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The Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Bolivia
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The Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Bolivia

Even though it is surrounded by some of the most popular destinations in South America, such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, the small, the landlocked country of Bolivia stands out as a top travel destination for many reasons. The diversity of the landscape, its colorful indigenous heritage, nature, wildlife and opportunities for extreme adventures offer a wealth of once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences. It is not a question of whether to include Bolivia in your itinerary. Rather, it’s a question of knowing which sights and experiences you simply cannot miss.

Trains in Bolivia
Information

Trains in Bolivia

Information on trains in Bolivia. You are invited to travel by the beautiful natural wonders of the Bolivian highlands, where you will appreciate incredible landscapes, and experience really impressive and unique tourist places.

Rurrenabaque
Bolivian Amazon

Rurrenabaque

Rurrenabaque (or simply Rurre) is a small town (population 15.000) on the banks of the Rio Beni in the Bolivian Amazon Basin. Trips to the jungle in the nearby Madidi National Park are the main attractions.

Yungas

Coroico

Coroico is a mountain-side town in the Yungas, hanging from the sky. It is a nature-lovers' paradise with overwhelming tranquility.

Tips for taking a tour to the Uyuni Salt Flats (Salar de Uyuni) in Bolivia.
Uyuni

Tips for taking a tour to the Uyuni Salt Flats (Salar de Uyuni) in Bolivia.

A three day tour starting in Uyuni, Bolivia gives you the chance to see many of the attractions in the surrounding area, including Salar de Uyuni, Laguna Verde, hot springs, and lots of the beautiful nature Bolivia has to offer in the southwest. Visiting the Uyuni Salt Flat requires a tour; as it is not accessible any other way . Some tips worth remembering:

Waka Tokori - Oruro Carnival Dance
Oruro Carnival Dance

Waka Tokori - Oruro Carnival Dance

The dance of the waka tokoris (dancing bulls) satirizes bullfights and represents with irony the Spanish conquerors. The dance origin is Umala town, Camacho province in La Paz. Umala was built as a resting place for the Spanish people on their journey towards the Pacific Ocean while carrying silver. The female dancers use many polleras (traditional skirts) and move the hips following a contagious and hypnotic rhythm, moving approximately 10 kilograms of clothes.

Incas - Oruro Carnival Dance
Oruro Carnival Dance

Incas - Oruro Carnival Dance

The Incas dance is a representation of the old 'wanka' (story, tragedy) in quechua and the Spanish performed it since 1871. The Sunday carnival in front of a shiny Inti (sun god), the sun sons remember the tragic end of Atahuallpa. The costumes have symbols that represent nobility.

Caporales - Oruro Carnival Dance
Oruro Carnival Dance

Caporales - Oruro Carnival Dance

The Caporales is a typical Bolivian dance legacy of the Spanish. The dance is very popular especially in the carnivals and festivities such as the Oruro Carnival. A male caporal dress would depict an old Spanish military guard. Wearing heeled boots bearing large bells known as 'cascabeles', a male dancer carries a hat in his left hand and a whip in his right.

La Diablada - Oruro Carnival Dance
Oruro Carnival Dance

La Diablada - Oruro Carnival Dance

The Diablada is a dance that originally comes from Oruro and is a material representation of a deep religious inspiration. The choreography of the Diablada represents the struggle between good and evil and the defeat of the seven deadly sins. This dance is performed in all the artistic and folk expressions of Bolivia and particularly in Oruro during the Carnival time.

Red Lagoon
Attraction

Red Lagoon

The Red lagoon (Laguna Colorada) is a shallow lake within the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and close to the border with Chile. The lake is famous for its strong red colour caused by algae that provide food for large flocks of pink flamingos.

Green Lagoon
Attraction

Green Lagoon

Green lagoon (Laguna Verde) is a high-altitude mineral lake in the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve, known for its beautiful green color. It sits at the foot of 2 volcanoes, Licancabur and Juriques, which straddle the border with Chile and are reflected in the water when the weather is calm.

Rock Tree
Attraction

Rock Tree

The Rock Tree (Árbol de Piedra) is a tree-like rock formation in the Siloli Desert desert that offers great photo opportunities!

Itas City
Attraction

Itas City

Itas city is located to the west of Toro Toro town. This unique place has huge rocky formations whose particular shape resembles a real city. The stone walls and roofs present cavities that create amazing visual effects with the help of sunlight.

