10 day trip with Globus, returned June 1, 2009. Their itinerary covered locations not found in other companies I checked. I normally travel independently, but since I was a female traveling solo I opted for tour. The trip would have resulted in a lot of complications for me had I not been on a tour. In addition, we stayed at wonderful hotels, had a great tour director, and excellent guides.
Reasons to consider a tour vs on your own:
Reason 1:The trains to Machu Picchu appear to have stoppages periodically, which can cause your entire trip schedule to be altered when you cannot reach Aguas Calientes or you can't leave the area. Our tour director had to re-schedule hotels, planes, ground transportation, train tickets, guides, etc for the remainder of our trip due to a one day train stoppage. I wouldn't want to have to do all that work myself while on my vacation, plus your air tickets may be non-changeable. He also secured all boarding passes, stood in line to pay all departure taxes at each airport, handled all luggage, I was spoiled. We all thought Mauricio Yonfa was a prince.
Reason 2: we visited homes of locals in 3 places. It's not something I thought I would enjoy, and I found it very interesting.
Reason 3: I don't think you can obtain air fares, the same hotels, and meals for the same price on your own.
Itinerary:
Day 1 arrival in Lima at about 4 am, the flight schedules to south America are killers. We were met at the Thunderbird Hotel Principal in the Miraflores district by the tour director, Mauricio, who delivered a perfectly executed trip. After resting, we were given a tour of the city and dinner.
Day 2 We went by bus to Paracas in order to fly over the Nazca lines. The Doubletree Hotel Paracas was absolutely beautiful. All rooms were suites, with balconies looking over several pools and a terrific view of the shore.
Day 3: Drove to Bay of Paracas and cruised to the Ballestas Islands. Tons of sea mammals and exotic birds, penguins. Totally unexpected site. Returned to Thunderbird Hotel in Lima.
Day 4: Flew to Cusco (or Cuzco) and went straight to the Sacred Valley. This helps a bit with the altitude adjustment and was part of my decision to take Globus tour. Our flight ran late due to fog, eventually was canceled, but again we had Mauricio to straighten it all out and obtain new flights. We stopped at the market in Pisac as well as some ruins. Hotel was Casa Andina, which was again a gorgeous hotel in a beautiful site. The nights are very clear, and the hotel has its own planetarium and 3 nightly shows.
Day 5: due to train stoppage, we stay here a second day. We tour some sites, do a hike, and it's a great opportunity to rest and adjust.
Day 6:
The bus took us to the train station. We took a small overnight bag (train restricts luggage and does not allow large cases), and we would again see our larger bags when we went to Cusco. Our hotel in Aguas Calientes was the newest one there, the Sumaq hotel. Smaller rooms than previous hotels, but very nice and very clean. It's only a short bus ride to the Machu Picchu site (20 minutes), so it's not worth spending what it costs to stay at the Lodge at the entrance to the ruins. Good market a short walk away. We had 2 local guides for the ruins, but I took off on my own to really let it soak in. Plus, our group walked slowly with many stops because of altitude effects on many, whereas I had no altitude problems and could run up and down the ruins.
Day 7:
Our tour included tickets for a second visit to the ruins, and you can take the bus as early as you want. Even taking bus at 7:30 am gave me the opportunity to be in many locations without another person nearby. Read about the place before you go, particularly the Hiram Bingham book, and you won't feel the need for constant talk from the guides. We took the train back to the Sacred Valley, were met by our bus, and took us to our hotel in Cusco. We stayed at the Casa Andina, which is well located and comfortable.
Day 8:
We completed our tour of Cusco and flew to Juliaca, taking bus to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Another nice hotel, with views of the lake. Again there were flight delays, seems like the norm.
Day 9: From the hotel's pier we took a 30 minute boat ride to the Uros Islands. After Machu Picchu, this was the highlight of the trip. I couldn't take enough pictures. The small islands are entirely made of reeds by the inhabitants, and your feet sink a bit as you walk. We went into their houses made of reeds, we had an explanation of how the construction is done, we rode in their reed boats to another island, and were invited to put on their traditional clothing for pciture taking. It was a delightful morning. We spent the night at the Libertador Hotel in Puno.
Our stay was cut short by a day in this area to make up the lost day due to train stoppage.
Our bus took us to Juliaca airport and we flew back to Lima, and the group spent a last night at the Thunderbird Hotel in Lima.
Illnesses: it seemed half the group had some sort of ailment at one time or another. For some it was short bouts with stomach problems, for many it was effects of altitude. Some taking the meds and some not were affected by altitude. I just drank a lot of water and a few cups of coca tea daily. You will do better if you don't drink alcohol. As in many countries, don't eat what you cannot peel or is raw, but food is good. The fittest young person in our group had altitude problems, age or fitness don't seem to have a bearing. Drink only bottled water, which we were supplied by the hotel and our tour on a daily basis.
I wish somebody had mentioned one ailment I hadn't thought about: motion sickness. I am prone to car sickness, so I was one of many who lost in on the flight over the Nazca lines, all that banking of the plane so both sides could get clear views was challenging but worthwhile. Then the boat ride to the Ballestas left me a bit green. And why I didn't think how windy roads would be around mountaineous regions is beyond me, but I survived them well by sitting where I could open my window for fresh air.
Flights:
I used miles to fly business class from Miami to Lima. It helps to get some sleep on the way there, since you get only a few hours sleep before beginning your tour of Lima. On my return flight, I left Lima at midnight, slept 5 hours on the way home. Our flight left an hour late, so I had to make a mad dash to get through customs so that in a one hour period could make my next flight.
Oddly, I had no problems with high altitude, other than one morning's lack of energy until we began walking outside in the fresh air. But since returning to Dallas, I've had a bit of an "off" feeling, which is now almost gone on my third day home.
It's a wonderful adventure trip. I had never been on such a grueling schedule, but we were making up one lost day so we had little spare time. But it was a wonderful, memorable experience I hope you will try.

