VijayR

Hi,

We are going to Peru during the Thanksgiving week. We need suggestions in planning our 1 day in Lima & 2 days in Cuzco. We have booked hotels in Lima for 23rd&24th & Cuzco for 25th, 26th.

This is our itinerary, we are flying in from California
23rd: landing in Lima at 10pm
24th Nov: 1 day in Lima
25th Nov: Fly to Cuzco at 6am
25&26th: 2 days in Cuzco
27th-30th: 4D3N Inca hike trail
1st Dec am : Fly back to California

mlgb

You haven't given any information on what things interest you. Lima is a huge sprawling city like Los Angeles (and Miraflores may remind you of Santa Monica). It isn't a "beach city" although it's on the coast. The weather is a bit like coastal California and the water is similarly cold. Bring a jacket if you will be out after dark.

Lima has great museums if you like that, Larco is one that many people enjoy.

Great restaurants in all price ranges, especially for seafood.

The downtown area around the Plaza is worth a half day at least, World Heritage quality. San Francisco Catacombs is worth the tour (they have them in English).

www.limaeasy.com is an excellent website for browsing things to do.

I like to stay in Barranco and take half a day or a full day to walk to different galleries and their few museums (MATE if you like photography), photograph the murals.

Another day to take the Metropolitano rapid transit to Plaza San Martin, have a Pisco Sour at the Bolivar hotel, and then meander up to the plaza, visiting whatever old casonas and museums are open that day. You can also walk to the Chinatown area central market.

Another day I might use a taxi and visit the Amano, Larco, and the Archaeological museum, have ice cream at 4D near the Amano and and picarones at Park Kennedy.

At night you can go to one of the peñas and/or the musical fountains or Ayahuasca bar in Barranco. More options for those on weekends.

Read also the Fodors online guides for ideas and timings.

VijayR

Thanks a lot for the suggestions mlgb. We have got only 1 day in Lima and 2 days in Cuzco before we go for our 4day, 3 night hike to Machu Pichu. We were thinking more of a relaxed culture trip in Lima and Peru before heading on the hike. For our Lima stay, We booked our hotel in Miraflores. Do you suggest any day trips in Lima or Cuzco as we only have limited time? We are not planning to go to Sacred valley as we are spending a lot of time around Machu Pichu.

mlgb

No need for a day trip from Lima, there is plenty to see inside the city. They even have an adobe pyramid or two, Huaca Pucllana. Also a nice restaurant at the site. It is near the Amano museums and the others on the west side of Miraflores.

In Cusco the city itself is worth at least a day. There is a circuit of ruins near Cusco as well, Sacsayhuaman etc. You can walk down from that site into Cusco.

VijayR

mlgb.. One more question. Do we need to hire a travel guide or can we manage on our own? Also do we need to rent a car or hire a driver?

mlgb

You don't want to drive at all. I am a bit biased against guides in cities, I like to wander and find I can do okay with guidebooks, and any site=specific museum guides.

For Lima you can go on a double decker bus tour if you want some orientation, they leave from the kiosk in Park Kennedy. The hotels can also arrange a taxi driver for you.
It would benefit to have a good sense of direction as well as urban street sense and a few good paper maps (rather than pulling out a smart phone).

In Cusco the touristy part of town is fairly compact, and swarming with tourists if you need directions. Some sites such as Qoricancha have guides available for hire on the premises. For the outlying sites you might want to use a driver/guide.

There are lots of trip reports here on Peru, but not as easy to find as they had been in the past.

There is one here with a few guides referenced

http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...nuary-2014.cfm