Calle Nicolás Ortiz is the most photogenic single street in Sucre. It runs south from the central plaza past a row of perfectly preserved colonial townhouses — whitewashed two-storey facades, deep wooden balconies on the upper floor, ornate door knockers. Many of these buildings now house tour agencies, cafes, art shops, and small museums; one of them is the Iglesia Santa Mónica with its splendid courtyard. The street is narrow, traffic is slow, and at dusk the lamps throw long shadows across the cobbles.
It is the natural axis of tourist Sucre. The best Spanish schools are here, several decent restaurants and bars, the Joy Ride Cafe (a perennial traveller hangout), and the offices of most of the agencies that run trekking, dinosaur, and Tarabuco tours. Walk it once in the morning when the cafes are setting up and again at night when the bars are full.