Peru and younger children - any experiences or advice?
 

I did not get any response on TA to this, so I am trying my luck here:

I am researching ideas for our 2009 family trip and Peru keeps popping up on most of the family-oriented travel company sites (I use them for ideas, not to book). In my searches to date, it seems most families that have written reports have children in the 10+ range. Ours, however, would be 6 and 9. Is Peru a "wow" destination for younger kids or should we hold off until they are a bit older? I am primarily interested in the 6-year old as I think our oldest would be fine.

I could really use some feedback from those who have been to Peru with younger children. How has Peru compared to other places you've taken them?

Thanks in advance.

My family of 3 kids aged 15, 13 and 9 just returned from a 3 week trip to Peru and Bolivia. I know our age range is still not as young as yours but perhaps our experience may help a little with your decision.

In the past our family trips have taken us to Asia (China, Thailand, Singapore, Bali, Maldives, Cambodia and Laos) as well as to Europe (France and Italy). We typically have travelled "higher end" staying in 4 and 5 star hotels with pools.

The purpose of this trip was to travel less in luxury and to do a bit more of "adventure". We hiked the 4 day classic Inca Trail to MP, stayed with a family on the Uros Islands, did a 4 day landcruiser trip through the Salar de Uyuni of Bolivia, and my husband and oldest son biked the WMDR outside of La Paz. I admit we packed in a lot of things and distance in the 3 weeks. This in itself made it a tough haul at times.

Did our younger child find the trip amazing? I think she learned alot. However, the wow factor for her would have been to swim in a pool or ocean everyday. Even if we had slowed down the pace significantly and stayed in more luxurious hotels, the nature of the trip may not have been her first choice.

Having said all this, would I do it all over again. Absolutely, though I'm not sure if I would have done this with them at a younger age. (We left our 3 year old at home this time, although we have taken him in on previous trips). Still, we saw plenty of other families with younger (3-5 years old) children particularly in Cuzco. Funnily, in our family the whine factor was highest in our 15 year old. He was the one I should have left at home as he just wanted to be home to hang out with his friends.

Good luck with your decision. I know I haven't exactly answered your question.

Thanks, kbc11!

I would love your thoughts on Thailand and Bali (maybe even China) as those are the other places on our list. The rest of my group is very picky when it comes to food and does not like Asian much so that is what is holding me back on those places.

I spent alot of time "lurking" on Fodor's for info on Thailand before we went. I received some excellent tips and ideas and planned several great family-friendly excursions in Bangkok as a result. Still, our experience in Thailand (Bangkok and surrounding area and Koh Samui) paled in comparison to our trip to Bali. Our family just loved Bali. Part of this was due to the fact that we traveled with several other families and so the kids had built-in companions. The other part is that Bali is well, just Bali - friendly, stunningly beautiful, polluted, chaotic - a land of contrasts. And, there are heaps and heaps of things for young children to do (and eat).

(Now before all the Thailand boosters jump on my case, I must admit that Thailand has all of this to offer as well.) For some unexplained reason, for our family, Bali is very special. Check out Fodor's threads on both Bali and Thailand as well as other sites specifically dedicated to travel in these two countries.

I am new to posting messages on this site so am not sure if I can leave you a private message with more info about our experience in Bali.

Where abouts in Peru (beside Machu Picchu)? Peru is an amazing country which has so much to offer. I'd honestly wait until your kids are bit older to truly appreciate it. I don't think at that age they really will grasp what they are seeing. But then again, that could be said about so many places and you don't really want to wait another 4 years. However, I think Peru is just one of those countries - I'd go to Argentina - waterfall and glaciers - I think they'd be awed by both. Or perhaps Brasil if you love beaches, dancing, great food, etc.

BTW, I think it's great that you take your kids along on your trips and that you care enough to research if they would appreciate it! You cannot imagine what an advantage you're giving them...kudos! Good luck with the planning!

kbc11 - I don't think you can send PMs on this forum, but I would welcome an email from you! My address is breevans (at) hotmail (dot) com. Right now I am thinking about 2 weeks in Thailand and 1 week in Bali, but that ratio may change.

oceania - thanks! My wife and I decided our whacky trips are even better experiences with our kids so long as we plan them properly. I want to do Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, but not in their winter.

We were in Peru in June of this year with our 10 year old son and 8 year old daughter, and the whole family loved the experience. But it really depends on your kids and their behavior/tolerance levels etc.

We spent 3 days in Lima (pretty boring for kids), 3 nights in Sacred Valley (sol y luna hotel - good place with kids), 1 night MP and 3 nights Cusco. I think the trick is to try and incorporate one fun and totally kid oriented thing for every adult oriented thing. We visited the Awana Kancha Alpaca farm while we were in the Sacred Valley and the kids loved that (they get to feed the animals and see weaving demonstrations). They also really enjoyed the walking all around the Maras Salt Pans and learning how salt is made. They loved climbing all around MP and places near Cusco like Sacsayhuaman. (Binoculars and having their own cameras help). You can also horseback ride in the Sacred Valley, visit the markets at Pisac and Chinchero and give them a sum of money and they may enjoy figuring out what they can buy with it. We used Percy as our driver and that was helpful because we didnt have to think about much in the way of getting places and could instead concentrate on the kids. He was also able to explain so many things that I wouldnt have had a clue about, so having an english speaking tour guide is a must in my opinion. I saw lots of families with kids my childrens ages and younger while we were there and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was also fun for my kids to see the native children in their traditional dress. We were able to see groups of kids in Cusco during a dress rehearsal for the Inti Raymi festival. We also collected gently used AYSO soccer uniforms from our neighbors, teammates and classmates and brought them and donated them to a childrens center in Cusco along with some cash for soccer balls. (We stayed at Los Ninos hotel and gave them to the kids who are helped by the hotel). I think it also depends on what the "wow" factor is for your kids. We have taken our kids to to lots of US destinations as well as Europe, Hong Kong and Beijing before and because they are good travellers and enjoy it overall, we decided to take them with us to Peru. But I was the one that really wanted to go to Peru, to be honest. Lucky for us, the kids enjoyed it (and learned alot too).

Good Luck!