There’s more than you think to Lake Titicaca

Read on for our top ten things to do at Lake Titicaca.

Pause at the pretty little resort town and religious sanctuary Copacabana in Bolivia, whose name was taken for Brazil’s most famous beach. Catholicism meets ancient religion here: climb the Stations of the Cross up the hill which dominates at the town, at the top is a shrine to Ekeko, the Tiwanakan God of Abundance.

Lake Titicaca is the starting point for our epic cycle ride across the altiplano to Cusco: for keen cyclists a magnificent experience.

Get active, go cycling from one lakeside village to another – each has distinctive characteristics. Walk along dirt roads or go sailing on the lake.

Stay with a local community on the Llachon peninsula and learn about the friendly people’s lifestyle and farming techniques.

Visit the many pre-Columbian ruined temples and settlements carved into the rock or built on cliffs overlooking the water.

Stay at or visit the University town, port and market centre Puno, which has some magnificent colonial buildings. It’s famous for its fiestas and has lively bars offering some of the best pisco sours in Peru.

Take a boat trip out to one of the many islands peppering the lake.  If you’d like to linger in this peaceful vehicle-free environment, you can stay at modest hotels or with families. Taquile, Amantani in Peru, and the Islands of the Sun and the Moon in Bolivia.

Stay at the ultra luxurious hotel Titilaka and choose from a large menu of private guided excursions on and around the lake.

Visit the traditional floating reed islands founded by the Uros Indians in Peru or the less commercialised Bolivian Uros Uruitos. Just about everything is made from reeds: buildings, boats, even hats.

Moored just outside Puno is the ship Yavari, built in Britain in the 19th century for the Peruvuan Navy. Discovered on the lake as a wreck by backpacker Meriel Larkin under whose leadership she was restored. You can visit this piece of history, and even stay on board in basic cabins.