Lake Titicaca

A brilliant cultural immersion to add onto any of our Peru adventures! Choose the 3-day Introduction to Lake Titicaca for a hotel-based program, or the 4-day program which includes a homestay on Taquile Island. Lake Titicaca lies at 12,500 feet above sea level, so this program is best added following acclimation time in Cuzco or Arequipa.

The views east to the 20,000-foot peaks of the Royal Range enhance the scenic beauty of the lake.  You'll stop at Inca and pre-Inca sites, the unique floating reed Uros Islands, and visit Taquile Island, a steep terraced rocky island inhabited by Quechuan people.

Use these Activity Level Ratings as a general guide to help determine which of our adventures is best for you. Your perception of level of difficulty may vary from ours according to your own level of fitness and travel experience. Whether or not you stay in your comfort zone on the trip you select may also be influenced by the pacing we build into the itinerary, and your own preparation for the trip. While relatively high elevations are unavoidable when you're traveling in the Andes Mountains, we may judge a trip as "moderate" so long as passengers have sufficient time for acclimation. Our detailed trip itineraries give much more information about what you can expect. If you are unsure which trip is best for you, please call us. We'll help guide you toward the right fit.

Moderate

These adventures involve fairly easy travel. There is no camping: you sleep in hotels and country inns each evening. Trips may include short hikes and/or walks of two to three hours. Our itineraries include excursions in passenger mini-vans, over roads with many curves and potholes. Elevations rarely exceed 12,600'. At Machu Picchu and other Inca sites, we climb and descend relatively steep stone staircases. Trips to Amazon lodges involve travel by boat and canoe, plus hikes on forest trails at a moderate pace. In the rainforest, you may encounter rain, mud, and pooled water. Trips to the Galapagos include optional hikes on sometimes uneven rocky and/or slippery terrain. Passengers must get into and out of dinghies on beaches and at docks.

Active

These adventures include more hiking than in our moderate trips. You negotiate a variety of terrain, at elevations no more than 15,000'. Some trips include long days of overland travel. You sleep comfortably in hotels each evening.

Strenuous

While we rate all of our treks as strenuous, there is a substantial range of challenge between the easiest and the most demanding of our treks. Expect to hike 6-8 hours each day over steep and rugged terrain. You may hike to elevations of 17,000', with options to hike higher from several camps. Many include camping multiple nights at relatively high elevations. On most treks in the Andes, night-time temperatures can drop below freezing on one or more nights. On our Inn to Inn based treks, you'll spend each evening in a comfortable mountain lodge.

Extreme

Our toughest treks are suitable for those that enjoy a good physical challenge. You trek (and in some cases climb) over steep, rugged terrain at high elevations with substantial altitude gains. Some glacier travel requires knowledge of basic climbing techniques including use of crampons, ice axe, and ropes. These trips are in remote wilderness areas and include camping as high at 17,700'. Successful summit bids top out at 18,871' (Nevado Pisco), 19,347' (Volcan Cotopaxi) and 20,945' (Nevado Ausangate).

Custom departures year round, on request.

2010 Rates

LTI-1 Introduction to Lake Titicaca

in Standard hotels, 3 Days/2 Nights 

No. passengers	1	2	3 (in triple)	4	5/7
Land Cost	499	379	348	337	327
Add per single room		90

 

 LTI-1P as above but with private Taquile service

  

No. Passengers	1	2	3 (in triple)	4	5/7
Land Cost	767	499	434	406	392
Add per single room		90

  

LTI-1E same as above but with superior hotels

  

No. Passengers	1	2	3 (in triple)	4	5/7
Land Cost	1,054	637	538	530	504
Add per single room		275

 

 

LTT-1  Lake Titicaca with overnight on Taquile Island, 4 Days/3 Nights

in Standard hotels

  

No. passengers	1	2	3 (in triple)	4	5/7
Land Cost	448	323	299	291	283
Add per single room		90

 

 LTT-1P as above but with private Taquile service

  

No. Passengers	1	2	3 (in triple)	4	5/7
Land Cost	795	497	424	388	362
Add per single room		90

 

 LTT-2   Superior Hotels and private charter service

  

No. passengers	1	2	3 (in triple)	4	5/7
Land Cost	1,095	646	532	526	511
Add per single room		275

 

 Air rate Juliaca/Lima is currently approximately $169, and subject to change.

