Want to visit La Paz, the world’s highest capital city? Here’s where to stay in La Paz, Bolivia!
Bolivia ‘s third most populous city and seat of government, La Paz is known the world over as the world’s highest capital, at an altitude of 3,600 meters. La Paz and its neighboring towns – El Alto and Viacha – form the country’s largest conurbation, with a population of 2.7 million.
Renowned for its unique markets and lively nightlife, La Paz is surrounded by the high mountains of the Altiplano – with the Nevada Illimani, at 6,000 meters, as a backdrop – and close to the famous Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in Latin America. Accommodation in La Paz will be cheap to find, as Bolivia is one of the least expensive countries on the South American continent.
Looking for a hotel in La Paz? Not sure what to look for? Here’s our overview of where to stay in La Paz!
Casco Urbano Central
Photo credit: Flickr – David Almeida
The Casco Urbano Central is La Paz’s historic city center – El Centro – built around the Plaza Murillo. This square is emblematic of the city – famous for hosting thousands of pigeons at the foot of the Catedral Basilica Nuestra Señora de La Paz. Plaza Murillo and the historic center of La Paz are must-sees for tourists, and one of the highlights of guided tours: most often accompanied by a local, visitors enjoy discovering them, before plunging into the arteries of the old town.
Potosi Street is one of the district’s main shopping streets, where you’ll find countless stores, cheap hotels and hostels where you can stay in La Paz, restaurants, travel agencies and more. As you make your way up the narrow, winding, labyrinthine streets, don’t miss the National Art Museum, the Costumbrista Museum, the Ethnographic Museum and the Musical Instruments Museum, leading to Calle Jaén, a remnant of the Spanish colonial quarter. This colorful cobbled alleyway is typical of Latin America and has its own unique charm.
To the south of the center lies the gigantic Parque Urbano Central: stretching like a long strip from north to south, it allows you to reach the chic Sopocachi district while strolling through a lungful of greenery and tranquillity.
Find a hotel in Casco Urbano Central
Sopocachi
Photo credit: Flickr – Bengt 1955
If you’re looking for comfortable, even chic accommodation in La Paz, Sopocachi is the upscale district of the Bolivian capital. The streets are laid out in a grid pattern similar to that of a city inSpain or the USA, and the area is much quieter than the city center: this is the business district, so it’s busy during the day and quiet in the evening and on weekends. Here, too, there are countless restaurants, bars and little taverns where you can eat cheaply and have a drink in the midst of a rather trendy crowd. A relaxed, bohemian atmosphere reigns supreme in the district, making it an ideal, young and touristy place to stay in La Paz.
San Pedro
Photo credit: Flickr – Terry Sebastian
Located between El Centro and Sopocachi, it’s not the safest area to sleep in La Paz, but it’s a middle-class zone, ideal for enjoying the tourist attractions of the center and for partying in Sopocachi, away from mass tourism. Here you’ll find the famous Plaza Sucre, as well as numerous shops, bars and restaurants.
Find a hotel in SanPedro
Zona Sur
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons – Russland345
Budget travelers beware: Zona Sur is the wealthy district of La Paz. Located a long way south of the city center, it’s a huge district home to Bolivia’s elite and a third of La Paz’s population. There are few tourist attractions, but everything you need to live a comfortable life in quiet, clean, middle-class residences. This area of La Paz is also home to many high-end discotheques, restaurants and bars.
Map of hotels and accommodation – La Paz,bo