Hi,
Were are headed to Peru end of May and I had a few questions about the itinerary below:

1) How many days in Cusco vs Arequipa (not planning to do Colca Canyon). Are the cities about the same size? I'm worried that we might be in Cusco too long...

2) I know that Ollantaytambo is small, so are the ruins the main attraction there or is there more in that area?

3) For hotels in Cusco: Novotel or Picoaga?

4) Any recommended day hike in the area?

Thanks for your help!

Day 1: late flight into Lima
Day 2: Early morning flight to Cusco
Day 3: Cusco
Day 4: Transfer to Ollantaytambo
Day 5: Morning train to MP - Sancuary Lodge for 1 night
Day 6: Late train back to Ollantaytambo - spend another night here or transfer back to Cusco?
Day 7: morning transfer to Cusco (stopping at Pisac/Chinchero)-spend night in Cusco
Day 8: Flight to Arequipa
Day 9: Arequipa
Day 10: late flight from Arequipa back to Lima

If I only had 10 days I would not go to Arequipa and rather use that extra time in Ollantaytambo, Cusco and Lima. IMO Arequipa does have a few points of interest but if you are not going to Colca, it would not be the best use of your limited time. You will be spending a lot of time just getting from place to place.

Of course,it all depends on you interests and energy level.

Ollantay is an interesting place to explore for a couple of days. We transferred there directly from Cusco airport because it is easier to acclimate at 8000ft.rather than the 11000ft of Cusco; we didn’t have a lot of energy the first day because of the altitude. We were well rested because we had spent 2 nights in Lima.

Cusco is worth at least 2-3 full days.

Lima is worth at least 1 full day.

Another consideration is that sometimes flights get delayed and it might not be a good idea to have your schedule too tight.

If you would like to read my trip report search for “Rod y Sandy’s” on this board.

Thanks for the informative reply. I enjoyed your trip report and your wonderful pictures have made me reconsider going to Colca Canyon. I could change my flight to add on 2 extra days, but the only problem is whether that would be enough? I heard that the drive to Colca is about 4 hours...would it be worth it to spend 8 hours in the car roundtrip and only a day or so in the canyon? If so, who did you hire to drive you from Arequipa? Did you arrange the transfer after you arrived there and how much did it cost roundtrip? Thanks again for your help!

Laura,

We hired a "private car" upon our arrival into Arequipa for a cost of $135 one-way to Chivay. For the return trip several days later we hired a local taxi in Chivay to drive us to the airport in Arequipa for the cost of S/200.

This is the contact info for the company in Arequipa we used:

[email protected]

Maybe if you were only to do one or two nights in Colca you could have the same car and driver do the round trip plus the drive to Cruz del Condor and whatever else you have time for. IMO one night is a short time for a long drive but you will get to see a lot in the time spent. Most groups spend only one night in Colca. We like to linger in some places and explore on our own.

There are very many tour operators in Arequipa and you should be able to set-up a private tour or go with a small group.

ttt