La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia, is a cultural hotspot where the mountains meet the sky and centuries-old traditions intersect with modernity. This diverse destination is likely to feature on all Bolivia itineraries. But, what if you have only 4 days in La Paz?
We have got you covered. We created this 4-day La Paz itinerary that takes you to the major attractions in and around the city, and also lets you discover its character and feel its soul.
To make your La Paz travel planning easier, we are going to share a day-by-day itinerary and also other details like how to get to, where to stay, where to eat and where to go next.
So, take notes and bookmark pages. Ready?
Quick Resources for 4 Days in La Paz, Bolivia
❗️La Paz is a high altitude city. To avoid altitude sickness, take it slow, rest well and hydrate yourself.
✨ Top Things to do:
🦙 This guided city walk, and Calle Jaen and its museums.
🚡 Ride Teleferico – on your own, or as part of this extensive city tour, plus Cholita Wrestling.
🌙 Visit Valley of the Moon – on your own or with this tour that includes two other sites.
🚲 Death Road Biking for adventurers, and Tiwanaku Ruins for history buffs.
🏨 Hotel Recommendations: Choose between the two locations.
| Location | Premium | Nice and Affordable |
|---|---|---|
| Zona Centro | Hotel Europa | Hostal Iskanwaya |
| Sopocachi | Ritz Apart Hotel | El Museo Hotel Boutique |
🗓️ Best Time to Visit: Dry season, May to October
✈️ How to Get to:
- International: Fly in to El Alto International Airport
- From within Bolivia: from Uyuni or from Sucre
Is La Paz, Bolivia Worth Visiting?
La Paz was our first stop on our month long travel in Bolivia, and the city won our hearts straight away.
The unique blend of ancient traditions and contemporary life, layered with interesting history, delectable food and soft-spoken native people, against the backdrop of striking landscapes of the Andes mountains, make La Paz a fascinating city.
So, if you ask us if La Paz, Bolivia is worth visiting, the answer is a resounding yes.
In fact, if you like history, nature and culture all weaved in one destination, you must include La Paz on your Bolivia itinerary.
How Many Days in La Paz, Bolivia?
La Paz is a large metropolis where you can spend weeks without running out of things to do. But for a more definitive approach to planning your La Paz itinerary, the question is how many days do you have to travel in Bolivia?
⏳ For Bolivia itineraries of three to four weeks, you can easily dedicate at least a week for exploring La Paz.
⌛️ For shorter Bolivia itineraries of up to two weeks, a sweet spot is 3-5 days in La Paz. That is why we created this 4-day itinerary that you can customize as per your schedule and preferences.
4 Days in La Paz, Bolivia Itinerary
Situated at 11940 feet (3640 meters), La Paz is a high altitude city where you need to take it slow.
If you arrive in La Paz by plane, you will hit the altitude directly instead of slow ascent. So, upon arrival, get plenty of rest and allow your body to acclimatize.
That is why we have designed this La Paz itinerary with a slow start of exploring the city.
Over the course of 4 days in La Paz, soak in the city’s vibrant atmosphere, navigating through its cobbled streets, from the whispers of the Witches’ Market to the serene beauty of the Valley of the Moon, and then gradually make your way to longer trips on the outskirts of the city, or if you fancy, some adventure too.
📌 If you do not have the time to read everything now, pin this for later and check the summary table below. For details, continue reading.
| Day No. | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | La Paz City Walking Tour |
| Day 2 | Jaen Street Museums + El Alto + Cholita Wrestling |
| Day 3 | Valley of the Moon & More |
| Day 4 | ✔️ For history enthusiasts: Tiwanaku Ruins Day Trip ✔️ For adventurers: Death Road Mountain Biking |
Day 1: La Paz City Walking Tour
For Day 1, keep it to one activity only, a nice and easy one, and one that is a perfect introduction to the city of La Paz, a half-day city walking tour.
As you navigate through the narrow alleys and take in some interesting sights, the guide shares insights into what makes La Paz a fascinating city.
We did this tour and loved how our guide gradually peeled off the complex layers of socio-economic and political layers of La Paz to help us better understand the city.
Some of the important sites that this tour takes you to are San Pedro Plaza, Rodriguez Market, Witches Market, San Francisco Plaza and Murrillo Square.
The half-day city walking tour takes place every day, twice a day, at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.
