Cochabamba

Bufalo's Rodizio

A Brazilian churasco style restaurant where the waiters comes to your table with a good selection of freshly grilled meats. Delicious. Note that there is only the choice of a buffet style dinner in the evenings, priced very reasonable.

Bs. 85 for all you can eat

Cafe Paris

Parisian style café with both filling and sweet crepes as well as a good coffee. Very reliable WiFi available too.

Coffees Bs. 4-17

Casa de Campo

One of the upscale restaurants in Recoleta. Large plates of food (even the half-plate was too much) and good pique macho and other local dishes. Price range is Bs. 37-50. Probably one of the best restaurants in town. Highly recommended.

Cerebrito

After school hangout for 18-25s. Star Wars decor. Rock music. Cheap dinners. Probably the most colourful range of shots in the country. Bottoms up!

Evenings·1 l of beer Bs. 15

Cinecenter

The biggest cinema in town features a handful of showrooms mostly flashing the latest Hollywood fare, and a food court.

Cristo de la Concordia

The statue is just a bit higher and larger than the one in Rio de Janeiro, making it the world's largest statue of Jesus until 2010, when a larger one was completed in Poland. It offers a great view of the city. Walk Calle Colombia until its eastern end, then a swift right: This park/playground is where the cable car goes from, Bs. 6.50 each way. You can also walk. The stairs are safe during the day. After sunset it is better to go in a group of 4 or more. However, the warning displayed at the cable car station, not to use the stairs, is obviously just there to make more money. The cable car is often under maintenance. There is no good way to know before heading out to the station, but the local newspaper is pretty good about updating any changes.

Dumbo

Bolivia's favorite family restaurant. The main joint on Heroinas is always packed, with four dining floors and enough dancers in animal suits to keep the entire juvenile population of Cochabamba entertained.

Gopal

Hot and cold buffet lunch Bs. 10-20, the homemade jugs of juice are delicious. Ordering off the menu is possible in the evening, but not as good. Beautiful open courtyard to sit in. This is the same courtyard as that of the Hostel Naupa House.

Instituto para el Desarrollo Humano

An excellent social justice organization which offers volunteers the ability to train and facilitate with required social issues affecting many underrepresented Bolivians. They offer a homestay with safe, respectable families as well as a social network to keep you in the loops of cultural events whilst staying safe.

Jacaranda

Not near the city center at all, but it has the reputation of best charque joint in town. Some people say that you can't leave Cochabamba without trying the charque, though it does really just taste like fried beef jerky. Charque is llama meat which is dried, then baked in the oven, then fried for the ultimate crispiness. The half-plate at Jacaranda comes with at least a pound of dried llama jerky, 2 boiled eggs, and the tastiest choclo (oooh the cheese slab was so thick and crumbly).

The half-plate was about a 5-inch high pile, ran Bs. 50 and feeds a normal-sized person for lunch and dinner

La Cancha

One of the city's biggest attractions, the city market on the south side of town and the largest open-air market in South America. Clothing, food, souvenirs, or books, the Cancha has it all. The best day to visit the market is on Saturday, on other days not all the shops are open. Pickpockets are fairly common in this area.

La Estancia

Upscale and pleasant Argentinian steak place. Portions aren't of the legendary Cochabamba size, but rather of the normal steak-portion size. Word is that the salad bar is amazing. You can get those skinny skinny chip-like potato fry crisps here.

Cut of chicken breast fillet is about Bs. 35 and steak Bs. 45-50

Laguna La Angostura

Great with a paddleboat that you can rent, or a jetski, or be pulled by one. There is a on the lake. Alternatively, you can just enjoy the lake and the view of the hills around or go for a delicious grilled fish in one of the villages around the lake, such as. There are nice views of the sunset along (Lat ).

Medical Museum

The main hospital in Cochabamba, Hospital Viedma, has a cute little medical museum attached, with some amazing old x-ray machines. The museum is near the corner of Venezuela and Oquendo.

