La Paz, Bolivia

La Paz is South America at its most raw and vertical. The city drops roughly 400 metres from the rim of El Alto down into the valley floor, and its neighbourhoods cascade along the slopes in tiers — from the Aymara markets of the upper city to the leafy residential streets of the Zona Sur far below. The Mi Teleférico cable-car network, one of the world's longest urban systems, links these layers and doubles as an aerial sightseeing tour. The Witches' Market (Mercado de las Brujas) on Calle Linares sells dried llama foetuses, amulets and herbal remedies rooted in Aymara tradition. The nearby Iglesia de San Francisco anchors a colonial core that extends to Plaza Murillo, seat of government. Calle Jaén, a narrow cobbled lane lined with small museums, is the best-preserved colonial streetscape in the city. At the rim, El Alto hosts the largest open-air market in the Americas every Thursday and Sunday — a sprawl of stalls stretching to the horizon. Beyond the city, day-trip options include the pre-Inca ruins of Tiwanaku, the eerie Moon Valley (Valle de la Luna) eroded from clay formations, and the Death Road mountain-bike descent into the Yungas cloud forest. La Paz is also the staging point for climbing Huayna Potosí (6,088 m) and for tours to the Salar de Uyuni and Lake Titicaca. Altitude sickness is common on arrival — acclimatisation, hydration and coca tea are standard first-day protocol.