Cochabamba is the country's gastronomic capital and, in my honest opinion, its most underrated city. Locals call it La Llajta. It sits in a valley at 2,560 meters, mild and sunny most of the year, while Santa Cruz gets hit with the surazo cold front and Medellín keeps all the headlines for "city of eternal spring." Cochabamba's own Cristo de la Concordia statue actually stands taller than Rio de Janeiro's famous Christ the Redeemer.

This guide covers where to stay in Cochabamba by neighborhood, the best places to eat and the dishes you have to try (silpancho, pique a lo macho, chicharrón cochabambino), where to drink locally brewed cerveza, things to do including Tunari National Park and a Toro Toro day trip, the historic sites worth visiting, the best viewpoints in the city, and the Fiesta de la Virgen de Urkupiña, one of Bolivia's biggest festivals, held every August in nearby Quillacollo.