Sucre · Where to stay

The historic core, with everything inside ten minutes' walk and the part of the city that actually looks good after dark. Colonial buildings mean thick walls, cold rooms and street noise at weekends.

Uphill on the south side, quieter, with the cloister and the long view back over the roofs. Ten or fifteen minutes down to the plaza and a steeper walk back at night.

Two or three streets out from the centre the prices drop and the noise stops while you are still five minutes from everything. This is where most of the guesthouses and long-stay rooms are.

At just under 2,800m Sucre is the gentlest of Bolivia's highland cities, but the midday sun is fierce off white walls and nights from May to August are cold in unheated colonial rooms. Ask whether there is heating and whether the room gets any sun.