ESSENTIAL BOLIVIA

Essential Bolivia: 10 Days Tour

Day 1 Santa Cruz. Half Day City Tour
Description

Start from Santa Cruz that is, with a population of roughly 1,5 million residents, the most modern and developed city in Bolivia.

Arrival transfer from the airport.

Pick up from your hotel and drive to the Main Square of Santa Cruz. (Plaza 24 de Septiembre), the Religious Art Museum of the Cathedral (open on Thursday and Sunday), the Art Museum and the local handcrafts center known as La Recoba.

Visit to the handcrafts workshop of Artecampo that gathers the artistic expressions of different regions in the surroundings. Visit a local market and return to the hotel.

Overnight at the hotel of your choice.

Day 2 Santa Cruz - Sucre
Description

Breakfast and departure transfer for flight to Sucre.

Arrival transfer.

Visit to the charming and beautiful city of Sucre, where the variety of activities match each visitor’s interests.

Some places we recommend are the Textile Museum of Asur, The House of Liberty (closed on Monday), the Monastery of San Felipe Neri, the Museum of Treasures, The Monastery and Lookout of La Recoleta, the Charcas University Museum with its Colonial, Anthropological and Modern Art Sections, and some local markets.

The visit lasts 3 hours.

Day 3 Sucre - Candelaria - Tarabuco
Description

Breakfast at hotel.

A great chance to learn about the countryside life in Bolivia.

Morning departure to the southeast of Sucre, to the indigenous village of Candelaria, passing by Tarabuco. On Sunday attendance to the indigenous market of Tarabuco, otherwise only a short stopover.

The indigenous market of Tarabuco is one of the purest and most colorful in the world. Indigenous people, dressed on their traditional garments attend this town every Sunday to buy, sell and still barter their local products and handicrafts.

Arrival to Candelaria and visit the indigenous homes where we see the way men and women artisans live and work. A good opportunity to purchase your fine souvenirs directly from the weavers and get your photo with them.

Visit to the Colonial Hacienda of Candelaria (storage rooms, chapel, agricultural museum etc.).

Typical lunch at the Hacienda.

Work with one of our local weavers and learn how to spin wool in a local drop spindle or, if preferred, short walk to the Inca Bridge.

Return to Sucre in the evening.

Overnight at the hotel of your choice.

Day 4 Potosí
Description

Breakfast at hotel.

Departure from Sucre to Potosi.

It’s worth a Potosi! This was a well-known expression in colonial times to show the great value something could have.

That was Potosi, a city of great value, with so much wealth that it attracted people from all over the world in search of fortune.

Lunch at a local restaurant including full meal.

Visit to the Miner´s market and an active Colonial mine to see the way miners extract minerals with the same procedures used in colonial times.

Visit to the Casa de la Moneda, where the procedure used for minting coins in different periods is seen.

Continue to Uyuni.

Dinner and overnight at the hotel of your choice.

Day 5 Uyuni Salt Flats
Description

An out of this world day!

Departure from the hotel and visit to Colchani. Walk on a plant where salt with iodine is processed by the locals. Visit to the small market where handcrafts are made on salt.

Enter the magnificent Sal Flats, see the way local people gather salt for processing it. Discover why the eyes of the Salt Flats are boiling. Continue your journey on the Salt Flats and have a unique photo session in a great plain of Salt where perspective is only a theory.

Visit Incahuasi Island where gigantic cacti grow making the landscape even more unique.

Walk on a petrified coral path and enjoy lunch in the middle of the Salt Flats.

Drive to the northern shore of the Uyuni Salt Flats, to Coquesa, where the views of Salar de Uyuni are again different and just as impressive.

Short hike on the hillside, to the entrance of the Cave of the Coquesa mummies.

At the end of the day, watch an amazing sunset.

Return to Uyuni.

Exact route will be adapted to weather conditions at the time of your visit.

Dinner and overnight at Salt Hotel of your choice.

Day 6 La Paz City tour
Description

Enjoy the contrast and variety of the vibrant La Paz!

Visit some of the most interesting sites in La Paz for about 4 hours. Visit San Francisco Church, an unusual market in town known as the Witches Market. Short walk on Jaen Street and Plaza Murillo where you will see the Government Palace, the local Cathedral and the Congress building.

Enjoy a delicious snack of Salteñas a Bolivian pastry that everyone loves, or api con pasteles, a local purple corn drink.

Ride on one of the lines of the longest cable car in the world and be amazed by the beautiful Illimani, the snowcapped mountain, eternal guardian of La Paz.

Your car will meet you there and drive you through some southern neighborhoods like San Miguel.

Visit to the Moon Valley and admire the moon-like landscape formed by the erosion of the land.

Return to the hotel.

Note: Municipal museums are closed on Monday.

Overnight at the hotel of your choice.

Day 7 La Paz - Tiwanaku - Copacabana
Description

Breakfast and departure to El Alto.

Arrival to Laja, the original site of the foundation of La Paz. Travel through the Altiplano admiring the amazing landscapes.

Arrival to Tiwanaku, seat of one of the oldest American cultures, considered the cradle of the American man and one of the most advanced cultures in development at that time.

Visit the local museums and the archaeological site with the Kalasasaya temple the Gate of the Sun, the monoliths Ponce and Fraile; the Akapana pyramid and the Semi underground temple.

Lunch at a local restaurant and return to El Alto.

Drive from El Alto to Copacabana.

Visit the local village, the local streets the Sanctuary of the dark skin Virgin, the handcrafts markets and the local products market. Optional hike to El Calvario hill.

Dinner and overnight in Copacabana.

Day 8 Copacabana - Sun Island - Moon Island - La Paz
Description

Breakfast and short walk to the shore of Lake Titicaca to board the boats that will transfer us to Sun Island. Visit the Pilkocaina temple and short hike to the village of Yumani, seeing on the way the agricultural terraces.

Descend on the Staircase of the Inca after drinking from the fountain of eternal youth.

Aphtapi lunch on route.

Boat ride to Moon Island to visit the Sacred Temple of the Virgins of the Sun, enjoying the views of Lake Titicaca and the Royal Range, certainly breathtaking.

Return to Copacabana and drive back to La Paz or transfer to the border of Kasani for connection to Puno in Peru.

Note: Additional cost for Kasani Copacabana or viceversa applies.

Overnight at the Hotel of your choice.

Day 9 La Paz - Coroico
Description

Departure from La Paz to “La Cumbre” at 4.650 m.a.s.l. This is the highest point on this journey and the landscape is truly breathtaking. Drive for about 2-1/2 to 3 hours through an impressive mountain road between cliffs and rocky walls down to the Yungas rain forest located at 1.700 m.a.s.l.

If you wish you can walk a small portion of the famous death road and take incredible photos.

Arrival to Senda Verde. Visit the animal refuge and continue to Coroico and continue to Munaipata, a cooperative specialized in the growth and blend of high altitude coffee.

On the way, see how coca leaves and some local seasonal fruits are grown. Lunch at Munaipata and explore the cooperative to see how coffee is grown and processed. We finish our visit by tasting some of their blends. Degustation of the coffee and return to La Paz.

Overnight at the Hotel of your choice.

Day 10 Departure transfer
Description

Breakfast and departure transfer to the airport.