Home to the highest metropolitan city in the world, Bolivia is a landlock country that offers a diverse landscape. From the Andes in the west, to the tropical rainforest in the East, to the desert in the south. The metropolitan area of El Alto-La Paz sits at an average elevation of 4,000 m (~13,000 feet) and is a vibrant and growing city. We didn’t know what to expect when visiting La Paz, but ended up loving the city and had a wonderful day exploring before we caught an overnight bus to Uyuni to visit the Salt Flats.
How to Get There
Welcome to El-Alto La Paz – the highest metropolitan area in the world and home to La Paz’s international airport! Depending on your departure location, you might be getting in early in the morning (many flights connect through Bogota and arrive at ~2am). We arrived on this flight and opted to book a hotel for the night. We asked the hotel to organize a pickup for us at the airport – which we highly recommend given the arrival time. It was $40 USD and a 25 minute drive into downtown.
Where to Stay
La Paz isn’t as developed as many other big cities in South America, so there are no hotels by large chains (e.g., Marriott which is our usual go to). We ended up picking a small hotel set in a converted colonial house, Hotel Rosario which was cozy and perfect for one night. Our stay included breakfast and the staff was very accommodating in helping us store our bags while we explored the city and with a smooth check-in when we arrived late at night. The location was also good for exploring the city and it was only ~$80 USD for the night.
What to do
AM History & Markets
We started our day off at the Basilica of San Francisco, which was built in the 1700s in “Andean Baroque” style and was built on the site of earlier churches from the 1500s. From there it’s a short walk to the “Witches Market”, where you can find handicrafts, souvenirs and traditional herbal remedies and supplies for religious ceremonies. It gets its name from the traditional “witch doctors” that sell potions and dried Alpaca / Fetuses used to make sacrifices. It’s mostly now a tourist street, although there are a few shops remaining that sell these traditional offerings. Make sure to walk down Linares street, which is a beautiful cobblestone street, full of shops, and covered with paper umbrellas for shade. In this area is The Carrot Tree – which has great pastas, sandwiches and free WIFI! They have a cute lounge areas upstairs that is popular with backpackers. If you aren’t looking to sample the street food on offer around the city, this could be a good lunch stop.
Nearby, you can visit Plaza Murillo (a main square with the Presidential Palace) and Calle Jaén, a street with many museums depicting pre-Columbian artifacts & history. A few blocks away is the prison San Pedro, famous from the book “Marching Powder”, where inmates control the prison which has its own economy, districts, and governance. We were surprised to learn that some inmates families actually live with them in the prison and the inmates must pay for their own cells and food.
PM La Paz from above!
After you’re refueled, it’s time to try our the cable cars, Mi Teleférico – La Paz’s newest (and most fun) way of moving around the city. You can catch the purple line at Estación San Jose. Take the purple line to the silver line (Estación Faro Murillo) and then onwards to the end of the line and El Alto. Once you exit Jach’a Qhathu station, walk around the right side of the station and you’ll get an awesome view of the city below – this is among the highest points in La Paz / El Alto!
Then get back on the cable car (this time on the red line) and ride north-east. The red line gives you the best view of La Paz and takes you over colorful city districts and interesting cemeteries all the way to Taypi Uta, the central station.
Our trip only allowed us to spend a day in La Paz, so after touring the city we headed to the bus station to take an overnight bus trip to Uyuni. However, if you have more time in La Paz we recommend checking out Gustu for dinner. It’s one of the best restaurants in La Paz (offers tasting menus for ~$60 or a la carte) and we met other travellers who said it was excellent.
EZ Tip: There are multiple ticket options for the La Paz cable car. If you just want to ride one line, you can buy a single ticket, but you’ll have to fully exit the station once the line ends and repurchase a new ticket to ride again. When we visited there was options to buy a multi-line ticket or one that allowed you to ride in a circular route. We recommend buying a multi-line ticket and going up to El Alto.
Alternative Activities
If shopping or cable cars aren’t your jam, below are the other most popular activities in and around La Paz.
- Cycling Death Road: Named ‘Death Road’ due to the high number of vehicle accidents, the winding road around the cliffs of Bolivia is now closed to cars, but is a popular spot for mountain biking tours. Emily isn’t a huge fan of cycling so we opted not to do this, but many travellers will book a tour to cycle this road. The views are awesome and if you love adventure activities – this is for you! A word of warning that we heard many stories that broken collar bones (and other injuries from falls) are pretty common.
- Half-Day Sunset Tour to the Valley of the Moon: The Valley of the Moon is about 10km from La Paz downtown and is a popular half-day tour where you can catch the sunset over the mars-like landscape. Note that if you are going to the Atacama desert, they also have their own Valley of the Moon, which offers similar type terrain.
