The Bolivian Salt Flats in rainy season

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
1
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
9
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
6
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
8
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
82 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
31st/457
Top 10%
continent
South America
country
Bolivia
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$130 (typically $80 - $180)
Time of year visited
February
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
4WD Mirror Lakes Salt Flats
All Tags
Altitude Mountains
Wow Factor
Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

We’ve all seen the famous customary silly photos . . . but what I didn’t expect was quite how much fun it would be splashing about taking these customary silly photos!

Right from when you first put your feet in the water to feel the slightly crunchy crystals of the salt beneath you, through to gazing across the water into the distance at this vast temporary sea, its a great experience and an absolute must if in this part of the world. Lives up to the hype.

 

Bolivian Salt Flats in rainy season

Highlights

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#1 Feeling the light crunch of the salt hexagons, heptagons and octagons under your feet as you walk off into the distant mirror

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#2 Driving about while looking off into the distance of this temporary inland sea

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#3 Taking the customary silly photos, which really are rather fun

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#4 The train graveyard nearby is worth checking out if you're passing through

Travel Tips

Rainy vs Dry Season – the main downside to the rainy season (January to April) is supposed to be roads becoming hard to pass.  We went in February and had no problems in our 4 day 4WD trip all the way from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.  Mainly comes down to if you would rather the white salt or the mirror sea.  There isn’t really a better or worse.

Most of my tips for the Salt Flats sit within the overall tips I’ve written for the 4 day 4WD trip many take from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.  Follow the link 4WD tour from San Pedro to Salar del Uni for details on that experience.

Salt Hotels – it would be super cool to stay in one of the salt hotels, especially for things like sunrise, but we only stayed for an afternoon or so and felt like that was enough.

Take your shoes off for walking through the water.  Its a bit cold but get used to it very quickly and way easier and nicer on feet than wearing hiking boots or flip flops.

Train Graveyard – nearby there is a train graveyard with many rusty old trains that have been left at the end of the line.  Surprisingly enticing and  worth checking out.

Uyuni – you’ll likely need to stay in Uyuni for a night.  There was very little there from what we saw, so I wouldn’t spend any longer than needed.

Experiences nearby

Wow Factor Score Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100. LowHigh
  • Elite, unmissable
  • World-class, downsides
  • Meets the Wow Factor
  • Worth it
  • Meh
  • Gash

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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences - from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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