We're in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Peru in October that will last anywhere from 10 days to two weeks. The idea here is to see all we want to see without being rushed. We'd like advice about how long to stay in each place and about the best way to navigate this trip...we do not want to hire a tour company, prefer not to take long bus rides and don't want to drive ourselves. Short bus rides, flying and/or private drivers are ideal for us.

Here's where we want to go, in no particular order:

Lima (actually, that's our first and last destination)
Arequipa
Puno
Cuzco
Machu Picchu
Iquitos

Thanks, Everyone!

Hi- What are your priorities for your trip? After Lima & MP/Cuzco, what do you want to see? Arequipa, Puno & Iquitos are all very different and all require travel, so I would pick 2 of the 3 remaining areas for your time frame, perhaps just Iquitos & Puno.
I would spend a minimum of 4 days (5 would be best) in Cuzco, Sacred Valley & MP. If you can spend 2 days at MP, do it. I would have liked to have gone back for another 1/2 day just to roam around without a guide.

Here's my suggestion:
Lima - 2 day

Good luck!
Iquitos - 4 days
Cuzco/MP/SV - 5 days
Puno or Arequipa - 3 days

Depending on where you pick, you may have to chop off a day here & there to allow travel time.

Happy planning!

oops that good luck ended up in the wrong spot... not to mean good luck in Iquitos or Lima!

;o) Thanks for the suggestions! That helps quite a bit!

Iquitos is an amazing frontier-like town. We really liked it.

Would recommend an overnight homestay on an island in Lake Titicaca. Our itinerary:

1 night Lima
transfer to Cusco then to Ollantaytambo
2 nights Ollanta
1 night Agua Caliente
2 nights Cusco
3 nights Puno (middle night on the island)

For lots of details, check out my trip report. Just type Karen and Julie in the search box and it'll come up.

Great ideas. Thank you, Everyone! I've started by trying to book what I think is our most challenging hotel--the one in AC. It is a challenge and we're a little bit late to get what we want!

Eeeek!

Too late to book a hotel in Aguas Calientes for Oct.! I am just starting to plan and will want one in about 6 or 7 weeks.

I too am trying to plan a two week itinerary which is why I took a look at this thread.

Samstorm's mention of hotel challenges in AC has me nervous as well. I'm currently doing research for a potential Peru trip in October as well.

Out of curiousity, Sam, where were you hoping to book??

I'm sorry to hear you both are having trouble. I've wondered why everyone who goes to Peru seems to go by tour and just booking this first hotel gives me the feeling that people just give up.

Don't give up! I finally found help and I am waiting for confirmation that we have a room booked. Go to Peruhotelsguide.com and choose MachuPicchu in the search hotels box. You'll get a listing of hotels to review.

Once I looked over the selections, I went to Trip Advisor for their reviews and picked the hotels I thought sounded good.

Send an email to the folks at Peruhotelsguide.com and ask them about availability. They did the searching for availability and got back to me (twice) within 24 hours. I'd recommend them based on responsiveness alone and if I have trouble with the rest of our hotels, I'll go back there.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the link, Samstorm. Sounds like a good resource to tap into. I haven't started booking anything yet, but am hoping to put together an independent trip.

Sounds like your plans are starting to move along which must be very exciting!

We're very excited and can't quite believe we're planning this trip! I got confirmation last night that we got a room at the hotel we wanted on the day we wanted it, so I'm ecstatic! It took a couple of weeks to get there, so if I were you, as soon as you know what you want to do, I'd look into that company. Now, on to the next hotel search...

That's terrific, Samstorm!

How does the hotel service work? Do they send you vouchers, or do you just take email confirmation with you for your trip? Do you pre-pay for the rooms?

Thanks for any additional info!

My traveling companion just bought her airfare so looks like we're officially heading to Peru as well this year!

Yea!!!

We used the website initally to inquire about the room. They got back to us the next day with the room availability for the hotel I chose (which was not the one I really wanted) and let me know that only one of the two nights were available. I sent a note back asking if they knew of any other hotels and was given (by the end of the next day) a list that had availability--one of which was the place I really wanted initially! I sent back confirmation of what we wanted and the next day was given payment information. I made the payment for both nights and was sent a voucher.

So, long story short, I've fully paid for both nights, we got a voucher and I usually print out all the communication for our hotels (or anything I pre-arrange) and take it with me, no matter where we go.

Good luck! I hope you exactly what you're looking for in a hotel!