"Gringo Trail?" and is Bolivia expensive?!

Sounds exactly like how I travel. I'll go without hot showers, walk, sleep on the ground, etc. But spend the money when it matters the most.

What inspired the question was all the posts on the Bolivia forum about booking tours. Not so many about doing it on your own, etc. Lots of costs in the several hundred US dollar range. Was making me nervous.

I don't have to go all "shoe-string" with it, but I just came off another long trip via motorcycle that cost me more than I thought it would, and then I booked this Bolivian trip without much time to recover the old wallet health. ;)

Just didn't want to get there and discover that I can't see any of the awesome stuff I've seen photographs of, without having to buy several hundred US dollar tours to do it. I don't have any problem haggling, staying in dodgy accommodations, eating street food, etc. in order to save enough budget for tour transport every now and then.

Judging by my research on a similar trip so far, I think you'll do fine with that mentality in Bolivia. Figure out which inaccessible places are high on your wishlist and save money for these tours. Take public buses, stay in cheap hostels (or even camp if you are bringing a tent), etc. exactly as you planned. Other than the tours, Bolivia is one of the cheapest countries in S.A, and even the tours seem affordable in comparison to surrounding countries.

I ordered the 2015 Rough Guide. I'd picked up the LP guide in the book store, but it was from 2013 so I returned it. The 2015 Footprint one doesn't release until October after I'm already gone, so I went with the 2015 RG instead. And, it just arrived today!

Been going through it and it looks like it'll serve me well. I have no idea how accurate it is yet, but I looked up the usual stuff and it was easy to get to.

As an example, I checked info on the Uyuni tours. It shows $118 for a 3-day on the low end. Considerably more if you book in advance in La Paz (maybe this is where those higher prices quoted here are coming from?). It also mentioned the 4-day out of Tupiza, and that can be had for $192. That's still not too bad.

Slightly off topic, but a question about pre-booking tours?
I'm not going to Bolivia (went over 20 years ago and I absolutely loved it, hope you do too) but to Mexico and Guatemala.
I have been wondering if pre-booking trips or tours online in addvance before you leave is cheaper than booking once you are actually there?

Slightly off topic, but a question about pre-booking tours?
I'm not going to Bolivia (went over 20 years ago and I absolutely loved it, hope you do too) but to Mexico and Guatemala.
I have been wondering if pre-booking trips or tours online in addvance before you leave is cheaper than booking once you are actually there?

In general, no. But there are a lot of caveats.

The reason most tours are cheaper when you book on the spot, is because they have a couple of people who booked, and want to fill the tour (or in a more general case: guides are sitting around doing nothing, so taking people for less money, but still enough to make a profit, is still better than earning no money at all).

The reason you pay more in advance is because it allows you to eliminate all the uncertainty. If you don't book in advance you might show up in town, and find that there is no tour available for that day (or the next 3 weeks). Now if you have plenty of time, that doesn't matter, but if you had scheduled everything tightly, then suddenly your holiday plan doesn't work anymore. The other reason is because you know some specific guides are good, and you want to book with them. You're generally not the only one with that info, so you book in advance and pay top dollar for that.

Finally, there's trips that take significant preparation and are not done very often: if you don't book those in advance you don't go.

Thank you andrewk81. That's very helpful.

I have sufficient time in all the places I am visiting so will just book when I arrive and hopefully get them cheaper.

Thanks again.

Most of the places you can manage without a tour or a guide.
Exceptions:

1. Salar de Uyuni and Laguna Colorada 2. Jungle (Maididi) or Pampas.

If you are on a budget and speak some Spanish, you certainly don't need a tourist "hop bus" company to get to Cusco from La Paz, via Copacabana. Normal buses will do the job, and are much cheaper.

In addition to Potosi and the salar, Sucre definitely also is on the gringo trail in Bolivia, and some gringos say Cochabamba is too. Corioco in the las Yungas region is not, but it's a great place to check out for a couple of nights, and you can get there in half a day from La Paz.

If you want the best price for a tour of the salar, just go to Uyun, arriving early afternoon. Then check out several different travel agenicies, and let them know you are comparing prices. If you do it that way you can be absolutely certain you'll be leaving on a jeep tour the next morning, at the current cheapest price.

If you are on a budget and speak some Spanish, you certainly don't need a tourist "hop bus" company to get to Cusco from La Paz, via Copacabana. Normal buses will do the job, and are much cheaper.

In addition to Potosi and the salar, Sucre definitely also is on the gringo trail in Bolivia, and some gringos say Cochabamba is too. Corioco in the las Yungas region is not, but it's a great place to check out for a couple of nights, and you can get there in half a day from La Paz.

If you want the best price for a tour of the salar, just go to Uyun, arriving early afternoon. Then check out several different travel agenicies, and let them know you are comparing prices. If you do it that way you can be absolutely certain you'll be leaving on a jeep tour the next morning, at the current cheapest price.

Thanks for the info!

By the way, I'm not taking a "hop" bus to Cuzco. Not even going to Cuzco. Went there a few years ago when I traveled to Peru. Was thinking of taking the "hop" bus from La Paz to Lima for my return. It's $169 for 8 hops from La Paz to Lima, Peru. Most of the stops sound like places I'd stop anyway. They also claim to make it easier crossing the border from Bolivia to Peru.

However, I haven't booked that yet. Figured I'd wait until I get there and get a feel for how difficult it is to do on my own. The "hop" option sounded appealing because it's a long haul from La Paz to Lima and I wouldn't have to deal with finding the bus stations in each stop, etc. They also pick you up at your hostel/hotel. I've learned enough about shoe-string traveling to know that sometimes it's worth spending the extra $5 for a much easier experience and possibly faster time or better comfort. I've spent many years traveling, wandering around some city looking for the cheapest room, or taking a 3rd class bus somewhere that took an extra 5hrs and only saved me $10 off a 1st class bus.

If the 8-stop "hop" bus from La Paz to Lima costs $169, what would that same trip cost on public buses?

However, I haven't booked that yet. Figured I'd wait until I get there and get a feel for how difficult it is to do on my own

Easy. Booking at bus stations is quite straight forward. You can even book online or at travel agencies. Theres usually ample room on any given day. If you are worried about overbooking then you can easily book ahead of time too but thats a rarity.

For 169 dollars its probably just as cheap as buses. For example a bus from Puno to Arequipa with Cruz del Sur (one of the more reputable companies) is 19 USD. You can definitely get cheaper buses than that - but they won't have be as good. Whether the hop on/off bus is worth it is debateable.

To be honest from La Paz to Lima you would only stop at Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, Nazca (possibly) and Ica/Huacachina/Ballestas Islands. So realistically only a few bus rides. Unless you want to go back to Cusco. So say 4 bus rides at an average of 20 USD per ride is 80. Round that up to 100USD to be save. Taxis to he bus station are really only a few soles.

Correct on the much much cheaper prices for ordinary buses. Plus, the ordinary buses leave more frequently, so offer more flexibility. From La Paz or Puno or Arequipa, the ordinary buses north would be leaving approx. every 1/2 hour or so.