
Photo Credit: Aquistbe

Photo Credit: Daniel Peppes Gauer
Buses
The most common way to travel in Bolivia is via the country’s extensive bus network. Reasonably frequent and generally reliable, buses run everywhere throughout the country’s major towns and cities. Long Bus Journeys Longer journeys are typically serviced by large double-decker buses called “Flotas” which tend to be newer and more comfortable than city buses. Referred to as “cama” (bed in Spanish), these types of buses hold up to 80 passangers and are equipped with reclining seats allowing comfortable travel during long-distance and overnight journeys. Passengers can choose from the following seat types:- Cama Premium – the most expensive option offering fully reclining seats (180-degree angle between the seat cushion and backrest)
- Cama – mid range price offering 160-degree reclining seats with decent leg room
- Semi-Cama – cheapest option offering 140-degree reclining seats with reasonable leg room

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Photo Credit: Los viajes del Cangrejo
Location | Address | Phone Number |
---|---|---|
La Paz | Calle Uruguay - Plaza Antofagasta | (591-2) 228-0551 |
Oruro | Calle Vacovic and Villarroel | (591-2) 527-9535 |
Potosi | Avenue Universitaria | (591-2) 624-3361 |
Cochabamba | Corner of Avenue Ayacucho and Tarata | (591-4) 423-4600 |
Chuquisaca | Calle Ostira Gutierrez | (591-4) 644-1292 |
Pando | Avenue 9 de Febrero | (591-2) 842-3122 |
Beni | Calle Beni and Monasterio | (591-3) 462-4607 |
Santa Cruz | Avenue Montes and 3 Pasos al Frente | (591-3) 348-8482 |
Tarija | Corner of Avenue Victor Paz and Calle La Paz | (591-4) 663-6508 |
Yacuiba | Calle Martin Barroso | (591-4) 682-4794 |
Bolivian Life Quick Tip:
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Taxis
Taxis are the safest mode of transport in Bolivia and can usually be called upon anytime and anywhere. There are two types of official taxis available in major cities: Radio taxis are dispatched based on calls they receive from private clients, usually hotels or restaurants. They drive to where passengers are located and take them directly to their destination. This is the safer, albeit more expensive option costing around Bs 6 ($0.90) to Bs 40 ($6 US) depending on distance and number of people sharing the taxi. You can identify radio taxis by their roof bubbles which advertise their logo, telephone number and name of the company. Regular taxis drive all over the city picking up people on the side of the street, costing around Bs 4 ($0.60 US) per person for a one way trip.
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Cable Car
An urban cable care system (“teleferico”) constructed in La Paz has taken transport in Bolivia to a whole new level. Operating at 4000 m (13,000 ft) above sea level, the highest cable car in the world connects La Paz to neighboring El Alto. This mode of transport provides stunning views of the city and also ensures access from the poorer neighborhoods to the central downtown area. The cable car system consists of three lines, colored red, yellow and green in line with Bolivia’s flag and is able to transport 3000 passengers per hour between the two cities, in just 10 minutes (currently land transport between the two cities takes approximately 1hr).
Photo Credit: David Almeida

Photo Credit: David Almeida
Flying
The main reason to fly within Bolivia is to cover large distances in the least amount of time possible. Tropical and rural areas in particular can be difficult to reach via bus so taking a plane is often the most sensible option. Boliviana de Aviacion (BoA) is Bolivia’s nationally-owned airline making more than 70 flights per day to a growing number of Bolivian and international destinations. Internal flights cost anywhere between Bs 350 ($50 US) and Bs 700 ($100 US) for a one way ticket and baggage allowance is usually 15 kg per passenger. Experiencing the stunning views over Bolivia’s vast and mysterious jungle, makes flying to the Amazon the preferred option to taking the boat. Flights are largely operated by Amazonas, serving La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Unfortunately flight times are limited and delays/cancellations are common so it’s best to book a few days in advance and to reconfirm the day before departure.
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Trains
Once the height of luxury in Bolivia, train travel is now one of the least popular modes of transport in the country. Today there are two separate networks operating in Bolivia: Ferroviaria Oriental – Eastern network running two lines from Santa Cruz; one to the Brazilian border at Quijarro; the other south to Yacuiba in the Chaco on the Argentine border. The scenery on this train route is fairly uninspiring, therefore it’s recommended to bring along some form of entertainment to stave off boredom. Empresa Ferroviaria Andina (or Occidental) – Western network running passenger trains from Oruro, south across the Altiplano via Uyuni and Tupiza to Villazón on the Argentine border. From Uyuni, a weekly passenger train runs southeast to Calama in Chile. The scenery on both these routes is breathtaking, making it a great alternative to taking the bumpy bus ride between La Paz and Uyuni. The company also runs a scenic route between Sucre and Potosí.
