Not only is La Paz department headquarters of the national government, but also it has a wide range of attractions and beautiful landscapes. Moreover, visitors are offered excellent services here.

Going on an excursion to La Paz can be a hugely enjoyable experience since there are so many interesting places to visit. One striking example of this is the Moon Valley, located ten kilometers away from the city center. Also, the famous Titicaca Lake, Copacabana city and the Tiahuanaco ruins.

One of this city’s most noticeable features is the fact that wealth and poverty meet at this place. High-rise buildings and five-star hotels hide poverty-stricken street vendors.

Moreover, La Paz has its own main square, where the San Francisco Church stands, one of the most representative examples of the mixed architecture in America. This square and its surroundings is the main tourist attraction and meeting place for the “paceños”.

According to the few historical facts that can be checked nowadays, the foundation of this church and convent can be traced to the year 1549.

It was during the first years of the eighteenth century that a heavy snowfall damaged badly the building.

Hence, it was necessary to start afresh and rebuild the church. The construction was made with the same material used the first time, carved stone.

The main feature of the building’s facade, built in 1970, is its Baroque style. The new church was not finished until forty years later.

Also, another special attraction of the building is its art gallery, where works of art of different styles can be enjoyed, namely, mixed, neoclassical, Baroque, Renaissance works, among others.  

Alasita, meaning "buy me" in the local Aymara language, is a fair that takes place to praise the god of abundance, Ekeko.

This celebration is held in order to provide the god with a wide range of goods making sure that he will have everything he needs. Hopefully, he will fulfill the wishes of those who take part in the event.

The prosperity will be achieved, according to the belief, depending in what the customer buys. Hence, so many people go to the Alasitas fairs to buy small goods.

The Alasitas fairs feature stalls displaying from miniatures of houses to small bags of the abundance filled with rice or sugar. The festival symbolizes the hope that if the small representative objects are obtained, they will turn into real objects in the future.

The Palacio de los Condes de Arana or National Art museum was built in 1775 and is divided into three floors: the ground floor, the central floor and the top floor.

In order to access this museum, there are two entrances only. One is located in the ground floor and the other one in the central floor.

A picturesque backyard with the typical late Baroque style can be enjoyed at this palace as well. Such yard is covered with white and black stones and a polygonal alabaster fountain stands in its centre.

Laja is the place where the city of La Paz was first founded, and it was the Spanish captain Alonzo de Mendoza who was in charge of such event.

It is hardly suspiring that talking about foundations, Spanish conquerors and settlements means talking about churches and main squares, and Laja is not the exception.

In its main square, the great Church of Laja can be found. Inside, the church is decorated with paintings and altarpieces, and a plate frontal that reflects the neoclassical style.

The green dome is one of the most attractive features of this building, since it is made from original glazed tiles, probably from the region known as Jesus de Machaca.

The Moon Valley is a geographical place where the erosion has caused stony formations that give the sensation to be in a real lunar landscape.

This breathtaking view is the result of erosion of what used to be a mountain peak. Nowadays, the valley’s floor is made of clay instead of rock.

Located only ten kilometers away from the city centre of La Paz, visiting this breathtaking place, a kind of desert of stalagmites, can be a memorable experience.