The younger, smaller brother of the well-established Peru Hop, Bolivia Hop provides a hop-on, hop-off coach service from Cusco, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia. It’s a fantastic new extension to the Peru Hop service travelling between Lima and Cusco, filling a much-needed gap in the market for backpacker-friendly transport from Peru to Bolivia, complete with two visits to Lake Titicaca, help crossing the border and warm duvet-style blankets. Like its big brother, each Bolivia Hop coach has a local guide on each side of the border who can offer advice, help and information throughout your journey. The route takes a minimum of 2 days and 1 night, with the option to hop-off in Copacabana on the Bolivian shores of Lake Titicaca.
Check out some of the cool and cheap tours you could do in Cusco, La Paz / La Paz, Copacabana and Lake Titicaca.
Price – $70US / 199 Soles (Peruvian)
Address and Bookings – email: [email protected] / Tel: 73233617 / 132 Meson La Estrella, Cusco, Peru
Languages – English and Spanish
Here’s how it went…
Approximate Itinerary (Mon, Wed, Fri)
Day 1: Cusco to Puno
22:00 – Pick up from your hostel and jump on the coach.
23:00 – 06:00 – Overnight bus to Puno – on board movies available.
Day 2: Puno to Copacabana to La Paz
06:00 – Breakfast in Puno
06:30 – Tour of the floating islands – Islas de los Uros with a local guide.
08:30 – Bus to Peru / Bolivia border.
11:00 – 12:00 – Cross the border – Local guide offers help and avoids any scams!
13:00 – Bus to Copacabana
14:00 – Boat trip to Isla del Sol, a 1 hour hike and free beer on the boat back to Copacabana! (Option to hop-off and stay in Copacabana or on Isla del Sol, then hop-on the next bus in a couple of days.)
18:30 – Bus to La Paz – Arrive in La Paz about 22:30.
Check out some of the cool and cheap tours you could do in Cusco.
Here’s what we thought about it…
Two Monkeys 5 Point Rating (5 = Awesome! / 1 = Far from awesome)
Value for Money – At only $70US for overnight transport (with duvets and movies!), two tours of Lake Titicaca with an island trek, flexibility, a local guide and border-crossing assistance, we think this is a pretty good deal!
Score – 5/5
Quality of Equipment – The bus was comfortable and in good condition, with a toilet, TV / DVD and warm duvet blankets. The driver didn’t leave you hanging onto your seat like some of the local buses; the journey was largely smooth and easy to sleep through. If, like we had, you’ve just finished Peru Hop, then you might find the Bolivia Hop bus a little bit of a downgrade, but that’s more of a reflection of the differences between Peru and Bolivia themselves!
Score – 4/5
Organization and Safety – Everything ran as smoothly as can be expected on a bus journey. Of course no one can control traffic conditions and extreme changes in weather, so we were delayed for 2 hours at the ferry crossing of the Tiquina Strait in Bolivia due to high winds and rough waters. But what’s most important is that safety took precedent over time keeping, which you rarely get with local buses!
Score – 5/5
Guides – Our guides took care of everything from start to finish, we were given all the information we needed and they kept things moving. We were especially impressed with our Bolivian guide, Juan, who was great throughout the journey and particularly when some of the less patient passengers got agitated because they couldn’t deal with the simple delays that are to be expected when travelling through foreign countries. Excellent guy and a pleasure to travel with!
Score – 5/5
Overall Experience – Simply due to the value for money being offered with the included tours, on board guides and flexibility, we found Bolivia Hop to be a very good experience with a good group of people and good social atmosphere. It’s still a young company, but it’s sure to catch up with the overall quality of Peru Hop pretty quickly. Overall, we recommend Bolivia Hop as a fun, flexible and interesting journey from Peru to Bolivia!
Score – 5/5
Related Article: Are you looking for cheap hostels in Peru and Bolivia? Check out our list, here!
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