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Driving
Due to the poor road conditions between Bolivia’s main tourist attractions, traversing the country by car is not highly recommended. While hiring a private driver for the day is a much easier/safer option, for those desperate to visit some out-of-the-way destinations, renting a car from a local company is possible. You won’t find many of the major international car rental companies in Bolivia, however there are a number of local rental companies to choose from in all the major cities. You’ll need to be over 25 to rent a car and expect to pay between Bs 420–700 ($60 –100 US) per day for a four-wheel-drive which is essential to navigating Bolivia’s unpaved roads. Insurance can be arranged through most of the rental companies, however make sure to read the small print carefully.
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Photo Credit: Ngaire Hart
Travel Routes
All of Bolivia’s major cities and towns are connected by public transport. The following links and table provide information on the different routes and travel options between the most popular travel destinations in the country:- Traveling between Copacabana and La Paz
- Traveling between Uyuni and La Paz
- Traveling between Uyuni and Sucre
- Traveling between Potosi and Sucre
- Traveling between La Paz and Sucre (via Potosi)
- Traveling between Santa Cruz and Sucre
- Traveling between Santa Cruz and La Paz
Bus Route | Frequency | Time (hrs) | Distance (kms) | Price ($US) |
---|---|---|---|---|
La Paz to Oruro | Daily / Every 1/2 hour | 3 | 225 | 5 |
La Paz to Sucre | Daily / Evenings only | 14 | 500 | 15 |
La Paz to Copacabana | Daily / Every few hours | 3.5 | 165 | 2 |
La Paz to Tiwanaku | Daily / Every few hours | 2 | 60 | 4 |
La Paz to Potosi | Daily / Evening only | 7 | 550 | 12 |
La Paz to Cochabamba | Daily / Morning and Evening | 6 | 350 | 10 |
La Paz to Coroico | Daily | 4 | 90 | 2 |
Potosi to Villazon | Daily | 12 | 360 | 11 |
Potosi to Sucre | Daily / Every few hours | 3 | 165 | 4 |
Potosi to Uyuni | Daily / Morning and evening | 8 | 210 | 6 |
Potosi to Tupiza | Daily / Mornings only | 8 | 300 | 4 |
Sucre to Cochabamba | Daily / Evenings only | 12 | 280 | 10 |
Sucre to Tarabuco | Daily / Sunday for the market | 1 | 55 | 1 |
Santa Cruz to Yacuiba | Daily | 10 | 550 | 12 |
Santa Cruz to Cochabamba | Daily / Morning and evening | 8 | 445 | 10 |
Santa Cruz to Trinidad | Daily / Morning and evening | 8.5 | 550 | 4 |
Oruro to Uyuni | Daily / Evenings only | 7 | 310 | 5 |
Villazon to Tupiza | Daily | 3 | 85 | 2 |
Rurrenbaque to Trinidad | Thursdays & Saturdays | 18 | 360 | 18 |
Safety Tips
- When taking public transport, safeguard valuables by keeping them on your body at all times. If you do have to stow your bag in the luggage compartment, pack all your main valuables into a separate day pack and bring this onto the bus with you
- Always padlock your bag as this is a huge deterrent for would-be thieves. If you take an overnight bus, try to padlock your bag to a seat or luggage rack, so if you do fall asleep, no one can run off with your bag
- Unfortunately drunk driving does occur in Bolivia, so make sure to assess the state of your driver before getting on the bus
- On longer bus journeys make sure to pack enough water and snacks to last the distance as stops can be far and few between. Also make sure to bring spare toilet paper and hand sanitizer as toilets in bus terminals aren’t always well serviced
- If traveling alone at night, it’s advisable to call a taxi instead of hailing one in the street; ask your hotel, bar or restaurant to call one for you
- Always be alert when hanging around bus terminals or bus stops as this is prime ground for opportunistic pickpockets and bag snatchers
- If your bus has a seat-belt, wear it, as this could mean the difference between life and death if an accident does occur

Photo Credit: David Fisher
Hi All,
We just came back from a trip Peru-Bolivia, and would like to mention certainly “NOT TO TAKE THE FLOTA BOLIVAR” bus company (although I think many other bus Bolivian companies are as bad, and in general require very high alertness and assertiveness). We took this company for the night trip Sucre – Samaipatha (on the way to Santa Cruz), after hesitating with taking a flight because we knew it’s a long and bad road, but the flight prices had risen, and we thought we would just ask the bus driver to slow down if not carefull enough. Before getting on the bus we had said several times to the people of the company at the Sucre bus terminal that we had to get off in Samaipatha, not in Santa Cruz. We would then arrive there around 4 am, but we booked a hostel in advance so that wouldn’t be a problem. They assured us it was communicated to the driver and he would let us off in Samaipatha. To be absolutely sure we said it again to the bus driver ourselves when getting on the bus. We found the bus driving way too fast, given the road conditions and the sharp turns in the mountains and the steep sides. The bus passed every other vehicle (trucks and other buses), even right in front of sharp turns (and why??!!! tot get there earlier? At what expense?!). At a stop (around 10pm) I went to ask the bus driver to drive slower, and said that if he wouldn’t, we wanted to stay in the village and get our luggage. He said he would drive slower (although obviously annoyed). He went to buy something in the store along the road, and I went to look what he bought (as I also had read about drunken drivers). He had bought a bottle of coca cola and a smaller bottle with liquor, which he placed at the “front desk” of the bus. I got on the bus and grabbed the bottle, and asked him what he was thinking, and why he bought it at 10 pm, with a whole night of driving ahead. He aggressively grabbed the bottle from my hands and put it in a cabin above his head. Later he went out of the bus to do something else, and me and my boyfriend took the liquor and placed it with us in the “passengers compartiment”. We would later give it back but weren’t going to take the risk that he would drink during the night while driving (there is no sane reason that a bus driver should be buying alcohol along the road). He kept driving way to fast (all tourists should really complain when their bus/taxi drivers are driving too fast or not carefull, they just don’t seem to care so much about lives, and it’s a country with a very high accident rate, so tourists should be really assertive (we also thought afterwards we should have been even more assertive), you pay them and you should demand they take responsibilty for your safetiness. It’s not because local people on the bus are used to the way of driving it’s not very dangerous).
