La Paz
SOUTH AMERICA · FIESTA SIDE
The world's highest seat of government, poured into a canyon and stitched together by cable cars. Nothing here is flat, including the nights.
The plan
Ride the Mi Teleferico network
Eight lines, the world's largest urban cable car network, at 3 bolivianos a leg. The red, yellow and green lines are the views.
📍 Map & photos · € · Website ↗
Walk the Witches' Market
Calle Linares and around: herbs, amulets and offerings sold for Aymara house blessings. Ask before photographing the stalls.
📍 Map & photos · €
Dinner at Gustu
Claus Meyer's Bolivia-only pantry project in Calacoto, from Amazon fish to Andean grains. Book ahead; closed Mondays.
📍 Map & photos · €€€ · Website ↗
Cycle the Death Road
64km of descent from 4,650m into jungle. Gravity has run it since 1998; pay for the good operator, not the cheap one.
📍 Map & photos · €€€ · Website ↗
Plaza Murillo and the old core
Government palace, cathedral and the clock that runs backwards. Check the news first: protests gather here before anywhere else.
📍 Map & photos · €
Getting there
Fly La Paz (LPB)
El Alto is the world's highest international airport at 4,061m. You step off the plane already at altitude, so plan a slow first day.
Bus from Copacabana
Around 4 hours along Lake Titicaca, including a short ferry over the Tiquina strait. Cheap, scenic and best done in daylight.
Fly from Sucre or Santa Cruz
Boliviana de Aviacion links the main cities in under an hour. Arriving from low-altitude Santa Cruz hits harder than from Sucre.
When to go
Best time to go
May to October: dry, bright, cold nights, and clear views of Illimani.
Cheapest months
November to March, when afternoon rain and low season soften prices.
Priciest & busiest
June to August, plus Gran Poder in May or June, when beds vanish fast.
If you've got one day
Morning
Start slow at altitude. Coca tea, then the red line cable car up to El Alto for the whole canyon laid out beneath you.
Late morning
Drop back down to Calle Jaen, a single restored colonial lane holding four small museums shoulder to shoulder.
Lunch
Salteñas mid-morning are the local habit; for a full sit-down lunch try the almuerzo set menus around Sopocachi.
Afternoon
Taxi to Valle de la Luna for eroded clay spires, then browse the Witches' Market on the way back into town.
Evening
Sopocachi for dinner and drinks. Take a radio taxi after dark rather than flagging one down on the street.
Nearby & day trips
Tiwanaku
70km west, a UNESCO site older than the Inca, with the Gate of the Sun and the Akapana pyramid. An easy half-day trip.
Valle de las Animas
Spires of eroded rock on the city's southeast edge, quieter and wilder than Valle de la Luna. Go with a guide.
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