If you’re planning on traveling to Bolivia, you HAVE TO visit the capital city. If only for one day to ride this incredible aerial cable car system. In this post, I’ll cover everything you need to know about how to get around the amazing city of La Paz using this neat cable car system.
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It may surprise you to learn that the world’s largest cable car system is located in La Paz, Bolivia. A unique city nestled in a valley high in the Andes mountains of South America.
Because of its rare location and densely populated streets, they had to get creative with their transportation system. In comes the one-of-a-kind aerial cable car system. It’s massive and truly changed the way people explore the city.
Whether this sounds frightening to you or exhilarating, here is everything you need to know about the epic cable car system in La Paz and why you should add it to your bucket list!
*Be sure to check out my reel all about these cable cars to get a better idea of the views!
A Little Bit About La Paz, Bolivia
Bolivia is a landlocked country in South America bordered by Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Paraguay. La Paz, one of the capitals, is located in the Andes mountain range on the western side of the country.
La Paz is also known as the highest city in the world at a whopping 11,893 ft (3,625 m) above sea level. It’s also nicely nestled in a valley (resembling a bowl) and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It’s truly a gorgeous city.
It is also important to mention that, because of its quick growth, El Alto has become a separate city from La Paz. However, most people clump them together because of how well-connected they are and their proximity. When you land in La Paz, the airport is actually in El Alto.
If you’re interested you can read more about the things that Bolivia is known for right here.
The World’s Largest Cable Car System in La Paz
La Paz has over 1 million residents with El Alto (literally translated to The High/Tall) having another 1 million inhabitants. As previously stated, La Paz was built at the bottom of a valley. It slowly started growing up and around to what is now known as El Alto.
Because of how large the city is and its unique layout, it used to take about an hour to get from El Alto down to La Paz via car. That is until they built and operated Mi Teleférico – the largest cable car system in the world. You can now get from downtown La Paz to El Alto in just under 15. minutes.
This was revolutionary for the local people who work and go to school in between the two cities. The cable car system is in fact, one of their forms of public transportation. It functions similarly to a metro or subway just with much better views.
It’s so interesting when you think about the ingenuity of humans. Because of its location and soil, Bolivia is prone to landslides. There’s no way they could have built an underground transit system so they looked up to the sky instead.
10 Color Coded Lines
Today in mid-2023, there are currently 10 different cable car lines in La Paz, with an 11th gold line in the works. The combined length of each line comes out to 20.3 mi (32.7 km) making these aerial cars the longest and largest ones ever made.
Mi Teleférico opened up in 2014 starting with the red, yellow, and green lines – resembling the colors of Bolivia’s flag. These first 3 lines connected La Paz to El Alto, cutting commuter times in fourths. This completely changed the lives of everyday Bolivians.
Since then, 7 more lines have been added creating a network of transit paths all around La Paz and El Alto. These include the blue, orange, white, sky blue, purple, brown, and silver lines.
Travel Times – Complete Trips by Lines
- Red Line (Línea Roja): 10-12 mins
- Yellow Line (Línea Amarilla): 16-19 mins
- Green Line (Línea Verde): 16-18 mins
- Blue Line (Línea Azul): 20-23 mins
- Orange Line (Línea Naranja): 12-14 mins
- White Line (Línea Blanca): 13-15 mins
- Sky Blue Line (Línea Celeste): 11-12 mins
- Purple Line (Línea Morada): 16-18 mins
- Brown Line (Línea Café): 3-4 mins
- Silver Line (Línea Plateada): 11-13 mins
As you can tell, the majority of the trips are rather short meaning you could see the whole city in just about 2.5 hours. Of course this is with no stops, just getting on and off the cars.
Map of Mi Teleferico
Cost of Riding & Hours
The best part about the cable cars in La Paz is how affordable the tickets are. It costs 3 Bolivianos (43 US cents) per line for the initial entrance. Then just 2 Bolivianos (29 US cents) for each additional transfer to a new line.
So it should cost less than $8 to ride all of the lines depending on the route you choose to take. That’s a steal and also a super fun way to spend your day.
The cable cars run everyday but the hours differ on Sundays and Holidays from 7 am – 9 pm. The rest of the time the hours are from 6:30 am – 10:30 pm Monday through Saturday.
While you will get to see more of the city during the day, I highly recommend taking at least one ride at night. The whole city lights up and that’s a whole different special sight to see!
Best Route to Take
Okay, so I’m sure you’re wondering what’s the best route to take? This all depends on where you are staying and starting from.
If you are staying in the city center, the closest station to you will most likely be the beginning of the sky blue line. The station is called Prado.
However, you can obviously jump on at any nearby station and follow the map around to all the lines you would like to see. There really isn’t a right or wrong direction to travel. Plus half the fun is exploring on your own!
Tips for Best Views/Places
However, while you can travel in any direction, I do want to point out some must see areas I think you would enjoy. And in general some tips to get the most out of the day.
- It’s important to note that the red, yellow, and purple lines will all take you up to El Alto. That means these 3 will be the steepest lines!
- If you can, take the red line up to El Alto. It passes over this colorful neighborhood painted with beautiful murals. It’s a nice little surprise!
- The blue line runs completely in El Alto all the way to the end of the line. This area is known as Rio Seco (dried river). So this will be a smoother (flatter) ride and a good way to see the whole area.
- Ride the silver line for the most dramatic (and kinda scary) view of La Paz. This line goes right over the drop-off of El Alto into La Paz. So it’s pretty high up and you can even see how some of the houses are so close to the edge. It’s a miracle they haven’t fallen yet.
- The green line takes you to Zona Sur (South Zone) which is close to the Valley of the Moon if you plan on visiting that.
That is pretty much everything you need to know about the cable car system in La Paz, Bolivia! I truly hope you someday get to visit my hometown. It’s such a unique and cool place, especially with these awesome cable cars to take in all of the awe-inspiring views.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does La Paz have cable cars?
Yes – La Paz, Bolivia has the largest cable car system in the world! Stretching over 20 miles all over this unique city. It’s the best way to get amazing views of the mountains and too get an idea just how big the city is.
How many cable car lines are there in La Paz?
As of 2023, there are 10 cable car lines in La Paz, Bolivia with an 11th gold line scheduled to operate soon. These color coded lines go as such – red, yellow, green (Bolivia’s flag colors), blue, orange, white, sky blue, purple, brown, and silver.
When did La Paz get cable cars?
The cable cars in La Paz, Bolivia became fully operational on May 30, 2014 – although they had been in the works decades before; making this aerial cable car system the longest and largest in the world!
For more Bolivia information, you may also like:
- 10 Fantastic Reasons It’s Worth Visiting La Paz, Bolivia
- Salar de Uyuni: Best Time To Visit Wonderful Bolivia Salt Flats
- Why You Need To Try Bolivian Api Con Pastel (Amazing!)
