City Guide La Paz, Bolivia

La Paz - city of altitude sickness

Nice city! Lot of people don't like La Paz, but I loved La Paz. Very good vibe of the city, pretty cheap even thought not as cheap as people say, well at least for me! However you can haggle with people and get better price! Night life was not very interesting to me, only seen 2 clubs. One was Hard Rock Cafe which has got nothing to do with rock at all and it was packed!!! The other one had a good reggae!

Insider Tip:Haggle with people! You will get even better price. Food is quite cheap! 15 for 3 meal course. Just keep looking for it! Do not pay silly prices! Its a rip-off!

Average

Stayed a week, far too long. Death road was phenomenal, did it with Altitude, class. The witches market was also class, though you can get all the same stuff in peru if you are heading that way

La Paz

The city is busy and vibrant, with plenty to keep you occupied during your stay. Prices are cheap and people are friendly, though watch out for pickpockets through the central market. The city has an interesting history, and we would recommend 'Banjo Tours' with Ben to make the most of your visit (including delicious snacks from the street vendors and a jaunt up to El Alto!)

Insider Tip:Cheap empanadas and tucumamas, sold everywhere, are delicious for lunch!

Loved La Paz despite other peoples dislike.

Read lots of scare stories about La Paz before I went but honestly felt safe the whole time and traveled to worse places in South America after La Paz. Yes it's dirty, and polluted and crowed, but if you cut through all that you can see a lovely city. There's plenty of good places to eat, great art galleries, lovely squares and parks, markets and shops. We spent a lot of our time relaxing and just looking round. People helped when we asked questions and no one seemed threatening. Loved it!

Shop 'till you drop...

I was gutted in La Paz that I didn't buy more - everything is so cheap! I thought I'd pick up all the tourist bits in Cuzco so I didn't need to carry them but we're talking double the price. The city is beautiful, when you fly in all you can see is mountains and small quaint churches. We only had one night so no time to explore.

Insider Tip:Spend more than one day Shop, shop, shop