Sillustani Tour from Puno
$26 Half Day
Overview
2 islands
Uros communities, not one
1 day
Water, table and stone
3,840 m
Sillustani, above Lake Umayo
$60
Per person, lunch included
Puno is two places at once. There is the lake, which everyone comes for, and there is the altiplano behind it, which almost nobody looks at. This day takes both and puts a good lunch between them. It is what we recommend to anyone with a single day here. Our own guides book it when friends visit.
The morning is the reed islands. A boat out across the shallow bay, then two Uros communities rather than the usual one. That difference matters more than it sounds. The first island is where the demonstration happens, the reeds get cut open and the boats come out. The second is quieter, and it is where people ask the questions they thought of on the first. For background, read about the Uros people. The craft itself is covered in our piece on the totora boats.
Lunch is the part people do not expect. Rather than a buffet on an island, you come back to town and eat at Tulipans. A menu, and a main course of your choosing. Alpaca, trout from the lake, lomo saltado. Where that trout comes from is in our post on the fish of Lake Titicaca. An hour off your feet in the middle of the day is worth more at this altitude than it sounds. What else is worth eating here is covered in our post on the food of Puno.
The afternoon is Sillustani, forty minutes out on the altiplano road. A windswept peninsula, and the chullpas the Colla raised for their dead. The Inca later improved on the method. Some stand over twelve metres. They taper inwards at the base and widen at the top. That is a strange way to build anything, and still an argument among the people who study it. The history sits in our post on the Colla chullpas. What else is out on the plateau is in our guide to the region’s ancient sites.
One day, two very different halves, and a lot of altitude between them.
This is a long day at 3,827 metres, and the morning starts before eight. If you flew into Juliaca yesterday afternoon, it is too soon. Give yourself a night first. Our airport transfer page explains why the height here bites on day two, not day one. Arrived overnight on our Cusco to Puno bus? Say so, and we start you the following morning.
Tour Highlights
- ✓ Step onto the legendary Uros Floating Islands and hear directly from local families how their self-built world; islands, homes, boats is crafted entirely from totora reeds
- ✓ Visit two distinct Uros communities for a broader, more authentic picture of island life on Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake
- ✓ Enjoy an à la carte gourmet lunch at Tulipans Restaurant, featuring contemporary Peruvian cuisine made with hand-selected local ingredients
- ✓ Explore Sillustani, one of the Andes' most impressive pre-Inca archaeological sites, and learn about the ancient Kolla and Inca civilizations from a professional bilingual guide
- ✓ Take in sweeping panoramic views of Lake Umayo and the vast Altiplano plateau from the heights of the Sillustani complex
- ✓ Enjoy a fully accompanied, stress-free day with hotel pickup, all transport, entrance fees, and expert guiding included from start to finish
What to Expect
Your guide collects you from your hotel in the historic centre between seven and eight. The dock is a few minutes away and the boat goes out soon after. Thirty to forty minutes weaving between the reed beds. Then the first islands, low and yellow against the water.
The water and the islands together take up most of the morning. The ground moves under you. It is reed laid on reed, refreshed from the top as the bottom rots. A family shows how a new layer goes down and how the blocks of root are anchored. The same plant becomes a house, a boat and lunch. The white base of the stem is edible, sweet and faintly of the lake. Our post on community tourism on the lake explains how the visits are arranged. Then the second community, and the questions that came to you on the first.
Back to shore and into town for lunch at Tulipans. This is a proper sit down with a menu, not a plate handed over on an island. One main each, chosen from the tour list. The room is warm, which after a morning on the water is the point. Read our post on meeting Aymara communities before the morning rather than after it. An hour, maybe a little more.
Then the road north west. Forty minutes of open altiplano, herds and adobe walls, and the peninsula comes up above Lake Umayo. The walk into the site is fifteen to twenty minutes uphill on uneven ground, and everyone notices the height. The towers are worth it. So is the view from the top, which is flat, gold and enormous in every direction. Back in the centre between five and six, with the light going over the lake. Where to watch the last of it is in our piece on sunset over Lake Titicaca.
Best Time to Go
Green is the season we recommend Red is Candelaria in early February, when the town fills and the roads slow
May to October
Best
What to expect
Smooth water early, hard light, near freezing before eight
Our view
The months we would choose. Easy crossings and blue sky behind the towers. Bring a real jacket for the pickup.
November to March
What to expect
Wet afternoons, a green plateau, rougher water
Our view
Mornings tend to hold, so the islands are fine. The Sillustani path turns slippery, and the site is quiet and green.
Early February
What to expect
Candelaria. The town at capacity and the roads slow
Our view
Book ahead. The tour still runs, but expect a slow drive to the dock and a slower one to Sillustani.
i
A day that works in any month
Cold clear mornings from May to October, and Candelaria to plan around.
This day works in every month, which is not true of everything on the lake. The islands are close to shore, so wind matters less here than on the long crossing to Taquile. What the season really changes is the light and the cold. From May to October the mornings are freezing and the afternoons clear. That is the best combination for the towers. The wet months are green and quiet, with rain usually arriving after you are already at Sillustani. Candelaria in early February fills the town and slows every road in it. Our Puno climate guide goes through it month by month.
Tour Itinerary
1
Pickup and the dock
Collected from your hotel in the historic centre of Puno and driven the few minutes to the dock.
Altitude 3,827 m
2
Two Uros communities
3
Lunch at Tulipans, in Puno
4
Sillustani and Lake Umayo
5
Back in the centre
✓
Inclusions
- ✓ Hotel pickup within Puno's historic center
- ✓ Tourist transportation throughout the day
- ✓ Shared tourist boat to the Uros Islands
- ✓ Guided visit to two Uros communities
- ✓ Entrance fees to the Floating Islands
- ✓ À la carte gourmet lunch at Tulipans Restaurant (one main course per person)
- ✓ Shared afternoon tour to Sillustani
- ✓ Entrance fees to the Sillustani Archaeological Complex
- ✓ Professional bilingual guide (English & Spanish)
- ✓ Return transfer to Puno's historic center
X
Not Included
- X Optional traditional totora-reed boat ride (paid directly to the local community)
- X Personal expenses and souvenirs
- X Gratuities for your guide and driver (appreciated but never required)
Departure Information
Available: Daily departures
Group Size: Up to 15 people
Start Time: 09:00 AM
Pickup: Puno Hotel Transfer
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