For most families going on a tour of Bolivia, the trip starts with a visit to La Paz with kids. La Paz is the (unofficial) capital of Bolivia, and most flights to Bolivia from around the world arrive in this city. La Paz is located at an altitude of 3640 meters, making it the highest capital city in the world. If you’re traveling with kids and this is where you arrive, keep in mind that you’ll need some time to get used to the altitude. In this blog, we list the best sights you can do in Bolivia’s La Paz with kids then.
Best travel time La Paz with kids
You can visit the Bolivian city of La Paz with kids all year round. The temperature is fairly constant and it is around 15 degrees all year round. This is due to the altitude and therefore it is wise to also bring warm clothes when taking a family city trip to La Paz. During the year there is not much rain, but the least rain falls from May to September.
So if you have to name a best travel time, the period from May to September is the best travel time to visit La Paz with the family. June, July and August are the busiest months in La Paz because of international vacations. During this period, the prices of accommodations may also start to rise compared to the other months.
Transportation in La Paz
Traveling around Bolivia and also La Paz with kids is still not that easy. The public transportation system is not super regulated as in many other major cities around the world. You have the cable cars (we will talk more about this in the kids activities section) that can take you through part of the city, and especially with kids, it is advisable to just book the cab or an organized tour to different sights in and outside the city.
Unfortunately, La Paz doesn’t really have a very good cab app like Uber that you can use. This certainly changes regularly and new cab apps will always be established, so check online when traveling to La Paz. The easiest way is to arrange a reliable cab through your accommodation, for example, and possibly arrange with this cab driver where you want to go and where you might want to be picked up again. Big advantage is that Bolivia is not super expensive, making a cab quite affordable even in La Paz.
Children’s activities La Paz
#1 Cable car from La Paz
One of the most famous tourist attractions in the city of La Paz is the cable car that the city has. This cable car is somewhat similar to the famous cable car in the city of Medellin. Also this cable car was not built as an attraction for tourists, but for the population so that they can move themselves around the city in a fast and safe way. Of course, this cable car is also visited by many tourists in the city these days.
The Teleferico cable car consists of 3 different routes and these routes all have a color. These colors are the colors red, green and yellow, which are also the colors of Bolivia’s flag. You can take these cable cars all the way from the valley to El Alto which means altitude. From here you have a great view of the city of La Paz with kids.
Because the cable car is also used by locals, the cable car costs almost nothing and you can be on top of the mountain with an entire family for a few euros. It’s best to take the red line up first. If you are up here from there grab a short cab ride to the yellow line and at the end point of the yellow line you can then transfer to the green line. On the way you already see a lot of the city and on top of the mountain you have a beautiful view.
If you don’t feel like doing this on your own, you can also book a tour for this cable car. Then, with a guide, you will take these various cable cars through the city. For more information about this tour, take a look here.
#2 Tourist market and witches’ market
La Paz is also known for its markets, and you have a large tourist market in La Paz. Here you can buy all sorts of goodies, including the colorful cloths for which the country is famous. The people in Bolivia look beautiful and the women with the colored rugs are especially photogenic. Of course, always ask in advance if you can take a picture of someone.
In addition, you have Mercado Lanza, which is the market for fruits and vegetables in the city of La Paz and Mercado Negro which is the market for buying all kinds of goodies such as bags, for example. You also have the special witch market that you can visit in La Paz with kids. They sell all kinds of herbs and powders here that are said to help for all kinds of physical complaints and can also chase away spirits.
For example, many Bolivians have a fetus of a llama under their house as an offering to please the gods when they build a new house. It is certainly fun to visit this market, but it is not a market to really buy things. You can also visit this guided witch market. They have several Free Walking Tours in La Paz that you can book with the family.
The idea of such a tour is that you are shown around for free by a guide and at the end of the tour you decide how much to tip. So it’s not really a completely free tour. Examples of such tours through the city of La Paz can be found, for example, on the Red Cap City Walking Tours website .
#3 Most Dangerous Road
If you visit La Paz with kids who are a little older, you can do a really cool activity in La Paz. This is a mountain bike ride along Bolivia’s Death Road. This road through the mountains was so named because of the many deaths (200 to 300 deaths per year) that occurred along this route every year.
