ambage

Hello,

We are visiting Peru (Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu)in November and were wondering how effective a GPS unit would be.

I have a Garmin Nuvi 360 and can download additional maps.

Has anyone had experience using a GPS unit in Peru?

Thanks.

cmerrell

Hi ambage!!

From what I can gather, most people either use taxis or private drivers/guides to get around, but I've read a few posts where folks said they thought it would be pretty easy to navigate around the Sacred Valley and would definitely consider driving themselves on a subsequent visit. I've read Cusco, itself, gets pretty confusing with lots of one-way streets and variable traffic, so few visitors attempt to drive there...

I hope you get some good answers to the GPS question! I remember reading a fairly recent trip report here by someone who rented a car for the Sacred Valley. I think it was luv2globetrot. Hopefully, she'll chime in.

We've driven through downtown London and figured out how to put a car into reverse in Ireland, so how bad could Peru be?! ;-)

luv2globetrot

Here I am, chiming in

We DID rent a car upon leaving Cusco and drove ourselves throughout the Sacred Valley.

You won't need a GPS. The roads are very easy to navigate and there really aren't that many roads throughout the Sacred Valley.
Everything is signed and very straightforward. We never got lost...well we had a bit of stress on the way out of Cusco but once outside of the main area of town it was a piece of cake the rest of the way!

Here's the link to my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35085466

Good luck and
happy, safe travels>-

www.luv2globetrot.com

cmerrell

Thanks so much for responding, luv2globetrot! I had read your trip report and looked at your photos at the beginning of the year. Your report offered some terrific inspiration to plan my own Peru trip this year.

It's probably not apparent from my previous post on this thread, but ambage and I are actually travelling to Peru together so your information benefits us both.

We will probably pick up a rental car at the airport and head straight to the Sacred Valley to start the acclimation process at a lower altitude. We'll be needing to pick up MP train tickets. Is the train station going to be tough for us to find and navigate to in a rental car? Should we taxi to the station first and then pick up the car??

Thanks for any further insight you can provide. I re-read your trip report this morning and am so excited for Peru!

luv2globetrot

Gosh, I can't really remember where the little building was where we picked up our train tickets.

We were picked up at the airport by someone from our hotel and they drove us to the place where you pick up train tickets. It wasn't actually AT the train station.
Ans since we had just arrived, I had no idea where I was since I didn't have my bearings yet.

Hopefully someone else can help you with that.
Sorry I couldn't help

You'll love Peru!! Have a great trip!
>-

www.luv2globetrot.com

cmerrell

Thanks anyway, luv2globetrot! We'll get it figured out.

mrjonel

try www.gpsexpressperu.com

crellston

We bought our tickets at San Pedro train station is a 15 min walk from, Plaza de Armas maybe 5mins by car. It is an OK part of town and easy enough to find if staying in Cusco but I would not be that keen on trying to self drive from the airport as one wrong turn and you could end up in parts of Cusco you really wouldn't like. We made the trip from Ollantaytambo to Cusco by car maybe 6/7 times when we were doing some voluntary work there and each time the driver would lock his doors when passing through certain areas and warn us not to go there alone. On a couple of occasions we did get people trying to get into the car when stopped at junctions - !taxi sharing is the done thing in Peru!) but this was in an unmarked car.

I really don't think a GPS will help much in Cusco although it sould be fine in the SV as there are no too many roads anyway

mlgb

When you get to the point of comparing self-hire costs vs a driver/guide for the days you want to explore, and the fact that a car is of no use at all when visiting Machu Picchu (since you can't get it there), you may change your mind.

dakrause

If you already have a GPS, suggest you load these free maps:
http://www.perut.org/english.htm