salinas grandes

The scenery in the northwest is characterized by contrasts and these huge salt flats provide a completely unique landscape which is well worth a visit. The vastness and endless views of the flats offers fun photo opportunities, playing with the visual perspective. To get there you will drive up the Cuesta de Lipan which is a top attraction itself, with beautiful scenery as you wind your way up to over 4000 mts before descending to the salt flats...

We took a day-trip in our rental car from our base in Tilcara to Salinas Grandes. On the way home, we stopped in Purmamarca. Tilcara is a sweet little town with plenty of sleeping options and is central to many sights. To get to Salinas Grandes, you drive up and up into the Andes to the salt flats that are at 13,000 to 14,000 feet elevation. Salt is mined for animal, industrial and human consumptions. As you approach the salt flats from Tilcara, in the middle of nowhere there is a new little restaurant on the hill on the right, La Pekana, where we had the best empanadas and tamales, run by a family who live nearby. I would add, the ONLY restaurant around. Purmamarka is known for its spectacularly colored rocks and indigenous market, but a bit touristy for my taste. The cemetery was worth a visit.

Awesome view, feels like walking on another planet. I have felt the altitude sickness though, and bringing sunglasses is a must!

We took a 14hours trip here from salta, via s Antonio de los cobres. It was a long trip but definitely worth it, not just for the salinas but also for the Andean scenery we enjoyed on the way there. There is an alternative trip via purmamarca that some tour operators will propose. It is slightly cheaper and saves you a couple of hours but as it goes twice the return route of our trip (on a sort of highway) I would reccomend the longer trip via s Antonio.We booked the trip with Siro Travel, which we found operating out of a tiny shop on Buenos Aires (in the centre of Salta). We bought a trip to Salinas grandes and one to Cafayate with them for tot 610 ARS/person. Both trips were run by very knowledgeable and friendly guides, who made the long hours on the van easier to live through

We decided on a day trip to Salinas Grandes during our visit to Salta and were very happy with the experience over all. If you don’t have your own transport, then you are tied to the options available through the tour agencies, so we were prepared for a longer day than we would have preferred. We talked to a few tour organisers in town before going with a company called Tourism La Posada (on Buenos Aires). Their trip was slightly shorter than the others we looked into, 12 hours versus 14 hours, which we were happy about. We found them honest and easy to deal with. The compromise for the shorter day is that you go to Salinas Grandes and come back the same way. The trip stops at Cerro de las Siete Colores (just outside Purmamarca) and at the marker of the maximum altitude of 4170 metres before reaching Salinas Grandes for around a 30 minute visit (which we found long enough). We were not going to visit any salt flats in Bolivia, so we found this site impressive. The mountain drive is amazing, zigzagging up to 4170 metres. On the return trip it stops for lunch at Purmamarca for around 2 hours before heading back into Salta. The only downside for us was the prescribed lunch at a predetermined restaurant. It was quite expensive, and a later walk around Purmamarca uncovered a number of alternatives that we probably would have preferred. So it might be worth checking out the options before following your guide. La Posada used a smaller coach, seating about 30, and our group was around 20 people. We were the only English speakers, but our guide was bi-lingual, very friendly and very helpful.All in all, we found the day trip and the Salinas Grandes an exceptional and unforgettable experience that we could not have achieved otherwise. Well worth the long day.

We did a day trip to Salinas Grandes and I thought it was well worth the drive. If you like driving on winding roads. Not only did I buy a salt llama carving for my llama loving friend back in San Francisco, but we also saw Guanacos (wild llamas) and bought great and inexpensive alpaca caps from some local women at 13,681 feet! The photos say it all!

The salt flats in the Jujuy/Salta region is a fraction the size of the one in Bolivia so if you've visited Salar Uyuni or are planning to, it's ok to skip the one in Argentina. Salinas Grandes is also not as photogenic as its Bolivian counterpart. I only visited because I had seen Uyuni during the rainy season when the flats were flooded - I wanted to see salt flats in the dry season as well and grabbed the chance to do so when I was in Argentina.Salinas Grandes is a long and tiring day trip from Salta. I went with Turismo La Posada and only got to spend 30 minutes in the salt flats. Instead of rushing through it, consider visiting the flats from Jujuy or Pumamarca instead.

