La Paz Travel Guide

The Bolivia Musical Instrument Museum on La Paz's Calle Jaén displays traditional Andean instruments.

Valle de la Luna near La Paz, Bolivia, offers moon-like eroded clay spires on scenic hikes.

The Basilica of San Francisco crowns the square of the same name in La Paz, one of South America's finest examples of Spanish-colonial architecture. Its carved stone facade blends European baroque with native Andean motifs—parrots, masks, pinecones and birds of prey—in the celebrated baroque mestizo style. Construction spanned from 1743 to 1885 on the site of an original 1549 church. Entrance to the nave is free, while guided climbs of the tower reveal panoramic views across the city's valley and the snow-capped Cordillera Real.

Plaza Murillo is the political heart of La Paz, named after Pedro Domingo Murillo, the independence leader hanged here in 1810. Around the square stand the Presidential Palace, nicknamed the 'Burnt Palace' after repeated fires, the Congress building and the white-domed Metropolitan Cathedral. Cholitas in layered polleras sell coca leaves from the corners, and the guard-changing ceremony draws the biggest crowds. The plaza sits about 3,640 metres above sea level, so move slowly at first and take the downhill streets back into town afterwards.

Managed by the Central Bank of Bolivia, La Paz's Museo de Oro gathers pre-Columbian gold and silver from the Andean world — ritual objects of Tiwanaku cultures, Inca-era jewelry and ceremonial metals

The Museo Casa de Murillo stands on Calle Jaén, La Paz's best-preserved colonial cobblestone street, where several museums line up side by side.