Airport Transfer Juliaca to Puno
$45
Overview
2 days
One night, one family
4,150 m
Pachatata, climbed at sunset
4 meals
Three with your hosts, one on Taquile
$67
Per person, boats and fees included
The day boats see the islands. This tour lets you sleep on one of them.
Amantani is the island the day trips never reach. About four thousand people live there, in ten communities, with no cars, no restaurants and only a handful of small hotels. The way to spend a night is in somebody’s house. That is not a limitation of the tour. It is the tour.
On the first morning you visit the Uros floating islands, then cross two hours of open water. Your host family meets the boat. Lunch is in their kitchen. The afternoon is theirs to fill, which usually means the terraces, the animals or nothing at all. Late in the day everyone climbs to the temple of Pachatata for the sunset. Then dinner, and the community hall, where you are lent a poncho or an embroidered skirt and the band starts.
The second day is Taquile, an hour across the water. The stepped climb, the knitting, lunch at the top with the lake below the window. You are back at your hotel in Puno between half past three and four.
Who you stay with is decided on the island rather than by us. The communities take visitors in turn, so the income reaches every household rather than the ones nearest the landing. Your guide comes from Puno, speaks Quechua as well as Spanish and English, and stays with the group both days. The boat carries twenty five people at most.
This is a bed in a family’s house, not a hotel on an island.
The room is clean and simple. A bed, heavy wool blankets, a window onto the terraces, and a bathroom shared with the household. Not every house has a shower. Electricity is limited or absent, and so is the internet, and the night can fall below freezing between June and August. People who arrive expecting a lodge are unhappy by nine in the evening. People who arrive expecting a family are usually still talking at ten. If a shower and a private bathroom matter to you, the island has a few small hotels. You book those directly, at about 39 dollars a room. Ask when you reserve. Otherwise our sky glamping dome is the other way to sleep on this lake.
The climbs are the other thing to be honest about. Pachatata is about an hour up a stone path to 4,150 metres. Taquile is forty minutes of steps at nearly four thousand. Neither is difficult in the way a trek is difficult. Both are hard on the lungs. Give yourself two nights at altitude first. If the order of your trip is still open, our note on doing Cusco before Puno settles it.
One Night on the Lake, or None
Three ways to see the islands, and the honest difference between them is where you wake up.
No night
Where you sleep
Your own hotel in Puno. Back by five.
Islands
Uros and Taquile. Amantani is passed on the horizon.
Price and who it suits
44 dollars. One day on the lake and a bed you have already paid for.
This page
Uros, Amantani and Taquile, two days
Where you sleep
A family’s house on Amantani. Simple room, shared bathroom, three home cooked meals.
Islands
All three, with the sunset climb to Pachatata that the day boats never make.
Price and who it suits
67 dollars. Anyone with a night to give and a taste for the real thing.
From Cusco
Where you sleep
A heated dome with a clear roof among the Uros islands, after a night bus from Cusco.
Islands
Uros and Taquile. No Amantani, no family.
Price and who it suits
282 dollars. The stars rather than the people, with the road from Cusco built in.
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The extra 23 dollars buys the night, not the islands.
The day tour already gives you Uros and Taquile for 44. This tour adds Amantani, a bed in a family home, three meals cooked on their stove, the sunset from Pachatata and an evening in the hall. It asks 67. Nobody sensible chooses between them on price. The question is whether you have a night to spend on the lake. If you do, spend it here. If you do not, take the day and do not feel short changed.
Coming from Cusco? The two day tour from Cusco takes the daytime bus and follows it with the lake. The night bus gets you to Puno in time for the eight o’clock boat. For the island itself, our Amantani homestay guide covers the house, the food and what to pack. We wrote separately about Pachamama and Pachatata, the two temples above the village. Taquile’s knitting has a post of its own: why manliness there is measured in stitches. How the money from a night like this reaches the family is in our community tourism guide.
Tour Highlights
- ✓ A night in a Quechua family's house on an island with no cars, no internet and almost no hotels. This is the thing the day trips cannot sell.
- ✓ The climb to Pachatata at sunset, 4,150 metres, with the whole lake turning gold below you. The band waits in the hall afterwards.
