Hello,

First time to Peru and to Latin America! We have tentative tickets to Peru, and would like you to help suggest an itinerary before we commit to the tickets.

Please recommend the best route so we don't have to backtrack, etc. We have 12 full days in Peru, but could try to extend it by a day or 2 if that would help with the itinerary.

We are 2 active adults. Like the outdoors, ruins, good food, etc. Prefer moderate budget places to stay.

Our international tickets include roundtrips on LAN Peru to and from Cusco.

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* 5/16 (Fri): Arrive Lima @ 4 a.m. Catch LAN Peru @ 6 a.m. to Cusco arriving @ ~7 a.m.

* Fri / Sat / Sun morning. Thinking of going to Sacred Valley right away upon arriving in Cusco. Sightsee Sacred Valley Fri, Sat. Sun morning see Pisac market. Sun afternoon, train or bus to Agua Caliente. From where?

* Mon: MP all day. Day hikes? Stay overnight at Agua Caliente.

* From here where should we go? Our flight back to Lima departs from Cusco. I could check to see if we could leave from another city if that's more convenient.

Other possible areas of interest: Cusco, Lake Titicaca and/or Southern Amazon rainforest. Please help us work out the rest.


* Fly back to Lima on Sun 5/25. 2 nights, 2 1/2 days in Lima (too long?)

* Fly back to the States on Tues, 5/27 night.

Sorry for the long email. But really appreciate it if you could help out before we jumping in to get the tickets!

Thanks much!

We just got back from Peru,and only stayed 7 days with a tour but can help a little. The Pisac Sunday market is great-we got there late (4:00) and not many tourists left. Took the train to MP from Ollyantambo(1 1/2 hr). There are some easy and hard 2-3 hour hikes from MP.The last bus leaves MP for Agua Caliente at 5:00 so that would be fine for overnight. Cusco is worth a day as is Lima but I wouldnt spend more. Sacred Valley is in the middle of your itinerary-might try Titicaca first. We had a couple in our group going to the Amazon but they went from Lima after we were through. Not sure you can get there easily from Cusco.

Don't know if you've seen my trip report, but it gives (in considerable detail) answers to your questions. Good luck with your planning!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35080146

Thanks for your responses.

Karen, your trip report inspired my Peru trip! You made it seem do-able and fun.

I have to read thru it again carefully to figure out the logistics for the later part of the journey -- what to do after MP.

We have a flight leaving from Cusco back to Lima, so we want to make sure not to backtrack to Cusco too often. The other areas of interest to us are lake Titicaca and the Amazon rainforest.

Thanks!

Karen,

It looks like we're following pretty much your itinerary but at a slightly slower pace -- w/ 2 extra days. Anything you would recommend we should do differently?

Tentative itinerary:
* Fly to Lima --> Cuzco
* Taxi / bus? to Sacred Valley
* 2 nights in Sacred Valley area. Ollanta the whole time or elsewhere too?
* 2 nights Agua Caliente
* Train back to Ollanta. Taxi/bus back to Cuzco.
* 3 nights in Cusco
* 2 nights in Lake Titicaca area
* 2 nights in Lima

Suggestions are much welcome!

Thanks!

Not sure whether we have to take the long bus ride from Cuzco to Puno though. Really worth it?