6 Best Day Trips from La Paz
The Best Day Trips from La Paz, Bolivia
La Paz sits in the middle of some of the Andes’ biggest draws, but not everything nearby fits into a single day. Before you plan, one honest note: the Uyuni Salt Flats are roughly 550km away and require an overnight bus or a flight plus a separate multi-day 4x4 tour. They are never a realistic La Paz day trip. Here’s what actually works as one.
1. Tiwanaku
About 2 hours from La Paz, Tiwanaku is a UNESCO World Heritage pre-Inca site: the Gate of the Sun, the Kalasasaya platform, and the Akapana pyramid. It’s an easy, well-organized day trip by bus or tour, and one of South America’s genuinely important archaeological sites.
2. Death Road (Yungas Road)
A guided mountain-bike descent down the old North Yungas Road, once called one of the world’s deadliest, now largely bypassed by through-traffic. The road itself isn’t the risk anymore; operator quality is. Book with a reputable outfit with good bikes, experienced guides, and a support vehicle, and never attempt it unguided. Expect around $80-130 for a full-day guided descent.
3. Lake Titicaca and Copacabana
The world’s highest navigable lake, at roughly 3,810m, is a tight but doable day trip at 3.5-4.5 hours each way; an overnight in Copacabana makes for a far more relaxed visit and leaves time for a boat out to Isla del Sol.
4. Chacaltaya
A former ski area near 5,300m, now better known as a stark, accessible climate-change data point than a working resort. The views over the Cordillera Real are extraordinary, and it’s about an hour’s drive from the city.
5. Valle de las Ánimas and Palca Canyon
Roughly 20km east of La Paz, this pair of eroded spires and canyon walls makes for a quieter, less-visited half-day or day excursion with genuinely dramatic scenery and far fewer other visitors than Valle de la Luna.
6. Valle de la Luna
Technically closer to a half-day outing than a full day trip, Valle de la Luna’s eroded clay formations sit about 10km south of the city center, an easy add-on to a Zona Sur visit or a stop on the way back from somewhere farther out.
Planning notes
Acclimatize in La Paz for at least a day or two before any of these, since several go higher than the city itself. Book Death Road and Titicaca trips through a registered operator, travel between sites by registered radio taxi or organized transport rather than a street-hailed cab, and build in flexibility, since occasional road blockades can affect overland routes on short notice.
Read more: see our things to do in La Paz for what to fill the rest of your trip with.