Hi,

Here is my planned 10 day itinerary. The city name next to the date indicates where we will be spending the night on that day.

Wed, Aug 27 Lima crash in hotel as flight reaches at 10 pm
Thu, Aug 28 Arequipa, Arrive at Arequipa, spend day in Arequipa get acclimated
Fri, Aug 29 Arequipa, water rafting Río Chili, rest in Arequipa
Sat, Aug 30 Yanque Colca Tour
Sun, Aug 31 Arequipa Colca Tour back to Arequipa
Mon, Sep 1 puno morning fly to puno, Lake Titicaca and Isla Taquile
Tue, Sep 2 Cusco inka express bus from puno to cusco, buy bus tickets to MP
Wed, Sep 3 Ollantaytambo sightsee in cusco (Plaza de Armas and visit the La Catedral (Cathedral), Convento de Santa Catalina (Santa Catalina Convent), and Qoricancha (Temple of the Sun))
Thu, Sep 4 Aguas Caliente Inca Ruins(2 hr walk),Salinas salt mine, Moray,Chinchero Church, Eve Train to Aguas Caliente
Fri, Sep 5 Ollantaytambo Machu Pichu and Huyana Pichu, Return to Ollantaytambo in evening by train
Sat, Sep 6 Airport Fly to Lima, Deposit bag at airpot and sightsee,leave at night

I have booked the flights,train tickets to AC and MP entrance tickets so probably its too late to ask for any itinerary changes. But does this trip plan look ok to you ?

I have reserved two days for Arequipa so that in case we get altitude sickness we have some time getting over it.

Any recommendation for tours for Lake Titicaca from Puno ?
We will have two full days in SV/Cusco region. Would you spend the way I have shown or would do something else ? Also should I book a guided tour online or book after reaching there ? Currently I am quoted 330 sols for both of us to do the full day Sacred valley tour and 200 sols for 4 hour Cusco tour.
How much would it cost by cab to go from Ollanta to Cusco airport ?

Thanks

Sounds impossible - and certainly no fun.

Do I read you correctly that you are flying to Puno on Sept 1, then taking the bus out the next morning? You'll have just a few hours on Sept 1 to see Puno and the surrounding area. With that little time, I wouldn't bother going there.

I don't understan Sept 4 - you say you are going to hike from Aguas Caliente to Machu Pichu (or are there some other ruins to plan to like to?) but later in the day you show places you plan to go in the Scared Valley, then you say you are taking the train the Aguas Caliente at the end of the day...

Sept 5 You show yourself back in the Sacred Valley (Ollantaytambo), but visiting Machu Pichu and Huyana Pichu and taking the train back to Ollantaytambo in the evening..

So something is wrong with your itinerary those days.

Kathie- I too was confused, but the first name next to the date is where they are spending the night.

Gav- I spent 9 nights in Peru in April; 4 in the Sacred Valley, 2 in Cusco, and 2 in Lima. This itinerary seems crazy to me, but if you like to be on the move all the time, then it should work for you.
I'm not really sure what advice you want about that since you have booked everything already.

You might want to do another post with the questions at the bottom of your post asked again. My guess is that people won't be able to get past the itinerary.

As for those questions...you really only have one day in the Sacred Valley, one day in Cusco and one day at Machu Picchu.

How are you planning on getting to Aguas Calientes on the day you are sightseeing around Chinchero? Are you are going from sightseeing all day in Cusco to Ollantaytambo and then back to Chinchero the next day and then back to Ollantaytambo to catch the train? You will be spending HOURS in a car or on a bus if you do that.

My recommendation? Spend Sept 3rd sightseeing in Cusco and then spend the night there. The next day, hire a guide/driver to take you to Chinchero/Moray/Salt Pans and then drive you to Ollantaytambo where you can catch the train. OR, have them take you back toward Cusco and catch the train in Poroy up to AC.

What time do you have to get back to Cusco to catch your flight to Lima on the 6th?

It is a real shame that those tickets are locked in as this is not a good way to use your time in Peru. Much as I love Arequipa, you have too high a proportion of you time there in your overall scheme. I totally agree with Kristina to repost except that I would ask for suggested itineraries that make best use of your time and, if at all possible, change your tickets.

I am not sure how keen you are to to do the Colca trek but leaving that out in favour of a day or two in Arequipa without the trek would free up time to go to Puno sooner ( a great bus ride) take the Inka Express to. Cusco ( an amazing bus ride!) thus freeing up more time for the sacred valley and all that it has to offer ( a lot). ( NB we have visited Arequipa twice now with the intention of trekking the valley and to make it both times because of earthquakes!)

To a answer a couple of your specific questions:

The "standard" cab fare to Cusco is around 120 soles ask at the right time and you can get that down to 50 soles as many of the driver don't want to go back with their cabs empty.

A reliable tour operator fro Titicaca is http://titicacaperu.com

Thank you for the time to pointing me in the right direction. The flight arrangements internally can be changed and I would like you to suggest an itinerary that makes a better sense. I would prefer to fly out from Arequipa since I am using airline miles to book tickets.

The only part of the trip that is not flexible is Sep 4,Eve Train to Aguas Caliente and Sep 5, Machu Pichu and Huyana Pichu, Return to Ollantaytambo in evening by train.

So please suggest what you think would be a more sensible itinerary.

Thanks.

Sun 31 you don't have to go back to Arequipa. The 4-M Express bus goes straight from Chivay to Puno. Leaves Chivay around 1 pm and gets in to the terminal around 6:30 = 7pm.

Monday you can do your full day tour of Titicaca

Weds you could do a few hours in the morning in Cusco, then take a taxi to Ollantaytambo, see the Moray Circles and Salineras along the way (takes about 4 hours total, maybe?). Spend the night there, if you have time see the ruins in the afternoon.

Thursday spend all day at MP including Huayna Picchu. There is an evening train back to Ollantaytambo.

Friday you can travel back to Cusco (see the Ollantaytambo Ruins if you didn't have time). I would try to take the last flight out of Cusco to Lima that day, rather than the next morning.

PS, I would try to change your train on Friday to an earlier train. It should cost 10% if done more than 24 hours in advance.

You can do it at the train station in Ollantaytambo when you arrive (space available basis).

Thanks MLGB. Taking bus from Chivay is probably a good idea.

The main concern everyone who posted before you had was I wasn't spending enough time in sacred valley. So should I do the Colca tour on Fri, Aug 29 instead of Saturday ? This will allow me to add one additional day to Cusco but will also shorten the acclimation time to just one day in Arequipa.

You have suggested seeing MP on Thursday and go to Cusco from Ollanta on Friday but my reservation to MP is on Friday. Did you confuse the days or did you want me to change the schedule and go to MP on Thursday instead of Friday ?

I think you should go on Thursday, correct. I think leaving it until the day before you fly back from Peru is not a good idea.

If you already bought tickets to MP I'm not sure you can change them, you would have to ask about that. But you should be able to change the train tickets with a 10% fee.