Copacabana

Getting Here and Around

You can get a bus to Copacabana from the Cementario in La Paz or organize your trip through an agency in town. Tourist buses, (Bs)40, are usually booked a day in advance and will pickup passengers around 8 am at most central La Paz hotels. Public buses to Copacabana depart from the bus station but schedules are not reliable. From the cementario zone, minibuses depart every hour from 6:30 am to 4:30 pm, but this area is not very safe. The route to Copacabana will pass Huatajata and continue on the El Alto Highway to the Strait of Tiquina where you can see the handful of patrol boats that stubbornly persist from what was Bolivia's navy. This narrow strait (2,790 feet across) joins the upper lake, Lago Chicuito and the lower lake, Lago Pequeno of Lake Titicaca. At this crossing point, your bus or car is loaded onto a small and very unstable raft, which chugs slowly across the strait, while you speed across in a small motorboat. Ask the Navy conscripts manning the crossing for permission if you wish to stay with your vehicle, though you may decide against it once you've seen the rafts. From here it's a 90-minute drive to Copacabana. If you're starting in Peru, Tour Peru has buses departing from the main terminal in Puno at 7:30 am for S/20. The most enjoyable option is to rent a car and drive—it takes about three hours from La Paz and the roads are good, as are the views.

In the center of Copacabana's main plaza, the tourist information booth is the place to find information about the area.