La Paz

A FEW FACTS: La Paz is the capital of Bolivia which is a land locked country next to Peru in South America. It is one of the poorest South American countries but this I no way detracts from its charm as a country to visit. Strangely in La Paz the wealthier you are the closer to the bottom of the valley in La Paz is where you live. The poorer people live higher up the mountain sides and so get the best views, I'm not sure why this is whether they were closer to the river initially or what but I found it quite odd. GETTING THERE: You can fly in to La Paz airport in El Alto which is where we flew out from. They have flights from ...  Read the complete review

La Paz is famously located at 3660 metres above sea-level and is the highest capital city in the world (that even beats Lhasa, Tibet!). Furthermore, it's setting in a crater makes this one of the most impressive cities in the world to bus into- as you pass out of El Alto the road suddenly drops down from the altiplano and there are stunning views over the whole city as the bus winds down the side of the canyon before finally descending into the chaos and bustle of this fascinating city. The best way to see La Paz is just to wander around the centre and explore for yourself. The markets are colourful, hectic and give a good slice of this largely indigenous ...  Read the complete review

La Paz is occasionally dubbed the highest capital city in the world - this is partly true; lowland Sucre is Bolivia's constitutional capital, although 4,000 metre-high La Paz certainly plays the central role of the nation's cities. Its considerable altitude has hit the headlines of late after football's world governing body, FIFA, banned matches being played in the city, tired of the tendencies of Bolivia and its Andean neighbours, Ecuador and Peru, to switch home matches against the continent's big guns to high-altitude venues, handing them a distinct advantage while their opponents labour in the thin air. This caused considerable outrage amongst the Andean nations, ...  Read the complete review

having spent 3 months living in la paz a few years ago i feel i can offer some good advice about the city. la paz is the most UNIQUE city i have ever been to, let alone lived in. the location and landscape is simply breathtaking. situated in a basin like canyon, the heart of the city lies at the 'plug' of the basin, with the shanty towns around the sides. towering over the city is the mountain ilimani which, on a sunny day, can be clearly seen from one of the many bridges that link the suburbs to the main city. bolivians are very friendly and hospitable people but be very careful of pick pocketers - just have some common sense when walking through the streets. ...  Read the complete review

Built within a huge crater, La Paz is an extraordinary city with a great deal of charm. It sprawls the entire area of a crater the size of about quarter of London, and is therefore extremely hilly, views from around the edge/top of the bowl are awesome spanning across and down into the metropolis of little winding streets with predominantly brown houses and buildings, with a cluster of tall modern buildings and large old cathedrals and historical buildings all in the centre. At night this sight is particularly impressive. The city offers several places to stay for the traveller, hostals and hotels varying in range and quality, I think it's preferable and quieter to ...  Read the complete review