La Paz

• Bolivia: A Local's Guide to a Country You Have to See to Believe · Juan Flores, our Bolivian friend, on the salt flats, La Paz, Sucre, Lake Titicaca and Santa Cruz — with the hotels and tours we'd book.

Where should I stay?

Where we'd stay in La Paz

From our Bolivia guide, with advice from our Bolivian friend Juan Flores.

1. Atix Hotel (Contemporary boutique):
2. Stannum Boutique Hotel & Spa (Modern, terrific views):
3. Casa Grande Hotel (Comfortable, Zona Sur):
4. Suites Camino Real (Suites, Zona Sur):

Where should I eat?

• Gustu · Calacoto (Zona Sur) · Contemporary Bolivian: Tasting menus built entirely on Bolivian ingredients, from Amazonian fish to Andean grains, at the city's best-known restaurant.
• Popular Cocina Boliviana · Centro · Bolivian: A small lunch spot serving refined set menus of traditional Bolivian dishes at fair prices; arrive early as it fills up.
• Ali Pacha · Centro · Vegan Andean: Plant-based tasting menus using Andean tubers, quinoa and fruits from across Bolivia.
• Paceña La Salteña · Sopocachi · Salteñas: A long-running local favorite for salteñas, the juicy baked empanadas paceños eat as a mid-morning snack.
• Mercado Lanza · Centro · Market food: A multi-level central market with cheap set lunches, fresh fruit juices and api with buñuelos.
• Mercado Rodríguez · San Pedro · Market food: The city's big produce market, busiest on weekends, for seeing Andean potatoes and grains and eating at simple food stalls.
• Alexander Coffee · El Prado · Café: A reliable local café chain serving Bolivian-grown coffee, sandwiches and cakes.

What should I do?

• Mi Teleférico · Citywide: The world's largest urban cable car network, with cheap rides offering sweeping views from the valley up to El Alto.
• Mercado de las Brujas · Centro (Calle Linares): A few streets of stalls selling herbs, amulets and dried llama fetuses used in Aymara offerings.
• Calle Jaén · Centro: La Paz's best-preserved colonial street, lined with small museums in restored houses.
• Plaza Murillo · Centro: The main square, flanked by the cathedral, the presidential palace and the legislature.
• Valle de la Luna · Mallasa: Eroded clay spires and canyons just south of the city, explored on short walking trails.
• Tiwanaku · Altiplano (approx. 70 km west): Ruins of a pre-Inca civilization with the Gateway of the Sun and two site museums, usually visited as a day trip.
• Cholitas wrestling show · El Alto: Theatrical lucha libre where Aymara women wrestle in traditional skirts, held mainly on Sundays.
• Mountain biking the Death Road · Yungas (Camino a Coroico): A guided downhill ride on the old Yungas road, dropping over 3,000 m from mountain pass to cloud forest.