 for two days. A private jeep for a full day is priced per vehicle at $320, not per person.

The route decides the trip. A one-day loop sees the salar only. The flamingos, geysers and high lagoons need the 3-day route through the Eduardo Avaroa reserve, which you can read about on the Laguna Colorada guide. The salar itself is covered in the Salar de Uyuni guide.

Included in Almost Every Listing

Every tour in the catalog includes its transport and driver, a 4x4 on most, a Mercedes Benz van on the 4-day route from San Pedro and a sleeper bus on the La Paz package. The full-day tours include lunch, the evening sunset runs do not, and the 3-day routes include meals plus two nights of accommodation, basic as it is. The $450 crossing to San Pedro includes the onward transfer into Chile, which is why it lists higher.

Hotel pickup in Uyuni is included on most listings, but the La Paz package lists hotel pickup among its exclusions, and the 5-hour stargazing listing charges $30 extra to collect from the Palacio de Sal hotels or the Luna Salada hotel on the edge of the salar.

• Transport and driver: included on all tours
• Meals: included on full-day tours and the 3-day routes, not on the evening runs
• Accommodation: 2 nights on 3-day routes, 3 nights on the 4-day route
• The San Pedro transfer: included only on the $450 crossing
• Edge-of-salar hotel pickup: $30 extra on the 5-hour stargazing listing

The Cash Fees on Top

The Eduardo Avaroa reserve entrance is the big one. Foreign visitors pay 150 Bs (about $13) in cash, and it is usually not in the tour price. Isla Incahuasi charges its own fee, listed at 30 Bs (about $3) to 35 Bs or $5 depending on the listing, paid at a booth at the island base. The Termas de Polques hot springs charge around 5 Bs for the changing rooms, and the pool has no separate admission. The 3-day listings add a mandatory extras line at booking: $62 on top of $290 for one operator, $10 on top of $309.90 for another. The sleeping bag rental is excluded on two 3-day listings, and one crossing includes it from May to September. Tips are never listed as included.

No official SERNAP fee schedule was found for these figures. The fees here come from the tour listings themselves and travel-publisher pages.

What You Would Really Pay

The clearest example is the cheapest 3-day route. It lists at $290, the platform's own mandatory extras add $62, and the reserve fee and island fee are still cash on top. That is a real total of $352 before tips, a sleeping bag and any transfer to Chile.

The day tours are more honest: an $80 listing becomes $85 with its mandatory extras, then the island fee adds a few dollars in cash. The $450 crossing is the most complete package, because the transfer and two nights are inside the price, and only entrance fees and tips sit outside it.

How Much Cash to Carry and in What

There are no ATMs or cash exchange points near the salt flat, as one day-tour listing states plainly. Bring bolivianos for the reserve fee at 150 Bs (about $13) and the island fee at 30 Bs (about $3), plus small notes for the hot springs changing room at around 5 Bs and tips. The 4-day listing from San Pedro suggests carrying 300 Bs for entrances and purchases, twice the reserve fee.

Some listings quote the island fee in dollars as well, $5 on the highlights loop, but small Bolivian notes are the safe choice at the booths.

• 150 Bs (about $13): Eduardo Avaroa reserve, cash only
• 30 Bs (about $3): Isla Incahuasi, cash only
• About 5 Bs: Polques hot springs changing room
• 300 Bs suggested cash for the 4-day route from San Pedro

The Exchange Rate Situation

Bolivia runs a dual system. The central bank publishes an official rate, sampled at Bs 11.52 per US dollar, and since late 2025 it also publishes a market-tracking reference rate alongside it. A street or parallel rate runs higher than the official one, and it is not a central bank quotation.

The conversions on this page use the market rate of 1 USD = 11.24 Bs, so a better street rate would get you more bolivianos per dollar than these figures show. The practical advice: change money before the tour starts, because there is nowhere to do it out on the salt.