Umajalanta Cavern
Attraction

Umajalanta Cavern

Umajalanta Cavern is one of the most visited natural attractions in the Toro Toro National Park. The cavern is located just 10 kilometers away from Toro Toro town. This amazing cavern offers particularly beautiful views.

Vergel Waterfall
Attraction

Vergel Waterfall

Located just three kilometers to the north from Toro Toro Town, the Vergel waterfall offers to its visitors a contrasting landscape after rocky canyon formations. The Vergel waterfall is fed by a subterranean spring that pours out over the side of the rock wall, forming a cool cavern that allows...

Andean Fauna
Attraction

Andean Fauna

The Andean fauna populating the surroundings of the Uyuni Salt Flat and the amazing lagoons is diverse and rich. During the most popular tours to the Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve it is possible to observe these species in their natural habitat and be amazed by nature.

Incahuasi Island
Attraction

Incahuasi Island

Incahuasi Island or house of the Inca is a usual stop for the tourists visiting the majestic Uyuni Salt Flat. It is part of the Llica and Tahua indigenous communities territory, located 99 kilometers to the southwest of Uyuni Town at 3822 m.a.s.l..

Ramaditas Lagoon
Attraction

Ramaditas Lagoon

The Ramaditas Lagoon is a sweet water lagoon with a surface area of about 4 square kilometers. It is situated inside the Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve in Sud Lipez Province of Potosi, close to smaller salt flats with no economical interest due to the low salt concentration.

Ollague Volcano
Attraction

Ollague Volcano

Sulphur mines used to operate on upper western and southern flanks and were serviced by a road which reached 5650 m elevation.  It is one of the highest (if not the highest) roads in the world. It has been used to descend on mountain bikes.

Tunupa Volcano
Attraction

Tunupa Volcano

The Tunupa volcano is considered sacred by the communities that surround it such us Jirira, Ayk'e, Moqueta, Chantani, Vinto, Central Tawa, Chirivilla and Huaylluma.

Licancabur Volcano
Attraction

Licancabur Volcano

The Licancabur Volcano - Volcan Licancabur is one of the most beautiful moutains of South Lipez. It's located at the Occidental Mountain Chain at an elevation of  5960 meters above the sea level. It is a highly symmetrical stratovolcano on the southernmost part of the border between Chile an...

Polques Hot Springs
Attraction

Polques Hot Springs

This enormous salty lagoon features a small mineral-rich thermal water swimming pool where visitors can take a bath early in the morning. The water temperature is usually from 28 to 30 Degrees and it is famous for curing arthritis and rheumatism. There's a restaurant, changing sheds and toilets. ...

Siloli Desert
Attraction

Siloli Desert

The Arbol de Piedra (Stone Tree) is a volcanic rock formation in the Desierto Siloli in Bolivia. The rock is unique because it resembles a tree. The Desierto Siloli is considered to be part of the Atacama Desert in neighboring Chile.

Santa Ana de Yacuma
Attraction

Santa Ana de Yacuma

Santa Ana of Yacuma is known as the cattle capital of Beni, with green prairies suitable for agricultural activity and raising cattle. The suburban area is a tourist attraction because its rivers are ideal for sport fishing.

San Jacinto Dam
Attraction

San Jacinto Dam

The San Jacinto dam was built in 1978 to generate hydroelectric power and to regulate the irrigation of 3300 hectares of crops. The artificial lake that it houses has become one of the favorite places for the tarijeños to go to disconnect, walk or get out of the city.

Tarapaya Lagoon
Attraction

Tarapaya Lagoon

Known also as "The Inca's Bath", the Tarapaya Lagoon is an extremely famous and constantly visited natural attraction. The lagoon is filled with thermal waters, which give origin to other spring water sites. It has the shape of a perfect circle. The lagoon's water has been attributed several heal...

La Puerta del Diablo
Attraction

La Puerta del Diablo

La Puerta del Diablo (Devil's Door) is located six kilometers from Potosi and presents an interesting geological structure made of red sand-stone, a construction that extends all the way to the entrance of the cave. Although it is particularly difficult to enter into the cave itself, it is still ...

Kari Kari Lagoon
Attraction

Kari Kari Lagoon

In 1575, the viceroy Toledo ordered to build several artificial lagoons east of the city that would be useful to accumulate water during the rainy season, with the intention of using them in the dry periods. The artificial lagoons of Potosi known as the 'lagunas de Kari Kari' are considered to be...

