This is a small property with 5 guest bedrooms that can sleep up to 11 people and is definitely an experience rather than simply somewhere to sleep. Rooms are in the main house arranged around a colourful patio. The style is comfortable but definitely rustic with rooms decorated with antique furniture and farm items from the ranch itself.  All bathrooms have been remodelled and boast Spanish showers and the Fundo Chincheros’ own range of organic amenities.

They have several different types of rooms available including twin and double rooms and an an inter-connecting family room. There are also several communal spaces including a lounge area with wood-fired stove and an outdoor BBQ area.

The thing that sets Fundo Chincheros apart for us when we visited is their focus on reconnection with nature. They have 125 hectares of land that is right next to the Titicaca Nature Reserve and they offer some interesting and very different activities for the Puno region that allow you to have a unique experience in nature.

A love of horses runs in the family and their beautifully cared for Peruvian Paso horses are the star attraction. They offer a series of different tours where you can explore the Peruvian Altiplano on horseback. Tours vary from one hour to full day rides depending on your level of experience. Other attractions include guided walking tours of their cactus forest trail, which after a short climb offers stunning 360° degree views of Lake Titicaca and a visit to the llama farm and their dairy.

The Fundo Chincheros is a great alternative to mainstream tours and activities in Puno and Lake Titicaca. Located just twenty minutes from the centre of Puno you won’t find busloads of tourists here but a haven of tranquillity that showcases a more traditional way of life.

While an overnight stay is ideal, it’s not obligatory, so, if you don’t have time to stay the night you can still try one of their tours. We guarantee that a night or even a few hours here will leave you feeling rested and refreshed for the next stage of your journey!

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• You can drop in and book tour to the ranch in the Casa del Corregidor Cafe in Puno city.
• If you have just a few hours to spare we suggest you combine a visit to the Fundo Chincheros with a half day Sillustani tour as they are on the same route. You can also stop off at the ranch on your way to or from Juliaca airport.

See more of our favourite things to do in Puno here

How to get to Puno & Lake Titicaca

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The luxury Titilaka boutique hotel is located a one hour drive from Puno right on the tip of the Platería peninsula. You arrive at the back of the building and see a looming modern structure that doesn’t seem to blend into the local landscape.  However, step inside and Titilaka, Puno’s best hotel will start revealing her secrets…

Designed for the discerning traveller, Titilaka boasts just 18 rooms allowing a more intimate stay that is most definitely a ‘travel experience’ in itself and not just a hotel to spend the night.

Rooms are luxurious with everything you would expect in a hotel of this calibre but are also nicely in tune with the natural environment. White walls, stone tiles, wooden floors and colourful local weavings decorate the rooms where the real focus is always on the spectacular views from the large windows and that feeling of bringing the outside in.

Every room has a stunning view divided into sunset and sunrise rooms. Sunrise rooms get sun from early morning until mid-afternoon while sunset rooms get sun later in the afternoon. The best rooms are the corner rooms where you get a stunning sunrise and sunset view and sun for the whole day. Definitely worth the upgrade!

One of the standout features of a stay at Titilaka are their curated excursions, designed to give you an authentic feel for the region. Excursions range from short two hour trips to full day adventures. We headed out to raft through the reeds just after our arrival for a nice gentle introduction to our stay. The colours were incredible as we paddled our way right through the totora reeds the lake is famous for spotting some of the local birdlife with the help of our guide.

We also loved the cycling half-day excursion. Now, this is a luxury hotel and all experiences are extremely organised but we did feel like we were cheating slightly when a minibus dropped us to our starting point and offered to load my bike back onto the mini-bus at every steep hill and drive me to the top. At an altitude of 3,812 metres above sea level, to my shame I didn’t say no… We then cycled through the Platería peninsula enjoying stunning views of the lake and surrounding landscapes and finished the excursion with a gourmet picnic on a beach. Locals were working next to us while we sat and ate at a dressed table and did feel a little uncomfortable being served chilled wine and a gourmet picnic while they looked on.

The day long Taquile experience is not to be missed. You can avoid the crowds at the main touristic section of the Uros floating Islands by visiting Titilaka’s private island on their comfortable speed boat. You then head to Taquile for a rustic but gourmet lunch on the stunning Taquile Island where you learn about their famous weaving techniques.

Once you return to base at the Lodge it’s all about relaxation. Tea-time is served from 4 – 6pm followed by sundowner drinks to watch the sunset with a bonfire if the wind isn’t too strong.  Enjoy a pre-dinner drink in the lounge area or enjoy some wine and cheese served from 7pm every evening before you sit down to your evening meal.

