Backpacking Bolivia: A 7-Day Guide

This week in Bolivia is built for first-timers who want the high Andes and Aymara culture without long overland hauls. The pace is relaxed because it has to be: La Paz sits at around 3,600 meters, and your lungs set the schedule for the first two days. Getting around takes city minibuses and cable cars, a shared tour van or minibus to Tiwanaku, a tourist bus to the lake, and public boats to Isla del Sol.

Days 1-3: La Paz and Tiwanaku

Land in La Paz and do very little on day one. Drink coca tea, walk slowly and eat light. By day two you can handle the steep streets around Calle Sagárnaga and the Witches’ Market, where dried llama fetuses hang next to herbal remedies. Ride the Mi Teleférico red and yellow lines (Bs 3 to 5 a ride, about US$0.25 to 0.40) for the view of the city filling an entire canyon below El Alto.

Day three is for the Tiwanaku Archaeological Site, 1.5 to 2 hours west on the open altiplano. A guided van tour is easier than minibuses for the round trip and leaves you more time … read more 👉

This week in Bolivia is built for first-timers who want the high Andes and Aymara culture without long overland hauls. The pace is relaxed because it has to be: La Paz sits at around 3,600 meters, and your lungs set the schedule for the first two days. Getting around takes city minibuses and cable cars, a shared tour van or minibus to Tiwanaku, a tourist bus to the lake, and public boats to Isla del Sol.

Days 1-3: La Paz and Tiwanaku

Land in La Paz and do very little on day one. Drink coca tea, walk slowly and eat light. By day two you can handle the steep streets around Calle Sagárnaga and the Witches’ Market, where dried llama fetuses hang next to herbal remedies. Ride the Mi Teleférico red and yellow lines (Bs 3 to 5 a ride, about US$0.25 to 0.40) for the view of the city filling an entire canyon below El Alto.

Day three is for the Tiwanaku Archaeological Site, 1.5 to 2 hours west on the open altiplano. A guided van tour is easier than minibuses for the round trip and leaves you more time at the Akapana pyramid, the Kalasasaya platform and the Gate of the Sun. Entry is Bs 100 (US$8) and includes the two site museums. It is the best context you can get before heading to the lake, since the Tiwanaku culture treated Titicaca as sacred ground centuries before the Inca.

Day 4: Copacabana

Tourist buses to Copacabana take 3.5 to 4 hours (Bs 25 to 40), with a short barge crossing at the Strait of Tiquina where passengers ride a separate boat. The town is small and easy. Visit the white Moorish-style basilica, then wander down to Copacabana Beach, a lakeside strip of pedal boats and trout stalls where a plate of grilled trucha costs Bs 30 to 50. Climb Cerro Calvario before sunset. The climb is short but steep at 3,900 meters, and the view over Lake Titicaca repays every breath.

Days 5-7: Isla del Sol

Morning boats reach Isla del Sol in 1.5 to 2 hours. Sleep two nights in Yumani, on the island’s south end, where guesthouses perch above the Inca stairway and charge Bs 70 to 200 (US$6 to 17) a night. With no cars on the island, days revolve around walking terraced paths past eucalyptus, donkeys and farmers. The Isla del Sol Archaeological and Sacred Sites on the south side, including the Pilko Kaina ruins, are reachable on foot. The north end, with the Chincana ruins and the Sacred Rock, has reopened after a long dispute between island communities, so you can also walk the ridge trail from Yumani to Challapampa. On day seven, take the morning boat back to Copacabana and a bus to La Paz.

For a bonus half day, take a taxi from Copacabana to Sampaya, a stone-walled Aymara village on the peninsula with almost no visitors and wide views across the lake.