Casa de las Tres Portadas
Attraction

Casa de las Tres Portadas

his construction is also known as "Las Recogidas" (The Cloistered Ones). It used to be a community house for lay sisters, most of whom were Natives. This religious construction belongs to the Franciscan Order. It basically consists of three portals, all of which have very original designs. The Ca...

Lake Poopo
Attraction

Lake Poopo

Lake Poopo is located at 65 kilometers from Oruro, on the route that leads to the neighboring department of Potosi. The biggest attraction is the island of Panza, an ideal place for hunting and fishing.

Chullpares bridge
Attraction

Chullpares bridge

From Chullpares bridge, built in the colonial time, the beauty of the highlands can be appreciated. The pre-hispanic necropolis of Chusaqueri, with its stone and mud funeral monuments, is located in its vicinities.

San Jose mine
Attraction

San Jose mine

The silver, lead and tin that were extracted of their tunnels were very important for the economy of the country. The mine, located at 5 kilometers from downtown, began to be exploited two centuries ago.

Lighthouse of Conchupata
Attraction

Lighthouse of Conchupata

One can enjoy a panoramic view of the city of Oruro from the national monument called Lighthouse of Conchupata, where the current national emblem was hoisted for the first time on November 7th, 1851, during the government of Manuel Isidoro Belzu. Conchupata (previously called Corrralpata) is loca...

Sanctuary of Socavon
Attraction

Sanctuary of Socavon

Santuario del Socavon is a religious temple of special devotion for the inhabitants of Oruro, where the Candlemas's Virgin is worshipped. She is the local patron of the miners and receives the name of Virgin of the Mineshaft. It is an extraordinary image, painted on some clay bricks that were pro...

Cretaceous Park (Cal Orck'o)
Attraction

Cretaceous Park (Cal Orck'o)

65 million years ago the site of Sucre's Fancesa cement quarry, six kilometers from the centre, was the place to be for large, scaly dinosaurs. When the grounds were being cleared in 1994, plant employees uncovered a nearly vertical mudstone face bearing over 5000 tracks, some of which measure up...

Sucre General Cemetery
Attraction

Sucre General Cemetery

One of the best options of places to visit that may inform you about the historical and political characters of Sucre, is the General Cemetery where the remains of important figures rest, whose stories are told by local children who serve as tour guides of this sacred site. They take the visitors...

16 de Julio Market
Attraction

16 de Julio Market

In the lively La Ceja (Brow) district - which commands one of the highest real-estate prices in the region for its commercial value - you'll find a variety of electronic gadgets and mercantile goods. For an excellent market experience don't miss the massive Mercado 16 de Julio, which stretches fo...

La Paz Cemetery
Attraction

La Paz Cemetery

As in most Latin American cemeteries, bodies are buried in the traditional Western way or placed in a crypt. Within 10 years, they are disinterred and cremated. After cremation, families purchase or rent glass-fronted spaces in the cemetery walls for the ashes, affix plaques and mementos of the d...

Flower Market
Attraction

Flower Market

The Flower Market appropriately located opposite the cemetery at the top of Batista, is a beautiful splash of color amid one of the city's drabber and less safe areas.

Coca Museum
Attraction

Coca Museum

Bolivia tourist attractions - Coca MuseumChew on some facts at the Coca Museum which explores the sacred leaf's role in traditional societies, its use by the soft-drink and pharmaceutical industries and the growth of cocaine as an illicit drug. The displays are educational, provocative and evenha...

Casa de Murillo
Attraction

Casa de Murillo

Once the home of Don Pedro Domingo Murillo, a leader in the La Paz Revolution of July 16, 1809, the Casa de Murillo displays collections of colonial art and furniture, textiles, medicines, musical instruments and household items of glass and silver that once belonged to Bolivian aristocracy.

La Recoleta
Attraction

La Recoleta

On the Northern side of the Rio Rocha is La Recoleta and Avenida Pando. This is a modern and chic area, center of nightlife, where you'll find Cochabamba's 10-pin bowling alley, 10-screen movie theatre, a Mercedes-Benz dealership and many restaurants, cafes and nightclubs.

La Chiquitania
Attraction

La Chiquitania

Located at a distance of a little more than 200 Km from the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, capital of the Department of Santa Cruz, the Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos, which have survived for more than three centuries, emerge imposingly. La Chiquitania is a vast and extraordinary territory in wh...

