If you are going to visit Peru and want to see Lake Titicaca, you’ll most likely be visiting and staying in Puno, Peru. Puno is a city on the banks of Titicaca Lake, and has a population of around 100,000 residents. The best way to get to Puno is to fly from Lima to Juliaca and then take a 1 hour drive to Puno from the Juliaca airport. The flight from Lima to Juliaca is about an hour, and saves a lot of time if one were to drive or take a bus from Lima to Puno. Trust me, take the flight to Juliaca as the drive up into the Ande mountains from Lima will take a long time. Puno is located in the Puno Region of Peru, and lies in the Altiplano. The Altiplano just means the Andean Plateau or high plains region. Puno sits at 3800m or 12,500ft above sea level, and you’ll definitely notice the altitude. I flew from Lima to Juliaca, and drove to Puno on a bus. I’ve never had any issues with altitude in the past, but going from sea level directly to 12,500ft affected me like never before. It took about 3-4 hours, but I started to feel very light headed and sick. I drank lots of water, and got some sleep the first night. After the first night, I finally acclimated and was fine the rest of the trip. Just beware and be cautious of the altitude, and plan accordingly. The Altiplano is one of the most expansive high plains regions on earth, only beaten by the Tibetan region.
Altiplano on the way to Puno, Peru
As seen from the above picture, the area is really just plains, and quite flat. The Puno region is pretty industrial, and not much going on for tourists, except to visit Lake Titicaca. This rings true for Puno, as the city is of decent size but not much to do. We stayed for 2 nights in the city. Below is a picture of the Basilica that is in the town square, also known as the plaza del Armas.
Basilica Cathedral of Puno in Plaza the Armas
You’ll notice the cross on the left hand side of the basilica in the above picture. It is actually a really interesting display when viewed up close. The below picture is a close up, and you can see all of the added items to the cross.
Cross at Basilica Cathedral of Puno
One of the streets connected to the Plaza contains a few blocks of restaurants and bars, and is the best place in the city to find something to eat and drink while staying in the city. The prices in Puno are very cheap compared to other locations in Peru, especially as you make your way towards Machu Picchu. For instance, we bought a couple of personal sized pizza’s from a pizzeria and each were 9 soles, the equivalant of ~$3.25USD. If you are looking to try out some of the local food in Peru, than Puno is a great location to try out some of the local dishes for a very reasonable price. I very much enjoyed Alpaca, and ordered it several times throughout the trip. I didn’t try Cuy (Guinea Pig) as we found that the price got very expensive in Cusco and Aguas Calientes at over 50 soles. The presentation of Cuy is also a little disturbing, as it appears that the shape of the guinea pig is intact when your order arrives. Because Puno is very affordable, it is also a good idea to purchase alpaca handicrafts in the area, again because it gets much more expensive in other locations within Peru. You’ll find so many alpaca clothing items all over Peru, and it is the same stuff in all the locations. So, it’s best to buy it cheaply instead of in higher priced tourist towns. You can buy winter hats, scarfs, gloves, sweaters, socks and more made from alpaca. These are very popular items.