The food served in the restaurant represents the gastronomic tradition of the region. The trout and avocado tartar and the quinoa and fava bean Andean chowder along with the quinoa risotto with porcini mushrooms were our favourites. There was enough variety on the menu to try different dishes at each meal and we liked that many of the dishes were light and healthy which can sometimes be difficult to find when travelling.

Book the best rates at Titilaka here.

One of the only all-inclusive options in the Puno region, you won’t have to think about money at any point during your stay. This was remarkably refreshing and added a certain laid-back vibe to the experience. All meals, drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and excursions are included in the price of your stay.

Without a doubt Titilaka is one of our all-time favourite hotels in Peru to date. It offers a great variety of authentic activities and gastronomic experiences. Fabulous, friendly yet discrete service and excursions that showcase some of the most interesting cultural things to see and do in the region coupled with the laid-back luxury of the lodge make for a memorable experience.

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• Set your alarm to wake before sunrise and head downstairs to see the sun emerging from Lake Titicaca. Wrap up warm as it’s very cold at this time of day. Take a seat on the deck and enjoy a coffee as you enjoy what will become one of your favourite Peruvian travel memories. Absolutely stunning on a clear day…

• If it’s not too windy, ask the staff to light a fire in the stove down at the Boat House. Enjoy wine and nibbles with a spectacular view of the lake. A great spot for a romantic anniversary or honeymoon celebration.

• Try and stay for a minimum of two nights. We loved Titilaka so much that we extended our stay a third night and we think you will feel the same.

Read about more of our favourite places to stay on Lake Titicaca

Our top not to be missed list of things to do on Lake Titicaca

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Libertador Lake Titicaca is located on its own small private island connected to the mainland by a bridge. You are just ten minutes from the centre of Puno but it feels like a world of its own with a Nature Reserve and a peaceful vibe unlike downtown Puno.

The hotel structure itself might surprise you as it is a large white concrete monster not suited in any way to the natural environment of the lake. However, this building was originally built as Puno’s prison and housed inmates for many years until Libertador took over the hotel. (As prisons go the view for inmates was pretty spectacular!).

This is a large 123 room hotel and caters to many tour groups. All rooms either have a sunset or a sunrise view. We preferred the sunrise view which is stunning and is probably the best vista in Puno given the position of the hotel.

The rooms are quite small, (they were inmate cells once upon a time) and the décor is old-fashioned and dated. The hotel was last remodelled over 20 years ago. However if you don’t mind this, you will find the same excellent Libertador quality of service and standards as the other hotels in this chain. The beds and linen are excellent and the bath was welcome after a long journey from Cusco.

The view from breakfast is breath-taking. Take your time over coffee and gaze in wonder at the lake’s changing colours. The buffet is excellent and has traditional options as well as gluten-free and healthier options like dried fruit. After breakfast head for an easy 30 minute stroll around the Island. The Island has been designated a National Reserve by the government for its abundant birdlife and population of viscacha (chinchillas that look like rabbits with long tails!).

Book the best rates at Libertador Lake Titicaca here!

The hotel also has a bar with a pool table, a business centre with a good book exchange, a few exercise machines and a jacuzzi for guests use.

The big plus for this hotel in our view is the location and the stunning views. In a city with often disappointing accommodation options Libertador Lake Titicaca stands out as one of the best hotel options in Puno at a good price.

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• Head up to the look-out which is a great place to take 360˚ panoramic shots of the Lake and Puno.

• Ask for a window table at breakfast for the most stunning views of Lake Titicaca. A great place to enjoy your morning coffee.

See more of our top favourites places to stay on Lake Titicaca.

Travel tips on how to get from Cusco to Puno

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The locals or ‘Taquileños’ as they are known have developed their own system of community homestay tourism where visitors to the island can stay with a local family and get a feel for how they live. We lodged with local man Silvano and his family. His wife Roberta met us at the port dressed in a bright red ‘pollera’, a layered skirt worn by local women. She accompanied us on the 45 minute walk to her house all the while spinning her spindle of alpaca wool.

She dropped us off, showed us our room and then promptly departed to return to the community work session that was taking place on another part of the island to build a new dock. If there was one thing we learnt on Taquile it was that they work hard and almost all the time. Life here is different to what we know. There are no vehicles of any kind except wheelbarrow type trailers to haul goods around the island and they live off the land cultivating livestock and vegetables.

Homestay accommodation on Taquile is rustic. The houses are generally built of adobe bricks and would be considered ‘unfinished’ compared to our western standards. Our room had a cement floor, two single beds heaped with blankets to ward off the chilly evenings, a single light bulb and a candle. The bathroom is shared and there are no showers or running water but Roberta does leave out a bucket of warm water in the mornings so you can wash.

