Highlights
Valle de las Ánimas and Palca Canyon
A land of big skies and staggering scale, the Valle de las Animas and Palca Canyon pave the way for the wild and unbridled treasures Bolivia has to offer. Sitting just 45 minutes from the capital of La Paz, this is a land of sweepingly deep canyons, snaking rivers, and cathedral-like rock formations formed over thousands of years. Far from the beaten track, this natural wonder is free from the tangle of tourists.
Lake Titicaca
Sitting at the top of the world, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and a vision of sheer breathless beauty. Shimmering opal waters sit beneath the powdered glacial peaks of the Cordillera Real, and the shores are studded with indigenous Aymara communities. Visit for the views, but also for rare encounters with the Aymara and their glorious reed-built boats, along with the fascination of stepping foot in the spot the Incas considered the birth of civilization.
Uyuni Salt Desert
The poster child of Bolivia’s tourist scene, the Salar de Uyuni is every bit as spectacular as the rumors would have you believe. The world’s largest salt flats spread for 4000 square miles, creating an otherworldly landscape of infinite horizons, dreamy reflections that swallow the sky, and a poetic desolation that seems to strip the universe back to its purest roots.
Reserve Eduardo Avaroa
Another unreal landscape occupying lashings of space in the Southwest of beautiful Bolivia. Crack open a world of shimmering salt-flats, blood red lakes, and scores of pale pink flamingos flooding the impossibly blue skies. A landscape that seems to paint the unexpected with its use of natural color, the Reserva Eduardo Avaroa is a photographer’s dream.
Potosí
Perched in the clouds, Potosi is celebrated as being one of the highest cities in the world. Once upon a time its rugged mountains were brimming with silver, and the mines that delve deep into the earth around Pulacayo tell a story of tears and tragedy. Potosi paved the way for prosperity in Latin America.
Sucre
The beating heart of Bolivia, Sucre was once the Spanish colonial headquarters but now serves as the constitutional capital. Streets are paved with some of the most impressive examples of rich colonial architecture, plazas throng with people, and numerous rooftop spots offer glinting views across the beloved white city.
Toro Toro National Park
Land of dinosaurs, deep dark caves, and heart-racing close encounters with some of Bolivia’s most exciting wildlife, the Toro Toro National Park is a crowning jewel. Epic canyons hide screaming macaques, slinking jaguars, and curious llamas and days of discovery will take you hunting for dinosaur prints and plunging deep into complex cave systems where blind fish flitter in underground lakes.
La Paz
The capital perched in the clouds, La Paz is a vibrant jostle of color and creativity. Spilling over the edges of the Andes and then climbing high, the city is a blanket of life strewn across the mountaintops. From a chic cosmopolitan cocktail and dining scene to mesmerizing markets dotted with witch doctors and handmade wares, La Paz is a legacy. From eclectic architecture to street theater, gastro revolutions, and preserved cobbled corners, La Paz is poetry for the senses.
Jesuit Missions
Heaven on earth is waiting at the UNESCO Jesuit Churches of Chiquitos. Scattered across the lowlands of the east sit seven Jesuit missions dating back to the 17th and 18th century. Immaculately preserved, visiting these seven beacons of Spanish history feels like tumbling back in time. Ornate frescoes, hewn columns, and bell towers, and carved altars bring this eye popping place to life. Silent plazas and wide empty streets where the dust stirs in golden clouds only adds to the western movie set like appeal.
Amazon Rainforest
A thousand colors echo from the dense and steaming jungle of Bolivia’s Amazon region. A heady world of bright macaws, slinking jaguar, endless mythology, and unforgettable indigenous culture can be found beneath the velvet green canopies. Large swathes of the basin are utterly impenetrable and the layers of swampy tropics feed right into those stories of searching for the lost kingdom of El Dorado. Swollen waters, giant anteaters and anacondas only add to the adventure. Yet stashed into pockets of these watery wildlands are luxury lodges and lazy riverboat cruises that leave you starry eyed in delight.
Yungas Cloud Forest
A world swirled beneath morning mist and lush green crevices framed by jaw dropping peaks, the Yungas and the Cloud Forest marks the spot where the cathedral like soaring Andes tumbles into a steep ravine to meet the Amazon basin. Adrenaline seekers can tick the bucket list of mountain biking down the ‘Death Road’. The Yungas Road is not for the faint of heart, this daredevil path wraps and winds like a ribbon around the Cloud Forest with no barrier in sight and plunges that disappear into the great unknown. For those who don’t want to speed downhill, there’s ziplines, hikes, and rafting to explore on this epic and exhilarating corner of the Andes.
Tarija and the Vineyards
Sip and swirl in absolute style as you taste the treasure of high-altitude wine. Tarija’s vineyards sit on the southern border – a hair’s breadth from Argentina. Tangled vines that thrive in thin oxygen, sunshine and the murmur of the snow, Bolivia is a rising star in the world of wine. Tarija invites you to crush a cup or two, to tour the boutique vineyards, let the sweetness linger on your senses, and fall in love with the darker hues and richer flavors of the tannets. When you aren’t immersed in open cellar doors, Tarija is ever enticing with its historic mansions, bohemian folklore events, and lively night markets.
Tiwanaku
South America is ripe with lost civilizations and the enigmatic Tiwanaku is another mystery that history buffs will love to solve. On the high southern shores of Lake Titicaca, a ceremonial center was constructed over a thousand years ago. Like piecing together a puzzle of the past– Tiwanaku invites the imagination to run wild. What we know about the ruined city of Tiwanaku is fascinating. A place that predates the Incas, it is believed that a serious drought swept the city leading to no survivors. What is left of the people’s plight are the remnants of an empire, a place of pyramids and dusky red stone, columns and carvings, and impressive agricultural systems that must have marked this once bustling metropolis on the map.
Sajama National Park
The Sajama National Park is a UNESCO vision of snow powdered volcanic peaks, glorious geysers, and deep Quenoa forests. Here, Mother Nature takes the stage showcasing some of the finest highlights of Bolivia’s bespoke flora and fauna scene. From Alpacas to floating Condors, long legged Pink Flamingos, the bright buzz of the Hummingbird, not to mention Andean bears and big cats, a visit to Sajama is like plunging into a living nature documentary. This is Bolivia’s oldest national park and one of the remotest spots to explore the rich tapestry of local wildlife. With dramatic altitudes, the colorful Aymaran communities that make their home here, and the delights of hiking and bathing in natural steamy hot springs, Sajama is nothing short of spectacular.
