Uros Floating Islands Tour from Puno

The Uros islands float in the reed beds of Puno bay, about 5 km across the water from the port, and the short tour gets you there and back in about three hours. It is the cheapest way onto Lake Titicaca: the tour at the top of this page costs from $9 in current promotion (usually $12), rated 4.6 from 787 reviews (checked October 2026), with hotel pick-up in central Puno and the landing fee included. The only thing you pay on the day is the optional reed-boat ride, S/15 a person.

Check dates for the Uros

How a reed island is made

The islands are built from totora, the tall reed that grows in the shallows of the lake. The base is a block of reed roots, cut from the bed and lashed together so it floats; on top of it the families lay bundles of cut reed, layer after layer, and add fresh reed as the bottom rots away in the water. The houses, the beds and the boats are made of the same reed. Each island is anchored with stakes and ropes so it does not drift.

According to the Peruvian Congress’s profile of the Puno region, there are about twenty islands, each home to three to ten families, and the people call themselves kotsuña, “the lake people”. They still fish for carachi and pejerrey and hunt water birds; the men handle the reed boats and the women are known as weavers. The islands sit inside the Titicaca National Reserve, the protected area that SERNANP manages around the reed beds of Puno bay.

What the visit is like

Be ready for an island set up for visitors. The boat ties up at one island, the families greet you, and one of the hosts explains, often with a small model, how it is built and anchored. You walk on the surface, which gives underfoot like a thick mattress, step inside a reed house and look at the weaving and reed crafts for sale. Nobody has to buy anything, but the crafts and the reed-boat ride are how the families earn from the visit, which is worth knowing if you are deciding whether to ride.

Some reviewers find the Uros too organised; others love the chance to see a way of life that exists nowhere else. If you want to see the islands with more context and less of a show, the full day that continues to Taquile spends about an hour and a half here and then three hours on a natural island with its own life, and the two-day trip adds a night with a family on Amantani.

Three hours, a full day, or a night?

The short trip is the right answer if you have only a morning or an afternoon in Puno, or a bus to catch that evening. Pick a morning start to keep the afternoon for the Sillustani tombs, or an afternoon start if you arrive on an overnight bus that morning.

If this is your one day on the lake, the Uros and Taquile day costs about three times as much and gives you both islands and lunch. If you can spare a night, the Amantani homestay starts at the Uros too.

Prefer a smaller boat? The small-group Uros trip runs the same three hours with pick-up from your hotel or the bus station, from $7 in current promotion (usually $10), and the shortest Uros visit is the lowest-priced of the Uros trips here, from $6 in current promotion (usually $9).

Staying the night on the Uros

A few Uros families run small lodges of reed huts on their islands, and “Uros floating islands homestay” is a common search for that reason. A night there is quiet and cold, close to freezing after sunset in the dry months, so take the blankets you are offered. Most visitors who want a night on the water choose the two-day tour with a family on Amantani instead, which includes the Uros on the way out.

What to bring

• Soles in coins and small notes: S/15 for the reed boat, plus anything you buy.
• Sun protection and a warm layer: at 3,810 m the sun burns quickly and the wind on the boat is cold.
• Shoes you do not mind getting damp: the reed surface can be wet at the edges.
• Time to acclimatise: if you have just arrived in Puno, the short trip is an easy first outing; see the altitude guide.

How these facts were checked

The number of islands, the families, the name kotsuña and the fishing are from the Peruvian Congress’s profile of the Puno region (congreso.gob.pe); the lake’s altitude and the reserve from SERNANP (visitaareasnaturales.sernanp.gob.pe), read 27 October 2026. The distance from Puno, the times, the inclusions and the S/15 reed-boat fee are from the GetYourGuide listings, checked October 2026.