Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Bolivia’s largest city and its business engine, spread over the eastern lowlands in rings around a colonial plaza, with an airport that flies to Madrid and Miami.
- Arrival
- Viru Viru International · VVI
- To the city
- About 17 km; some 20 minutes to Equipetrol by car
- Private jets
- VVI open 24 hours, customs on site
- Best time
- May to September
The city
The lowland capital of a highland country.
Santa Cruz was founded in 1561 by Ñuflo de Chávez far to the east of where it stands, moved twice, and settled on its present site in 1622. For centuries it was a frontier town and a starting point for the Jesuit missions of Chiquitos and Moxos. Today it is the largest city in Bolivia, with more than 1.6 million people, and produces about a third of the national economy.
The plan is easy to read: ten ring roads, each a kilometre or two beyond the last, around the old Plaza 24 de Septiembre, while towers rise to the north and in Equipetrol. At four hundred metres above the sea it is warm all year; May to September are the drier months, and the carnival, prepared from December, fills the streets with comparsas and floats.
- Plaza 24 de Septiembre The colonial heart of the city, overlooked by the Cathedral Basilica of San Lorenzo, rebuilt in 1838 to designs by the Frenchman Felipe Bestres.
- Biocentro Güembé An ecological centre with natural-style pools, a butterfly house and a large aviary.
- Lomas de Arena A regional park of white sand dunes and lagoons, shared with La Guardia and Cabezas.
Arriving
A long runway north of the rings.
Viru Viru International, opened in 1983, lies about seventeen kilometres north of the centre and is the busiest airport in Bolivia, with more than four million passengers in 2023. Its concrete runway is 3,500 metres long.
- Lima 2 h 25
- São Paulo 2 h 45
- Santiago 2 h 50
- St Maarten 5 h 30
- San Francisco 11 h 35 long-range jet
When to go
May to September.
Warm lowland weather, with afternoons around 30 °C for most of the year. From May to September the rains ease and the heat drops to 25 to 30 °C; December and January are the wettest months, with 170 to 200 mm.
- 31° J 196
- 31° F 134
- 30° M 114
- 29° A 98
- 26° M 78
- 25° J 70
- 25° J 49
- 28° A 41
- 30° S 63
- 31° O 100
- 31° N 128
- 31° D 172
Where to stay
Beside the business district.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
Where to dine
Where to book in town.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Bolivia. This is the city’s best known upscale table, recommended by Lonely Planet and among the best rated on Google.
- Chalet La Suisse Lonely Planet Swiss and European Calle Los Gomeros, Sirari
Elsewhere in Bolivia
More reasons to come.
Flying to Santa Cruz de la Sierra?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.