The Salt Flats Are Just the Beginning | 10 Incredible Places in Bolivia

Bolivia is the highest, most indigenous, and probably the most dramatic country in South America. It packs the Andes, the Amazon, the world's largest salt flat, and the highest capital city on earth into one place. And it does it with almost no crowds. It's a country where nothing is quite what you expect, and that's exactly the appeal. Welcome to Optimized Travel Destinations. My name is Ricky, and I am part of the Optimized Travel team. We help travelers plan amazing trips through our concierge service, and our team has worked together to list the absolute best places Bolivia has to offer. These are the top 10 places to visit in Bolivia, counting down from 10 to one. Number 10, Tarija. Tarija is in Southern Bolivia, near the Argentine border, about an hour by air from La Paz. It sits in a warm, green valley that feels a world away from the cold highlands, and is the heart of Bolivian wine. It's also the home of Singani. The national grape spirit and the bodegas around town are relaxed, cheap, and genuinely welcoming. Most travelers skip Tarija entirely, and that's exactly why it's such a pleasant surprise. It's mild most of the year, but the Mendimia Harvest Festival in late February and March is the best time to visit. I'd give it two nights and spend a day working through the wineries. Number nine, Cochabamba. Cochabamba sits in a fertile valley in the center of the country, about 45 minutes by air from La Paz. It has the best climate in Bolivia and the best food. This is the country's culinary capital, and the eating here is reason enough to come. La Concha, one of the largest open-air markets in South America, sprawls across whole neighborhoods, and the Cristo de la Concordia statue above the city is slightly taller than Rio's. What I love about Cochabamba is how unpretentious it is. It just gets on with feeding people well. It's comfortable year-round thanks to that valley climate. I'd plan two nights, mostly built around long lunches and the market. Number eight, Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is out in the tropical lowlands to the east, and it's a completely different Bolivia, hot, flat, green, and fast-growing, with none of the altitude of the highlands. It's the country's economic engine and biggest city, yet its colonial plaza still has a relaxed feel. Most people use it as a gateway, but the real draw is nearby. Sumaipata, a mysterious pre-Inca rock site and some of Bolivia's best national parks. The lowland climate is warm all year, though the dry season from May to October is easiest. I'd give it two nights with a day trip out to Sumaipata. Number seven, Tiwanaku. Tiwanaku is out on the Alta Plena, about an hour and a half west of La Paz, an easy day trip. This was one of the most important pre-Inca civilizations in the Americas, and the ruins are strange and impressive. Massive carved stone gateways, a temple wall studded with sculpted faces, and monoliths whose meaning we still only half understand. It's not as large as Machu Picchu, but its pre-Inca history is unlike anywhere else in the region. Go on a clear day when the light on the Alta Plana is sharpest. A half day covers it well, and it combines easily with the drive out toward Lake Titicaca. Number six, Ruanabaca and the Amazon. Ruanabaca is a small river town in the northern Amazon basin, about 45 minutes by small plane from La Paz, and the flight down from the mountains into the jungle is spectacular. It's the launch point for two very different trips. The dense rain forest of Madidi National Park, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, and the pampas flooded grasslands where the wildlife spotting is genuinely incredible. If you want the Amazon without the crowds, this is one of the continent's best value experiences. The dry season from May to October is the time to go. I'd plan three or four nights, split between the jungle and the pampas. Number five, Potosi. Potosi sits at over 4,000 meters in the Southern Highlands, which makes it one of the highest cities in the world. It was once one of the richest cities on Earth, thanks to the silver of Cerro Rico, which actually funded the entire Spanish Empire. The colonial center, all churches and grand facades, is a UNESCO site that reflects that lost wealth. You can still tour the working mines, though it's dusty, tight, and sobering. It tells you more about Bolivia's history than any museum could. I think Potosi is one of the most quietly powerful places in the country. Come in the dry season and take the altitude seriously. This is not the place to arrive straight from sea level. I'd give it two nights and go easy on day one. Number four, Lake Titicaca and Isla del Sol. