The sky reflected on the Salar de Uyuni at sunset
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A real traveller’s journey · Bolivia

From La Paz to Santa Cruz

La Paz was the starting point for two journeys by bus. One led north to the Amazon and the other south to the salt flats. A flight to Santa Cruz rounded off the trip.

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Start with this route’s stops and nights, then choose your dates and review the plan.

  • 13 recorded nights
  • March 2023
  • Crosspath traveller

Travel time for the return via La Paz still needs confirming.

The route

North to the Amazon, south to Uyuni

La Paz → Rurrenabaque → Amazon jungle → La Paz → Uyuni and the salt flats → La Paz → Santa Cruz

The record contains 13 nights: La Paz 4, Rurrenabaque 1, the Amazon trip 3, La Paz 1, the Uyuni tour 2 and Santa Cruz 2. La Paz appears again between Uyuni and the flight to Santa Cruz, but that return’s timing is unconfirmed. No extra stay or total number of days is assumed.

The route on a map

13 recorded nights

Bolivia route overview. Numbered places match the stop list that follows.
Lines show stop order, not roads or transport directions. Pins show approximate places, not accommodation.
  1. La Paz4 nights
  2. Rurrenabaque and the Amazon4 nights1 night in town + 3 on the Amazon trip
  3. La Paz1 nightReturn visit
  4. Uyuni and the salt flats2 nights2 nights on the salt flats tour
  5. La PazReturn connection · no extra night recorded
  6. Santa Cruz2 nights

Rurrenabaque includes one night in town and three on a guided Amazon trip. Uyuni includes two nights on a three-day salt flats tour. The map marks the gateway towns, not the tour camps.

The second return to La Paz is a connection before flying to Santa Cruz. No extra overnight stay is recorded; travel time still needs confirming.

Map outline: Natural Earth.

4 nights

La Paz

Four nights in La Paz opened the trip before the bus north to Rurrenabaque. This was the main city stay. The route returned to La Paz after the Amazon and again after Uyuni, so those later visits must be considered separately.

Pigeons across the paving in front of the cathedral in La Paz
An afternoon in Plaza Murillo.
A cable car passes above the red-brick neighbourhoods of La Paz
La Paz from the cable car.

1 night in town · 3 nights in the jungle

Rurrenabaque and the Amazon

The traveller arrived in Rurrenabaque by bus and stayed one night in town before a three-night guided Amazon trip that included the Beni River by boat. These are four nights in total: one in town and three on the trip. Afterward, the traveller flew back to La Paz.

View from beneath a red boat canopy towards the forested banks of the Beni River
The Beni River from the boat.
Parcels wrapped in green leaves cooking on a grate over glowing embers
Leaf parcels over the embers.

1 night

Back to La Paz

After the Amazon trip, the traveller flew back to La Paz and stayed one night before taking the bus south to Uyuni. This is a separate overnight stop from the four-night stay at the start.

3-day tour · 2 nights

Salar de Uyuni

Uyuni was the starting point for a three-day tour with two nights. The salt flats and southern lagoons belonged to that tour, rather than separate overnight bases. The return travel via La Paz still needs confirming before a complete trip duration can be stated.

Cacti on a rocky slope above white salt flats and distant mountains
Looking out from Isla Incahuasi.
Bands of orange sunset reflected in shallow water on the Salar de Uyuni
The salt flats at sunset.

Part of the Uyuni tour

The southern lagoons

The lagoon and geothermal stops shown here were part of the same Uyuni tour. They do not add nights to its two-night total. When using this route as a starting point, review the actual tour itinerary and its return arrangements before planning the onward flight from La Paz.

Flamingos standing in a shallow lagoon below a dark mountain ridge
Flamingos along the water’s edge.
Red water and pale shoreline below a cloud-filled sky at Laguna Colorada
Laguna Colorada, 17 March.
Steam rising from a grey geothermal field beneath low clouds
Steam in the southern highlands.
The cone of Licancabur rising behind blue-green water and a rocky shore
Licancabur above Laguna Verde, 18 March.

2 nights

Santa Cruz

The traveller returned via La Paz after the salt flats tour, then flew to Santa Cruz for two nights before leaving Bolivia. The timing of that return via La Paz is unconfirmed; allow for it explicitly when building your own version rather than treating the 13 recorded nights as a complete day-by-day schedule.

Plan your own Bolivia trip

Start with these stops and nights, then choose your dates and adjust the route.

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