Juliaca is the Puno region�s second-largest city and the capital city of the San Roman province. Juliaca is located on the Altiplano, 12,546 feet above sea level. It is located in the Collao Plateau and close to Lake Titicaca. Cattleranching creates a strong trade in leather goods. The wool business and textile business are also very large in Juliaca. We could sum up Juliaca by saying it is the largest commercial trading center in the area. It is said you can buy anything you wish to buy in Juliaca by simply shopping the vendors on the streets of Juliaca. However, it is also very unattractive, and probably is the most unattractive city in Peru. Most of the buildings in the city are unattractive and they appear to be under a constant status of "under construction". The cold evening wind also makes walking on the streets at night almost unbearable. Despite its unattractive appearance, Juliaca has the closest airport to Lake Titicaca and rail and highway connections to Puno, Arequipa, and Cusco. The roads originating from Juliaca are also conducive to making the trek to Bolivia along the serpentine backroads winding their way along the northern shores of Lake Titicaca. If you decide to spend the night here, the best hotels and services are located near Plaza Bolognesi, where you can also find the train station. Located in the Plaza Bolognesi is the Iglesia La Merced, and a few blocks northwest is another colonial church, the Iglesia Santa Catalina. On a Sunday, be sure to visit Plaza Melgar, where there is a huge market where you can or buy inexpensive alpaca wool sweaters. A tourist market is held daily in the plaza outside the railway station, but beware of pickpockets. While very few tourists do much more than pass through Juliaca, it is necessary to go through Juliaca to make airport connections. That is because the department's main airport, the Inca Manco Capac International Airport is located there. Since Puno is a main tourist city in the area, you must fly in and out of the Juliaca airport to fly to or from Puno. Also when visiting some of the highland towns, it is only possible to do so by driving through Juliaca. While there are no real tourist attractions in Juliaca, the colonial church on the Plaza de Armas is of minor interest. There are a couple of markets selling alpaca goods more cheaply than in Puno, including a market on Plaza Bolognesi. Unlike most Peruvian cities, the Plaza de Armas is not the main centre of the city, even though the main church and the town hall are here. Most restaurants, hotels and banks are located around Plaza Bolognesi, where the train station is. Both, Jr. San Roman and Jr. Nunez, off the Plaza Bolognesi, are the main streets. We passed through this city on April 19, 2006 through April 21, 2006. We found it interesting to see all of the things being sold on the streets of Juliaca.

You can fly into the Inca Manco C�pac International Airport (IATA: JUL, ICAO: SPJL), known as Aeropuerto Internacional Inca Manco C�pac in Spanish, located in the city of Juliaca, thirty minutes from the city of Puno at Titicaca Lake. It is run by CORPAC S.A. (Corporaci�n Peruana de Aeropuertos y Aviaci�n Comercial S.A.), a government-run organization that oversees the management of Peruvian airports. Its runway is the longest in Latin America. While it is called International; it does not serve international flights! You can fly into Peru to the international airports located at Lima, Arequipa and Cusco. Then you can be flown into the Inca Manco C�pac International Airport. Then, you could stay at Juliaca or you can be transported from the airport of Juliaca, to the town of Puno in a taxi; with an average cost of about US $20; or in a minibuse, with an average cost of about US $5 per person. The leading hotels in Puno have transportation back to the airport. There are several Guided Tour Agencies offering standard city and archaeological tours of the areas of both Puno, and Juliaca. This page is for information purposes only and while we have made every effort to be accurate, it is the travelers responsibility to make the appropriate choice as to which hotels to use in Peru. We found that when touring Peru, Magical Cusco Tours gave us the best service of all. They even arranged very personal tours based upon our ages and experience. They were there for us whenever we needed them. Click on any of their links on our pages and they will give you a 4% discount for taking their package tours. Mention delange.org. Merchant Code Inka2010 for your discount! We suggest letting Ana Maria handle your tour. Note: The 4% discount applies to package tours only! Discount does not apply to hotel bookings, domestic or international tickets, meals or any other service booked as a single activity. Magical Cusco Tours also has a culinary tour that you may enjoy.Click Here For: Taste Of Peru.com their culinary tour page. We also have links to Priceline.Com on our pages, in case you may prefer to use their services.