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The de facto capital of Bolivia – the constitutional capital remains the very provincial town of Sucre – La Paz is a bustling city of around 2 million inhabitants.
La Paz is certainly not the most beautiful city you will see during a stay in Bolivia and Peru, but it may well be the city that surprises you the most. The Bolivian capital has developed in a curious setting, tiered between the residential neighborhoods of the southern zone at 3200 meters of altitude and the poorer area of El Alto, at over 4000 meters, home to nearly half of the city’s population.
There is no better view of the city than the one you discover when arriving from El Alto. La Paz’s geographical setting at the bottom of a basin, with the imposing Nevado Illimani in the background, makes for an impressive panorama.
The historic center, at 3600 meters of altitude, where most of the hotels are located, is a tangle of steep streets where a kind of permanent market has taken hold. A cheerful chaos reigns there, which doesn’t seem to bother anyone, and where the slowness of the traffic is matched only by the patience of Bolivian drivers. Plaza Murillo, home to the presidential palace, is arguably the prettiest part of this area of the city.
A little further down, the modern district of Sopocachi stands out for its skyscrapers. It also has a number of hotels and some of the best restaurants. More orderly and pleasant to live in, it is nevertheless less “typical”.
At the very bottom of the city lies the Valley of the Moon, a natural site where the erosion of very crumbly rock has formed hundreds of hoodoos and thread-like spires, and which is often visited.
La Paz is a mandatory stop for reaching most of Bolivia’s destinations. It is also the starting point for various excursions, such as the one to Coroico down the famous “Death Road”, a visit to the archaeological site of Tiwanaku, Sajama National Park, or an excursion on Lake Titicaca to Copacabana and Isla del Sol.
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For more information about these hotels, you can check out the Hotels in La Paz page.
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