At around 4:30 am we went to the bus driver to ask if we were almost in Samaipatha, and he said that we drove past it but they didn’t want to wake us up (we weren’t even sleeping!!) and that it might have been dangerous to be there so early!!! It was infuriating. Anything was safer then staying on that bus, and we had asked/informed about 10 times that we wanted to get off at Samaipatha. We had booked a hostel and planned a whole day trip. It was not clear to us if it was intentional, forgetfullness, indifference, he just seemd apathically to our bewilderment. They then let us off somewhere in between Samaipatha and Santa Cruz, where we could try to take a collectivo back to Samaipatha (more then an hour back). We only arrived around 10:30 in Samaipatha, which was too late to start our trip that day, although we would probably have been also too tired from a very scary night ride.
Later in Santa Cruz we went to the bus terminal to the Flota Bolivar bus company, to inform them on the terrible and much to fast driving, the alcohol (with that they at least seemed a little concerned, and said it was a police matter), and the not stopping in Samaipatha after repeatadly asking. Again they were quite passive, which made us again believe that they just don’t care so much (about many things it seems).
We have to say, although we met unbelievably nice Bolivians too, we have been during our trip very often suprised with their rudeness, apathic attitude, ignorance or indifference (and it’s often not clear which it is). We have travelled a lot, and have nowhere experienced this like here.
We did have many other good bus rides in Bolivia, where the buses drove much slower and we did feel safe.
Thanks for the review Kristine, and very sorry to hear you had such a bad experience.
Almost a month ago I had a violent accident in Bolivia. Luckily, I’m pretty good, but do not want this happen to someone else, so I’ll tell you my experience.
01/04/16 Patty and I traveled to Bolivia. We had a whole plan between La Paz, Uyuni, Copacabana, Puno and Cusco. As we wanted everything to go well, reaching La Paz we bought our tickets and tours in a travel agency.
We booked bus tickets La Paz-Copacabana for 01/07/16.
On 01/06/16 we were in Uyuni and we received a call from the agency to tell us that we have to change the bus company because there was a strike in El Alto. They offered us that we could store our bags, that the bus had wifi and would be a good experience. Obviously, it was all a lie. The company was TRANS INTERNATIONAL TITICACA also known as TITICACA TOURS.
01/07/16 we arrived at 6:00 am to the bus station. Everything was a mess. They sold tickets in excess, they put us in any bus, we boarded the bus like cattle and the tourists even came up with the bus almost underway.
Of course I complained but I was ignored, we were treated terribly and the spokesman answer that “if you do not want to take the bus, there are other people who will do it.” Unfortunately, we hadn’t enough time and we had to be at our destination because we had to take a plane to Cusco.
The bus left shortly before 7:00am. The first part was a trail, because of the strike we took an alternate route. By 8:30 am, we were on the road usually used to go to Copacabana.
About 10:30 am, apparently by mechanical failure (the brakes broke), the bus began to wobble, then accelerated, crash into a mountain and flip up. The bus was shattered and some of us flew through the windows.
Due to the severity of the accident my friend and I were hospitalized for almost a week in El Alto, Bolivia. The owner of the company appeared four days after the accident (not by choice) and he wanted us to sign some papers. It was a horrendous treatment and, in short, told us that if we wanted to sue the company we can do it; we have to say that there was no apology involved.
Please, share this post. No one is free from an accident and also often of totally unpredictable events, but in our case was more neglect than anything else. I don’t want that this happen again. No one should go through what we had!!
If you know anyone that is traveling to Bolivia, tell them to never ever take TRANS INTERNATIONAL TITICACA (TITICACA TOURS). They do not care about people life.
Investigations are under way in Bolivia. The company still continue operating in Bolivia and Perú. Help us to prevent this from happening to someone else.
Hi Arnaud, I’m very sorry to hear this. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and I hope you’re well on the way to recovery now.