Peru Itinerary -December Travel
 

I have a very busy 10 day itinerary that includes Nazca, Arequipa & Colca Canyon, Puno/Lake Titicaca, a Sacred Valley tour, and a two-day Inca trail hike to Machu Picchu (staying in Aguas Calientes the night). Most of our transportation will be private as I'm working with a guide I found from these forums.

I know it's rainy season in December and I read somewhere that there's a possibility of mudslides and that the train schedule can be messed up around Cuzco. Has anyone ever experienced this or heard of this happening? How likely is this to happen? How about delayed flights out of Cuzco to Lima?

If this is the case, I was thinking of changing my itinerary to have Nazca be at the end of the trip so we could be a bit closer to Lima, just in case. I cannot go to Peru without seeing the Nazca lines, regardless of reviews I've read that said they were disappointing(!).

As for Colca Canyon, has anyone tried seeing the condors that month (how's visibility?) and is it worth a day of our time going there to see the canyon and condors? If we didn't see the Canyon, I could squeeze in Paracas the day before Nazca.

Am I being too greedy in trying to see all these places in that amount of time?

This forum's been very helpful in plannning our itinerary and I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

I think that is a lot to back into 10 days. I'd prioritize.

Mudslides do happen and interrupt the MP train schedule, but not often. Probably about once a year, but that's an estimate. I know Peru is getting hit with a lot of rain right now, quite unusual for late May, but I haven't heard of it interrupting the train schedule.

Lima-Cusco-Lima flight schedules do get interrupted often. Try to get the earliest morning flights you can, to improve your chances of there being later flights to get on if yours is cancelled. The route runs mostly only in the morning because of weather issues.

I agree, that's a lot to pack in 10 days. You might want to simplify it. I guarantee you'll want to go back. I've been twice and can't wait to go again.

But I loved Nazca. The dunes in Ica were almost as good. Check out this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34969674

Ooops, I counted wrong, it's 11 full days. I like my trips to be action-packed so I don't mind all the running around.

On the 11th day, I plan on taking the earliest flight back for our night flight back to the U.S. That's why I'm tempted to do Nazca last, so we'll somewhat be in the area. I understand Nazca is a lot closer to Lima than Cuzco is. If for some reason we don't do Nazca, we'll already be in Lima.

hills27: I'm sure I'll definitely want to come back. I want to see the Amazon next time around. But I say that with all trips. With the exception of domestic places, I haven't returned anywhere internationally. Yet.

We had flight delays getting back from Cusco to Lima. The delays were due to fog in Lima which we were told happens fairly regularly.
I would agree with others that you are packing alot in for only 11 days.

Is there air service Lima to Nazca??

Yes. Condor Air to Ica.

Make that Aero Condor (I think...it's late, need sleep).