8-Nights Best of Bolivia: From Cities to Salt Flats - Tailormade Journeys — CALL

Itinerary Details

1 Arrive Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Set the heart of Bolivia’s tropical lowlands, Santa Cruz radiates its narrow city lanes out toward the Pirai River and the Andes Mountains beyond. This buzzing capital mixes colonial and modern international influences and beckons visitors to soak in an eclectic blend of the traditional and the contemporary against a vibrant tropical backdrop. Take in the city’s highlights with your guide, starting at the Main Square — Plaza 24 de Septiembre — from which you have a close view of the soaring Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Lorenzo. Visit Arte Campo, a crafts shop located in a house, and continue to the open-air El Abasto Indian Market, a central economic hub where locals gather daily for fresh produce and indigenous culture mixes with modern Bolivia. Finish with a look at the city’s historical monuments and some of its most fascinating residential neighborhoods.

Fly to Sucre, nicknamed the White City for its many whitewashed colonial buildings. Head out with your guide to view the best of the city, including the Recoleta viewpoint, the House of Liberty — where Simon Bolivar signed the Independence of Bolivia — and the textile museum ASUR, with its displays of traditional weavings from regional indigenous communities. Eat lunch at a local restaurant for a taste of Bolivian dining. Later, as evening approaches, watch the sun set over the red-tiled roof top of the Hotel Parador.

Delight in the artistry of a chocolate factory tour, savoring the city’s finest creations, and explore the General Cemetery, a masterpiece of colonial architecture, forming an immersive journey through culture, heritage, and timeless elegance. Eat lunch at local restaurant before an afternoon free. This evening, enjoy a magnificent dinner at Peña Orígenes accompanied by live music and a vibrant folkloric show. Marvel as talented dancers move to the rhythm of the band, showcasing the rich cultural and heritage traditions of Bolivia on an unforgettable evening celebrating the soul and colors of Bolivian culture.

Journey into Bolivia’s southern highlands to Potosi, a mining enclave that was once the largest and wealthiest city in the Americas. Founded by the Spanish in 1545, the surrounding mountains yielded up a seemingly inexhaustible supply of silver to the coffers of the Spanish empire. Today, silver, tin, lead and other minerals are still mined not far from the colonial churches and squares the conquistadors left behind. Once here, visit the Casa de la Moneda (Royal Mint), with its wooden machinery used to make the silver coins for Spain during the colonial era and stroll through the City Center. As with Sucre, UNESCO has declared Potosi a Historical and Cultural Legacy of Mankind.

Venture to Uyuni, located in Bolivia’s southwest corner near the world’s largest salt flat. The small town is known for its warm, hospitable people and serves as a welcoming oasis amid the hauntingly beautiful moonscape that surrounds it. En route, visit the Salt Museum and stop at Ojos de Agua, a cold-water spring. Once you arrive, settle into your comfortable and cozy Airstream Camper, specially re-designed to offer you an extraordinary stay. Sit down to a meal specially prepared by a chef using fresh local ingredients. As sun sets over the Andes, nibble on tasty d’oeuvres and sample your choice of drinks, from high-altitude wines to hot beverages, staying warm beside a bonfire as the horizon turns to flame.

Devote a full day to exploring the vast salt desert, marveling at its astonishing combination of hexagonal surface formations, vast blue sky and towering cacti. During the rainy season, light reflects off the resulting layer of water, especially at sunset, to make you feel you are walking on the world’s largest mirror. Also visit Thunupa Volcano, the ancestral guardian of this natural treasure, offering magnificent views of the crater and the vast salt flats — a photographer’s dream. Finish with a private sunset experience, gazing out at the changing colors of the landscape around a private bonfire, before dining in your camper.

Sprawled in a gaping Andean canyon some 13,000 feet above sea level, La Paz boasts the highest elevation of any capital city in the world. An eclectic mix of structures cling to the city’s towering hillsides, with the finest dining and entertainment concentrated in the in the lower neighborhoods southwest of the Prado (downtown). This mountain metropolis welcomes guests to wander its winding lanes, stroll its curious market stalls and take in its colonial architecture. Touch down and set out to explore the city and its surroundings, letting them transport you to a mysterious past where any corner, any street, is a living history that preserves the pre-Hispanic times with all their traditions and magical rites. Enter the indigenous, colonial and modern areas as well as the Indian Market and Witch Doctor's Market, while absorbing the breathtaking mountain panoramas that frame the city. This afternoon, ride a 21st-century cable car up for a bird’s-eye view of La Paz.

Straddling the border of Bolivia and Peru, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable body of water in the world. The lake’s eerie stillness and piercing blue hue complement a rich history dating back to the early, pre-Incan hill tribes who still call these shores home. A singularly spectacular destination, the lake beckons visitors to discover why Andean belief holds it as the birthplace of the sun. Arrive at Huatajata, located on the shores of Lake Titicaca, and experience the mystical world of the Kallawaya — ancestral healers who have preserved their medical knowledge for generations — on a journey into ancient Andean wisdom. Surrounded by sacred objects and medicinal plants, experience a traditional coca leaf reading ritual, performed to provide guidance and balance. Then board a hydrofoil for a rousing cruise to Sun Island. Visit the Inca Grand Stairs and the Sacred Fountain; taste the water believed to give eternal youth. Admire the Uros, artificial islands made of reeds carefully woven by locals. Stop for lunch at the Uma Kollu archaeological restaurant. Cruise back to Huatajata and return La Paz along a road that skirts the snow-capped Andes.