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The lights of La Paz coming on at dusk beneath the snow-capped peak of Illimani

Sample journey · 12–14 days

Bolivia from the Amazon to the colonial south

La Paz, Madidi National Park, Sucre, Potosí and the canyons of Tupiza

Photo: RODRIGO GONZALEZ / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Bolivia is usually known through one image: the endless salt flat of Uyuni. This route deliberately steps around it to show another country: La Paz, climbing the walls of its valley with neighbourhoods linked by cable car; Madidi National Park, where the Andes fall away into Amazon forest; Sucre, with its white churches and quiet courtyards; Potosí, whose silver once financed an empire; and the valleys of Tupiza, as red as any canyon in Arizona.

This is a journey for experienced, active travellers. The changes in altitude are large — from around 200 metres in the forest to over 4,000 metres in Potosí — the roads are long and comforts are simple in places. The reward is what Bolivia does best: living culture, space and nature not yet overrun by crowds. The route, pace and stays would be shaped around you.

The route

The journey

  1. La Paz
  2. Rurrenabaque & Madidi
  3. Sucre
  4. Potosí
  5. Tupiza
  6. Uyuni or Tarija
  1. Brightly painted houses of the Chualluma neighbourhood in La Paz, with a red cable car above

    01Days 1–3 · La Paz

    A city you fly across

    The plane lands in El Alto, at over 4,000 m, with La Paz spread out below in a bowl beneath Illimani. The first day is purely for rest. Then the cable-car lines, which here are genuine public transport, carry you over the rooftops to the El Alto market, to the painted Chualluma neighbourhood and down to the eroded clay towers of the Valle de la Luna. Mornings bring salteñas, evenings the Rodríguez market and La Paz's increasingly adventurous kitchens.

  2. 02Days 4–7 · Madidi

    Where the Andes fall into the forest

    A short flight to Rurrenabaque, and from thin, cold air into humid warmth. From there a motorised canoe heads up the Beni and the Tuichi to a lodge in Madidi National Park, one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Mornings bring trails with a local guide, often from a community that runs the lodge itself, a parrot clay bank and the calls of monkeys; evenings a canoe on an oxbow lake and the sounds of the night. Wildlife is never guaranteed, but the forest here is dense and alive.

  3. White domes and red roofs seen from the rooftop of the San Felipe Neri convent in Sucre

    03Days 8–10 · Sucre

    The white city

    A flight via La Paz to Sucre, Bolivia's constitutional capital at around 2,800 m, where whitewashed walls, wooden verandas and convent courtyards create perhaps the calmest atmosphere in the country. Climb onto the roof of the San Felipe Neri convent, walk up to the Recoleta lookout and visit the textile museum, where the designs of Jalq'a and Tarabuco weavers tell their own cosmology. On Sunday, the market at Tarabuco, and nearby a limestone wall bearing thousands of dinosaur footprints.

  4. The cathedral tower of Potosí and the hills beyond, framed by a stone archway

    04Day 11 · Potosí

    In the shadow of the silver mountain

    About three hours by road up to Potosí, at over 4,000 m one of the highest cities in the world. Above it looms Cerro Rico, the mountain whose silver flowed to Spain from the sixteenth century and cost countless lives over the centuries. The Royal Mint, now a museum, tells this story frankly. Visits to the mines, which still take place in working shafts, we'd offer only as an option, and only after talking through their conditions and ethics.

  5. Red rock spires and canyons outside Tupiza, with Andean ridges in the distance

    05Days 12–14 · Tupiza & onward

    Red canyons from the saddle

    South by road and down into Tupiza, where the valley is ringed by red rock canyons, spires and dry riverbeds. The best way to see them is on horseback or on foot: half a day to the Quebrada de Palala or the Cañón del Inca, past cacti and the 'Devil's Gate', and in the evening the stories of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, whose road ended nearby. From Tupiza the journey can end by train (when it runs) or road to Uyuni and a flight to La Paz, or by road to the wine country of Tarija.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    La Paz's cable cars

    Public transport that doubles as the best viewpoint in the city.

  2. 02

    The Madidi forest

    A community-run lodge and forest where the Andes meet the Amazon.

  3. 03

    Sucre's rooftops

    The white city from a convent roof: Bolivia's quietest hour.

  4. 04

    Tupiza on horseback

    Red canyons, cacti and silence, like the set of a western.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • With the salt flat

    From Tupiza, a three- or four-day four-wheel-drive crossing of the southern lagoons to the Uyuni salt flat; our Atacama and Uyuni journey covers it in depth.

  • Lake Titicaca

    Two nights at Copacabana and on the Isla del Sol before flying into the forest.

  • More slowly

    More nights in Sucre, and the wine valley of Tarija to finish.

  • More active

    A day hike in the Cordillera Real above La Paz, or a multi-day ride around Tupiza.

Practical considerations

  • La Paz and Potosí are very high (around 3,600 m and over 4,000 m), and you fly straight into altitude at La Paz. Altitude affects everyone differently, so please speak to your own doctor or a travel clinic before you travel; the route leaves time to adjust.
  • Flights to Rurrenabaque are small and weather-dependent, so they are sometimes delayed or cancelled. We build in spare time, and for travel to the Amazon region it's worth asking a travel clinic well in advance.
  • Mine visits in Potosí take place in working shafts and are physically and emotionally demanding. We offer them only as an option, with guides from the miners' community, and always discuss them beforehand.
  • The dry season usually runs from about May to October; in the wet months southern roads and forest rivers can change, so we check the details before you travel.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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