Bolivia
The all-white constitutional capital, then the mountain that once financed the Spanish empire
Bolivia
A journey through Bolivia's colonial history: Sucre, the country's constitutional capital, whose entirely whitewashed historic centre earned it UNESCO status, then Potosí, a mining town founded at the foot of Cerro Rico, a mountain whose silver, extracted for centuries, long financed the Spanish empire, at considerable human cost to Indigenous and African miners.
When
April to Oct
Price
From 2 900€ excl. flights
(based on 2 people sharing)
How long
6 nights
Ideal length
Days 1-2
The first chapter unfolds in Sucre, Bolivia's constitutional capital, where a municipal ordinance has for generations required all facades in the UNESCO-listed historic centre to be whitewashed. The Casa de la Libertad, where the country's declaration of independence was signed in 1825, and the Convent of San Felipe Neri, whose terraced roofs offer a panoramic view of the city, sum up Sucre's historical importance in building the nation.
Day 1
The Casa de la Libertad and the white centre
A visit to the Casa de la Libertad, where Bolivia's declaration of independence was signed, then a walk through the entirely whitewashed historic centre, between shaded squares and neoclassical facades.
Day 2
The Convent of San Felipe Neri and the dinosaur tracks
A climb to the terraced rooftops of the Convent of San Felipe Neri for a panoramic view of the white city, then an excursion to Cal Orck'o, a vertical rock face bearing over five thousand fossilised dinosaur tracks.
Days 1-2
The road to Potosí, the highest city in the world at over four thousand metres, founded in the 16th century at the foot of Cerro Rico, whose silver deposits, among the richest ever discovered, long financed the Spanish empire. The UNESCO-listed city preserves the old Casa de la Moneda, where colonial coinage was minted, while the mines, still active today on a small scale, can be visited with former miners turned guides.
Day 1
The Casa de la Moneda and the colonial centre
A visit to the Casa de la Moneda, a former colonial mint now housing one of South America's richest museums, then a walk through the UNESCO-listed colonial centre.
Day 2
A visit to the Cerro Rico mines
A guided visit to a still-active mine on Cerro Rico, accompanied by a former miner, to understand the extreme working conditions that have persisted for nearly five centuries inside the mountain.
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