Before I rave about Lake Titicaca, let me be totally honest with you upfront: Puno almost broke me. I arrived with a throbbing headache that lasted the entire time I was there. My Apple Watch kept flashing warnings that my oxygen levels were in the eighties. It even suggested I consider seeking medical attention. I was breathless and exhausted in that specific way that makes you want to lie face-down and not move. Not stomach-sick exactly, just profoundly, insistently depleted. Puno sits at around 3,800 metres above sea level, and at that altitude, your body does not quietly adjust.
And yet. Lake Titicaca is genuinely one of the most remarkable places I’ve been in Peru, and given l live here, I’ve been to a lot of Peru. Here’s what you need to know before you go, and why it is absolutely worth braving the altitude to visit.
And if you came here looking for info on the one or two day tours of Lake Titicaca – I’ve got you covered →
You can also read more here about what it’s like to stay overnight on Amantani island in the middle of the lake →
Getting to Puno
Most people arrive from Cusco by bus (six hours) or from Arequipa (eight hours), which is what I did. If you’re coming directly from Lima, the nearest airport is Juliaca, about 1 hour by taxi from Puno. It’s the fastest option but probably the worst one for altitude. Flying from sea level in Lima and landing at 3,800 metres in under two hours gives your body no time to adjust, you’ll feel it immediately. Coming by bus from Cusco or Arequipa means you’ve already been at elevation for hours or days, which counts for a lot when you’re trying to function like a normal human at altitude.
If you can, give yourself at least one night in Puno before doing any tours. I only had one night to acclimatise before my Lake Titicaca tour and I felt pretty rough on the boat, lots of paracetamol, lots of water, managing rather than thriving. Two or three days would have been idea, but lets be realistic I’m a fast traveller and was never going to do that. One night is doable if you take it easy and don’t push it.
What to do in Puno
Puno gets dismissed as a transit town, and while it’s not somewhere you’d visit purely for the city, it’s more interesting than people give it credit for.
The Plaza de Armas is worth a wander. Pleasant central square, good for people-watching, and surrounded by cafes and restaurants. Puno has a surprising number of good places to eat and drink, and a better café scene than you’d expect for a city at this altitude.
The Cathedral on the main square is worth a quick look. Free to enter and a decent example of Baroque colonial architecture.
Eat something substantial. Peruvian food in Puno is very good and portions are generous. When I came back from the tour I inhaled the biggest piece of lúcuma pie I’ve ever seen and it filled a void that two days of soup and boiled vegetables had created. Highly recommend prioritising this upon return.
The lake itself is visible from various points around the city. The waterfront area is a nice place to get your bearings and it’s a good spot to process just how enormous the lake actually is before you head out on it.
Tour agencies are all around the Plaza de Armas area. If you’re booking locally rather than online, this is where you’ll find them. For the record, I booked this two-day tour on GetYourGuide, and it was convenient, included hotel pick-up and drop-off, and the price wasn’t bad. Book ahead for the two-day tour especially as it can sell out.
For everything that happens once you’re on the lake – the Uros islands, Taquile, and spending the night on Amantani – read my full two-night tour guide →
Getting around Puno: There’s no Uber or Cabify here, just good old-fashioned taxis and tuktuks. You can flag them in the street easily enough, or ask at your hotel reception if you want help arranging one. If you’re arriving by bus and need help at the bus station, there are usually police officers there who can assist you in finding a legitimate taxi, worth knowing if you arrive late or feel uncertain.
The altitude: what to actually expect
Take it seriously, but don’t panic. 3,800 metres is high, and most people feel something – headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, general unwellness. Some people feel awful, a very lucky few feel fine. My Apple Watch told me to seek medical attention and I was mostly OK. My head just throbbed and I was constantly out of breath. Your experience may differ.
Practical things that help: drink a lot of water, avoid alcohol for the first night, drink coca tea or eat coca candies (they do genuinely help). Paracetamol for the headache. Take it slow.
The altitude also means the UV is brutal, even when it’s cold. More on that in my Lake Titicaca Tour post →
When to go
Dry season is May to October, the most popular time and the most straightforward for the tour. I went in May and while it was sunny and warm during the day, temperatures dropped to around zero at night. Bring layers regardless of when you go. The rainy season (November to April) brings greener scenery but choppier lake crossings.
Why you should actually do a Lake Titicaca tour
Most travel content about Lake Titicaca sells it on scenery – the blue water, the altitude record, the views from the islands. And the scenery is genuinely stunning. But that’s not why you should go.
You should go because of the people who live there, and because the way they live is unlike anything I’ve encountered anywhere else in the world.
Take with the Uros islands. These are communities whose entire existence is built around totora reeds. They build the islands from them, adding fresh layers every few weeks to stop them sinking. Their houses are made from reeds. Their boats are made from reeds. They even eat them – I watched a kid reach into the water, pull out a reed, and start chewing it as a snack. The islands are connected to the mainland only by boats that sometimes come and sometimes don’t. Different tour groups go to different islands to spread the income around the community. It is a wholly self-contained, entirely reed-dependent way of life that has existed for generations, and witnessing it up close is genuinely humbling.
Then there are the people on Amantani and Taquile. Three hours from the mainland, no cars, limited electricity, no hot water, real houses but remote in a way that’s hard to properly convey until you’re there. They still dress traditionally. Many of the older residents, particularly on Amantani, don’t speak Spanish, only Quechua. And even among those who do, their lives – how they pass time, how they eat, how they socialise, how they make a living, look almost nothing like what you’d find on the mainland.
What I wasn’t prepared for was how much this would make me think. I spoke at length with the son of my host family on Amantani, who served as the island’s judge and policeman. He talked about the 20-somethings on the island who had started leaving for university in Puno, something that was essentially unheard of the generation before. And the quiet, genuine concern in the community about whether they would come back. What happens to an island like this if its young people stop returning? What happens to the language, the weaving traditions, the self-governance, the rotating tourism system that spreads income fairly? These are real questions with no obvious answers, playing out on a remote island in the middle of the world’s highest navigable lake.
The Lake Titicaca tours are not about ticking off sights. They’re about culture, tradition, and what it actually looks like when a community exists on its own terms, cut off from so much of modern life but navigating it on their own terms. You leave knowing that people live this way, that this is real, ongoing, genuinely different, and that’s worth the altitude headache. Trust me.
For the full experience of the overnight stay on Amantani island specifically – what it’s actually like, where you sleep, and why it’s the highlight of the whole trip – read my Amantani island guide →“
Which Lake Titicaca tour should you do?
Two options: a one-day tour (Uros and Taquile) or a two-day tour (Uros, overnight on Amantani, then Taquile). Full details in my posts on the two-day tour → and the Amantani homestay experience →
Short version: if you have the time and the layers, do the two-day tour. It’s the better experience by some margin.
FAQ: Visiting Puno and Lake Titicaca
Is Lake Titicaca worth visiting? Yes, even with the altitude, even with the cold. It’s unlike anywhere else in Peru.
How long do you need in Puno? One night minimum before the tour, more if you want proper acclimatisation time. Two days for the Lake Titicaca tour (though you can squeeze it into one if you’re short on time).
Is the altitude really that bad in Puno? Varies enormously by person. I had a persistent headache and my oxygen was low. A few lucky people feel completely fine. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Can you cross into Bolivia from Puno? Yes. Copacabana is around four hours away. I have a full guide to the Puno to Copacabana crossing here.
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