The tour has a small fee attached, but such tours usually run on tips. So remember to tip your guide. In case you are looking for a ballpark number, we were told, 10 USD per person is a decent tip.
Before or after the city walking tour, you can take a stroll by yourself along Calle Linares and Calle Sagarnaga.
They are cobblestone streets decorated with colorful umbrellas in air and lined with shops selling cute souvenirs on either side. These streets exude a vibrant atmosphere where tourists find cheerful photo opportunities.
You can also stop by a cafe or restaurant to grab a bit or get a warm drink.
Day 2: Jaen Street Museums + El Alto + Cholita Wrestling
Consider Day 2 as an extension of getting to know the city of La Paz.
Again, take the altitude seriously, and remember to rest well the night before. Make a slow start to the morning and set out to explore after a nice breakfast.
You will be visiting Jaen Street, followed by exploration of El Alto, the satellite city of La Paz and conclude with watching Cholita Wrestling, a unique form of wrestling where Aymara women, dressed in their traditional attire, take to the ring.
🗓️ Plan this for a Thursday, as the Cholita Wrestling happens only on Thursdays and Sundays.
Also, these are the days when El Alto’s huge open air market takes place. But the museums of Calle Jaen remain closed on Sundays.
Else, switch this day’s plan with any of the other days on your La Paz itinerary.
Museums of Calle Jaen
In the morning, head to Calle Jaen, a quaint street with colorful houses and cobblestone street that make for a pretty setting.
Here you can visit four museums:
- Museo Costumbistra Juan de Vargas
- Museo de Litoral Boliviano
- Museo Casa de Murillo
- Museo de Metales Preciosos Precolombinos
You can buy the entry tickets at the Costumbistra Museum and it will grant you access to the other three as well.
🕰️ Museums visit hours:
- Tuesday through Friday:
- 9:00 am to 12:30 pm
- 2:30 pm to 7:00 pm
- Saturday: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
- Sunday: Closed
🚕 How to Reach: It is easy to go on a self-guided walking tour of Calle Jaen and its museums. Just book an Uber to Costumbistra Museum, buy the museum tickets and start exploring.
El Alto + Cholita Wrestling
For the second half of the day, visit El Alto. Situated at an elevation of 4150 meters (11616 meters), it is the world’s highest major city.
🚡 To get to El Alto, ride cable cars, the city’s distinct public transport system called Mi Teleferico.
🌟 According to us, you get the best views of La Paz and El Alto during these cable car rides. Do not miss it.
We ventured on our own from La Paz to explore El Alto, its biweekly open air market and the unique cholets.
Cholets are big colorful mansions with unique designs combining Aymara culture and modern concepts.
Famous Bolivian architect Freddy Mamani started designing buildings in this style and later others followed too.
Such eye-catching extravagant architectural designs are considered to reflect status in society. The buildings could be personal residences or also be for use as salons for events.
On our self-guided walk in the bare neighborhoods of El Alto, we saw buildings with designs of varied concepts, ranging from the Titanic ship to Bumblebee, the popular character from the Transformers series, all intertwined with elements from native Andean cultures.
How to Visit El Alto Independently
From Calle Jaen, you can walk for about 20 minutes or get an Uber to Estacion Central, where the Red Line and Orange Line of Mi Teleferico intersect.
From there, take the Red Line ride to the station 16 de Julio. Here, you can get down and go out to check out the open air biweekly market that operates on Thursdays and Sundays only.
To continue your journey, come back to the 16 de Julio station and take the Blue Line Mi Teleferico to get to the station UPEA. During this ride, keep an eye out to see the cholets as the cable car moves hanging lower, giving a closer view of the life going by.
From UPEA, walk to the circle and catch a running shuttle to get to the Titanic themed cholet. Walking around, you will also find other cholets.
To get the correct shuttle, we waived down a van and tried to explain to the driver where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see. Did it work? Yes, took us two to three tries, but we finally got where we intended to be.
Sounds overwhelming? Then you do not need to go as far to see cholets. Yes, you may not see the Titanic or the Bumblebee, but sure there are many other cholets to admire closer to the Mi Teleferico, like the Iron Man.
But if you would rather not go on this wild exploration on your own, consider going on a guided tour.
Visit El Alto on a Guided Tour
Both tour recommendations include cable car rides, our favorite way of commuting in La Paz and El Alto.
