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Travel Guide – Copacabana and Isla de Sol, Bolivia

Copacabana, Bolivia is located on Titicaca Lake. Not to be confused with the famous beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

One of the most essential things to do in Copacabana is to visit Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca.

With not all that much to do other than kick back and enjoy this lakeside town, most travellers plan a visit to Isla del Sol (otherwise known as the Sun Island) to make the trek through Inca ruins from the north to south.

If you are in Peru, an alternative place to access Lake Titicaca is the town of Puno.

What to do in Copacabana

If you are lucky enough to visit Copacaban in February you must see the exciting Festival la Candelaria Copacabana.

Local Bolivians dress in old-school clothing (thinking 3 piece suits, bowler hats and colourful dresses) and parade around the town in a choreographed whirl of colours.

To make the competition harder, the locals (particular the men) get obliterated drunk before they begin. Fun ensues!

If you aren’t lucky enough to visit Copacabana in February, then get an eyeful of the festivities in our Festival la Candelaria blog post.

Visit the Copacabana Cathedral 

The Basilica of our Lady of Copacabana is a very interesting, moorish style church located in the Centre of Copacabana.

The architecture of the church is very interesting and there is a quaint park adjacent to the Cathedral which are worthwhile to explore.

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Copacabana Cathedral

Hike La Horca del Inca

From Copacabana town, take a hike up to La Horca del Inca where you will find stunning views of Lake Titicaca.

You will also find ancient Inca ruins (although you will find better preserved ruins on Isla del Sol).

The hike to the top is relatively easy, especially if you have proper footwear. Bring lots of water!

Entry to La Horca del Inca is 10 bob

Take a boat to Isla del Sol

Probably the most popular thing to do from Copacabana is to visit Isla del Sol, a beautiful island to relax and just watch the world go by.

Interesting Isla del Sol fact: The Inca legend is that Viracocha’s children sprung out of the water to find Cuzco.

If you intend to stay the night & hike the next day north to south, leave your big bags in luggage storage at your hotel in Copacabana.

How to Get to Isla del Sol from Copacabana

You can get a boat to either the north or the south part of Isle de Sol.

The north is further away and costs 20 bob as opposed to 15 bob to get to the south. This is the best deal that we found and different operators will quote different prices.

There are many operators in town that sell these tickets with clearly displayed signs.

Surprisingly, the vendor closest to the boat terminal offered the highest prices.

If you wish to stay the night at Isle de Sol, the return journey is 10 bob more as you are stranded on the island and the locals can charge as they please.

It takes 1.5 hours to get to the south and 2 hours to get to the north part of the island.

The boats are very very crowded and you begin to wonder whether they would meet basic safety requirements. Still, we survived to tell the tale!

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Photo of boat returning from Isle de Sol

Isla del Sol Entry Fee

We chose to go to the North part of the island as the traditional route is to hike from the north to the south of the island.

When we arrived at the island, you had to pay 15 bob entry fee.

There is a 15 bob entry fee to the south and north part of the island and a 10 bob entry fee to the central part.

Some South Americans tried to argue their way out of this fee to no avail.

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View of the North part of the island

Isla del Sol Hotels

You can purchase a room on the internet for Isle de Sol but it is more pricey.

Many locals will approach you as you exit the boat to sell you rooms at bargain basement prices.

We scored a private room with a nice clean shared bathroom for 50 bob (Our cheapest room in south america!)

If you wanted a private bathroom, it will cost around 100 bob.

Alternatively, if you have a tent you can camp on the beach for free on Isla del Sol (north island)!! A lot of people took advantage of this opportunity.

There are toilets you can pay to use on the beach but there are no showers.

If you chose to stay in the South part of the island, there is a steep climb from the pier to the town of Yumani where the accommodation is.

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Camping on Beach, Isle de Sol

Life on Isla del Sol | Entering the time Machine

Life on Isla del Sol is what you imagine living to be like in the 1900’s, very old fashioned, with farmers self herding their cows, pigs and donkeys around the island and people living in very modest constructions.

This too means that there is generally no internet!

If you are desperate we did see a cafe or two with wifi advertised but I imagine the internet to be very slow.

If internet is a big thing for you, the South part of the island also has internet in the accommodation.

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The way people live in Isle de Sol

What to Eat on the island

The food on the island is a little more expensive than Copacabana and we saw a lot of young backpackers bringing supplies over with them on the boat.

