Bolivia Travel Guide

Bolivia — Shopping

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Shopping

Bolivia offers a wealth of artisan goods with special purchases including llama and alpaca-wool products, Indian handicrafts, woodcarvings and gold and silver costume jewelry. The streets around the market area, notably Sagarnaga, Linares and Illampu, are full of small vendors offering goods at lower prices but quality can be variable. There are, however, a few places around La Paz where you can buy good-quality goods and be sure that a percentage of your money is directly going back into the hands of artisans. For example, the craft shop Ayni Bolivia in the Hotel Rosario supports over 300 artisans from poor, rural communities, and stocks over 300 items across a range of designs and styles.

Shopping hours: Mon-Fri 0930-1230 and 1500-1830; Sat 1000-1700.

Currency

1 Boliviano (BOB; symbol Bs) = 100 centavos. Notes are in denominations of Bs200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. Coins are in denominations of Bs5, 2 and 1, and 50, 20 and 10 centavos.

The Boliviano is tied to the US Dollar.

Currency Exchange

Money can be changed in hotels and casas de cambio. The Boliviano is the preferred currency with exchange against the Euro now preferred to the Dollar.

Credit Cards, Debit Cards, and ATMs

American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa are accepted in most mid- to top-range hotels and restaurants, but otherwise have limited acceptance. There are ATMs in most larger towns and cities.

Travelers Checks

US Dollar traveler's checks remain popular but Euro checks are increasingly favored. Pound Sterling traveler's checks are not widely accepted.

Currency Restrictions

There are no import restrictions on local and foreign currency; export restrictions on both local and foreign currency are up to the amounts imported and must be declared.