Lake Titicaca Day Trip: Explore Uros & Taquile Islands and their Pre-Incan Heritage
4.7
179 Ratings
Puno
Embark on a captivating day trip to Lake Titicaca and discover the enchanting Uros and Taquile Islands. Immerse yourself in the pre-Incan heritage, explore the floating islands made of totora reeds, and experience the vibrant culture of the locals on Amantani Island.
Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Uros Floating Islands - We will be picking you up from your hotel within the historic centre of Puno between 0645 and 0700 in the morning. Before boarding the motor boat to Uros Island we will have a brief stop at the boat pier where you can buy some snacks and bottled water.

Once you would settle in the boat, a local musician would welcome you with an Andean Folkloric music. Our guide would then introduce himself and the captain of the boat before giving you a brief about the day’s itinerary on the World’s highest navigable lake, Lake Titicaca.

Our first stop will be at the iconic floating islands of Uros. During the journey from the mainland to one of the Uros Islands, you can see totora plants that grow on Lake Titicaca. These constitute the basic source of food and, at the same time, they serve as a maintenance system that the Uros have to perpetuate the existence of the islands

As the boat would dock in, local women dressed in the local attire would extend a warm welcome to the place they call home.

The head of the island would then demonstrate how they build these islands using totora plants and would share a few words in their native language (Aymara).

Natives here are known for their handicrafts, so you may buy some if you would wish to. You will then have an option of sailing on the traditional totora reed boat (10 Soles) to the main island of Uros. If desired, you can get your passport stamped here as a souvenir.

From here, we will start our boat ride to Taquile islands. You may walk up to the open deck on the upper level of the boat and get some photos of the floating islands that you would be passing through.

What's Included
  • Transport
  • Bi-lingual tour guide (English and Spanish)
  • Entrance fees
  • Lunch
  • Puno hotel transfer (Within the historic centre)
  • Puno boat pier embarkation tax
What's Not Included
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner
  • Accommodation
  • Totora Reed Boat ride (optional) 15 Soles
  • Gratuities
  • Hotel pick-up or drop-off outside the center of Puno (25 soles per way)
Additional Information

The shimmering blue waters of Lake Titicaca are home to the famous, man-made Floating Islands of Uros. These islands and their dwellings, which date back to a pre-Incan time, are made completely out of totora reeds, a native bulrush plant that grows in the lake. With a guided tour, get to know the inhabitants that have formed a small community and learn how these islands stay afloat. During the afternoon, visit the island of Amantani and experience the unique culture of the locals.

