Tiwanaku & Puma Punku: UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Pre-Incan Civilizations
4.0
47 Ratings
La Paz
Explore the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Tiwanaku and Puma Punku in Bolivia. Discover the pre-Incan civilization, unique artistic style, and mysterious ruins of these ancient sites.
Duration: 7 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Tiwanaku - Itinerary

08:00/09:00 a.m. Hotel pick-up in the downtown area.
10:40 a.m. Tour Start in Tiwanaku, ruins and museums.
02:15 p.m. Lunch.
03:00 p.m. Return to the city.
04:00 p.m. Drop-off San Francisco Church.

Beginning with a visit to the Ceramic and Lithic museums, clients can visit the ancient and enigmatic archaeological ruins such as: Gate of the Sun, Kalasasaya Temple, The Semi-Subterranean Temple with nailed heads, Monoliths, the megalithic and mysterious ancient ruins of Puma Punku and other religious enclosures.

What's Included
  • Drop-off at San Francisco Church.
  • Round-trip transport.
  • Lunch included.
  • Professional bilingual guide (English/Spanish).
  • Entrance Fee to Tiwanaku.
  • Hotel pickup (selected hotels only) or meeting point.
What's Not Included
  • Drinks
  • Hotel drop-off
Additional Information

Tiwanaku is a pre-Incan city located in Bolivia and is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. The majority of archaeologists consider Tiwanaku as one of the pivotal locations that contributed to the formation of the Incan Empire, and it continues to be a captivating site for contemporary visitors. The distinctive artistic style of Tiwanaku exhibits intriguing figurative works, characterized by oversized heads. This style shares similarities with the Huari style, prevalent in the Andean region, and may have possibly evolved from the preceding Pukara style.

During the tour’s onset, visitors are guided to the Ceramic and Lithic museums before exploring the enigmatic and ancient archaeological sites such as the Gate of the Sun, Kalasasaya Temple, The Semi-Subterranean Temple festooned with nailed heads, monoliths, the enigmatic megalithic ruins of Puma Punku, and other spiritual precincts.

  • Children must be accompanied by an adult.
  • Adult pricing applies to all travelers.
  • Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required.
Location
Maria Auxiliadora Church
Avenida 16 de Julio
Meeting point with prior announcement. pick up time: 8:30 a.m. The main gate of Maria Auxiliadora Church.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.0
(47 Ratings)
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Wojciech_d
Nov 6, 2023
Tiwanaku trip - Interesting place, good organized tour, really fantastic guiding To be recommanded to all La Paz visitors
Review provided by Viator
James_l
Sep 21, 2023
Ruins - The ruins were very cool to see in person and was not too crowded. The views of the surrounding mountains were also very beautiful and made for some great pictures. Also the ride to and from La Paz was not too long. Very good trip!!!
Review provided by Viator
Sketchylanding
Aug 12, 2023
Amazing Ciivilization - We really enjoyed this trip. What might appear initially underwhelming was brought to life by the passion and knowledge of our wonderful guide Theo (forgive any misspelling). His knowledge and enthusiasm made the time here go incredibly quickly. The work of these ancient craftsmen was amazing and the detail would easily be missed had it not been for our guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stephen_m
Jul 4, 2023
Good value and a nice day out - Nice day getting out of the city. Tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. Groups are definitely combined from all sorts of agencies, the guide knew that this tour was fully inclusive of tickets and lunch. Starts with a couple of museums next to the site. Guide went into detail about all displays there. Then we had a good walk through the site with disruptions of everything we were seeing. Lunch was solid at a local restaurant and included the chance to try llama. Drive each way was about 2 hours in a comfortable mini bus. Very good value for money and a nice day out.
Review provided by Viator
Rainer_g
Feb 8, 2024
Interesting and somewhat amusing - Very interesting tour. Our guide was a little infected by von Däniken, talking about levitation, telepathy, and trade networks to Egypt, Mesopotamia and India. Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing the fabulous masonry skills of the Tiwanaku people who seemed to be less engaged in warfare the the Inkas or Mayans.
Review provided by Viator
Karen_b
Oct 20, 2023
Great tour - Overall tour was good, the guide was great and had a lot of knowledge, my only negative was the pace of the tour and day which was very slow
Review provided by Viator
Aurelien_t
Mar 28, 2024
Good but rushed - Really interesting site and definitely a must do in Bolivia but the pace was too fast and the whole tour felt rushed. Otherwise good.
Review provided by Viator
Matthew_d
Jan 15, 2024
Interesting historical site. Not an interesting tour. - The site itself was interesting. The tour was not the best. The group was big and for both Spanish and English speakers. This meant that the guide was constantly switching between languages making him hard to follow. The guide was knowledgeable, but seemed uninterested in the subject. At times the day was rushed.
Review provided by Viator
Charlene_s
Jan 19, 2024
Not a good/professional Tour Guide - Unfortunately the worst tour that I have ever had in South America. I bet the small ruins and the museums would have been a little bit more interesting if the tour guide was more enthusiastic. The place has not a lot to offer, but the tour guide seem rushed and not super excited to answer any questions. Do not expect much about the lunch neither. However, the worst thing about the whole tour was that the tour guide got off the bus 20 mins prior to our arrival. We were left on a crowded plaza without any directions or instructions how to get back to our places safe. Definitely not professional at all, if they going to drop us on certain place at least the tour guide should be there with us to provide guidance. The tour guide name was Leo.
Review provided by Viator
259zmajn
Sep 6, 2023
Avoid - Awful experience. They packed us in old Toyota van. Was 15 of us in this small van (no more than 8 people can fit comfortable ). Also, group was mixture Spanish - English, so guide needed to switch constantly, which is hard to follow. I would go again to Tiwanaku but with different provider. Site is amazing, long lasting memory!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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