Many of the motorists were killed as their cars plunged into the ravine. Incidentally, it is still common in Bolivia for drivers to be drunk behind the wheel. It is a road of about 70 kilometers that runs from La Paz to the destination of Coroico. You can book a tour (they are offered everywhere in La Paz), where you are picked up by a van and driven up the mountain and ride down by mountain bike in groups.
Nowadays there is a new road to Coroico, so this road is less used by car and truck traffic, and therefore this road is mostly used by mountain bikers. Part of the road is also unpaved. It really is a beautiful route that you take down and, of course, it is not tiring because you hardly have to pedal.
However, it is a smart idea to brake often so that you don’t go much too fast. So you have to have some kids who can handle this responsibly. For more information on this mountain bike tour, take a look here.
#4 Valle de La Luna
You can take several fun day trips from La Paz with kids in the La Paz area. This is a nature reserve that looks like a moonscape and is just under an hour’s drive from La Paz. You can visit this destination with kids just fine in half a day with a tour. You’ll have seen this area in just over an hour, too.
In fact, you can take a small walk here, which is also great to do with kids. You can visit this valley by cab then you have a little more freedom to go wherever you want and otherwise you can book a tour to this valley. For more information on this day tour to Valle de la Luna, take a look here.
#5 Tiwanaku
Tiwanaku used to be a big city in Bolivia and today it is an archaeological complex where you can see all kinds of ruins of this city. Tiwanaku is about a 2-hour drive from La Paz and you can also visit this ancient city with a guide by booking a tour. You then visit the various ruins and also various museums, getting explanations from an English guide.
That way you can also get a lot of background of this city. It may not be the most family-friendly tour, but if you as a family are very interested in ancient cultures and history, this could be a fun option. For more information on booking a tour to Tiwanaku, take a look here.
#6 Lake Titicaca
One of the highlights of our trip through Bolivia did include a visit to Lake Titicaca. It is also possible to take a day trip to this lake from La Paz. Just keep in mind that this is a very long day trip, where you will be on the tour organization’s bus a lot with the kids. You then ride the bus for several hours and also take the ferry across part of the lake in between.
You will then visit the popular destination of Copacabana and then take a boat across Lake Titicaca to Isla del Sol, where you will take a tour of the island. Lake Titicaca is definitely a highlight of Bolivia, but of course the question is whether you should do this in a day trip or just spend a night there in Copacabana.
This also allows you to explore Isla del Sol at your leisure. For more information on a day tour from La Paz with kids to Lake Titicaca, check out here.
Family-friendly restaurant La Paz
Despite the fact that La Paz has a lot less good and family-friendly restaurants than many other capitals in the world, you have plenty of places where you can eat just fine with kids. We list below some of these family-friendly restaurants in La Paz that offer just a little different food than the typical Bolivian food.
The Carrot Tree: This Irish restaurant is a very good place to have lunch or dinner with the family. They have many different options on the menu here such as burgers, pastas and pancakes, so there are plenty of choices for kids as well. If you sit at the top of the restaurant, you also have a nice view of the city. Online reviews of this family-friendly restaurant in La Paz are also very good.
Mozzarella Pizza: If you as a family love pizza, then this restaurant in La Paz is a very good option to eat. The pizzas here are very good, the only drawback can be that if the restaurant is busy you do have to wait a while for the pizza to be ready. So do provide entertainment for the kids when they have to wait for their food.
New Moti Mehal: As a family, we love Indian food (partly because there are often so many vegetarian options) and New Moti Mehal is a restaurant where you can eat it. This restaurant is also tremendously well reviewed online in La Paz.
Family-friendly hotel La Paz
You can stay in La Paz with kids just fine. You have plenty of family-friendly accommodations you can book in La Paz. We list some of the best-reviewed family-friendly accommodations in La Paz. Click on the blue link for more information.
Budget accommodation: Hotel Express
Mid-range accommodation: Atix Hotel
Luxury accommodation: Casa Grande Suites
For a list of all family-friendly accommodations in La Paz, take a look here.
