16 days from £2,055 per person
This invigorating holiday highlights the remote wilderness of southern Bolivia and the Atacama desert over the border in Chile, as well as taking you to the kinder climates of Bolivia in the sub-tropical Yungas and sunny Sucre, a colonial masterpiece. Many roads through this rugged terrain remain unpaved but a slower pace of travel only enhances a visit to this adventurous destination.
Holiday itinerary
Day 1 Fly from the UK arriving the following day in La Paz.
Day 2 At leisure to acclimatise.
Day 3 Excursion to pre-Incan Tiwanaku Ruins
which rise from the high tawny plain.
Day 4 A spectacular and vertiginous drive out of La Paz over the high altitude La Cumbre pass, dropping 3,000m in 65km to the citrus orchards and banana plantations of subtropical Coroico.
Day 5 Return to La Paz.
Day 6 Fly to Sucre.
Day 7 At leisure exploring this whitewashed colonial city.
Day 8 Drive to the simple yet evocative Hacienda La Candelaria.
Day 9 Visit the authentic market at Tarabuco, where the inhabitants still wear their hand-woven ponchos and head-dresses. Continue up a bromefringed road to Potosí on the desolate altiplano.
Day 10 Visit the primeval tunnels of the drift mines of Cerro Rico and tour Casa de la Moneda (the Imperial Mint Museum) and the imposing architecture which reflects the city’s opulent past.
Day 11 Drive to Uyuni over a 5,000m pass.
Overnight in a salt hotel.
Day 12 Expedition to the immense salt pan. Overnight in San Pedro de Quemez or San Juan.
Day 13 Cross the dazzling flats within the shadow of Ollagüe volcano through valleys of wind-eroded rocks. Overnight in Villa Mar.
Day 14 Drive to rust-red Laguna Colorada, where flamingos feed. En route to the jade-green waters of Laguna Verde you will view the steaming geysers and thermal springs of Polques, before crossing into Chile and the lunar landscapes and pre-Incan ruins of the Atacama Desert. Overnight
in San Pedro de Atacama.
Day 15 Fly from Calama to Santiago de Chile (2hrs).
Day 16 Fly to the UK arriving day 17
how about?
- visiting mystical Lake Titicaca from La Paz—full day, or overnight
- a few days on Easter Island
- the Choro Trek |