The Jesuit Missions - Getting There

Want just the background information on the Jesuit missions of the Chiquitos? This is where you need to be.

A quick take on the area's amazing history? Go here first.

Looking for an overview of the beautiful Chiquitos mission churches only? Try this page.

If it's information on the towns themselves you want, they're each described individually (see a specific town's page).

This page here? These are just the boring - but essential - details on transport options, time, and distances to get to these fabulous destinations along what is commonly referred to as the Jesuit Missions Circuit.

The journey - for which you'll need at least five days to do with any justice - usually starts in Santa Cruz, where you have two options: travel by rented vehicle - i.e., a Jeep or other 4WD - (definitely recommended, but not cheap at about US$600 for a week's rental) or by bus (not recommended, but definitely cheap) along Bolivia's Route 9 to San Ramón, from there along Route 502 to the first Jesuit mission town, San Xavier, and then onward. The road is a toll one until San Ignacio de Velasco, but the fare is so pitifully cheap it's not worth mentioning. Conceivably, you could take the death train to San José de Chiquitos and from there a series of buses, travelling the circuit in reverse...but only if you enjoy bone-rattling discomfort and the occasional step outside to push the bus back onto the road. Or you could hitchhike, if waiting days by the roadside watching palm fronds curl appeals to you. In other words, do the smart thing: see the man at A. Barron's Rent A Car and get a 4WD.

Map of the Chiquitanía showing Jesuit missions towns underscored (click on one to go to that town's page)

Many people make the trip only as far as Concepción, which is a shame. The asphalt ends 15.5 miles (25 kms) out of town towards San Ignacio, but the remaining settlements are real hidden jewels, especially Santa Ana de Velasco, San José de Chiquitos, and, if you're willing to go off the beaten track, Santiago de Chiquitos.

From just past Concepción onward, the road is hard-packed earth (or mud in the rainy season, when travel is all but impossible anyway), and surprisingly easy to traverse. But it is not a highway by any means, and passing vehicles can be dicey in spots. Nonetheless, you'll see some monster-sized camiones hauling logs, blazing along oblivious to whatever is in their path...including you. Don't worry about the half-empty bottle of rum the driver will be nonchalantly pulling on: of greater concern should be how you'll get around his lorry after he jack-knifes it a few miles ahead.

If you are intrepid enough to make it to San Ignacio, you owe it to yourself to visit the three nearby towns of Santa Ana, San Rafael de Velasco, and San Miguel de Velasco, after which you can turn back to San Ignacio and thence return to Santa Cruz.

Or carry on via Route 503 to bucolic San José de Chiquitos and then turn back to San Ignacio. If you're into completely trashing your vehicle and yourself in the process, from San José you can be a world-class idiot and head back directly to Santa Cruz along Bolivia's mythical Route 4, a dirt track described by one travel guide as "one of the most horrendous excuses for a road anywhere on earth".

Approximate road distances along the Jesuit Mission Circuit are as follows:

An alternate route - one that takes in all seven of the Jesuit Mission Circuit towns yet is shorter than the above route - is as follows: