Potosí SumUp

6 hours ride from Uyuni on a height of over 4000 meters lies the city of Potosí. Potosí used to be a very rich city in the 17th century, due to its large resources in silver and zinc. Until today Potosí’s biggest income comes from silver mining. Due to its past the city has a rich city center, filled with beautiful colonial architecture.

If you are very interested in the mines and the history of Potosí then you can choose to visit a couple of mines (tours only). Some people are very keen on exploring the mines, others don’t really want to go, as you are probably going to witness the sometimes horrible conditions that the people are working in. We decided against it, but its up to you. Even if you don’t want to visit a mine you should stay a couple of days in the city, wandering through the narrow streets of the historical center and eating at the marketplace. 

We can highly recommend the Koala Den Hostel where we stayed for 2 nights (17€ per night for a private). It was one of the best hostels we experienced in Bolivia, with warm showers (which is very seldom the case), cozy rooms and one of the best equipped kitchens ever.

The height in Potosí can be a struggle, but if you like us had enough time to acclimatize to the height of the Andean region, then you are probably going to be fine.

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