La Paz: Walking Tour, Cable Car & Witches Market

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/21

Duration3h

GroupUp to 12

LanguagesEN · ES

Mobile ticketAccepted

Three hours in La Paz: from street level to the sky and back

You walk through La Paz's colonial center and markets with a local guide, ride multiple cable car lines for views across the city, and learn the history behind the Cathedral, San Pedro Prison, and the Witches Markets in both La Paz and El Alto. The tour takes 3 hours, keeps groups under 15, and includes all activities and transportation — you just show up at San Francisco Church.

Step-by-step itinerary

La Paz city and cable car tour

Start at San Francisco Church
Visit Witches Market of La Paz
See San Pedro Square and jail exterior
Take various cable car lines
Visit Witches Market of El Alto
Explore flea market (Thursday/Sunday only)
Return to La Paz
Visit Jaen Street
See main square and cathedral
Walk through open air markets and shops
Finish at San Francisco Church

The Experience

You're standing at San Francisco Church, already at 3,640 meters above sea level, and your guide is pointing out the colonial stonework while the city spreads below you in a way that makes your phone camera feel useless. This is where the 3-hour walking tour starts — no long bus ride, no waiting around. You move straight into the Witches Market, where the stalls sell everything from dried llama fetuses to herbs bundled in newspaper, and your guide explains what's actually happening here instead of letting you guess. The market isn't a tourist trap dressed up as local life; it's where people come to buy what they need, and you're walking through it with someone who knows the difference.

After the market, you head to San Pedro Prison — you see it from the outside, which is the only way to see it, and your guide tells you the actual history, not the sensationalized version. Then the cable cars. You take various lines across the city, and from up there La Paz stops being a jumble of streets and becomes a geography you can read. The guide points out neighborhoods, explains the layout, and you get why the city is built the way it is. It's not a scenic ride with no context; it's transport that teaches you something. Later you'll visit the Witches Market in El Alto — different from the one in La Paz, higher up, and on Thursdays and Sundays there's part of the giant flea market happening too, which changes what you see depending on when you go.

The tour brings you back down to Jaen Street, which is narrow and colonial and full of small museums and cafes, and then to the main square where the Cathedral sits alongside the government buildings. You walk through open-air markets, past shops, and the guide keeps talking — about the myths, the history, the things that actually matter to understanding why La Paz feels the way it does. Groups stay under 15 people, so you're not herded; you can ask questions and actually hear the answer. The whole thing finishes back at San Francisco Church, which means you end where you started, but you've seen the city from three different angles by then.

What’s included

Your tour includes a local guide, all activities (Witches Market visits, cable car rides, Cathedral and government building viewing, Jaen Street walk, and San Pedro Prison exterior viewing), and all transportation within the tour. Groups stay under 15 people throughout.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearby

Operated by Hanaqpacha Travel

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to understand La Paz's layout, history, and street-level culture in one morning without arranging your own transport or guide — the fixed 3-hour structure and cable car routes are what fit the whole city into a single tour.