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, straddling the border with Peru, about three and a half hours from La Paz. The Bolivian side centers on Copacabana, a pilgrimage town on the shore, but the real magic is out on Isla del Sol. There are no cars and no roads, just stone paths, terraced hillsides, ancient ruins, and some of the bluest water you'll ever see. Walking the island ridge with the snow peaks of the Cordillera Real across the lake is one of the best walks in Bolivia. The dry season is clearest and calmest on the water. I'd stay a night on the island itself rather than day tripping. It's a completely different place once the boats leave. Number three, Sucre. Sucre is Bolivia's constitutional capital, and for my money, its most beautiful city. It sits in a mild valley in the southern highlands, about an hour by air from La Paz, and it's noticeably gentler and lower than the rest of the highland country. The whole center is whitewashed by law, creating one of South America's most elegant colonial cities of plazas, churches, and courtyards, all UNESCO-listed and beautifully kept. It's also a lively university town and one of the best places in South America to learn Spanish. Just outside the city, a limestone cliff of Calorco holds thousands of dinosaur footprints tilted almost vertically by geology, one of the largest collections of tracks anywhere in the world. The indigenous markets around Sucre, especially Tarabuco, on Sundays are among the Andes' most authentic. Sucre's mild climate makes it comfortable most of the year. I'd give it three nights, enough to slow down, wander the white streets, and take a day out to the villages and the dinosaur tracks. Number two, La Paz. La Paz is the highest capital city in the world, and arriving here is genuinely unforgettable. The city sits in an enormous canyon bowl with buildings climbing every wall of it and the sprawl of El Alto spilling over the rim at 4,000 meters above. Flying into it for the first time is a jaw-dropping introduction to Bolivia. The best way to see it is from the Mi Teleférico, a network of cable cars gliding you high over the rooftops with the snow peak of Iemani in the background. It's one of the continent's great scenic rides, yet for locals, it's simply public transport. Down in the streets, La Paz is chaotic in the best way. Markets everywhere, street food on every corner, and the famous witch's market Mercade de las Brujas selling herbs, potions, and offerings for Andean rituals. Just outside the city, La Vala de la Luna is a bizarre landscape of eroded rock spires you can walk right through. The dry season is the most reliable and give yourself a day to adjust to the altitude before doing much. I'd stay three nights and ride the cable cars at sunset at least once. Before I reveal number one, I want to take a moment to tell you about why we made this video. Bolivia is one of the trickiest countries in South America to plan well. The altitude is no joke, the distances are huge, and the wet season and dry season give completely different experiences. And the internal logistics can be genuinely confusing. Now, getting the order and the timing right is most of the battle, and that is exactly what Optimized Travel was built for. Head to optimizetravel.com to find out more or click the link in the description. And now, number one. Number one, Salar de Ayuni. The Salar de Ayuni is the largest salt flat in the world, and it's the reason most people come to Bolivia in the first place. It sits at 3,700 meters in the southwest, reached from the town of Ayuni about 40 minutes by air from La Paz, and there's genuinely nowhere else on earth like it. In the dry season, it's an endless white plain of hexagonal salt crust stretching further than your eye can process, so flat and featureless that perspective breaks down completely, making every photo look like an optical illusion. In the wet season, a thin layer of water runs the whole thing into the largest mirror on the planet, and with the sky reflecting so perfectly that the horizon disappears and you appear to be walking on the clouds. Both versions are extraordinary, and they're completely different trips, but the salt flat is only the start. The classic three-day tour carries on south through the wider southwest Anteplano, and it's some of the most surreal landscape anywhere, blood-red lagoons full of flamingos, steaming geyser fields, hot springs, and desert dotted with wind-carved rock. You cross it by four-by-four, staying in salt-brick lodges as every hour brings another impossible-looking landscape. The dry season, from May to October, gives you the classic white expanse. The wet season, from roughly January to March, gives you the mirror. I'd plan the full three-day tour ending at the Chilean border if you're heading that way, and pick your season based on which version you want. You can't really have both. So, those are the 10 best places to visit in Bolivia. From the wine valleys of Taraja and the Amazon rivers of Rurimbaca, through the blue water of Lake Titicaca and the white streets of Sucre, all the way to the mirror of Salar de Ayuni. If you're ready to plan your trip, head to OptimizedTravel.com, and let me know in the comments which of these 10 would you visit first, straight to the salt flats, or would you start somewhere higher and stranger? Drop it below, and don't forget to subscribe. We cover the world's best destinations every week.