✨ Guided Tour of Cholets: On this tour, you get to learn from a guide about the implications of this unique architectural style. You also get to visit the interiors of a cholet.
Note that, this tour starts at 9:00 in the morning. So, in that case, switch your Calle Jaen visit to the afternoon.
If you are more interested in overall El Alto, with more cultural depth, and not specifically in cholets, consider this tour:
✨ Guided Tour of El Alto: It starts from Murrillo Square, which is about 10 minutes’ walk from Calle Jaen. The tour begins at 2:00 pm, so it fits perfectly in schedule after your morning self-guided visits to the museums of Calle Jaen.
The tour helps you see traditional Bolivian culture more up close as you visit the cemetery, the original Witches’ Market where you get to meet a shaman, and wander through vibrant neighborhoods of El Alto.
On Thursdays and Sundays, you can extend the same tour to include Cholita Wrestling for a fee.
** Remember to book for Thursday or Sunday to get the full experience, as explained earlier.
Day 3: Valley of the Moon & More
For Day 3 of your 4 days in La Paz, you are going to travel a bit to the outskirts of the city.
The main attraction for today is seeing unique geological formations that make you wonder if you have been transported to the moon.
Valley of the Moon, located about 13 km (8 miles) from La Paz city center, is a national park where erosion has caused the clay mountains to take outlandish shapes and form amusing structures.
Once inside the national park, to see the formations from close, you can take either of the two trails, one of 15 minutes and the other of 45 minutes. We did the longer route, and found it quite easy.
Towards the end, there is a viewing platform and seating area from where you get panoramic vistas of the valley.
How to Visit Valle de la Luna Independently
It is easy to visit Valley of the Moon by yourself. From La Paz city center, take a taxi or a mini van (shared shuttle) that will drop you at the entrance of the national park.
If you choose to take the shared shuttle, from the San Fracisco square, board one with ‘Malassa’ written on it. Confirm before boarding.
Visiting Valley of the Moon can be a nice DIY half-day trip from La Paz.
How to Visit Valle de la Luna on a Tour
However, if you want to get more out of the day, you can book a guided tour of Valle de La Luna.
On such tours, you get to combine another site of attraction, without taking the hassle of arranging for transport between two different sides of the city.
Here are a couple of tours you can consider:
Valle de las Animas + Valle de la Luna + Killi Killi Viewpoint
On this tour, visit not one, but two places with unique terrains and striking landscapes, Valley of the Moon as well as Valle de las Animas. Some people say, the latter looks even more spectacular.
They also include a stop at the Killi Killi viewpoint, from where you get to enjoy beautiful vistas of the city of La Paz, and a visit to Mercado de las Brujas (Witches’ Market).
If you prefer, the tour can end at the Witches’ Market, where you can explore on your own.
Else, the tour offers hotel pickup and drop-off, and transportation and all entrance tickets are included in the tour price.
Valley of the Moon and Chacaltaya Mountain
Choose this tour if you want to fit in two wildly different experiences in two far apart places in one day.
One is the Valle de la Luna, and the other one is the Chacaltaya Mountain.
At Chacaltaya Mountain, it used to be a ski resort but not anymore as the glacier completely melted in the past decades! However, from this abandoned ski resort, you can hike to the top of Chacaltaya and admire the stunning views of the Andes mountains.
Both Chacaltaya Mountain and Valley of the Moon are remarkable places. But the logistics are not easy to handle by self to visit both on the same day. That is why this tour makes sense, but set your expectations right before you book.
❗️Here are couple of things to be cautious about:
🗻 Chacaltaya takes you to views at over 5000 meters, so be careful about preventing altitude sickness, and be prepared, in case it does hit you.
🚐 The drive is long and on very bumpy roads. So, all the time sitting in the car is not going to be a comfortable experience.
Day 4: Tiwanaku Ruins OR Death Road Mountain Biking
What are you more interested in, history and archaeology, or adventure and adrenaline rush? Based on your answer, you decide which of the two activities to pick for Day 4 on your La Paz itinerary.
Option 1: Tiwanaku Archaeological Complex
For those interested in exploring historic sites, you can travel 75 km (~46 miles) out of the city of La Paz to visit the Tiwanaku Archaeological Complex.
It is a pre-Hispanic site where you can see the remains of the Tiwanaku empire, one of the most important civilizations to have inhabited in this part of the world.
For a full-day activity with transportation and bilingual guide (English and Spanish), consider this tour.
