How to Get From Salta to Uyuni by Bus (La Quiaca/Villazon)
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A couple of weeks before writing this, myself and my girlfriend travelled from Salta to Uyuni by bus, crossing the La Quiaca/Villazon border which takes you from Argentina to Bolivia.
We found the information online was pretty limited, making it hard to research how to complete this journey without difficulties. As a result I decided to write this guide to help you make this trip go as smoothly as possible.
If you’re doing the reverse journey from Uyuni to Salta, just follow this guide in reverse!
Although I would say if you are in Uyuni, the best thing to do is the incredible 3-day Uyuni Salt Flats tour which takes you to the Chilean desert town of San Pedro de Atacama.
Then I recommend checking out the Atacama Desert for a few days before taking a direct bus at 7:30am (Andesmar) or 8:30am (Pullman) to Salta.
How to Travel from Salta to Uyuni by Bus
At Salta’s bus terminal there is one company that goes to La Quiaca, a small town in Argentina which is on the border with Bolivia. They are called Balut.
There are no direct buses from Salta to Uyuni. You will need to take a Balut bus from Salta to La Quiaca at midnight. They run daily.
It will drop you off at La Quiaca Bus Terminal at around 7am the following day. From here it takes 17 minutes to walk to the border. You can get a taxi if you really need to, but honestly it’s easy to walk.
After crossing the border (read the next section to learn how), you will find a Casa de Cambio (money exchange house) a few seconds in front of you, on the right.
The rates here are really good if you have US dollars due to shortages in Bolivia. Unlike my first visit in 2022, Bolivia has a black market, similar to that across the border which makes getting money in Argentina more complex than it should be.
You can get around 30% higher than the official rate here (and even more when you get to Uyuni where the rates are around 40% above what they should be).
There are taxis right outside the casa de cambio. It should cost you around 10 Bolivianos (ยฃ0.80/US$1) to get to Nueva Terminal de Omnibuses de Villazon. Walking takes around 35 minutes if you prefer.
IMPORTANT: You want the Nueva (new) Terminal and NOT the old one.
From here, there are two ways to book a ticket to Uyuni. The first is to look at the agencies as you first enter the terminal and pick out the one that says “Uyuni” on the window. The second is to walk inside the main part of the terminal where vendors will constantly shout the name of the destination they are selling for, including Uyuni.
Your ticket should cost 50 bolivianos (ยฃ4/US$5) and the bus leaves at 11am.
There are other buses leaving at 2:30pm, 4pm and 8:30am, but you will be catching the 11am bus if you come on the night bus from Salta.
It takes 7 hours, and the journey can be pretty rough as you ascend through the mountains towards higher altitudes.
Once you are in Uyuni, I recommend going around tour agencies to find one you like before they close for the night. We went with Uturunku Travel. Although I wouldn’t recommend them due to the hapless guide who seems to have been a recurring gripe amongst past customers too.
I’ve written a post on the best time for visiting Salar de Uyuni, so you may want to give that a read whilst planning your trip.
How Can I Cross the Border Between La Quiaca and Villazon?
This border crossing is really easy. We walked towards it from La Quiaca’s bus terminal, and completed the entire process in less than 5 minutes.
Firstly, it’s a pretty quiet border crossing if you arrive around 7am as we did, and you will do if coming on the Salta night bus.
Secondly, you just need to walk into the building on the right-hand side and hand your passport over to the first people you see on the right inside.
These are the Argentinian officials. They do not stamp your passport, but will take a few seconds to check the system and scan your document before waving you through.
Literally seconds later, you will spot the Bolivian officials on the right-hand side.
Again, give them your passport, and they will stamp you into Bolivia. Unlike some border crossings, we had no interrogation here and they weren’t interested in asking us questions.
It’s important to note that we crossed with UK and Paraguayan passports. Neither of these need a visa to enter Bolivia which made the process very easy. Americans require a Bolivia visa which may slow down the process a little.
After being stamped into Bolivia, you exit the building through the door to the right of the Bolivian officials, and walk for under a minute to cross a bridge. Then you’re in!
How Much Does it Cost to Get From Salta to Uyuni?
