Cafeography
La Paz · Casco Viejo

Cafés in Casco Viejo

Plaza Murillo’s colonial grid: a café inside a 1907 bookshop, Calle Jaén’s museum-street cafés and HB Bronze.

Photo: Shiwa Yachachin, Pexels License

The Casco Viejo is the colonial grid north of the Choqueyapu River, laid out in 1558 by Juan Gutiérrez Paniagua around the Plaza Mayor, today Plaza Murillo.1 The square holds the Palacio Quemado, the legislature and the cathedral, framed by Calle Socabaya, Calle Ayacucho and Calle Comercio.1 Independence leaders including Pedro Domingo Murillo, Apolinar Jaén and Juan Bautista Sagárnaga were killed on or near it.1

The cafés sit on the streets that box in the plaza. Calle Socabaya has Café André at number 416 and Café de La Paz; Calle Comercio has The Writers Coffee at 1270 and Doña Carmencita at 1381; Calle Bolívar has Café geisha at 616, Kilometro Zero and Coffe Palace. City Coffee is at Calle Yanacocha 326 and café Le Paris at Calle Potosí 1156.

Local tip: Visit The Writers Coffee on a weekday: on Saturday it closes at 12:30, and the bookshop around it has been trading on Calle Comercio since 1907.3

At a glance

21Cafés listed
1With opening hours
08:30Earliest opening
19:30Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: The Writers Coffee, from 08:30 (Mon–Fri 08:30–19:30 · Sat 09:30–12:30).
  • Most listed streets: Calle Bolívar (2).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (24%), bakery café (19%), vegetarian options (10%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in La Paz.

Coffee chains in Casco Viejo

The Writers Coffee in Librería Gisbert

The bookshop at Calle Comercio 1270 opened in 1907 as Arnó Hnos., run by Francesc and Esteve Arnó, brothers from Mataró in Catalonia, and was later renamed after an employee, Gisbert.3 The Writers Coffee opened inside it in early 2015, a café of Boris Alarcón’s Hierro Brothers company, and each cappuccino comes with a small chocolate biscuit.4

It opens 08:30–19:30 Monday to Friday and 09:30–12:30 on Saturday, with Wi-Fi and pastries.

Calle Jaén, the museum street

Calle Jaén runs about 100 m from Avenida Sucre to Calle Indaburo, cobbled and balconied, and holds more municipal and private museums than any other street in La Paz, the house of Pedro Domingo Murillo among them.2 In the 16th century it was a camelid market called Cabracancha, and it takes its name from Apolinar Jaén, one of the first martyrs of the 1809 revolution.2

The city’s heritage office keeps its white walls, carved wooden balconies and lanterns in their original state, and the Museo de Instrumentos Musicales holds concerts as well as displays.6 Etno Café Cultural is at number 722 and Cafe Mestizo at 789; Suma Monqa is around the corner at Calle Indaburo 745.

HB Bronze on Plaza Tomás Frías

HB Bronze, on the ground floor of the Altu Qala boutique hotel on Plaza Tomás Frías, is another Hierro Brothers café, profiled by Bolivian Express in February 2017. Its table stands are old sewing-machine legs, the shelves are built from antique bronze beds, and the baristas brew with AeroPress and Chemex, switching to a different Bolivian bean each season.4

Kuoda Travel’s 2025 food guide describes its coffee as fair-trade and organic, bought from family farms, and recommends it for espresso and pour-overs.7 The address is Avenida Illimani 1570.

Avenida Camacho and Calle Comercio

Avenida Camacho was designed by the architect Emilio Villanueva to connect the center with the new suburb of Miraflores.5 Café Confitería Club La Paz, a confitería (pastry café) on the avenue, has Wi-Fi and serves brunch. Devotos Typica on Calle Loayza also has Wi-Fi, and Metanoia is in the basement of the Edificio Mariscal Ballivián at Calle Mercado 1328.

The national chains are close: Wist’upiku at Calle Comercio 1031 and Alexander Coffee at Calle Potosí 1091.

Sources

  1. Plaza Murillo, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Calle Apolinar Jaén, Wikipedia (Spanish), accessed October 2026
  3. Un cognom alcoià enmig de la crisi boliviana, VilaWeb (Martí Crespo, November 15, 2019), accessed October 2026
  4. HB Bronze: coffee with identity below the surface, Bolivian Express (Marianthi Baklava, February 17, 2017), accessed October 2026
  5. Miraflores (La Paz), Wikipedia (Spanish), accessed October 2026
  6. La Paz’s Historic Calle Jaén, Bolivian Express (Isabel Cocker, July 20, 2016), accessed October 2026
  7. Bolivian Food: Exploring Coffee, Cacao and More, Kuoda Travel (January 22, 2025), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of La Paz

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Miraflores

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Sopocachi

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San Miguel

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In Casco Viejo, also browse: Specialty coffee Wi-Fi Bakery cafés Vegetarian & vegan

FAQ

Casco Viejo cafés: questions

Where is the bookshop café near Plaza Murillo in La Paz?

The Writers Coffee is inside Librería Gisbert at Calle Comercio 1270. The bookshop opened in 1907 as Arnó Hnos., and the café opened in early 2015. It is open 08:30–19:30 Monday to Friday and 09:30–12:30 on Saturday, and each cappuccino comes with a small chocolate biscuit.

What is on Calle Jaén in La Paz’s Casco Viejo?

Calle Jaén is a colonial street of about 100 m with more museums than any other street in La Paz, including the house of Pedro Domingo Murillo and a musical instruments museum. It is named after Apolinar Jaén, a martyr of the 1809 revolution. Etno Café Cultural is at number 722 and Cafe Mestizo at 789.

Where can you drink specialty coffee in La Paz’s Casco Viejo?

HB Bronze, on the ground floor of the Altu Qala hotel on Plaza Tomás Frías, brews with AeroPress and Chemex and changes its Bolivian bean each season. Kuoda Travel’s 2025 guide describes its coffee as fair-trade and organic, from family farms. Its address is Avenida Illimani 1570.

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