Bolivia Travel Forum

Hi,

I am currently staying in Arequipa (Peru) and plan to go to puno(lake titicaca), copacabana,
la paz, oruro, potosi, sucre, uyuni, cochabamba, and final destination santa
cruz.

Im really confused as to what route to take from la paz to all of this places?
What do you recommend? Do you know what would be the best destination to go to
before heading to santa cruz?

Any tips/information apprecciated

Thanks,

Arly :)

Arlette

Not sure where cochabamba is, but my route was oruro - uyuni - potosi - sucre - santa cruz (last leg by air, the others by bus, although I understand the train oruro-uyuni has much to recommend it).

Hi Arlette,

The route that I took had me go from Arequipa to Cuzco (overnight bus), then I spent a few days doing the Inca trail. From Cuzco we took an overnight bus to Puno. From Puno we took an overnight tour to three of the islands in Lake Titicaca (Uros, Amantani and Taquille). We got to stay on Amantani island with a host family for one night. We also took a tour from Puno to Sillustani (funery towers and other cultural sites).
After Puno we took a bus to Copacabana and went to Isla del Sol (also on Lake Titicaca but on the Bolivia side). Personally I felt the Peruvian islands trip on Lake Titicaca was much better than Isla del Sol which I felt was more commercial. From Copacabana we took a bus to La Paz and spent a few days here. We then took a bus from La Paz to Sucre (12 hours overnight). In Sucre we took a tour to Tarabuco village for the Sunday markets which I really enjoyed. We took a bus from Sucre to Potosi (3-4 hours). Stayed at the Koala Den Hostal in Potosi which I would recommend. We also did a tour of the mines which was interesting. We then took an overnight bus from Potosi to Uyuni which to be honest was one of the worst bus rides I have ever had. It was really uncomfortable as there were no roads to speak of between the two towns. The ride took about 8 hours. From here I took the jeep tour across to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile.

I hope this helps!

Cheers,
Rhianon

your route should be:
copacabana - la paz - cochabamba - oruro - uyuni - potosi - sucre - santa cruz.

you will have to check or someone else will have to confirm the availability of buses from cochabamba to oruro b/c i haven't done that particular leg, but i am sure it will be fine.
otherwise your route is identical to one i have done a several times. we usually fly from sucre to santa cruz (if there is no airlines strike)

are you taking the train of death to brazil?

Thanks for all your help :)

...Hi Gfinesilver, my original plan was to start from Brasil, take train of death to Bolivia and end up in peru. I didnt have enough time though, i heard the scenery is beautiful and i believe that train stops at el pantanal, right?

the train ends in puerto quijarro on the bolivian side and across the border on the brazilian side, Corumbá is a common place to begin a pantanal trip.

i figured you were ending in santa cruz to take the train but i guess not.