The hook
The highest seat of government in the world, a breathtaking city that spills down a steep Andean canyon so that you ride cable cars between neighbourhoods, browse a market of dried llama foetuses, and gaze up at snow peaks from a bowl of brick and adobe.
01Why it's worth it
La Paz is unlike any other capital. It sits in a deep canyon on the high altiplano, the highest administrative capital on Earth, with the wealthier districts lower down where the air is thicker and the sprawling city of El Alto spreading across the rim above, all overlooked by the snow-capped triple peak of Illimani. The setting is astonishing, and the city has embraced it with an extensive network of cable cars (the Mi Teleférico) that double as public transport and as spectacular sightseeing, gliding over the rooftops between levels. It is intensely, vividly Andean: the Witches' Market sells herbs, potions, and dried llama foetuses for traditional Aymara rituals, bowler-hatted cholita women in layered skirts run the markets (and even star in a wrestling spectacle), and the street life, food, and colour are relentless. Nearby, on the shores toward Lake Titicaca, lie the ruins of Tiwanaku, the monumental stone remains of a powerful pre-Inca civilisation. High, chaotic, and thrilling, La Paz demands acclimatisation but rewards with one of the most extraordinary urban settings anywhere.
02How to experience it
Ride the cable cars for the views and to reach El Alto's huge market, explore the Witches' Market and the colonial centre, and try the street food, but pace yourself for the altitude on arrival. Take a day trip to the Tiwanaku ruins, and use La Paz as a base for Lake Titicaca and the Uyuni salt flats.
The honest note
Bolivia has run a large parallel exchange market, and travellers in 2025 reported the unofficial rate paying substantially more than the official one, advising clean high-denomination bills. Rates and legality both move fast — treat this as a thing to check on arrival rather than a number to plan around, and note that my archive of traveller reports ends in December 2025.
From the locals
La Paz draws unusually absolute praise from people who have travelled the continent widely. "Personally I love La Paz/El Alto and think it is one of the most unique cities in the world," wrote one on r/solotravel, before listing mountains, salt flats, lakes and jungle as the rest of the country's case. A Bolivian who had been to all nine departments framed it as range: "there is everything you want to do. Deserts, jungles, wetlands, mountains. Every type of terrain except an ocean."