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Voykit pocket guide · Bolivia

La Paz

La Paz is a slow-start city: land at 4,050 m, rest on day 1, keep walks short and downhill, use radio taxis and cable cars for the slopes, and carry cash in small notes.

La Paz sits in a canyon at about 3,600 m, and its airport in El Alto is higher, at about 4,050 m. Altitude, steep streets and cold nights decide the trip more than distance does. Trips break on a hard first day, on unofficial taxis, and on road blockades and strikes that can close the airport road for hours or days. Four clusters cover a first visit; the cable cars link the slopes; Lake Titicaca and Uyuni are trips from a kept bed.

Plaza Murillo & Calle J…Sagárnaga & San Francis…El Prado & Plaza del Es…Sopocachi & Plaza AbaroaPlaza San Francisco h…Sopocachi hotels500 mpins: sleep areas · dots: places
Sketch, not to navigate by: shapes follow this guide’s areas and places, not official boundaries. North is up.
Country
Bolivia
Best months
Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct
Time zone
America/La_Paz
Stay
2 days: Plaza Murillo and the Witches' Market, then El Prado

Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.

Essentials

Currency
BOB
Money
Keep Bs200 in small notes and coins; withdraw at bank ATMs inside banks or malls, not on dark streets. Bring some clean US dollars as backup: exchange access has been unstable, so check the current situation before you fly.
Daily spend
Budget Bs150–300 excl. bed · Mid Bs300–700 excl. bed · High Bs700+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
SIM and data
Entel, Tigo and Viva sell SIMs with passport registration in their own shops.
Emergency
Police 110 · Ambulance 118 · Fire 119 · Tourist police Check locally
Plugs
Types A, C · 230 V · 50 Hz · Some La Paz buildings have 115 V — check.
Tipping
Restaurants: Round up; about 10% in tourist restaurants.; Uyuni driver and cook: Bs 50–100 per traveller for 3 days, shared.; Guides: Bs 30–70 a day.
Water
Not safe from the tap; bottled or filtered.
Toilets
Pay a boliviano or two; bring paper.

Get in

By air

El Alto International Airport (LPB)
LPB to La Paz: one radio taxi, 30–60 minutes down from 4,050 m — the risk is not the ride but the altitude on arrival and a road closed by a blockade.

Get around

Walk short, mostly downhill legs; radio taxi or ride-hailing between clusters; Mi Teleférico for the slopes.

Passes
No pass. Radio taxis inside the centre are cheap; agree or see the fare before you ride, and avoid unmarked cars.
Late at night
No rail. Cable cars run to a fixed evening hour (check the operator); take a radio taxi late.

See and do

  1. 01El Prado and Plaza del EstudianteEl Prado

    The central avenue on flatter ground: a slow 30-minute walk between cafés, best in the early morning sun.

  2. 02Mercado de las Brujas (Witches' Market)Mercado de las Brujas

    The market of herbs, amulets and llama fetuses on Calle Linares and Sagárnaga: 30–45 minutes; ask before photographing sellers.

  3. 03Plaza Abaroa

    The plaza of Sopocachi, with cafés on the edges: an evening stop of 30–45 minutes, reached by taxi.

  4. 04Plaza Murillo

    The main square with the cathedral and government palaces: 30 minutes on a slow first morning, then rest.

Hours and prices are desk estimates (checked 2026-09); anything marked (check) is not confirmed. Coordinates open in any map app.

Eat

Café Ciudad
A big city-centre café by Plaza del Estudiante: a heated, seated lunch or coffee; hours are not verified.

Sleep

Plaza San Francisco hotels
First-timers: a hotel near San Francisco with a staffed desk and a street-level door a taxi can reach; you sleep at 3,600 m, lower than the airport.
Sopocachi hotels
A quieter, lower district with cafés; a radio taxi from the centre and a good base after a rest day.

Language

Spanish is the working language, spoken slowly and clearly in the highlands. Aymara dominates around La Paz and the lake, Quechua around Cochabamba, Sucre and Potosí, Guaraní in the Chaco.

  • Learn numbers in Spanish; menus and buses rarely use English.
  • WhatsApp for everything.

Etiquette, safety and scams

Etiquette

  • Greeting: Handshake and 'buenos días'; avoid: Rushing into business
  • Photos: Ask, and accept a no; avoid: Photographing rituals uninvited
  • Sea question: Listen; avoid: Joking about Bolivia's lost coast
  • Queues and blockades: Patience; avoid: Arguing with protesters

Red lines

  • Ask before photographing people, especially cholitas at markets.
  • Do not take coca leaf across borders.
  • Do not walk uphill fast on day 1.

Scams (Bolivia page)

  • Fake police: Real police do not search your wallet in the street; walk to a police station or hotel.
  • Unofficial taxi robbery: Radio or app taxi; never share.
  • Cheap Uyuni tours with unsafe jeeps: Check vehicle, driver and reviews; pay a little more.
  • Mustard-spill distraction: Walk away.
  • Bad notes in change: Check torn or fake notes; small change.

One and two days

1 day

The first day of the timed plan.

Day 1 — A slow start: Plaza Murillo and the Witches' Market

  1. 09:30Plaza Murillo
  2. Mercado de las Brujas (Witches' Market) (optional)
  3. 12:30Lunch table 12:30 (El Prado)
  4. Rest at the hotel 13:30–16:00; water and small meals; no alcohol on day 1.

2 days

The first two days of the timed plan.

Day 1 — A slow start: Plaza Murillo and the Witches' Market

  1. 09:30Plaza Murillo
  2. Mercado de las Brujas (Witches' Market) (optional)
  3. 12:30Lunch table 12:30 (El Prado)
  4. Rest at the hotel 13:30–16:00; water and small meals; no alcohol on day 1.

Day 2 — Sopocachi and a café lunch

  1. 10:00Plaza Abaroa
  2. Café Ciudad
  3. Evening: dinner near the hotel; take a radio taxi, not a street cab, after dark.

Sources

Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.

Pocket card

Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.

La Paz

My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)

Take me to

  • El PradoEl Prado and Plaza del Estudiante
  • Mercado de las BrujasMercado de las Brujas (Witches' Market)

Voykit · checked 2026-09

Printed from Voykit (/la-paz). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.