Boat trip in the Amazon region
Attraction

Boat trip in the Amazon region

The Reina de Enin Ecological Cruiser is a riverboat that navigates on the Mamore River, the largest river in Bolivia, and a tributary of the Amazon River. The cruiser offers 2-6 day tours during which time you will be in close contact with wildlife and nature. It is possible to take hikes, go hor...

Los Espejillos
Attraction

Los Espejillos

Los Espejillos is a hidden gem located just 2 hours West of the city of Santa Cruz. This remote tropical paradise, with its sparkling waterfalls and natural pools is truly a wonder of nature.

Cabañas del Pirai
Attraction

Cabañas del Pirai

The Cabanas del Pirai (Cabins on the Pirai River) is a long dirt road lined with small palm leaf-covered huts on either side where you can taste delicious local baked items at tea time. The road ends at the river which, during the rainy season, will swell to great depths and will not have a beach...

Metropolitan Cathedral
Attraction

Metropolitan Cathedral

The Metropilitan Cathedral of Santa Cruz was built by Brother Mercedario Diego de Porres during the times of the Spanish Viceroy Toledo. In 1770 Bishop Ramon de Herbosos reconstructed the Church and commended this task to Don Antonio Lombardo. In 1838 the old temple was replaced by a new church o...

Jesuit Missions
Attraction

Jesuit Missions

Prior to the colonial times the area of Chiquitos was populated by various indigenous jungle tribes. These were Evangelized by missionaries from the "Compania de Jesus" (Company of Jesus). Shortly afterwards various Spanish communities were constructed in the middle of the jungle. This ...

Salar de Coipasa
Attraction

Salar de Coipasa

Coipasa is a salt flat in the arid but colourful Altiplano of Bolivia, about 100 miles (160 km) southwest of the city of Oruro, near the Chilean border. At an elevation of 12,073 feet (3,680 metres), the salt flat is Bolivia's second largest (after the Uyuni Salt Flat), occupies 856 square miles ...

Town of Uyuni
Attraction

Town of Uyuni

Uyuni town is located 241 Km far from Potosi city. The town was very important for being the distribution hub for the trains carrying mineral on their way to the Pacific Ocean ports. Currently Uyuni is also significant due to its proximity to the Magnificent Uyuni Salt Flat, a favourite Bolivian ...

La Paz City
Attraction

La Paz City

The city of La Paz was founded on October 20th, 1548 under the name of La Ciudad de Nuestra Senora de La Paz (The City of Our Lady of Peace).

Torotoro National Park
Attraction

Torotoro National Park

The Park is located to the north of Potosi, in the province Charcas, though it is more easily accessible from Cochabamba city. It has a surface of 16,570 hectares (166 km2). It is an authentic paradise for the lovers of geology and paleontology since tracks of large reptiles of the Mesozoic era a...

Sajama National Park
Attraction

Sajama National Park

The National Park Sajama is located to the Northwest of the Oruro Department in the Sajama Province. The municipalities involved are Turk and Curahuara de Carangas. The park has a surface of 100,230 hectares (1,002 km2).

Madidi National Park
Attraction

Madidi National Park

Madidi National Park is the world's most biodiverse nature reserve. Spanning an impressive 19000 square kilometers (about 7336 square miles), it has cloud forests, lowland jungle, rivers, streams, swamps. It even has glaciers.

Cotapata National Park
Attraction

Cotapata National Park

The National Park Cotapata is located to the Northeast of the city of La Paz, approximately to 20kms away. The park has high mountain range, snowfields, periglacier areas and cloudy humid forest. One of its greater attractions is the pre-Colombian road of the Chucura or Choro or Inca Road that cr...

Carrasco National Park
Attraction

Carrasco National Park

Carrasco boasts incredible cloud forests and mountain scenery, deep valleys and canyons, torrential rivers, waterfalls, and exuberant vegetation. There are reports of an uncontacted indigenous group called the Tuki who may live deep within the inaccessible regions of the park. Some of the main at...

Amboro National Park
Attraction

Amboro National Park

The National Park Amboro presents a great scenic beauty: deep valleys, the torrential rivers and the water falls. It is located to the West of Santa Cruz, among the Ichilo, Manuel Maria Caballero, Florida and Andres Ibanez provinces. The archaeological ruins of Samaipata and the pictographs of th...

Witches' Market
Attraction

Witches' Market

Right in the middle of downtown La Paz, there is the Witches Market. This is one of the main and most impressive attractions within the city limits. This market spreads through three different colonial-style streets, it basically has a series of shops mounted over the sidewalks, some of these sho...