Are Lake Titicaca and Puno Worth Visiting?

At first, when we plan trip to any destination, the question is: will it be worth? or  would it be better to look for another destination to go? so, here comes the question. Are Lake Titicaca and Puno worth visiting?

However, every place has something special.

According our point of view, to say which one is better can be unfair, because even an small square, a little river, a Lake, or just some views  make a place: “special to go”.

In this article, we’ll let you know  the most interested and beautiful places to see in Puno in order that you can decide to go or not.

Puno is located at the shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable Lake in the world.  It lies at 3,810 m (12,500 feet) above sea level in the Andes.

By comparison to Capital cities like Lima, La Paz in Bolivia o Bogotá in Colombia, Puno is definetely an smaller city.

For people who doesn’t know what are the best places to go, it can be “boring”, because you won’t find Malls or Big stores to walk around in the city.

In other words, Puno is a place to enjoy fresh air, walk quietly and forget about stress, traffic and all that noisy enviroment that you find in bigger cities.

However, because of its location you will be able to book a hotel with an amazing view to the Lake. Additionaly, if you are the kind of person who enjoys walking on the streets without being worried for pickpockets… Puno is such a good place for you.

During the complete year in Puno, there are just two seasons indeed:

1.- Rainy season starts on December and ends in March. If you want to take views with flowers in a boom or landscapes in green, visit Puno during this time, or even until April and middle May.

These days in particular are cloudy during morning or afternoon.

2.- Dry season begins on April until November. During these months the sun is shinning all day, however, it gets really cold in early mornings and in the evenings.

Sunscreen, sunglasses, a cap, or a hat are articles that you need to take and enjoy more the travel

It’s posible to do the tour alone or hiring the service with a travel agency for getting more information from the tour guide.

Doing the city tour, you will have the chance to visit the Cathedral, the Main Square and whether History is your subject, the Dreyer Museeum is located just next to the Cathedral, so easy to find.

Next, after a short walk for LIMA STREET,  PINO PARK will be found easily.

The Main Square and Pino Park are linked by Lima Street. The great thing is that you are going to find banks, restaurants, travel agencies and places to change some money.

It’s an small Square, sitting and eating an ice cream, just like the rest of local people do is a free activitie that you can do!

Here, the San Juan Church is located,  and the Virgin of the Candelaria patron saint of the city of Puno in southern Peru remains.

At the same time, whether you have more time to expend, then visit the “Arco Deustua” located  on Independencia Street, so close to Pino Park.

It’s posible to find this site traveling for 40 minutes by car from Puno  city. 

Do you want to learn more about history? so, a tour guide is recommended, however  going alone can be also done.

Short explainations can be found during the circuit in the most important places.

The best thing of this site is the wonderful view of Umayo Lagoon, you can’t miss a picture there.

The wonderful Lake Titicaca should be the main reason to visit Puno because nothing is more beautiful that nature, with no exception on this case.

With its natural islands and the wonderful hand-made Uros floating islands, taking part on its culture, lifestyle and daily activities and  friendly hosts, Lake Titicaca is one of the best places to visit in Perú.

There are around 60 hand-made floating islands, they can be easily reached by a boat  from the Main Port, if you hire an organized tour, the guide  will explain everything about them.

In fact, whether your choice is to go alone, the island’s owner will show and tell about the way they build each island and more info about it, just in spanish unfortunately.

The visit to Uros can be made in 2 or 3 hours, but it’s better to stay there a night to enjoy a complete experience and being part their activities. It will worth it.

This is a well-known place in Lake Titicaca (Peruvian Side). It’s a natural island a cause of that reason, stunning views can be find everywhere.

As soon as you get there, you will see their Colorful traditional clothing which is part of their culture. Women and Men are important part of its culture. In 2005, Taquile and its textile art were declared an oral and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO.

The usual visit is so short to enjoy the most even if you go with a travel agency.

We suggest to stay at least one night, visit their beaches and enjoy some time at night outdoors watching the stars in a clear sky.

This Island is the farthest island from Puno, thus if you want to visit Amantani, spending a night there gets kind of mandatory because its distance. Even hiring a private boat,  your departure from the island can be cancelled because of bad weather.

Sleeping there gives you the opportunity to share their culture, be part of the family and take the most beautiful pictures of sunset or sunrise.

You shouldn’t miss the walking to Pachatata and Pachamama, which are maintop temples, those are the best places to take your camera and turn it on to catch beautiful views.

It’s a little village located in Capachica Peninsula, a good point here, is that you can book online and also do activities like kayaking until Taquile. They also have the homestay experience service.

One of the advantages about Llachón are their ports, where big boats  are able  to arrive in case that you hire one.

Uros, Taquile, Amantani and recently Llachón are the most popular places to visit when we talk about Puno.

A cause of lack of promotion there are some beautiful villages around Lake Titicaca that are less known which have stunning views with friendly hosts waiting to provide a homestay service.

So, you could think about less conventional places to include on your itinerary.

Enjoy the living culture on Ccotos and stay a night in the small island of Tikonata, one of the most known activities is go on sailing on a traditional boat, to be part in agriculture activities and have a bonfire at night.

The little village of Escallani is located in the Peninsula of Capachica, you can admire stunning views, walk around to take pictures, watch the stars at night in the clear sky and get disconnected of noise, stress and worries.  For this purpose spending at least a night here is a great idea.

There are a few families that offer the homestay service, it’s posible to book online.

These sites are also located in the Capachica Peninsula. 

The homestay experience is also posible to do here, share with hosts the local activities and walking around to take the best pictures of Lake Titicaca and landscapes that surround the area.

They are small villages where you can be enjoy also living culture.

They offer a homestay experience with traditional food. As Llachón, the advantage is the port they have, where boats can stop to pick up or dropp off passengers.

Lastly as you must have realized there are several places to go in Puno.

Spending a night in the Uros Floating Islands to live the experience of  a “floating hotel” and the second one in another homestay place, would be fantastic in order to live the contrast between living culture in an artificial island and a natural one.

In case that you count with more leisure time to expend, you could explore more of the mentioned places.

Anyway, to answer the question : Are Lake Titicaca and Puno worth visiting?  Like any place in the world… they have something special  to show and share with you. You shouldn’t miss the experience.