Location
Estacion Muelle Puno
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(179 Ratings)
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Julinhofonseca
Jun 17, 2024
Wonderful place - Excellent tour, I did it through the Peru hope agency, beautiful tours and a super competent guide too, it's really worth getting to know the floating islands especially
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bw260570
Jun 14, 2024
Two different island cultures in one day. - Puno is located directly on Lake Titicaca. We booked this tour to the Uros and then to Taquile. It was very nice. With the Uros, we stayed with a family on their island and learned a lot about their daily routine. We then took a reed boat to another island. Then we went to Taquile. There we walked for about an hour to the main town of San Antonio and experienced hand embroidery and folklore from the locals. Overall, we got a lot of insight into the two very different island cultures, which are also different from the mainland. If you go to Puno, then you should definitely do both of these things.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shakergirlja
Jun 11, 2024
Good trip! - Loved this trip. Couple of things could be improved. Make it clear that for several parts of the trip you are restricted to staying inside the boat cabin which makes photography pretty much impossible because of the dirty windows. It definitely needs to be explained in advance that there will be a steep 40 minute hike on the second island for lunch, and that you should bring water along. This is not easy for many, and not going is not really an option since that's where lunch is. Lunch was fabulous!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Getaway696638
Jun 1, 2024
Excellent trip - Everything was very nice, from the ride on the yacht to the guide. Everything well explained and the times well distributed. It felt very welcoming. In fact, I'm going to recommend it. Everything is very spectacular
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Michael_b
May 30, 2024
Enjoyable day - Enjoyable day visiting both islands. Boat ride on Uros was nice and a great lunch at Taquile. Hike on Taquile was good but some may find it hard. Guides were good but it was a very big group split into two groups of around 20 people or so and people cone and go as some dobthe multi-day tour. Guides paid for a taxi to return to hotel as transport buses were full which was a nice touch.
Review provided by Viator
Deanna_s
May 16, 2024
Interesting day trip to Lake Titicaca - Although there were a lot of people at the docks waiting for this day trip, everything was very well managed and organized and we didn't feel crowded by people at either of the two islands we visited. A very unique experience!
Review provided by Viator
Kekabra
May 21, 2024
Highest and largest lake in the world - The largest lake in the world at high altitude, it was formed by the movement of tectonic plates that trapped part of the ocean. Today the lake is fed by water that comes down from the melting ice of the mountains.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Meryem_i
May 7, 2024
Not worth the price - The Uros Islands and Taquile Island are both beautiful, but I wouldn't recommend booking with this company. Communication and organisation was quite poor and the tour guides weren't very friendly or engaging, so I would say the trip is overpriced for what we got in return - especially as you are urged to buy things on the islands to support the local community. - We were told to meet the group at the port at 7:15, but the group arrived at 7:45. There was a lady at the port who told us our group's bus would be a bit late, but there was no communication about how long and we received no messages from the company on Whatsapp etc. about this so we were just hanging around feeling a bit confused for half an hour. - When the group arrived no one introduced themselves to us or did a register to tell us what group we were in. There was more than 40 people overall so it was quite hectic. After 30 mins on the boat no one had introduced us to our guide yet, and different groups were getting off the boat at different stops so we needed to know - we had to ask each guide to find our group. It all felt quite unfriendly and unorganised. - The tour guides were not very engaging throughout the day. They asked our names about 5 times throughout the day and made no effort to remember or chat to us. They didn't wait around for everyone on the islands so it was up to us to be careful not to lose them when they moved on - at one point our group walked off and we didn't notice until another member of our group came back for us! With tours like this, a guide can often make or break the day, and we felt like the guides were not interested in building a relationship or sharing their knowledge. - A lot of the day was spent travelling between the islands (30 mins to Uros, 1.5 hours to Taquile and 2 hours back from Taquile). I would have preferred to spend longer on the Uros islands, engaging with the community and doing activities there rather than spending the day on a boat. - You are expected to buy things from the Uros islands and give tips on numerous occasions throughout the day (so bring cash!) We were happy to do this as we wanted to support the local communities and families who were sharing their culture with us, but given that we had paid quite a lot for the tour it felt like added extra costs which should have been covered in the original price (or the price for the tour should be much cheaper to account for this?) - The food at the restaurant was quite nice and the views were beautiful, but portions were quite small and water/soft drinks were not included.
Review provided by Viator
Kerri9207
May 9, 2024
Avoid this tour operator. - We had a one-day tour booked with this company, and they didn’t show up to pick us up. This is after we paid, and they confirmed via email the tour with us; and had our confirmation ticket. They said we could contact them anytime with questions, however didn’t give a phone number for contact. We tried contacting them by email, and tried trip advisor who they work through when it appeared they weren’t coming to get us and never heard back. We flew in specially from Cusco for this tour and subsequently had to book another tour for the same day given we were leaving the next day. There is no excuse for this company’s behavior.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
W4428pzchristinew
May 9, 2024
Do not recommend Planet Odysseys tours - We had confirmation from Planet Odysseys that we would be picked up from our hotel on May 9. We flew in from Cusco for one day specifically for this tour. They never showed up, they were hard to get a hold of, could only email them and still have not heard back. Had to book a much shorter tour in order to see Lake Titicaca.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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June 2024
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