dmiclat

We are planning a 10 day anniversary trip to Peru in late Sept - early Oct later this year. There are 3 major items we want to see:

1. Machu Picchu
2. Lake Titicaca
3. Lima

I'm sure someone has made this trip. What I wanted to know was, what is the best sequence/itinerary for a 10 day trip to see the above places and what other great places should we stay/stop along the way?

Also, does anyone recommend a private guide for Machu Picchu?

Please let us know!

Gracias

Elizabeth_S

That's a lot to do in 10 days - we spent 12 nights in Machu Picchu (Sacred Valley) and Lake Titicaca.

In terms of the order in which to do it, Lima can be done at either end as you'll fly in/out of it to Cusco. Lake Titicaca is best done after Machu Picchu/Sacred Valley as it is the highest altitude and your body will have acclimated(hopefully) to the altitude.

If you plan to visit more than just Machu Picchu (there are many other wonderful sites in the Sacred Valley that were for us equal to the wonder of Machu Picchu) then you are best to land in Cusco and immediately leave for the a lower altitude town (we went to Ollantaytambo) -- again to help your body acclimate. From that location you can tour the Sacred Valley sites and then take the train to Aguas Calientes (the town at the base of Machu Picchu). After your visit you take the train back to Cusco.

We had a wonderful private guide/driver in Cusco who also made our hotel and train reservations....his name is David Choque - there are several positive references for him here if you search his name. Here is his web site

http://www.cuscotoptravelperu.com/index.html

This was our itinerary:

Days 1 to 4 - fly overnight to Lima; connect to Cusco flight - David picked us up and drove us to Ollantaytambo (about 90 minutes) where we stayed for 4 nights doing day trips to Pisac, Chinchero, Moray, etc
Days 5 & 6 - train to Aguas Calientes where we spent 2 nights - wanted to be sure to see MP as it was the rainy season so that's why 2 nights
Days 7-9 - return to Cusco via train (and car - we drove from Ollantaytambo as it's faster than the train all the way to Cusco) ... relaxed in Cusco for one day and visited the area with David the 2nd day.
Day 10 - drove to Puno (Lake Titicaca)
Day 11 - overnight home stay on Amantani Island in Lake Titicaca
Day 12 - overnight Puno
Day 13 - to Lima

Following are links to our blog ---

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...lake_titicaca/

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/l...ticaca/page/2/

shutterbug85

We did a much longer trip, but I can tell you what we did for the portion which included Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu. We did the 4-day Inca Trail, so I'll just edit that out.

Day 1 - Lake Titicaca Tour and overnight stay at Amantani
Day 2 - Lake Titicaca Tour
Day 3 - Inka Express bus to Cusco
Day 4 - Sacred Valley tour
Day 5 - Sacred Valley tour
Day 6 - Machu Picchu
Day 7 - Sacred Valley tour
Day 8 - Sacred Valley tour
Day 9 - Fly to Lima

Like Elizabeth, we used a private guide for our Sacred Valley tours. We used Percy Salas, who is also highly recommended on this forum. He and David Choque were the two we inquired with and then went with Percy.

I would highly suggest to give yourself a day in Lima as the first day of your trip, just in case something happens with your flight to Peru. (My husband's flight once got cancelled halfway through - they ended up turning around and going to Miami and waiting until the next day to leave.)

I like Elizabeth's itinerary and agree with a few points:
- If you're going in the rainy season, definitely give yourself two days to see Machu Picchu. We went in May, which is not the rainy season, but it rained one whole day. We were glad we had two (one right after arriving off the Inca Trail, then stayed overnight in Aguas Calientes).
- Try to stay in Ollantaytambo the first night or two to acclimate to the altitude. Unless you've already traveled to or live at high altitude and don't have any problems.
- There are numerous archaeological sites in the Sacred Valley and they're super impressive.

mlgb

I think the order in the OP is better. Lake Titicaca at 12,555 feet is a tough first destination as far as altitude sickness.

shutterbug85

Oh yeah, I was going to add in that you should reverse my trip order. We were originally going to Arequipa then Lake Titicaca and would have preferred that over going straight there from the coast (due to strikers blocking the road to Arequipa). Agree with mlgb!

mlgb

It is a good idea to allow leeway for disruptions in schedule, weather, strikes and random airline foolisness!

I avoid prebooked excursions especially on the arrival day into any location, and return to Lima at least a day before the return flight home (two is better).