Help me figure how to do Peru

[keweenawlove]

For reference, on our trip we flew into Lima, then did a flight to Juliaca, bus to Cusco, and flight back to Lima. If you can manage it logistically, I’d recommend saving Cusco/Machu Picchu for last. Lake Titicaca was okay but I would have been disappointed if that’s how we ended our trip after MP.

If you just have to crash in Lima for the night after a flight, I’d highly recommend just staying at the Wyndham across the street from the airport. The area around the airport isn’t the greatest and everyone we talked to said they wished they’d just stayed there if they weren’t going into Lima.

For buses, we had the Inka express from Puno to Cusco booked so we could see things along the way but there was a strike starting in Puno the morning we were supposed to leave so we had to take an overnight bus out the night before from a company I can’t remember. It was really nice and I’ve heard consistent good things about buses in Peru.

We did the Inca trail so we didn’t have to deal with the train to MP but the “process” I saw was bus/taxi to Ollantaytambo, train to Aguas Callientes, then bus (or hike ~1 hour) to MP. There were guides at the entrance offering their services. I think the train does book up so you’ll want tickets in advance. If you can swing it, stay in AC. Most people rush to MP for sunrise and then head back to Cusco but some friends stayed in the afternoon when it cleared out and the lighting was beautiful.

While staying in Cusco, we hired a driver through Taxidatum to take us on a tour through the Sacred Valley. It was ~$100 for the whole day. That was the only driver we booked, everything else we just got cabs for as we went. They weren’t on meters so confirm the price before you get in.

For Lake Titicaca, Juliaca is where the airport is, Puno is the town right on the lake ~45 min away. We got a cab when we arrived at the airport. We did a kayak tour their through Edgar Adventures that I was really glad we did instead of just boating out to the islands. They picked us up at the hotel.

Hope the helps! Happy to answer other specific questions.

[emilyinchile]

Jul 17, 2019 22:41:23 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

• How do I actually get to Machu Picchu?  I don't want to hike, just take the train/bus.  Maybe I can book transportation and tickets through a hotel?  I think I can hire a guide onsite, right?  Do I also need to book a tour for the Sacred Valley?
  

incarail.com/

When I went many moons ago, I took the train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, but because we waited until the day before to buy our tickets we had to spend the night in Aguas Calientes in a shady hostel. You can go there and back in the day, OR you can stay in the Belmond hotel (not cheap) and get first thing in the morning access to the ruins before anyone else is there. I don't know if other hotels offer that and/or what prices are like, but I would look into it for sure. Also when I went, you could hire a guide at the entrance (did not do this, see: broke college student in a shady hostel), but if you're staying at a fancy hotel they might include guide services.

You don't NEED to take a tour of the Sacred Valley or necessarily break up the trip in Ollantaytambo, but both are options.

I don't know about any of the other things except that flying over the Nazca Lines is supposed to be pretty dangerous

How long are you thinking of staying in each place/in Peru total?

[emilyinchile]

Yeah, the light aircraft they use are apparently sort of prone to crashing. I'm not sure if that depends on the company or if any safety improvements have been made, but it definitely used to be true.

I have only done sandboarding in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, and it was fun for about 15 minutes. Then you realize that mostly it's just falling down and then having to hike back up a sand dune with about 5 seconds of boarding in between. But I'm also horrible at snowboarding, and it's probably more fun if you're better at it? I don't know, personally I would skip that and keep Lake Titicaca, but obviously that's totally based on individual preference! I've relatively seriously considered going to Lake Titicaca about 3 times and still haven't made it there, so that's also clearly not my major priority in life.

[elizann]

We had a similar situation in Peru, and it was our first trip to use a travel company. We booked our Inca Trail trek to hike over Christmas and had a few other ideas of what we wanted to add on. Work got busy, and the trip snuck up on us. I was overwhelmed trying to figure out flights, buses, etc. plus closures and schedule changes with Christmas holidays.

We used Amonzonas-Explorers (https://amazonas-explorer.com/) and were very pleased. We contacted them less than a month out and booked within a week. We met the rep we worked with live in Cusco before we did the Inca Trail (about 5 days before we started with them).

We ended up doing our own thing in Lima and Cusco and picked up with them after we finished hiking and Machu Picchu. We did a combo 3 day lake tour/4 day canyon tour. There was a mix of bus, private driver, shared lake tour, private guides for other areas (mostly private driver which was way more affordable than I thought). We ended at the Colca Lodge - a great ending to soak in hot springs after hiking. I realize you did not mention the canyon in your list but was beautiful and unique. On our condor tour day - our guide found an entire flock (?) of condors - at least 20 - on a hillside. The four of us (guide, driver, DH and me) watched alone 10 minutes until another guide saw our van and group joined us.

We flew from Lima to Cusco - Inca Trail - picked up tour company for Lake
Titicaca and Colca Canyon - flew from Arequipa to Lima.

Our trip was five years ago but happy to answer other questions - one of our favorite trips!

[sunnysally]

Our flight over the Nazca lines took off from Pisco, which has a much better safety record than flights from Nazca. We booked a private package tour that included Huacachino, a boat trip to the Ballestas, sandboarding and dunes buggy, Nazca lines, and a Pisco distillery. They offered a shared tour if you wanted to spend less.

[ESF]

I went 17 years ago and did it on a very thin budget, so I don't have any current advice.

We just showed up in Cusco and booked everything there, but I think it's more crowded now. I did something that sounded somewhat similar to what emilyinchile did. I was with a guide and a small group, and we took a train up almost all the way there, hiked for a few hours, stayed somewhere shady, got up before dawn to watch the sunrise then hiked down into the city. The sunrise was really cool and it was great to get to the site so early in the morning, so I'd say it's worth it to do a night up there if you can.

Lake Titicaca is great. If you can do a tour, make sure it stops at the floating reed islands where the Uru people live. It's a really interesting experience.

[scout8]

We did a trip around Peru and Bolivia a few years ago. We mostly took buses between locations which I quickly discovered was pretty terrifying. I would recommend that for any longer distances, you fly. For shorter distances where you might take a bus, book the most expensive one you can find that caters to tourists. Those seemed to be a bit more focused on safety.

We did a combo sandboarding/dune buggy tour in Huacachina which was really fun. That way, we didn't have to climb back up. We would drive to the top of a hill, board down, drive to the next hill, etc.

We did a two day tour of Machu Picchu that was similar to what ESF described.

It's not on your list, but I loved Arequipa.

[sunnysally]

southamericanssecrets.com/packagecoast.html#package-mystery-south-coast

This is the package we booked to do Nazca, Paracas, Pisco, and Huacachina. We upgraded to VIP and had a fantastic experience. We left the morning after arriving in Lima and having a private car was excellent for napping on the way to Paracas. The rest of Peru is inexpensive so this was our one splurge and was completely worth it.