Museo Archeologico

Awesome archeological museum with mummies, deformed skulls, amazing pottery and other artifacts. Well worth a visit.

Bs. 25

Paprika

North American style dishes and internationalized Bolivian classics. Yummy hot wings. The restaurant has the air of a place for the "see and be seens" in Cochabamba. Recommended. Avenida Ramon Rivero, on the corner of Lanza. Open in the evenings.

Parque Mariscal Santa Cruz

Small park with amusement rides, concrete caricatures, and aquarium. May be of particular interest to kids but a bit neglected and dirty at times.

Tue-Fri 10:00-19:00, Sat-Mon 10:00-19:30

Parque de la Familia

Dancing fountain light show at night. Occurs from around 20:00-22:00 and small entrance fee.

Paseo Aranjuez

Stylistically modern commercial center, food court, and art gallery.

Plaza Colon

Cochabamba's other popular square, next to city hall, and a little greener than Plaza de Armas, 14 de Septiembre.

Plaza de Armas, September 14

City center, site of commemoration of Bolivia's independence, where you can feed the pigeons and look at the Metropolitan Catedral of Saint Sebastian.

Plaza de Las Banderas

If you are interested in seeing different flags of the world on display, this might be of interest. But it makes for a pleasant stop if walking along the prado, and sometimes there are arts and crafts on display.

Simón I. Patiño Cultural Center

Centro Pedagógico y Cultural Simón I. Patiño

Includes the Palacio Portales mansion, gardens (Jardines), and an art museum (Centro de Arte Contemporáneo). The mansion was built by Patiño, a tin magnate who controlled over half of the nation's output in the 1930s.

Guided tour Tue-Fri, 15:00, 15:30, 16:30, 17:30, 18:00 (Spanish), 16:00, 17:00, 18:30 (English & French). Guided tour Sat, Sun 10:00, 11:00, 12:00 (Spanish), 10:30, 11:30 (English & French).·Bs. 20 (foreign visitors), Bs. 15 (Bolivian nationals), Bs. 5 (kids)

Sucremanta

Small but filling menu, -somewhat spicy. The Plaza branch, with live piano music on Sundays, is a great place for brunch. Try the hearty menudito.

Sustainable Bolivia

Sustainable Bolivia is an umbrella NGO that matches volunteers with local projects in Cochabamba. They typically have 15-25 volunteers working between the 25-30 local projects at any given time. They rent three houses that volunteers will live in, and also offer homestays. Most volunteers will confirm their projects several weeks before starting, and will commit to at least a month in Cochabamba. That means that their houses are sometimes full, and they cannot provide housing to walk-ins, particularly those who cannot commit to at least a month of time. Grants to organizations are administered by the volunteers themselves, so they know how the money is being used.

Open now · closes 6 pm

The Spitting Llama Bookstore & Outfitter

Offers offers a wide range of trekking, camping equipment and gear.

Tunari National Park

Height: 5035 m. This mountain can be done without a guide, but you need to take care and be aware of water, sun and altitude. It is a 4-hr climb one-way, so you need to start early. First you go to Quillacollo, where you transfer by taxi or other transport towards the mountain and its trailhead. Best ask your hostel or hotel which are the exact buses and destinations. The hotel might also recommend a local guide if you want.

Zhou

The food here isn't authentic Asian. It's slightly pricey, with sushi (mostly trucha-salmon) imported from La Paz.

mARTadero

A great arts and performance center based in an old slaughterhouse. They have rotating art exhibits, music performances, and other interesting stuff.

AndeseXtremo

Andes Extremo is an excellent choice for paragliding and also offers other outdoor activities including rock climbing. You can book a tandem flight with a fantastic view on the Cochabamba valley for about Bs. 350. One of their rock climbing options is in Quarry Angostura, which will cost you US$45 per person for 1 day (half day) with a minimum of 2 people. The difficulty level is 5a-6c.