In saying this, the island is still very cheap by western standards.

You can buy the most delicious empanada for 5 BOB, a bottle of wine for 25 BOB, a banana for 1 BOB, a sandwiches for 10 BOB or a freshly squeezed juice for 10 BOB as some examples of the price of food.

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Great juice bar in Isla del Sol

What to do on Isla del Sol

Walking onto Challapa Beach on the northern part of Isla del Sol feels a little bit like the movie The Beach.

The island is relatively untouched by humans, save for the small local community and the omnipresent tents on the beach.

Suffice to say, one of the best ways to pass the time on Isla del Sol is to hang out on the beach, taking a dip in the surf, sun baking, playing volleyball, and playing music around the campfire.

One of the most popular things to do on the island is to hike from the north to the south part of the island.

The hike takes around 4 hours. We attempted doing this hike, setting off early at 8.00am.

After about an hour and a half of walking in blistering heat we came to a dead end and realised we took the wrong path.

We turned back and subsequently realised we hiked to the most northern part of the island as opposed to the south.

We did however, see fantastic Inca ruins on this journey and enjoyed some fantastic views!

As we thought we were heading to the south end of the island to catch the ferry home, we brought all our bags with us.

So after reaching the very north tip (and the highest mountain at the top) we walked home to catch the ferry from the north island location, passing our hotel on the way where we could have left our safely left our bags for the 4 hour hike.

What to Eat in Copacabana

Food in Copacabana is very cheap, much like the rest of Bolivia with a little less variety than La Paz.

You can get a large main meal from between 10 – 20 bob in a family restaurant.

During our time in Copacabana, we regularly frequented Restaurant Avaroa, a family run establishment where you can get a delicious soup followed by a main meal for only 10 bob (what a bargain)!

This restaurant is popular with locals and tourists alike.

You will also find lots of interesting restaurants along Lake Titicaca. The prices are higher, the quality isn’t really much better but you have an okay view of the lake.

There are also lots of Western style restaurants on the street heading down towards the lake.

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Our favourite restaurant in Copacabana

Where to stay in Copacabana?

We stayed at Hostal Olas, a cheap and clean but basic place with a private bathroom and breakfast included.

We paid 120 Bolivianos for the night in this hostel.

Book with this Booking.com discount link and get $25 USD cash back!

Minimum reservation is $50 USD – if you’ve found a great hotel for less than this price you can book 2 nights to for your eligible reservation.

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Our accommodation in Copacabana

Getting to/from Copacabana

La Paz – You can get to Copacabana direct from La Paz for 35 Bolivianos from the bus terminal or buy the tourist transfer that picks you up at your hotel for 40 Bolivianos pp. We booked our transfer with Diana Tours. If you wish to go the other way, we saw many collectivos offering this route.

Puno – If you want to go to Puno from Copacabana, the best price we saw was 30 Bolivianos per person.

Cusco – If you want to go to Cusco from Copacabana, you can get an overnight bus. The cheapest semi-cama seats cost 120 Bolivianos and the upgraded cama-seats cost 160 Bolivianos. If you want the cama seats, be sure to purchase the tickets a few days in advance.

Don’t miss our How to Travel from La Paz to Cusco Guide for even more details and photos.

More Bolivia Travel Blog Posts

The crown jewel of any trip to Bolivia is visiting the epic Uyuni Salt Flats.

But knowing where to start planning your trip is hard. Can you drive the salt flats yourself? Which is the best tour operator? How many days should I spend on the trip?

We cover all these questions and more in our Uyuni Salt Flat FAQ guide.

Before you can reach Uyuni you will need to pass the capital of La Paz. Don’t worry, it’s totally worth spending a few days enjoying (and acclimatizing to the altitude).

The cable cars which run through the city are a natural way to pass time but we cover 5 more things to do in La Paz which you’ll love.

Did you have a fantastic time exploring Copacabana and Isla del Sol? Let us know what you thought of it!

Author

  • MC Miller

    MC Miller is a travel blogger and writer who has travelled America extensively and abroad to over 80 countries. He founded Couple Travel The World in 2017. Since then, he has spent over 6 years on the road as a full time travel couple. When he not traveling he likes to spend quality time with his partner Bett, planning our their next date or romantic getaway!

Shanon

Thursday 1st of February 2018

Great information. Lucky me I discovered your site by chance (stumbleupon). I've bookmarked it for later!