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Bolivia · La Paz Department

La Paz: how to get there and around

Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.

La Paz is a city of 2 million people in Bolivia (La Paz Department), 3,782 m (12,408 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is El Alto International Airport (LPB), 4 km (2 mi) from the centre. Our booking partner lists 368 places to stay.

Key facts

Population2 million
Elevation3,782 m (12,408 ft)
Area472 km²
Time zoneAmerica/La_Paz (UTC-4 now)
CurrencyBoliviano (BOB)
Dialling code+591
Driving sideRight
Plug typesEuro, NEMA 1-15
UN/LOCODEBOLPB
Coordinates-16.5, -68.15
La Paz

Open La Paz in Google Maps

Daylight in La Paz runs from about 11 h 11 min a day in late June to 13 h 9 min in late December (computed for -16.5° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.

Getting there

La Paz is served by one airport with scheduled flights. The closest large one is El Alto International Airport (LPB), 4 km (2 mi) from the centre, whose 13,123-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft.

Flights to La Paz: every airport, routes and times

Buses to La Paz · Driving and car hire

Where to stay

Our booking partner lists 368 places to stay in La Paz. Of the 185 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (100), and 13 are five-star. Across 85 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.6 out of 10. Guests have left 39,258 reviews in total.

Hotels in La Paz: the full picture, and book

Our booking partner lists 21 hostels in La Paz, out of 368 places to stay of every kind — 5.7% of everywhere it lists in the city, an above-average share: hostels here compete with each other rather than filling a gap. Across 6 hostels with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.5 out of 10, level with the city’s hotels. Guests have left 1,806 reviews across them.

Hostels in La Paz: the full picture, and book

What people come for

Most-visited sights in La Paz with published visitor numbers (Wikidata)
SightVisitors a yearYear
National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore70,000

The busiest is National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore at 70,000 visitors. Figures are the latest each site has published, so they are not all for the same year.

Tours, tickets and day trips from La Paz

Nearby cities, and how to get between them

Twin towns and sister cities: Caracas, Mérida, São Paulo, Arica, Calama, Hanover, Zagreb, Washington, D.C., Bonn, Moscow, Dalian, Bolzano, Ensenada, Denver.

Common questions

Which airport serves La Paz?

El Alto International Airport (LPB), 4 km (2 mi) from the centre.

How big is La Paz?

About 2 million people live in La Paz, across 472 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).

What time zone is La Paz in?

America/La_Paz, currently UTC-4.

What currency is used in La Paz?

The Boliviano (BOB). Traffic drives on the right.

Are there hostels in La Paz?

21 of them, bookable on this site. Hostels in La Paz.

How many hotels are there in La Paz?

Our booking partner lists 368 places to stay in La Paz, bookable on this site.

Which cities are near La Paz?

Arequipa (361 km), Cochabamba (233 km), Tacna (280 km), Juliaca (239 km), Arica (317 km).

Where these facts come from

  • GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
  • Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
  • OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
  • Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines

Data compiled 14 September 2026. Hotel and hostel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.