Their tour price includes hotel pickup, entrance tickets to the archaeological site and lunch. Later, you are dropped off at the central location of San Francisco Church.
Option 2: Death Road Biking
If you are one to seek pleasure in thrill, go on a mountain biking trip down what is famously called as the Death Road.
Once serving as the main highway between La Paz and the Yungas region, this narrow curvy bumpy road used to see a little too many fatalities, thus earning it the name Camino de la Muerte, or the Death Road.
However, with improved road networks for primary vehicular transportation, this road has now become an adventure hotspot where bikers cycle downhill with wind on their faces and amazing views of nature for company. Sounds like your game?
Book a guided activity of Death Road Biking where the company takes care of organizing everything.
🚵🏽 They provide equipment, full-suspension mountain bikes with hydraulic brakes, and your gear like pants, jackets, pads, gloves and helmets.
⚙️ Bike mechanics and English speaking guides accompany on every tour.
💧 Transportation from La Paz, breakfast, box lunch, snacks and water are included in the tour price.
📷 They also take and share photos!
✅ The company has been organizing this mountain biking activity for decades and hold a good safety record.
Where to Stay in La Paz, Bolivia
We stayed in La Paz for about two weeks and split our stay in two different places, one in Zona Centro and the other in Sopocachi. The two neighborhoods have completely different characters, and we liked both for different reasons.
So, when deciding on where to stay in La Paz, decide on the area first and then pick the hotel.
Zona Centro
The historic center of the city, Zona Centro gives you quick and easy access to major attractions of the city, like the Cathedral, the Witches Market, Plaza Murillo, the local markets, to name a few.
Due to availability of public transport like shuttle vans, taxis and Ubers, and the connection of Mi Teleferico, commuting to other parts of the city is also convenient, when staying in Zona Centro.
Remember, this is the oldest part of the city, so not everything looks glossy here. Some even say that at night some parts of Zona Centro look sketchy.
However, in our personal experience of exploring the city on our own, by public transport and on foot, including at night, we found the area of Zona Centro to be fine. That is, we never felt unsafe, even while walking the streets in the evening.
Check out these accommodation options for staying in Zona Centro during your 4 days in La Paz.
Hostal Iskanwaya
A nice affordable family-run guesthouse with neatly appointed rooms, with city views or mountain views. You can choose from rooms with private or shared bathroom, all with excellent hot shower.
Although there is no room heating, they provide plenty of blankets to keep you warm, and the rooms are quite cozy too.
We loved the simple yet tasty homemade breakfast at Hostal Iskanwaya every morning.
Hotel Europa
Located within walking distance of some attractions, this 5-star hotel has attractive onsite amenities like heated swimming pool, sauna, massage rooms, gym and couple of restaurants.
The rooms have modern decor style and come with cable TV and minibar. Some rooms have city view balconies and while suites have private kitchenette.
Sopocachi
Sopocachi is centrally located, not too far from the Zona Centro, but world apart in terms of the look and feel. It is a chic neighborhood with all modern amenities within quick reach from your place of stay.
The public transport network from Sopocachi is also well connected with the rest of the city, via all means, including the cable car.
Tourists supposedly feel safer in Sopocachi. We felt fine in Sopocachi, but as mentioned earlier we didn’t find any problem with Zona Centro either.
May be, because of the familiarity of infrastructure and amenities in the area, modern tourists feel safer in Sopocachi? That is just my observation.
If dining at cool restaurants, hanging out at hip bars and visiting impressive art galleries sound like your jam, then pick a hotel in Sopocachi for your stay during 4 days in La Paz. Check these options:
Ritz Apart Hotel
Your home away from home, this aparthotel offers luxury suites with stylish decor and city views.
The suites come with attached private bathroom, living space, and private kitchenette, and are equipped with minibar and flat-screen TV. Some suites also come with balconies.
A hearty complimentary breakfast is included in the nightly stay tariff.
El Museo Hotel Boutique
This boutique hotel in a quiet charming neighborhood is only 10 minutes’ walk away from the Sopocachi Teleferico Station.
The rooms are comfy with nice beds, have flat-screen TV and air-conditioning, and come with private attached modern bathroom.
Guests love the common areas of the hotel and enjoy an onsite snack bar and a nice breakfast spread every morning.
