La Paz: Travel Tips Worth Knowing
Before you go: Bolivia in 2026. La Paz is open and welcoming, but plan around two 2026 realities. The boliviano was floated in mid-2026 and its value is still moving, so don’t trust any fixed exchange rate, including any number you find elsewhere online; check a live converter close to departure and carry some small US dollars as backup. Occasional road blockades or strikes can also briefly close routes, so keep overland plans flexible and check locally before long trips. Both eased through the second half of 2026, but conditions shift, so check the latest before you fly.
Altitude comes first
La Paz city sits at roughly 3,640 meters, but El Alto International Airport, where you’ll actually land, is higher still, around 4,060 to 4,150 meters. You arrive at altitude before you’ve had a chance to acclimatize to anything. Take your first day slow: skip alcohol and heavy exertion, drink far more water than feels necessary, and try coca tea, the local remedy sold in every hotel and cafe. Diamox is the medical option if you want to plan ahead with a doctor before you travel. Anyone with heart or lung conditions, or who is pregnant, should get medical advice first, and remember that popular add-ons go even higher: Titicaca sits around 3,810 meters, Uyuni about 3,660 meters, Chacaltaya near 5,300 meters.
Entry requirements have changed
US citizens have been visa-free since 1 December 2025, so don’t plan around the old reciprocity visa or its fee. UK, EU, Canadian, and Australian travelers already had 90 days visa-free, that part hasn’t changed. What is new for everyone, visa-exempt or not, is SIGEMIG, an online pre-registration you need to complete before you travel. Keep your passport valid at least 6 months out, and check yellow-fever requirements if you’re continuing on to the Amazon or Yungas lowlands.
Money
The boliviano is cash-heavy, and a lingering US-dollar shortage means ATMs can be unreliable, so bring small, clean US dollars as backup, especially outside the capital’s upscale hotels and restaurants. Cards work at higher-end spots only. Bolivia remains genuinely cheap by regional standards, and tipping around 10% at sit-down restaurants is standard.
Get around by Mi Teleferico and registered taxis only
Mi Teleferico, the city’s cable car network, is cheap, scenic, and doesn’t take cash at the turnstiles, so buy or load a card first. For street-level transport, use registered radio taxis, called by phone or app, never a car hailed off the street. The fake-police scam and express-kidnapping risk are specific, real dangers here, especially around tourist spots like the Witches’ Market; never hand your documents to anyone claiming to be plainclothes police.
Culture worth respecting
The Witches’ Market is a living Aymara market, not a novelty stop, treat the vendors and their goods accordingly. Cholita style and cholita wrestling reflect a reclaimed, proud Aymara identity, the latter grew out of domestic-violence-survivor support circles, frame it as empowerment rather than spectacle. Coca leaf, chewed or brewed as tea, is legal and culturally central here and entirely distinct from cocaine, though it’s illegal to export and can trigger a positive drug test abroad, so don’t pack any home. And remember: La Paz is the seat of government, not the constitutional capital, that’s Sucre.
One more honest note
The Uyuni Salt Flats are roughly 550km away, a separate multi-day trip, never a La Paz day excursion. Death Road is worth doing only with a vetted, reputable mountain-bike operator, never unguided.
Read more: the main La Paz guide and things to do .