Las Velas

Top choice in Isla del Sol

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Want a candlelit dinner of organic vegetarian pizza at 4000m? Head to this beloved hilltop restaurant with wonderful westerly views. There are also pastas and traditional Bolivian fare like trout and kingfish. Perfect for a beer or wine at sunset, too.

Take the path up to Yumani and turn left into the forest at the sign for Las Velas (bring a flashlight).

You can camp next to Las Velas for free if you frequent the restaurant for food or drinks. There are plenty of board games, cards and musical instruments here to keep you from getting bored.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Cathedral

    Cathedral

    9.73 MILES

    The sparkling white mudéjar (Moorish–style) cathedral, with its domes and colorful azulejos (blue Portuguese-style ceramic tiles), dominates the town…

  • Sampaya

    Sampaya

    4.34 MILES

    This is a beautifully preserved village where the homes are built with flat stones joined in an earthen mortar. There is a stone church on the hilltop…

  • Yumani

    Yumani

    0.18 MILES

    Yumani is the main village at the south end of the island. Most boats drop you at the village’s dock, about 200m downhill from the town proper. The small…

  • Horca del Inca

    Horca del Inca

    9.98 MILES

    This hillside gate (named 'the Incan Gallows' by the Spaniards) is a fascinating pre-Incan astronomical observatory, surrounded by pierced rocks that…

  • Cerro Calvario

    Cerro Calvario

    9.28 MILES

    The summit can be reached in half an hour and is well worth the climb, especially for a view of the sunset. The trail begins near the church at the end of…

  • Escalera del Inca

    Escalera del Inca

    0.28 MILES

    Just uphill from the ferry dock at Yumani, along the beautifully reconstructed Escalera del Inca (Inca stairway), you’ll pass plenty of terraced gardens,…

  • Templo de las Vírgenes

    Templo de las Vírgenes

    5.22 MILES

    The ruins of an Inca nunnery and temple dedicated to the Virgins of the Sun ­– also known as Ajlla Wasi or Iñak Uyu – occupy an amphitheater-like valley…

  • Copacabana Beach

    Copacabana Beach

    9.69 MILES

    While Bolivia’s only public beach can’t hold a candle to its better-known counterpart in Rio de Janeiro, on weekends the festive atmosphere is a magnet…

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Nearby Isla del Sol attractions

1. Yumani

0.18 MILES

Yumani is the main village at the south end of the island. Most boats drop you at the village’s dock, about 200m downhill from the town proper. The small…

2. Fuente del Inca

0.26 MILES

Early Spaniards believed Yumani’s spring was a fountain of youth and for the Incas the three streams represented their national motto: Ama sua, Ama llulla…

3. Escalera del Inca

0.28 MILES

Just uphill from the ferry dock at Yumani, along the beautifully reconstructed Escalera del Inca (Inca stairway), you’ll pass plenty of terraced gardens,…

4. Ruins

0.5 MILES

Of the more than 80 Inca ruins on the island, most date to the 15th century AD. You could spend a week looking at them all.

5. Mirador Palla Khasa

0.64 MILES

Follow the well-signposted path from Yumani's ridgeline up to this small stone lookout atop Cerro Palla Khasa (4065m) for sweeping sunset views over the…

6. Pilko Kaina

0.78 MILES

This prominent ruins complex near the southern tip of the island is about 30 minutes (2km) south by foot from Yumani. It sits well camouflaged against a…

7. Lighthouse

1.46 MILES

This lighthouse on the tip of Kakayo-Queña Ridge is technically in an area tourists are allowed to visit, though access by land has been cut off by the…

8. Cha’lla

1.66 MILES

This agreeable little village stretches along a magnificent sandy beach that could be straight out of a holiday brochure for the Greek islands. The…