Bolivia
Bolivia packs the Andes into two unforgettable bases.
La Paz is a canyon city strung with the world's most dramatic urban cable car network, where the Mi Teleférico lifts you from the old town and the Witches Market up to El Alto with Illimani glowing behind, while Valle de la Luna, the Tiwanaku ruins, Lake Titicaca and the Death Road ride are all day trips away. Far to the south, the town of Uyuni opens onto the largest salt flat on Earth, with a train cemetery, salt hotels, sunset mirror reflections and the colored lagoons beyond. This guide books Bolivia properly: the right cable car lines, a careful Death Road operator, the Copacabana and Isla del Sol day trip, Uyuni salt flat tours by the day or by the three-day expedition, and the cultural color of cholitas wrestling. Then it matches you to the right hotel, from a design hotel in La Paz's calm southern zone to a hotel built of salt at the edge of the Salar, because at this altitude where you sleep shapes everything.
Mi Teleférico Cable Cars
The world's most spectacular commute: a network of color-coded cable car lines that lifts La Paz out of its canyon to El Alto and down to the quiet southern suburbs. It is cheap, fast and the best city tour you can ride on your own.
Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley)
A maze of eroded clay-and-sandstone spires and canyons just south of La Paz, with short footpaths that take under an hour. It is the easiest nature fix in the city and fits neatly into a half day with the cable car.
Tiwanaku Archaeological Site
Bolivia's greatest pre-Inca site, about 70 km west of La Paz at 3,850 m: the Akapana pyramid, the Kalasasaya temple and its carved Gate of the Sun. A guided half or full day is the best way to understand it.
Cholitas Wrestling in El Alto
Women in traditional bowler hats and layered skirts perform theatrical wrestling in El Alto. It is loud, silly and uniquely Bolivian, and the 40-review Viator ticket makes the logistics easy.
The world's most spectacular commute: a network of color-coded cable car lines that lifts La Paz out of its canyon to El Alto and down to the quiet southern suburbs. It is cheap, fast and the best city tour you can ride on your own.
A maze of eroded clay-and-sandstone spires and canyons just south of La Paz, with short footpaths that take under an hour. It is the easiest nature fix in the city and fits neatly into a half day with the cable car.
A guided downhill ride from the 4,650 m La Cumbre pass to the green jungle edge near Coroico on the old North Yungas Road. It is La Paz's signature adrenaline day, and the choice of operator matters more than anything else.
A long day from La Paz to the shores of Lake Titicaca: the lakeside pilgrimage town of Copacabana, a boat crossing and a walk on Isla del Sol, the legendary birthplace of the Inca sun. The 847-review Viator day trip is the simple way to do it.
The world's largest salt flat on a single full day from the town of Uyuni: train cemetery, Colchani salt works, Incahuasi island and sunset on the white plain. The 502-review Viator day tour is a straightforward way to see it.
The classic southwest Bolivia jeep trip: the Salar, then high-altitude lagoons, flamingos, geysers and desert rock formations. The 847-review Viator listing is one of the most-reviewed Uyuni departures.
Bolivia's greatest pre-Inca site, about 70 km west of La Paz at 3,850 m: the Akapana pyramid, the Kalasasaya temple and its carved Gate of the Sun. A guided half or full day is the best way to understand it.
Women in traditional bowler hats and layered skirts perform theatrical wrestling in El Alto. It is loud, silly and uniquely Bolivian, and the 40-review Viator ticket makes the logistics easy.
FreeA tangle of streets in central La Paz where stalls sell herbs, amulets, charms and dried llama fetuses for Aymara offerings to Pachamama. Free to wander and unlike anywhere else.
FreeA field of rusted steam locomotives and wagons on the desert edge of Uyuni town, the classic first stop on any salt flat tour. It is free to wander and best at golden hour.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
$$$Colchani, near Uyuni
A hotel built largely from salt blocks on the edge of the Salar de Uyuni near Colchani. Walls, furniture and decoration are carved from salt, and the flat itself is on the doorstep. The splurge for a salt flat trip.
Rates on Expedia →Zona Sur, La Paz
La Paz's design hotel in the calmer, lower southern zone, a Member of Design Hotels with modern rooms, city views and an easy taxi or cable car link to the center and Moon Valley. A comfortable upscale base.
Rates on Expedia →
$$Downtown La Paz
A four-star boutique hotel with a spa in downtown La Paz, within reach of the old town, the cable cars and the main museums. A comfortable mid-range base for first-timers.
Rates on Expedia →Calle Sagarnaga, Downtown La Paz
A budget hotel on Calle Sagarnaga, the tourist street of La Paz, steps from the Witches Market, tour agencies and the San Francisco church. A simple, central base for backpackers and independent travelers.
Rates on Expedia →Uyuni town
A mid-range hotel in Uyuni town, the practical base for salt flat tours, with a 3.5-star rating on Expedia and the town's tour agencies and restaurants close by.
Rates on Expedia →The practical primer for Bolivia's two headline bases: what to book ahead, how to move around, how many days to allow and how to handle altitude, strikes and safety.
Which part of La Paz suits you, whether to sleep in Uyuni town or by the salt flat, and how each of our five hotels fits a different trip.