Where to Eat in La Paz, Bolivia
If you look forward to traditional gastronomic experiences during your travels, you will not be disappointed in Bolivia.
From the very local api con pastel in La Paz to Bolivia’s favorites like salteñas, anticuchos and relleno de papa, there are several delectable dishes to try.
The traditional main meals feature quinoa and potatoes as staple ingredients along with choices of meat.
Here are some place to get your taste of Bolivian cuisine:
- Street vendors – for anticuchos (skewers) and quick bites like relleno de papa
- Mercado Lanza – for traditional meals of menu del dia and api con pastel
- Small shops and cafes – for salteñas
- Gustu and Artesanal – for fine dining on Bolivian cuisine. They are part of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Apart from this, there are several nice restaurants and cafes in Zona Centro as well as Sopocachi. Just walk around and pick the one you like.
You may discover a personal favorite that is not even part of the best restaurants lists of popular publications. Like, we liked the tiny cafe where we randomly walked in to for a warm beverage and light bites on a chilly evening in La Paz. The cafe was cozy and cute, and the food and beverages were of excellent quality.
However, our favorite foods in La Paz remain all the dishes we tried from the street vendors.
Left: The comfort drink and snack in La Paz – api con pastel. Right: Indranil, happy with his bite of Papa Relleno.
How to Get to La Paz, Bolivia
La Paz is served by the El Alto International Airport, located in its satellite city El Alto. This airport has direct flight connections with Lima, Peru and Bogota, Colombia, as well as connecting flights with the rest of the Americas and Europe.
From the airport, it takes less than half an hour to get to the center of La Paz. It is best to coordinate in advance with your place of stay to get an airport pickup taxi arranged. That is what we did.
However, if you have already been traveling in Bolivia and coming to La Paz from another part of the country, book a bus or look for a domestic flight route.
Bus journeys can be long but nothing that cannot be done, and the long-distance buses are actually comfortable with good recliner seats, plenty of legroom and temperature-controlled interiors.
Book your bus tickets on Tickets Bolivia or Bookaway.
Best Time to Visit La Paz, Bolivia
For clear weather, the best time to visit La Paz is between the months of May and October, which is the winter and also the dry season.
However, when visiting Bolivia, if you wish to see the world’s largest mirror effect on the Uyuni Salt Flats, you need to be there during the rainy season. It comes with other challenges though, like chances of tour cancellation.
The rainy season, also Bolivia’s summer, runs from November to March, with the highest rainfall in January. So, you know which month to avoid when planning your trip.
Where Next?
If you are on ~1-week Bolivia trip
Make your way from La Paz to Uyuni.
There are plenty of things to do in and around Uyuni, but the real reason you would be traveling that far is to see one of most surreal landscapes on our planet – the Uyuni Salt Flats.
It is possible to experience the salt flats on various kinds of tours, on a day trip or an extended multi-day trip. You can choose a tour directly from La Paz or one that start from Uyuni.
Spoilt for choice? To help you decide, we have created this guide on how to pick the Uyuni Salt Flats tour that is best for you.
If you are on 2+ weeks Bolivia trip
For 2-week Bolivia itineraries or longer, you can make a stop in Sucre, that is, head from La Paz to Sucre, spends a few days there, and then travel from Sucre to Uyuni.
The constitutional capital of Bolivia, Sucre is known for its white-washed buildings with terracotta tiles roofs, immense historical importance and a tranquil city vibe, a character completely different than that of La Paz.
Plan Your Bolivia Trip:
- 2 Weeks in Bolivia Itinerary
- Bolivia and Peru Itinerary
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Travel Planning Logistics
- Accommodation: For several years now, Booking.com has been our platform of choice for booking accommodation while traveling. You can apply all the desired filters and shortlist the ones that meet your criteria. On continued use, you will keep unlocking their Genius benefits. For long term stays, we use Airbnb. Of late, we have also started browsing Hostelworld for finding hostels.
- Tours: When traveling to new destinations, you can plan ahead and book your activities. Check for highly rated tours on Viator and Get Your Guide.
- Packing: From swimwear to sunscreen, hiking pants to insect repellents, buy your vacation packing essentials on Amazon.
- Flights: We always start our flight searches with Skyscanner and Momondo. They are aggregators that display flight options, compiling information across airlines and combinations. What we like the best about these flight aggregators is that you can put “Anywhere” as your destination, so that you find the best flight deals from your city of departure.
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