Most Europeans believe La Paz to be the capital of Bolivia. That is wrong. Officially Sucre is the capital of Bolivia, but La Paz is the seat of the government. With an average height of 3600 meters it is the highest executive seat in the world.
While the city center lies in a valley on 3200 meters there are districts that are built on a height of more than 4000 meters, therefore expect to experience some altitude variations when exploring the city. We stayed two times in La Paz (6 days in total) and got to see a lot of the city. We experienced La Paz as a very alive, crowded and fast paced city, with a lot of traffic. Although the center, various museums and the big market of “El Alto” are definitely worth seeing, we didn’t really fell in love with the city. For us it was just too busy and the fast-paced environment made us feel kind of unrelaxed, but everybody should make their own experience.
Around la Paz there are countless things you can do, you can bike the Death Road, climb various mountains (Huayna Potosi being the most famous one) or explore different valleys (Valle de la Luna, Valle de las Animas). So if you like adrenaline or a good hike, there is so, so much you can do in the La Paz region. And for us those day trips made it absolutely worth visiting this part of Bolivia.