39 Best Sights in Bolivia

The most popular exhibits at the Charcas Museum are mummified bodies discovered outside of Sucre in the 1960s. Curators believe the centuries-old mummies were entombed as human sacrifices. Also featured at this university-run museum are galleries of colonial paintings and textiles.

The Indigenous Art Museum has moved from its previous home in the Caserón de la Capellanía, to a smaller but well-designed space near the Recoleta. The museum preserves the 4,000-year-old weavings and tapestry art of the Andean world, especially communities around Tarabuco. The tour in English is interesting and the elaborate textile work—including a display of costumes showcasing regional fiesta garb—is truly impressive; there are also loom demonstrations. The onsite shop is very expensive; there are better options in town for buying.

Founded in 1601 by Franciscan monks, the Museum of the Retreat displays colonial religious works in a setting of serene gardens known as the "Courtyard of the Orange Trees." Equally noteworthy is the restored chapel with its intricately carved choir stalls, many of which are 1,000 years old. The tours (Spanish only) last 30 minutes. Make sure to take the time afterwards to visit the viewpoint, Cafe Mirador just below, and the nearby textile museum.

The 18th-century palace that houses this museum is almost worth the visit alone, with three floors overlooking a central stone patio and a lovely alabaster fountain. The well-curated collection is heavy in religious oil paintings and includes works by Melchor Pérez Holguín, considered to be the master of Andean colonial art. There are also some excellent contemporary works by artists such as Marina Núñez del Prado, a leading figure in Latin American sculpture.

The imposing Presidential Palace was guarded by tanks and machine gun-toting soldiers until 1982, when the constitutional government was restored following a 1979 coup and three years of military rule. Presidential guards now watch the front door instead. In front of the palace is a statue of former president Gualberto Villarroel. In 1946 a mob stormed the building and dragged Villarroel to the square, where he was hanged from a lamppost. The structure, which is closed to the public, is also known as Palacio Quemado (Burned Palace), because it has twice been gutted by fire.

Across the Río Rocha, this palace was built but never occupied by Simón Patiño, a local tin baron who amassed one of the world's largest tin fortunes. The mansion and 10-acre gardens reflect his predilection for French Renaissance style. One of the chambers on the upper floor mimics Italy's Sistine Chapel. The mansion, a five-minute taxi ride from the center of town, is now a cultural and educational center and is the most interesting place to visit in the city. The palace provides a glimpse into the Cochabamba of old, when the wealth of Potosí was flowing freely.

Three miles outside of Sucre is, unexpectedly, one of the world's most important paleontological sites, with more than 5,500 dinosaur footprints petrified into a sandstone cliff. Over the past 68 million years, what was a well-traveled clay beach has been raised by the same tectonic movements that created the Andes into this 360-foot-high cliff. The footprints were exposed during work by a local cement factory, and although now protected within the park, are under serious threat from erosion. There are tours at noon and 1 pm that take you right up to the footprints; make sure to get there on time, and wear closed shoes (no sandals). The park itself is not just for kids, with an interesting time line and a dozen seriously impressive full-size replicas of dinosaurs. Transport (the Sauromovil) leaves from Plaza 25 de Mayo in front of the cathedral at 9:30, noon, and 2:30 every day and costs (Bs)15.

A handsome building both inside and out as a result of an extensive restoration, the Municipal Theater regularly stages traditional dance and music, as well as classical music performances and theater. Check the sign outside the theater or the newspaper for upcoming events.

This ancient site was home to one of the region’s richest pre-Columbian cultures. Visually it isn’t as impressive as Machu Picchu, but the Tiwanaku had a massive influence on the empires that would follow and to this day their aesthetics are mirrored in Bolivian Aymara design. They were architectural masters, building with giant monoliths that weigh up to 25 tons and were brought from some 40 miles away. The site's most impressive monument is the 10-ton La Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun), an imposing stone fixture believed to be a solar calendar. At their peak between 600 and 800 AD the city grew to up to 30,000 people, although newer evidence points to much larger cities with perhaps hundreds of thousands of people living in the area. Drastic climate change around 950 AD brought a rapid decline to their largely peaceful empire and by 1200 AD the cities were almost completely abandoned. Start your visit with the museum next to the ruins. It displays artifacts found at the sight, the most spectacular of which is a 20-ton, 7.3-meter- (24-foot-) tall monolithic statue sculpted out of red sandstone. The monolith was discovered by an American, Wendell C. Bennett, during excavations in 1934, and since then had been on display in an open-air garden museum in La Paz, where it was being seriously eroded by weather. It was returned to Tiwanaku when the new indoor museum opened in 2002. Admission to the ruins and the museum is (Bs)70 and guides are available at the entrance for (Bs)70 - 100. There are various companies offering complete tours from La Paz. Bring a warm sweater or poncho—the area is frequently windy and cold, as there are no trees to break the wind. It is worth spending a night nearby to appreciate the stark, empty landscape and soak up some marvelous peace and quiet. If you are in La Paz in June, go out to the site for dawn on the day of summer solstice; it's a moving experience.