Family of 4 with 2 kids (12 and 10) traveling to Bolivia end of Feb/beginning of March for 2 weeks.
Flying into La Paz from Santiago de Chile.
Staying at Aparthotel a la Maison (Sopocachi Psje, Munoz Cornejo n.15,) for 3 nights
Want to go to Lake Titicaca, staying in Copacabana for 3 or 4 nights.
Have one week, trying to decide between Uyuni or Sucre.
Back to La Paz, day trip to tour Tiwanaku, fly out of La Paz to Lima.
Questions:
Is la Maison located in an area where we'll be able to walk around, find food stores, pharmacies, sites, etc., or will we need to take a taxi everywhere?
Can we see the sites in La Paz on our own or do we need to hire a guide? Top 3 sites not to miss?
Best way to transfer between La Paz and Copacabana? Tourist bus? Recommended bus companies?
Isla del Sol - worth it? Day tour or overnight(s)? I'm leaning toward a day or not at all
Hotel recommendations in Lake Titicaca? (Thinking Hostal Las Olas)
BIG Question: Uyuni or Sucre for 2nd week? We've heard fabulous things about the Salares, however, am concerned about the weather and getting stuck this time of year. Thoughts? Sucre seems really cool as well. We cannot do both.
Guides/tour company recommendations for Tiwanaku? We'd like to have a guide for the ruins. Would this be better to do on the front end? and just do a night near the airport for our last night (if that's even possible)?
About us:
We all speak Spanish at a decent level. We have traveled by bus through Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. We have lived in the jungle of Costa Rica and have traveled to Nicaragua (by bus) from there. We have also traveled in Peru and Chile. We typically stay in private apartments or aparthotel instead of hostels. With a group of 4, I'd like to have some plans loosely made, because it's often difficult to grab bus or airline seats for 4 last minute. Also, we typically like to stay in a place for at least 5 days to a week. That way, we get to know the city and the people. My husband had issues with altitude sickness (headaches mostly) during our last visit to Cusco, Peru, so we want to make sure we have enough time to take it slowly and acclimate in La Paz.
Bolivia: La Paz, Titicaca, Uyuni or Sucre w/Kids. Itinerary Help Wanted
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boliviabella.com good info for you LP dodgy around the
busstation cemeery area killings kidnappings there years past.
Check consular advisories.titcacaperu.com Taquile my fav
Unesco world heritage site many nice cheap hotels.
casa-adnina Private Collection best hotel for me last.
Tiwanake a must if you like amazing ruins Uyuni worth a couple of days amazing unuique lunar landscape not worth 1 week try to fit some Sucre in if you can.MGLB was there recently check his post or PM for bestcurrent info. insuremytrip.com wise and be careful to adjest to altitude and avoid dodginess.
Good luck!
mdtravelhealth.com Bolivia Peru
Diamox is a great preventive
to begin 48 hours before ascent OTC
from farmacia at SCL for me.
blocks laying about are between 100 and 150 tons. Puma Punku ... from the Pumapunka and the rest of the Tiwanaku Site. More Pictures of Puma Punku. Shattered stones of ...
www.world-mysteries.com/mpl_PumaPunku.htm
Amazing place very mysterious perfectly jointed 100 ton plus stonework where a man cannot even breathe.
Go figure...
End February or beginning of March is the worst of the rainy season. I would still try to get to Uyuni, but you may find water on the flats (which would still be amazing but may mean that you have a different route than the standard tour). The Tupiza option probably is not a good one for you in winter. So you can either do the more expensive Takya hotels (some may not be open in wet season) or the shared dorm tours, read my trip report. Traveling to Uyuni is easier by plane, but much more expensive.
Copacabana not all that interesting to me. Stay one night on Isla del Sol instead. Check the elevations of the places you are staying, it may be that the hotel in La Paz is no higher than Copacabana (the La Paz airport is high, but the city is in the canyon.
