Santa Cruz De La Sierra

Santa Cruz De La Sierra brings together public gathering places and cultural sites with distinctive natural settings. At La Recova, you can try typical masitas; if you are lucky, you may occasionally hear a banda or tamborita playing lively eastern Bolivian music. The Plaza de Armas also plays a role in residents’ daily lives: they continue to use the square as a central meeting place and place to relax. Together, these places offer a glimpse of different sides of the city—from culinary discoveries to a square where people come together.

Squares, art and cultural memories

Art and religious cultural history can also be among the highlights of your exploration. The Altar Papal commemorates the Pope’s visit to Santa Cruz de la Sierra and has since been used for cultural and religious activities.

Manzana Uno adds another artistic dimension with Arte en la Plaza. This public space, promoted by Manzana Uno, adjoins the gallery. Photography exhibitions or reproductions of paintings are displayed there. Art lovers will find a different way to engage with the city’s culture alongside the Altar Papal: here, a public space with exhibitions; there, a place that commemorates a papal visit and is used for cultural and religious activities. Both themes can be included in your travel plans without suggesting they offer the same experience.

Natural areas in and around Santa Cruz

Curichi La Madre is a municipal protected area for ecological conservation in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Further afield, the Lomas de Arena lie 12 kilometres southeast of the city centre. Features of this protected area include unvegetated sand dunes and seasonal lagoons; numerous birds can also be observed there. These two natural areas are quite different: Curichi La Madre is a protected area within the city, while the Lomas de Arena—with their dunes, temporary lagoons and birdwatching—offer a glimpse of the wider surroundings.

Santa Cruz as a wider travel and cultural region

Beyond the city, the wider Santa Cruz destination offers further landscapes and cultural contexts. The Valles Cruceños cover approximately 13,000 square kilometres and lie at elevations between 1,200 and 2,000 metres. They include the provinces of Florida, Vallegrande and Caballero in the Department of Santa Cruz. Their habitats include, among others, inter-Andean dry forest, Bolivian-Tucuman forest, Serrano Chaco, subtropical rainforest and Puna vegetation. The Valles Cruceños are home to 374 reported bird species, including the endemic red-fronted macaw and the Andean condor.

The Noel Kempff Mercado National Park is another example of the diversity of the Department of Santa Cruz. Its habitats include evergreen rainforests, palm forests, Cerrado, swamps, savannas, gallery forests and semi-evergreen dry forests. The park supports viable populations of numerous vertebrate species threatened or endangered worldwide. Chiquitano culture is also part of the region’s character: it developed mainly in the Chiquitanía in the Department of Santa Cruz and combines Chiquitano Indigenous traditions with a Jesuit influence introduced in the 17th and 18th centuries. These examples represent the wider Santa Cruz destination, not individual places within the city.

Tailor your stay to your interests

When choosing a holiday rental in Santa Cruz De La Sierra, it can help to first decide which themes you want your trip to focus on. La Recova, the Plaza de Armas, the Altar Papal and Arte en la Plaza offer ways to explore food, public gathering places and culture. Curichi La Madre adds a municipal protected area to these city themes, while the Lomas de Arena bring dunes, seasonal lagoons and birdwatching into the picture. The broader examples of the Valles Cruceños and Noel Kempff Mercado National Park also offer a regional perspective.

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Go to the main travel overview: Andrés Ibáñez.