The secrets of Bolivia's south

La Paz

Day 1: Explore Fascinating La Paz

Bolivia welcomes you! Your flight arrives in the country's capital, La Paz, and your guide will await you at the airport to transfer you to your hotel. Check in and relax your muscles from the long flight. In the afternoon, begin exploring the city on a tour of the historical center of La Paz. Start at the Plaza San Francisco, the city's main square and continue to Sagarnaga street, where you can find handmade souvenirs and beautiful artisan art. Your next stop is the "Mercado de las Brujas", the witch market. Here, ingredients for ceremonial offerings are sold - from coca leaves and miniature figurines to llama fetuses. Continue exploring the market of San Pedro, before concluding the tour in the political heart of the city, Plaza Murillo. Here, the presidential palace and the National Congress are located. In the evening, return to your hotel and spend a relaxing night.

La Paz - Moon Valley La Paz - La Paz

Day 2: Enjoy a Gorgeous Birdseye View of the City

Today your guide takes you on a trip to the most beautiful viewpoints of La Paz, as well as the otherworldly Moon Valley. La Paz is one of the highest capitals in the world at about 3600 meters and is surrounded by the impressive peaks of the Andes. Visit the Laykakota park and the K'Illi K'Illi viewpoint, from where you have an impressive panoramic view of the city. Then move on to the bohemian Sopocachi neighborhood, a classic spot to take romantic pictures.

In 2014, La Paz completed the construction of a gondola system. Glide through the air high above the city in style, while enjoying the view down into the different neighborhoods.

In the afternoon, your guide will take you south into Moon Valley. Named for its lunar-like rock formations, this is a great spot to explore and take pictures. In the evening, you will return to your hotel.

La Paz - Uyuni - Villamar

Day 3: Discover the Bolivian Desert Highlands

Savor a delicious breakfast in the morning, then your driver awaits you in the lobby to take you the airport. You fly from La Paz to Uyuni in the south of Bolivia. After a quick pit stop in Uyuni, head out to explore. Visit the train cemetery at the edge of town. Dozens of locomotives and wagons from the times when the salt excavation was booming have found their final resting place here, a perfect place for photos!

From here, head south to San Cristobal with its beautiful colonial church. Continue driving through the rugged landscape, inhabited only by llamas and ostriches, before arriving in Villamar, where you check into your hotel and spend a relaxing night.

Villamar - Laguna Colorada

Day 4: See the Blood-Red Waters of Laguna Colorada

Leave Villamar behind in the morning and continue driving south to the Laguna Colorada, the colored lagoon. Standing up to its name, the lagoon shines in an intense red. Light sensitive phytoplankton is responsible for the strong coloring. Enjoy the lagoon and take in the incredible contrast of the red water and the deep blue color of the sky in this altitude (around 4800 meters). Then move on to geysers of Sol de Mañana, a volcanic crater from which sulfuric fumes and boiling water escape.

Stop for a delicious meal in Polques, before crossing the Dali Desert, named for its resemblance to Salvador Dali's painting style. Reach Laguna Verde, where you can see the amazing phenomenon of the changing color of the water in the afternoon. From here, return to Laguna Colorada, where you check into your hotel and spend the night.

Laguna Colorada - SAN JUAN

Day 5: Traverse the High Desert and See Flamingos

Wake up to another gorgeous day in the high desert. After breakfast, head north through the magnificent landscapes of the Siloli desert and see the famous Arbol de Piedra, the Stone Tree. Follow the Chilean border along the so-called "Route of the Jewels" and visit the lagunas that are home to three different types of flamingos. Make a pit stop at the Ollague volcano and see the highest sulfur mine in the world. From here, continue to the small village of San Juan, where you get the chance to see the spectacular mummies of the "Lipez Lords", who were conserved astoundingly well in the dry climate of the desert. Spend the night at a small and comfy guest house in town. 

SAN JUAN - Uyuni

Day 6: Explore the Magical Salar de Uyuni

Today you venture out into one of the most magical places on the planet: the Salar de Uyuni. A seemingly neverending salt desert, the flat white grounds stretch into infinity without a single feature all the way to the horizon. After about an hour of driving in this otherworldly surrounding, you reach the island of Incahuasi. Of volcanic descent, the island is covered with stromatolites, fossil remains of the earliest bacteria inhabiting our planet.

In the afternoon, head to the city of Uyuni. From here, you fly back to La Paz. In the capital, your driver awaits you at the airport to transfer you to the hotel to spend the last night in Bolivia. 

La Paz

Day 7: Time to Say Goodbye

Enjoy a delicious breakfast at the hotel, then your driver will take you to the airport. Say goodbye to Bolivia and board your flight back home. Have a safe trip and come back soon!