Uros, Amantani and Taquile Islands 2-Day Tour with Family Stay

Uros floating islands

The first morning starts with a short boat ride from Puno port through the reed beds to the Uros floating islands. These small islands are built by hand from blocks of totora reed roots topped with layers of fresh reeds, renewed every few weeks as the lower layers rot. The Uros families live on them, fishing, making crafts and welcoming visitors onto their springy reed ground.

Your guide and the islanders explain how an island is built and anchored, and you can look inside a reed house and see the embroidered textiles made by the women. A ride on a traditional reed boat is available for an extra fee paid on the spot. The visit lasts about an hour, a gentle introduction before the longer crossing of the open lake towards Amantani.

Amantani Island and its farming community

Amantani is a round, hilly island in the open waters of Lake Titicaca, about three hours by boat from the Uros. There are no cars and no large hotels here: Quechua-speaking families farm potatoes, quinoa, broad beans and oca on stone terraces that cover the slopes, and paths of earth and stone link the small villages. Sheep graze between the walls, and the air smells of the wild muna herb used for tea.

The community organises tourism together, sharing guests between families so that everyone benefits. When the boat arrives, your host family meets you at the jetty and walks with you to their house. An Amantani Island tour like this is one of the best ways to understand rural life on the Andean high plateau, far from the bustle of Puno.

Your family stay on Amantani

Your night is spent in a simple family guesthouse, usually a room with basic beds and thick blankets, built from adobe and stone. Facilities are modest: bathrooms are shared, hot water is rare and electricity is often limited to a small solar panel, so the stars over the lake are brilliant at night. This simplicity is exactly what makes the experience so real.

Your hosts prepare lunch and dinner on day one and breakfast on day two, typically quinoa soup, potatoes in many varieties, local cheese, vegetables and herbal tea. Meals are often shared in the family kitchen, where you can ask about daily life through your guide or with a few words of Spanish. Many travellers bring a small gift such as fruit or school supplies for the children, which hosts warmly appreciate.

Sunset at the temples of Pachamama and Pachatata

In the late afternoon your guide leads the group up one of the two hills that crown Amantani. On the summits stand ancient ceremonial enclosures dedicated to Pachamama, Mother Earth, and Pachatata, Father Earth, still used by the islanders for important festivals. The higher peak rises above 4,100 metres, so the walk is taken slowly, with pauses to catch your breath.

The reward is one of the finest sunsets in Peru: the sun sinks over the lake, lighting up the terraces and, on clear days, the snowy peaks of the Bolivian Andes on the far shore. Bring a warm jacket and a torch, as darkness and cold come quickly once the sun has set. Back in the village, a hot dinner with your host family closes the day.

Taquile Island on day two

After breakfast you say goodbye to your hosts and sail to nearby Taquile Island, a narrow island of terraces, stone arches and red-earth paths. Its Quechua-speaking community is known worldwide for its textiles, recognised by UNESCO in 2005 as a masterpiece of intangible heritage. Here the men knit, often as they walk, and their woollen chullo hats show whether they are single or married, while women weave bright belts with symbols of the farming year.

You walk up to the main square, visit the community textile cooperative and enjoy wide views over the lake. Lunch on Taquile on day two is not included, and there are local restaurants on the island serving soup and fresh lake trout. In the afternoon the boat returns to Puno, and our transport takes you back to your hotel in the city centre.