Greetings,
I'm very close to booking a trip to Peru for this June. I'm just awaiting the green light from my travel companion. I've worked up a draft itineray, below. Any comments would be appreciated.
Day 1 - Fly to Lima, late night arrival, stay at airport hotel.
Day 2- Early morning flight to Cuzco (probably using Star Peru because of the signifcantly lower price compared to LAN), then travel to Ollantayambo (train or taxi??). Spend afternoon puttering around town, ruins.
Day 3- Machu Picchu! Another overnight in Ollantayambo.
Day 4- Reserved for Machu Picchu if first day is a rain out. Travel back to Cusco.
Day 5- Tour Cuzco (favorite activity for me is visiting beautiful churches).
Day 6 - More Cuzco
Day 7 - late morning flight to Lima, spend afternoon exploring. Stay in Miraflores.
Day 8- tour Lima until time to head to airport for late night flight back home.
Couple of questions:
Can there be flexibility with train tickets to Aguascalientes or must they be bought far in advance during the high season like June?
My travel companion is rather fussy about cleanliness. How are public restrooms in places such as restaurants, train station, stores, etc? I am aware of the need to bring my own tissue.
Many thanks!
Draft Itinerary for Peru (Lima-Machu Picchu-Cusco)
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I'm going here I feb with a similar itinerary ill let you know! Decided not to stay in miraflores but it looks awesome
When you arrive in Cusco, you will have to arrange private transportation to Ollantaytambo. There is no train in Cusco. When travelers book train tickets from Cusco, they board a bus to get to Ollantaytambo. The station is there.
The Sacred Valley is the location of other sites, Moray, the Incan Greenhouse. You can see on the way to Ollantaytambo.
From cusco, I would suggest another activity like visiting the village of Chinchero to see the weavers. It's 45 min drive in private transport. Also check out the San Pedro market not far from Cusco city center. Ask at your hotel.
aheis148, have a great trip! I look forward to hearing how it went for you.
jwhitt, it looks like the train to Ollanta can be caught at Poroy, is this not the case?
There is not a train service between Poroy (the station at Cusco)and Ollantaytambo. Take a taxi.
In June you will not have to worry about rain outs. Just book your tickets for a one day visit and allocate the second day to something else.
If you have a Sunday, I think it is worthwhile to include Pisac market for the arrival of the village alcaldes (mayors)at the chapel. It is easy to visit Pisac from Cusco.
Chinchero also has a Sunday market as well as an interesting colonial church, and Inca foundations around the central square. Chinchero is on the boleto turistico, as is Moray but the Salineras near Maras are a separate admission. If you hire a taxi to Chinchero, it makes sense to see Moray and the Salineras in the same trip, and you can do all of these when traveling between Cusco and Ollantaytambo, or as day trips from Cusco, Urubamba, or Ollantaytambo.
Because Chinchero and these two other sites are at high elevation, I would suggest doing them on day 4 rather than day 2. (They are on the high plains above the Sacred Valley not actually in the valley itself). I'm surprised jwhitt doesn't know that considering she is a travel agent.