- ✓ Three meals cooked by your hosts on their own stove, from their own potatoes, quinoa and eggs. Then a dance in borrowed clothes.
- ✓ Uros on the way out and Taquile on the way back. You see all three inhabited islands the boats visit, and sleep on the one they skip.
- ✓ Twenty five people at most, with a bilingual guide from Puno who speaks Quechua and translates rather than performs.
- ✓ Boats, three islands' fees, the homestay and four meals, all in the 67 dollars. Cash is for the reed boat, the textiles and a tip.
What to Expect
Two days, one night, three islands, and the night is the part you will talk about.
The boat leaves Puno at about eight. Uros comes first and is brisk, an hour among the reed islands with the construction shown and the handicrafts out. Then the long crossing, two hours to Amantani with the reeds behind you and the lake open in every direction. It is cold and bright and most people fall quiet.
Amantani is a green hill with terraces to the top and two temples on its summits. The families wait at the landing. You walk up to the house with yours, eat lunch in the kitchen, and the afternoon is unhurried. Late in the day the whole group climbs to Pachatata for the sunset, about an hour up. Dinner is with your family. Afterwards the community hall opens, traditional clothes are lent to everyone, and the band plays until people give up.
The night is cold, dark and silent in a way that surprises people from cities. Breakfast is early. An hour across to Taquile, the climb from the harbour, lunch at the top, and the slow boat home. Expect to be at your hotel between half past three and four, tired in the good way.
Tour Itinerary
1
Pickup in Puno
Collected from hotels in the centre at about eight, then a short drive to the harbour. The boat leaves once everyone is aboard. Bring a small bag for the night only. Your big case stays at your hotel in Puno.
Altitude 3,827 m
2
Uros floating islands
3
The crossing to Amantani
4
Amantani, and your family
5
Pachatata at sunset
6
Dinner and the community hall
7
Taquile
8
Back to Puno
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Good to know
On the night
The room is simple and clean: a bed, heavy wool blankets and a shared bathroom, and not every house has a shower. Electricity is limited or absent, and so is the internet. From June to August the night falls below freezing and the houses are not heated. Bring thermals and a head torch, and take a small gift for the family, fruit, rice or school supplies rather than sweets. A few small hotels on the island can be booked directly instead, at about 39 dollars a room.
✓
Inclusions
- ✓ Bilingual guide, Spanish and English, with you for both days
- ✓ All boats: Puno to Uros, Amantani, Taquile and back
- ✓ One night in a family home on Amantani, private room, shared bathroom
- ✓ Four meals: lunch and dinner on day one with your hosts, breakfast on day two, lunch on Taquile
- ✓ Entrance fees for Uros, Amantani and Taquile
- ✓ Pickup and drop off at hotels in central Puno
- ✓ The evening gathering on Amantani, traditional dress lent by your family
X
Not Included
- X Dinner on the second day, back in Puno
- X The reed boat ride at Uros, paid directly to the family
- X Hotels in Puno before and after the tour
- X Transport to Puno. Our night bus and the Route of the Sun both connect from Cusco
- X Tips for your guide, the boat crew and your hosts
- X Travel insurance
- X A hotel room on Amantani in place of the homestay, booked directly by you at about 39 dollars a room
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About the exclusions
On the price
The 67 dollars covers the boat for two days, the fees for three islands, your bed and four meals. What it leaves out is dinner on the second evening, the reed boat at Uros, and tips. Your bed and meals are paid for before you arrive, so nothing about the stay is a negotiation.
Departure Information
Available: Daily departures
Group Size: Up to 25 people
Start Time: 8:00 AM
Pickup: Hotel in central Puno
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Amantani homestay actually like?
A clean, simple room in a stone or adobe house, with a bed, thick wool blankets and a window onto the terraces or the lake. The bathroom is shared with the family. Not every house has a shower. Electricity is limited or absent, and so is the internet. Meals are eaten in the kitchen with your hosts.
Who decides which family I stay with?
Is there a shower, and can I charge my phone?
How cold does the night get?
How hard are the two climbs?
Can I join this tour from Cusco?
Is it suitable for children?
What should I bring for the night?
Do I need to speak Spanish?
How is this different from the sky glamping tour?
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