Bolivia Highlights
La Paz
Seen from the rim of the surrounding alitplano, La Paz may look like a jumble of shabby skyscrapers and streets clogged with traffic. But on closer inspection, it is one of South America's most fascinating and lively cities, bustling with street markets offering everything from llama foetuses to freeze-dried potatoes. La Paz is the highest capital city in the world.
Lake Titicaca
Most visitors to La Paz use the opportunity to visit the Bolivian side of nearby Lake Titicaca, the great high-altitude expanse of water (8,290 sq km) shared with Peru and flanked by rugged Andean snowpeaks. Boat trips go to the Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun), where the Incas believed that their founding parents, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, emerged from the waters of Lake Titicaca at the call of the sun god.
Tiahuanaco
The splendid ruins of Tiahuanaco lie to the south of Lake Titicaca, an easy day trip from La Paz. With origins dating back to around 1600 BC, the site is thought to have been the ceremonial centre of a powerful empire that covered half of Bolivia, through southern Peru to northern Chile and northwestern Argentina.
Yungas
The Yungas (Valleys) - are in a completely different climatic zone from the Bolivian capital, less than 100 km away on the bleak, barren altiplano. The drive from La Paz is one of the most spectacular in South America, going over a high-altitude mountain pass to dive into fertile valleys with drifting tropical mists, ancient Inca terraces abundant with fruit and coffee plantations.
Oruro
The former mining city of Oruro, 230 km south of La Paz, is best known today for its annual fiesta, La Diablada (Devil Dance), the most famous in Bolivia, held eight days before Ash Wednesday. The main procession starts with Satan and Lucifer leading hundreds of masked devils in fantastic outfits: dancing, leaping and pirouetting along the steep roads.
Valley of the Moon
Only 11 km from downtown La Paz in distance, but light years away in appearance, Valle de la Luna or Moon Valley is a bizarrely eroded rock labyrinth full of pinnacles and miniature canyons. Known as "badlands", its desert formations are constantly changing and can be explored for hours.
Sucre
The city of Sucre, 600 km southeast of La Paz, is small and elegant, with some beautiful colonial architecture, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. As the home of two of the country's oldest universities, it has a lively cultural scene and several good museums.
Potosí
Perched at 4,000 metres above sea level in the shadow of the Cerro Rico mine mountain, Potosí, 550 km southeast of La Paz, is the highest city of its size in the world. Enriched by the Spanish for its seemingly endless supply of silver, today the city is bleak and impoverished but still spectacular for its setting and crumbling colonial churches and mansions.
Sorata
Lying in a valley at 2,700 metres beside Mounts Illampú (6,362 metres) and Ancohuma (6,427 metres), the small town of Sorata is reputed to be the most beautifully located in the whole of Bolivia. Mountain trails challenge adventure seekers, whilst milder souls will be content with strolls through the flower-filled valleys that locals insist were the site of the original Garden of Eden.
Trinidad
Head for Trinidad, the capital of Beni Province in the heart of the Bolivian Amazon, if you want to spot some of the magnificent Amazonian wildlife. The Laguna Suárez, 5 km away, and Chuchini, 17 km, are both good places to arrange trips into the rainforest.
Salar de Uyuni
Near the frontier with Chile, the Salar de Uyuni, at 10,500 sq. km, is said to be the largest salt flat in the world, lying 3,653 metres above sea level. Most tours include the option of visiting Laguna Colorada, a dark red lake surrounded by a bleak landscape 346 km southwest of Uyuni, which is patronised by the rare James pink flamingo, and Laguna Verde, a chilly aquamarine lake at 5,000 metres above sea level.