Great report. it makes me wish I was back there!!

Nice report Aleta. Leius I don't know what you're blathering on about quoting scare tactics from State Department to try to recruit people to your tour agency?

Anyways I've traveled independently twice in Peru as a solo female and using common sense haven't had any problems. People are friendly and helpful, even (especially?) the taxi drivers, and if you speak even a little bit of Spanish folks are even happier to help you. It is a good idea to build in extra days around your flights and trains because delays and reschedulings are not unusual (as Aleta has noted).

Nice report on your trip to Peru, the only difference I would have, is with your choice of the Sumaq Hotel in Aguas Calientes (possibly this was chosen by the tour company). Although the Sanctuary Lodge is absolutely way, way over priced, it does offer experiences not available to those staying in Aguas Calientes. As a guest there, you have first access to the Citadel in the morning (opportunity to enjoy privacy and possibly a sunrise before the tour bus arrival from below) and you are allow to remain in the Citadel after the last tour bus departs. This private time in this mystical site was worth the extra money we paid to stay there.

The MP Citadel has fixed hours doesn't it? Are you saying that they keep it open beyond regular for the guests of the Sanctuary Hotel? Because my understanding was that the first busses from Aguas Calientes arrive before the site opens, and on the way down I hope they are not going to strand visitors who exit at regular closing hours?

It didn't seem that the hotel had any views of the site to speak of and wasn't especially posh. The main advantage seemed to be that you were allowed access to the regular dining room rather than the buffet.

mlgb.

Yes, there are fixed hours of entry and exit to the Citadel.

I am saying that by staying at The Sanctuary Lodge, you can remain inside the gates until the guards make their final sweep for the day and escort your outside.

Most other visitors will queue up an hour or more before closing time, just to catch their bus back to Aguas Calientes. During the three days we stayed at The Sanctuary Lodge, we saw many visitors who missed the last bus and had to make the trek back.

So, staying at The Sanctuary does afford one to enjoy see the sights at the end of the day without all of the crowds. Also, if you choose, you can be first in line to enter the park in the morning.

Other than a modest view of Huayna Picchu from the patio area of The Sanctuary Lodge, there are no real exception views.

We did not stay there simply because of their private dining room reserved for guests.

One "plus" is being able to go outside of the lodge at night, when most other guests have called it a day and turned off most of the lights. It is a magical place to enjoy the stars with very little ambient light.....and to listen to the sounds.