Part of: Paying in Bolivia
La Paz climbs the walls of a canyon, from about 3,200 meters on the southern floor to over 4,000 on the rim, and its transit follows the grade. Mi Teleférico, the largest urban cable-car network in the world, is the daily commute for the people under it; a visitor gets the same cabin. Below the cables, a swarm of minibuses does the city’s actual circulation. Nobody walks between the center and the south, and for the first week every uphill block is a workout.
Four ways around follow, in the order you’ll use them. The first is paid in cash at a station window, so carry some before you reach the platform.
The four ways around
Mi Teleférico, the backbone
Ten color-coded lines over the bowl. Pay cash at the station window (a rechargeable card and an official app exist; the window is the sure thing), and expect a charge at each transfer. The lines you'll use: Yellow from its Sopocachi station to the Libertador interchange and up to El Alto; Green from Libertador down through Obrajes to Irpavi, the Zona Sur line; Red from Estación Central to 16 de Julio in El Alto, the market and wrestling line; White and Orange for Miraflores via Plaza Villarroel; Light Blue from the Prado to Libertador; Silver along the rim. The loop is Red up, Silver across, Yellow down. It doesn't reach San Miguel or Calacoto proper; Irpavi and Obrajes are the closest stations.
PumaKatari and the minibuses
PumaKatari's yellow municipal buses have fixed stops, trained staff and a route map, and run most of the day and night with fewer after dark; the catches are that you have to be at a stop, and that fuel shortages have cut the service back more than once this year, so don't build a morning on it alone. The minibuses are how most of the city moves: a van with a voceador calling destinations from the sliding door, a card on the windshield, wave to board, 'bajo' or 'esquina' to get off, coins on the way out. Micros are the old painted buses, slowest and liveliest, vendors hopping on to sell snacks; trufis are shared cars on fixed routes, mostly center to Zona Sur, leaving when full. The Callejero app is the closest thing to a system map.
Radio taxis and the apps
Radio taxis are dispatched by phone or WhatsApp and carry the company name and number on a dome on the roof; they're the option at night, near the bus terminal and with luggage. Street taxis are unmetered, so agree the fare before you get in, never take one that already has a passenger, and skip unmarked cars. Use small bills and say the amount aloud when you pay; a wrong-change routine exists. inDrive is the ride app everyone here agrees on and Yango the second, both showing the driver, the plate and the fare before the ride; Uber runs here too, third in line.
On foot, downhill
Sopocachi sits on a plateau with fewer steep streets and Zona Sur is flat, so those are the walkable pockets. The center and the Sagárnaga strip are steep, and at 3,650 meters every uphill block is a workout for the first week, so ride up and walk down. Nobody walks between the center and the south; that's what the Green and Yellow lines are for. In the wet season the afternoon downpour turns the steep streets into streams. Don't rent a car: nothing in the city's grade, its blockade pattern or its transit density argues for one.
From a Sopocachi apartment, the Yellow Line to Libertador, then the Light Blue to the Prado, and you’re in the center in a cabin. The Green Line drops from Libertador through Obrajes to Irpavi, then a taxi for San Miguel. The Red Line climbs from Estación Central over the cemetery to the market rim for a Thursday or Sunday at the Feria 16 de Julio. For the airport, it’s the radio-taxi desk coming in and a booked radio taxi or an app going out, with the market days in mind.
Learn one minibus route, yours. The cable car does the rest.
The rest is habit: phone in a pocket at the curb and on the minibus, bag on your lap, and the helpers at the bus terminal ignored along with their prices. After about nine in the evening it’s a radio taxi by phone or an app to the door, and never an isolated cable-car line late. El Alto is a daylight visit, with the ride back down arranged before you go up.
Mistakes to avoid
Walking uphill on day one
The center's streets climb hard and the air at 3,650 meters makes every block a flight of stairs for the first week. Ride the cable car up and walk down, and leave the miradores for day four.
Getting into a taxi that already has someone in it
Cars with a passenger in the back, unmarked cars and drivers who approach you near the terminal are the pattern every advisory names. Take a radio taxi by phone, with a dome on the roof, or a ride app with the plate on screen.
Riding an isolated line late
The busy lines through Sopocachi and the center are fine after dark; the quiet ones out to a lonely station are not the way home at eleven. After about nine, take a radio taxi or an app to your door.
Renting a car
Nothing argues for it, and the city argues against it: the grade, the blockade pattern on every road out, and a transit system that already goes everywhere you'll want to be. Take the cabin.
Common questions
Which ride app should I install?
inDrive first and Yango second; every source in the city agrees on the first and locals recommend the second. Both show the driver and the plate and let you set or see the fare before the ride, which is the reason people here use them over a street hail. Uber runs in La Paz as well, but it's the third choice here rather than the first. Install the other two before you fly and keep a radio-taxi number for nights.
Can I pay for the cable car with a card?
Cash at any station window is the sure thing, and it's how to do it on day one. A rechargeable card and the official app exist, and the app tops up with a bank card; whether a foreign one goes through is not something to find out at a turnstile with a line behind you. Transfers between lines are charged at the interchange.
Is the Teleférico safe at night?
The lines run into the late evening on weekdays and shorter on Sundays and holidays, and the busy ones through Sopocachi and the center are fine. The advice from the nightlife guides is to skip the isolated lines late, and after about nine to take a radio taxi or an app home rather than ride to a quiet station and walk. In daylight it's the calmest way across the city.
How do the minibuses work?
A van with a voceador leaning out of the sliding door calling destinations, and a card on the windshield listing them. Wave when you see yours, squeeze in, say 'bajo' or 'esquina' when you want out, and pay on your way out, coins preferred. Learn one route, the one between your apartment and where you work, and use the cable car for everything else; the Callejero app maps the routes if you want the whole system.
Should I just walk?
In Sopocachi and Zona Sur, yes: Sopocachi sits on a plateau with fewer steep streets and the south is flat. The center and the Sagárnaga strip are steep, and at this altitude every uphill block is a workout for the first week, so ride up and walk down. Nobody walks between the center and the south; that's what the Green and Yellow lines are for. In the wet season the afternoon downpour turns the steep streets into streams, so take the walk in the morning.