 

LIT-1  Introduction to Lake Titicaca (2 nights)

Day One You’re picked up at your Cuzco hotel for a group coach tour via 14,200 ft. La Raya Pass to Puno. En route you’ll visit the pre-Inca site of Piqillacta, the colonial chapel at Andahuaylillas, and the enormous Inca-period Viracocha Temple complex at Raqchi. Lunch is included. Reaching Puno, we transfer you to your hotel for two nights accommodation with breakfast

 

Day Two Full-day group excursion on Lake Titicaca Hotel pickup at 7.15AM. We cruise out of Puno Bay into the main body of the lake to Taquile Island. You have time for a scenic hike on Taquile’s trails before returning to the port. During the return to the mainland, we stop to visit a floating reed island community of the Uros Indians. Lunch is included, dinner on your own.

 

Day Three  Sillustani and out Private tour of the impressive pre-Inca burial tower site at Sillustani. We then continue to Juliaca airport for your flight to Lima.

 

Includes: station and port transfers, transportation and group tours, daily breakfasts, two lunches, Sillustani site entrance. airport departure tax,  site entrances unless specified.

 

Excludes: tips, meals not specified above.

 

LTI-1P  Introduction to Lake Titicaca (2 nights)

 

As above in standard hotels, but replaces the group day trip to Taquile with private chartered boat service

 

LTI-1E  Superior Introduction to Lake Titicaca (2 nights)

Days One and Three Same as above, but using 4-star Hotel Libertador Isla Esteves or Posada del Inca Private Collection.

Day Two. Private chartered boat and guide for the full day on Lake Titicaca

 

 

 

LTT-1 Lake Titicaca with overnight on Taquile Island (3 nights)

Taquile is a rocky, terraced island some 4 miles north to south and barely a mile wide, located in the main body of Lake Titicaca. The three hundred Quechua-speaking families who make up the community support themselves by farming and traditionally by leaving the island for periods of time to work on the mainland. Starting in the mid- 1980’s, they organized themselves to receive outside visitors. Host families constructed special guest rooms onto their family compounds, and cooperatives were formed to construct and operate motor launches to provide reliable daily service with the mainland.

 

On arrival at the island by boat from Puno, you are assigned to a host family for your overnight in native home-stay. Accommodation is basic – there is no electricity on the island, nor running water. Your hosts give you a comfortable bed with clean sheets and plenty of blankets, water in a clay pot drawn from a nearby spring, and candles for your room in the evening. Views in every direction are spectacular – you are in the center of the lake, surrounded by mountains of which the 20,000-foot summits of the Royal Range in Bolivia are the most impressive. Sunrise and sunset are exquisite; at night the Milky Way is a brilliant swathe of light.

 

Islanders are famous for their fine knitted hats and tightly-woven textiles, some of which are available for sale in the community store on the main square. You’ll enjoy walking on the main footpaths – you’ll often meet shepherd girls weaving or spinning wool as they watch over a few grazing sheep. Or you’ll come across a group of young men, sitting shooting the breeze while they knit woolen hats with the incredibly intricate designs typical of the island. A night on Taquile Island is an opportunity to step outside the normal physical surroundings of your trip through the Andes, and to open yourself up to whatever the Andean world may offer.

 

Day One  Cuzco to Puno Travel via group tour (see description above). Accommodation in hotel

 

Day Two  Uros and Taquile Transfer on your own to the port, where you will find pool boats departing at 8.00AM daily to Taquile Island, stopping en route at one of the floating Uros reed island communities. On arrival at the island, the reception committee assigns you to a family for the night.

 

Note: on LTT-1P and LTT-2 we include charter boat and private guide for the Taquile overnight. Lunch and dinner are on your own.

 

Day 3  Taquile Island/Puno Your morning is free to explore the island. 2.30PM departure from Taquile, reaching the mainland around dusk. Transfer on your own to your hotel. Meals are on your own today.

 

Day 4  Sillustani and out Private Sillustani ruins tour en route to Juliaca airport for check-in to your flight to Lima.

 

LTT-2 Superior Lake Titicaca with overnight on Taquile Island in private service (3 nights)

 

We use Hotel Libertador Isla Esteves or Casa Andina Private Collection. In this program we include private chartered boat service to and from Taquile Island, plus transfers from hotel to port and back.

 

LTT-1P Standard-Class Lake Titicaca with overnight on Taquile Island in private charter

 

We include chartered boat service to and from Taquile Island, plus transfers from hotel to port and back.

 

 

Hotel Royal Inn

Hotel Libertador Isla Esteves

Casa Andina Private Collection (Puno)

Hotel José Antonio Puno

Coming Soon!

• 3-day and 4-day itineraries
• Visit Inca and pre-Inca sites between Cuzco and Puno
• Cruise on Lake Titicaca and visit Uros floating reed islands
• Optional native homestay on Taquile Island
• Tourist-class or superior hotel options

• Map