dchal09

I know it's last minute but my daughter (she's 30) and myself are planning a trip to Peru in early September. We're thinking of flying from Lima to Iquitos and spend 2 days at Treehouse Lodge and then flying back to Lima for a flight to Cusco. There I am having problems. Should we spend 2 nights in Cusco, take our luggage and take the train to Ollantaytambo where we stay 1 night, then take the train to Macchu Picchu for the day, return to Ollayntaytambo to pick up our luggage and return to Cusco where we then return to Lima? Is all that feasible? What is the best way to deal with the travel arrangements for Macchu Picchu? Help. Friends have told me that I don't have enough time to plan this. Is that true? of is it still possible?

crellston

I would go straight from the airport to Ollantaytambo, stay there for at least a night to aid acclimatisation as it is at a lower altitude than Cusco. I would allow a day to do a whirlwind tour of the sacred valley. Leave Cusco until after MP when you are used to the altitude.

You do need to book your train and MP tickets NOW!

Is it possible? To be frank I don't know but if it were me I would check out the MP ticket situation first and build my trip around that. I would also seriously think about leaving Iquitos for another time.

pantanal

Are you set on going to Iquitos to see the jungle, rather than elsewhere in Peru? Because you could go to the jungle out of Puerto Maldonado instead, which has direct flights from Cusco, thus saving the extra step of flying to and from Lima for each leg of your trip. There are good jungle lodges out of Puerto Maldonado.

mlgb

I think you can do it but I would switch the order up a bit, Lima to Ollantaytambo to MP with the last night or two in Cusco. There are more trains from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes.

For Iquitos I would not go with less than 3 nights.

lmschmale

You're not too late to book this at all! I was just there last week and I planned everything less than 3 weeks in advance and it all worked out! I was torn about staying in Cusco or Ollantaytambo and this is what we ultimately did (which we thought worked out great):

Day 1: arrive in Lima from the US, very late
Day 2: fly to Cusco; overnight in Cusco (took it easy, saw some sights in Cusco, brief visit to Sacsayhuaman)
Day 3: Day trip to Chinchero, Moray, and Maras; overnight in Cusco
Day 4: Checked out of hotel in the morning but left our luggage at Cusco hotel and carried backpacks only for Machu Picchu visit; hired a guide and car for the day to visit Pisaq and Ollantaytambo; guide/car dropped us off at Ollantaytambo train station for 3:30pm train to Aguas Calinetes; overnight in AC
Day 5: Full day at Machu Picchu, including wonderful hike up Machu Picchu Mountain (extra cost); left most of our stuff at AC hotel during the day; 5:30pm train departure back to Cusco; overnight in Cusco at same hotel as before.
Day 6: Spent most of the day in Cusco (took an early-evening flight to Juliaca for Lake Titicaca).

This worked for us and we were fine with altitude - we definitely felt it when climbing steep steps at some ruins, but we never got sick or anything. We didn't spend a ton of time in Ollan., but we were happy we chose Cusco instead of Ollan. for our base, and since we were leaving our luggage somewhere while we went to MP (basically everyone does this) it just seemed to make the most sense logistically. I saw some people, however, stayed in Ollan. before MP, left their luggage at their hotel there, then picked it up after MP before continuing on to Cusco. Bear in mind that the drive from Ollan. to Cusco is about 1 hr 10 mins. Your other option is to take the train from Aguas Calientes to/from Poroy station, which is about 20-30mins from Cusco (and a longer train journey).

We loved Peru! Happy planning!