Puno: Uros Floating Islands Tour & Totora Raft Ride

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.20 (15 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/5

Duration3h

GroupUp to 30

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

The Uros Floating Islands are still worth the crowds—here's why

You arrive by boat at a reed island where your guide explains the Uros way of life, then walk among the homes and plants. A totora raft ride to another island is optional and costs extra. You'll have time to photograph and buy from local vendors before returning to Puno by mid-afternoon.

Step-by-step itinerary

Visit Uros Floating Islands

Arrive at Uros Floating Islands
Listen to guide's island story
Learn about local animals and plants
Optional totora raft ride to another island
Buy water or snacks on second island
Take photos on the island
Return by boat to Puno city
Arrive at hotel or plaza de armas

The Experience

You'll feel it the moment the boat cuts across Lake Titicaca toward Puno: a kind of suspended disbelief. These islands aren't anchored to the lake floor. They're woven from totora reeds, layered thick enough to walk on, and they rise and fall with the water. Your guide meets you at the dock and walks you straight into the story—how the Uros people built a life here centuries ago, and how they've kept it going. You'll see the animals and plants that survive on these floating islands, the way families have arranged their homes, the boats made of the same reeds as the ground beneath your feet.

The tour moves at an easy pace, but there's a choice that matters: a ride on a totora raft to another island costs extra (10 soles) and is optional. If you take it, you're standing on a raft made of bundled reeds, poled across open water by someone who's done it their whole life. If you skip it, you stay on the main island, which is fine—you've already seen the thing that makes this place unusual. Either way, you get time to buy water or snacks from the families selling them, and to take photos without feeling rushed. The light on the water is clearest in the morning, so that matters if you're particular about it.

After that, the boat takes you back across the lake to Puno, and your driver drops you at your hotel or the Plaza de Armas. The whole thing runs half a day, which is long enough to feel like you've been somewhere, short enough that you're not exhausted by the time you're back in the city.

What’s included

Your tour includes a professional guide fluent in English or Spanish, entry fees to the Uros Floating Islands, hotel pickup and drop-off near Puno, and all local taxes.
The guide explains the history and daily life of the Uros people as you walk the reed islands.
A totora raft ride to a second island is available for an additional 10 soles if you want it.
You'll have time to buy water, snacks, and local goods directly from island families before returning to the city.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Real travel Peru

Is this one for you?Book this if you're curious about how people live on water and want a guide to explain it rather than wander alone—the half-day length and included transport mean you're not spending the whole day arranging logistics.