We visited this salt plain on a day trip from Purmamarca. It covers many kilometres, and the effect is dazzling - so don't forget to bring your sunglasses! At this time of year (May) the weather is perfect - a clear sunny day, the contrast of the white plains against the blue sky is amazing. It is a long drive, climbing up to over 3300m above sea level - but the steep, winding drive through the mountains is worth it in it's own right. We travelled with an excellent guide, Martin Alamo, who gave us extensive background on the geology and history of the area and Jujuy Province. We booked through Enchanting Travel, but Martin can also be booked direct through - martin_alamo@hotmail.com. You can walk out onto the salt crust (driving is now discouraged) - the crust is very thick. Some artisans sell quite good carvings made from the salt.

The way to the salt pan is very curvy but the view is amazing! It is located at 3450 masl so your ears can get blocked (think to bring some chewing-gum!) and you might get a bit dizzy (well, I did...). But when you arrive and you see all that extension of salt you can get speechless! There is an old salt hotel but at the moment it's not qualified to host people.I visited in August 2008

I unfortunately couldn't rent a car during my trip (sadly do not know how to drive manual, only automatic) so was forced to do a group tour of this area. Well... I'm sure it is fabulous, but I really wouldn't know based on my tour. It was by far the worst tour I've ever been on. I actually don't go on many guided tours, opting to go on my own and at my own pace. This would have been great on my own ,but the tour was horrible. It was a 13 hour drive round trip to Salta. The driver only spoke spanish (was supposed to be bilingual) but much worse, he never stopped! We only had on break in the middle of nowhere for TWO hours. The reason for our stop - it was the drivers girl friends town. So we milled about for two hours with nothing to see or do. Got back into the mini van and kept driving... and driving, and driving. At one point, the people in the car were taking pictures at a frantic pace out to a what looked like a distant pond. We didn't stop. about 20 minutes passes and he says, for once in english looking directly at me "hope you got your photo, that was the salt flat". Seriously. We drove by it, no stopping. What a joke of a tour. Upon our return, we drive by the hills of the seven colors at night. Couldn't see a thing. What a shame. can't even name the tour company as they just pile in a bunch of people from different sources into the same tour. I booked with Destino Exotico. Others booked with other companies.

The clear sky bule makes it more beautiful.Comission free.You can enter and walk on the lake as you like.

An interesting part of the Earth, the Salinas Grandes salt flats extend over a 300 square mile area and are located northwest of Purmamarca in the Province of Jujuy. This kind of terminal high desert dry lake or salt flat also known as a "playa" occurs when water containing salt and minerals invades a low area and eventually evaporates leaving behind a deposit of salt. Artisans sell their wares, made of large and small grains of salt and of carved flat stones, at humble prices. Beautiful images worth taking a look at and easy to carry home, the crafts make a wonderful memory of an unusual place to experience.

It has been a stop on the way from San Antonio de los Cobres to Purmamarca.We got there after two solid hours (on a minibus driven as a 4x4 (it is a compliment) on a sandy track on the Puna high flat, the Salinas is located just before the road starts climbing to a 4170m Pass, and the sudden descent to Purmamarca.The view at the Salinas Grandes is impressive and worth stopping for a walk and photos.We got there in the late afternoon and the light and colours were great, not crowded, at all.The salt patterns are very interesting, and they get different, and even more evident, a couple of Km beyond the Salina on your way to the PassVery different from the other places in the area.Recommended

It takes about three hours on an unpaved dirt road to go from San Antonio to Salinas Grandes. When someone tells you that you are taking the road alongside the train to the clouds, it sounds so exciting, but why do they forget to tell you it is unpaved and very rocky?A stunning natural phenomenon, these salt flats took about 22 million years to form the current topography. Salt deposits from a since-disappeared body of water cover the ground here, forming a durable surface that appears snowy from a distance and almost fossil-like up close.Salt can have a big glare, when not in a salt shaker and laid out in salt flats of 8,290 kilometers.For more info and photos go to http://havefunflysafe.com/2013/08/18/things-i-have-learned-in-jujuy-argentina/

Las Salinas Grandes is amazing. I traveled to Purmamarca by myself -- to get to Las Salinas Grandes, there are remises (private cars) that pick up passengers just off the main square in town. If you go in the morning, you'll find drivers looking to take people. My driver's name was Ignacio -- he hands out cards with his business name "San Ignacio" - telephone is 0388 154793681 -- he is far from a saint -- DO NOT GO WITH HIM.I was with him all day and tipped him well. After the 4 hour trip to Las Salinas, I agreed to let him drive me from Purmamarca to JuJuy (1 hour). After putting my bags in his car leaving my hotel, I went to use the bathroom and left my coat on the front seat of his car. While I was in the bathroom, he took advantage to search my pockets and stole my camera. DO NOT USE HIS SERVICE -- I've been in Argentina 6 months and all my pictures that I never downloaded from various trips are gone. My bad for not downloading the photos:(