A basic dinner of rice, beans and fried potatoes is offered in the evenings and pancakes and instant coffee or fresh ‘muña’ Andean mint tea are served for breakfast. Roberta’s father joined us for breakfast and we spent a pleasant hour talking about Taquile tradition with him.

This is rustic accommodation so don’t expect otherwise. A homestay on Taquile Island is a unique cultural experience and was a nice contrast to the luxury of some of the hotels we stayed at on this trip. It was lovely to be welcomed into a local family’s home and to learn more about how they live, rather than to make the standard one hour tourist pit-stop on the island.

The homestay forms just one part of an overall Taquile experience. Spending a day wandering along the cobbled footpaths, diving into the icy-cold water of the lake, watching locals go about their day and finding the perfect sunset view point made our visit to Taquile remarkably special. It was a reminder of another time when things were slower and we actually had time to sit back and enjoy life with no aim or goal in mind. This experience alone was priceless..

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• You need at least one full day to explore the Island so ideally a two night stay on Taquile is best so you have time to explore and get a real feel for the Island.

• If there are a few of you travelling together ask to be put in different houses so that the economic benefit is distributed among the community.

Read about more of our favourite lake Titicaca hotels here.

Our favourite things to do on Lake Titicaca

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Isla Suasi is the place to come in the Puno region for peace and tranquillity.  It’s a great destination to re-connect with yourself, family and friends and take time to reflect on your adventure in Peru. The views and gardens are absolutely stunning and trust us when we say to book at least a two night stay so you can really enjoy this little piece of paradise!

The 43 hectare property is the only privately owned island on Lake Titikaka. The owner Marta Giraldo is a woman of vision, purchasing the island from her grandfather in 1988 at a time when many naysayers told her the project was doomed to fail.

Luckily, Marta is a woman of tremendous perseverance and courage and stuck with her dream of creating a conservation project on the island. The result is a 24 room hotel which funds and supports her conservation efforts to restore the island’s eco-system to its original state. Each guest pays a $15 entrance fee that goes directly to the project and it’s clear that sustainability and the environment are always considered in this hotel.

The island is very much a family affair with Marta’s son Miguel now managing the hotel. If you spot him or Marta on the island it is well worth sitting down for a chat as they are encyclopaedias of knowledge of the region. This love for the Puno region can be seen in the cultural centre she has patiently built and created over the years on the island. Set aside a few hours to explore the history, geography and culture of Lake Titikaka and you will leave with a whole new appreciation for this wonderful part of the world.

The hotel itself is rustic and simple, in perfect balance with the environment but also warm, and welcoming just like Marta and her son Miguel. The rooms are very comfortable with great beds for one of the best night’s sleep we had on the lake. We preferred the rooms in the old block which have more charm than the newer block. Rooms on the ground floor all have stoves which are lovely when lit in the evenings.

A stay on Suasi is designed to allow you to disconnect from the modern world, relax and enjoy the lake. However, if you want to try something a bit more active Pepe, the Island’s on-site guide can help you out. Head down to the beach, pick a canoe and paddle around the island. Get up close and personal with the island’s cormorant population at their nesting site on the south of the island from February to October. If you want a less active option, book a guided zodiac ride around the island in the afternoon.

Book the best rates at Isla Suasi here.

Don’t miss the sunset hike led by Pepe where you pass through the different ecosystems of the island and the resident alpaca and vicuna population to a stunning 360˚ viewpoint of Lake Titikaka. Arrive early to build your own ‘apacheta’ or stone offering to mother earth before watching a spectacular sunset merge into a hundred different shades of gold. Don’t leave before darkness falls, as the colours just intensify and get more beautiful… Bring a torch so you can walk back down on your own at dusk.

Isla Suasi is primarily a sustainability project and this is reflected throughout the hotel. Don’t be surprised to find no electric outlets in the rooms (there is a central charging unit in the lobby), no TV and sporadic or absent wifi service. In our opinion, however, this simply adds to Suasi’s charm.

There aren’t many places left where you can stay on a private island with stunning landscapes and an authentic conservation project on the highest lake in the world…

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• Save Suasi for the end of your trip so you can chill out, relax and really soak up the magic of this little piece of paradise.

• Isla Suasi have their own private motor boat which leaves Puno every morning visiting Taquile Island and the floating Uros Islands en route to Suasi. This breaks the 4.5 hour journey and is nice if you are short on time as you get to see (briefly!) two of the most important cultural attractions in the region.

• Our favourite rooms were room 211 which is a triple room and spacious enough for families and the view from rooms 209 and 212.

See more of the best hotels in Puno

Our top things to see and do on Lake Titicaca

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