Fortunately Argentina doesn’t cost too much to travel in, at least by western standards. And Bolivia is one of Latin America’s cheapest countries. Here are the exact costs for a trip between Salta and Uyuni, although your costs will vary slightly due to constantly fluctuating exchange rates:
Bus from Salta to La Quiaca: ยฃ23/US$30
Tips for baggage handlers in Salta and La Quiaca*: ยฃ2/US$3
Walking from La Quiaca terminal to the border: Free
Taxi from Villazon border to the Nueva Terminal de Buses: ยฃ0.80/US$1
Bus from Villazon to Uyuni: ยฃ4/US$5
Bus tax you have to pay on the Villazon to Uyuni bus: ยฃ0.20/US$0.25
Total: ยฃ30/US$39.25
*Note: Whilst you don’t have to tip baggage handlers in Argentina, it is generally the culture to do so, and they can become aggressive if you don’t pay, therefore I would advise tipping up to 1,000 pesos at a time. You do not need to tip them if you have no baggage to put in the hold of the bus.
Tipping Bolivian baggage handlers is neither expected nor required.
The only other avoidable cost here is the taxi to the bus terminal in Villazon. It will take about 35 minutes. You won’t miss the bus if you take this option as it doesn’t leave for several hours. However, it may be tricky if you have a lot of heavy bags.
Is it Safe to Travel Overland Between Salta and Uyuni?
In terms of crime, particularly theft, the journey between Argentina and Bolivia is pretty safe. Although I would advise reading my solo travel safety advice before your tip, particularly point 8 on padlocks.
There are two slight dangers to be aware of however.
The first is stray dogs at the La Quiaca border crossing. A few of them are roaming around within 5 minutes walking distance of the border.
Since dogs can have rabies, I would advise carrying a rock to scare them off, just to be on the safe side.
Secondly, Bolivia is notorious for its high altitude. And you can definitely feel it on this journey.
Both myself and my girlfriend felt pretty awful on the Villazon to Uyuni bus, because of the rapid ascent. With high altitude it is always wise to slowly ascend after taking time to acclimitise.
On the Argentina side, you will be relieved to know that Argentina is very safe and aside from the stray dogs, risks of problems are low here.
Can I get from Salta to Uyuni in One Day?
You will start your journey at midnight Argentina time and arrive at 6pm Bolivian time (7pm Argentina time) which means the journey takes 19 hours in total.
If you take the night bus as we did, you can easily reach Uyuni on the same day that you arrive in La Quiaca.
You do not need to stop in Tupiza, which some online sources suggested. Until we actually did the journey, I was under the impression that we may need to spend a night there, however this is incorrect.
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This is helpful. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get to Uyuni from Iguazu. Flights are not only expensive, but travel time is about the same as the driving time, so I would rather see some scenery if I’m traveling that long and save some money. What was the comfort level of the buses? Not interested unless the ride is spacious and comfortable. The flight from Iguazu to LA Quiaca is significantly less money, but you’re still going all the way to Buenos Aires first so the travel time is long. I may see if I can get an extra long layover to check out BA and break up the trip. Any suggestions on getting a ride from Iguazu to Salta if we don’t end up flying?
In all honesty, the buses aren’t particularly comfortable, especially over such long distances. And the bus from Villazon to Uyuni is a nightmare. It takes around 7 hours and for this particular journey, the seats do have a lot of leg space, however the bus rises up through the mountains towards higher altitudes which makes it an unpleasant journey. Both myself and my girlfriend felt very rough on that one.
Flying via Buenos Aires sounds like your best option, BA is a big city with a lot to do! I have a post on that with several ideas for 24 hours there.
If you go overland, then your best option is probably to take a bus from Iguazu to Posadas and then onwards to Salta from there, before following this post to La Quiaca/Villazon and eventually Uyuni.
An alternative route could be through Paraguay. Short bus to Ciudad del Este, long bus to Asuncion, taxi to Jose Falcon where you cross into Clorinda (Argentina). From there you can go to Salta and head to La Quiaca/Villazon from there. But I’d only really recommend this route if you want to check out Paraguay on the way.
Thank you for your answer. So is the bus from Villazon to Uyuni a nightmare just due to the altitude sickness? Or is the bus itself nasty and uncomfortable? I assume these aren’t large coach buses, but more extra large vans? I managed to find a direct flight to La Quiaca, so it would just be that particular bus. I don’t need or expect luxury but for 7 hours, I want it to be clean(ish) and relatively comfortable. I can bring meds for the altitude. Thanks in advance.
The altitude is certainly the main issue with the Villazon to Uyuni bus. The actual bus was quite good, with comfortable and spacious seats. I think it is possible to find minivans, but for this route you can definitely get a much more comfy bus for a really affordable price.