I liked Potosi for a day or two as well as Sucre, I think two nights in either one is enough. You can fly to Sucre from La Paz, which is lowest in elevation of all cities you are planning to visit, but this time of year you may get a lot of rain. There are travel agents in Sucre that can book you a private jeep transfer to Potosi and to Uyuni. The road between Potosi and Sucre is good, but the road between Potosi and Uyuni is not good. I stopped in at Teresita Tours in Sucre and they were professional and able to book domestic flights without a surcharge. They have a website, you may want to contact them.
If you can afford the Transturin Catamaran ($215) That is a nice way to transfer between Puno and La Paz.
Sorry can't help with your lodging choices. I prefer small privately owned hotels. Most mid range hotels serve a decent breakfast and meals are inexpensive. No reason to waste your time cooking on vacation!
Teresitas Tours
http://www.salaruyuni.com/teresitas/ing/enhome.php
Transturin (book through an agency for a discount)
Trip report
http://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/trip-reportbolivia-titikaka-la-paz-uyuni-potosi-sucre-nov-2011.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/bolivian-bus-ride-from-hell.cfm
Isla del Sol> Copacabana. Salar will be much times more interesting than Sucre, in my opinion. Altitude: I'm sure you've heard it before, but get some coca into him! If you go to Potosi (which i'd recommend, depending on the age of the kids, a mining tour is amazing), be careful with the altitude-- it's the highest city in the world.
Budget (ie most) tours around the Salar are for hardy backpackers who are used to cheap hotels and food....so if you go for it spend some extra money to get a better quality experience with a more tailor made tour company.
I am biased but I live in Sucre and love it! Visit the biggest collection of dinosaur footprints in the world, Tarabuco indigenous market on Sunday. There is a train from Sucre to Potosi(actually a bus on train tracks) that winds through the mountains and remote villages offering a unique view of life in the Andes off the beaten track. Stay in Potosi then visit the hot springs the next day.
If you need any more info I will be happy to help. You can stay with us at Sky Hacienda and the altitude is a comfortable 2600 metres. We have a big pool!
That dinosaur park is a bust. You can't even get close to the footprints. Better view from the parking lot.
The cheap tours are really fine and a lot of fun. I am far older than a backpacker and there were alsi families staying in the lodges with us. You sleep on a normal bed in a shared room. Unless you are some kind of princess who needs a hot shower daily don't listen to the scare mongers.
You can bring wash ups, travel pillows and some extra snacks and drinks znd enjoy. It is remote wilderness after all!
awwwh mlgb where's your sense of fun? have taken all age group visitors to the dino park and they love it's cheesy-ness.
i'm not a scaremonger and i don't know any princesses who go to the Salar expecting hot showers, just reporting first hand accounts of many people coming to us after touring Uyuni on the cheap with stomach bugs from bad food, freezing cold at night due to insufficient blankets, drunk jeep drivers who race each other on the flats...
There are two children in this party and I just want the family to have a good experience.
Please don't advertise the dinosaur park as being worthy for seeing the footprints. If you want to send people be honest about it, ie it may be fun for children who want to see replicas of dinosaurs. You might also mention that they charge extra for extranjeros, and they the entry fee doesn't include the use of telescopes so either bring some powerful binoculars or coins if you want to look at the footprints. Better yet just look at them from the parking lot.
As far as fun, I had plenty of it on my cheap Salar trip. And no one in my group got sick, none of the drivers were drunk or reckless, and the food ranged from average to fairly good. Anyone going in winter would be advised to bring or rent a sleeping bag, wouldn't they? (I went in November and didn't need one).
Your hotel looks very nice, although quite expensive for Sucre, isn't it? I enjoyed staying at Hotel de Su Merced which is right in the center of town, has the fantastic rooftop patio. I think their nicest room is about $85 a night.
Tarabuco, the market, the cathedral, and the folklorico show were all worthy. Unfortunately ASUR was moving as was closed when I visited last year.