We are planning our first trip to Peru in October, mostly to see machu piccho. We would like to see more, but only have a total of 10 days including flying, so we're trying to concentrate mostly around Cuzco area and would appreciate recommendation and places to stay for budget travelers as well as help with the itinerary. It will be myself and my wife traveling.

It appears almost all flights will arrive in Lima at night and a flight to Cuzco isn't until the next morning. I have three guide books and some recommend skipping Lima if your short on time, but I feel if I'm going to pay for a taxi, a place to sleep that I might as well do at least a full day in Lima if not more.
So far I have this:

Day 1 -> Fly into Lima arive at about 9pm at night
Day 2 -> Tour lima and spend a full day in Lima
Day 3 -> Wake up early and fly to Cuzco (I guess I need to rest most of the day for alltitude sickness or is it wise just to go to the pharmacy and take pills and coca tea?)
Day 4 -> Cuzco
Day 5 -> Sared valley (tours?)
Day 6 -> Machu Piccho pueblo?
Day 7 -> Machu Piccho?
Day 8 -> Cuzco
Day 9 -> fly from Cuzco back to Lima
Day 10 -> Fly from Lima back home

One of my main questions, is about being in Cuzco and the time we have and what we should see or stay? Should we sleep in Cuzco with tours while visiting Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo or stay in these places instead?

I've read that it's nice to stay the night in Aguas Calientes (Machu Piccho pueblo), so that early in the morning you can beat the rush of people. Is it fine just to stay one night, see MP, then at night get transportation back to Cuzco or will this require too nights in Aguas Calientes?

Stay near the airport and fly out the next morning Day 2. Go immediately to the Sacred Valley instead of Cusco. Day 2 thru 4 tour the Sacred Valley and rest as needed. Day 5 go to Machu Picchu. Day 6 can be another Day at MP if you want to overnight. Day 6 or 7 return to Cusco, spend two nights there. If you are flying back early on Day 9 and leaving late on Day 10 that will give you a good taste of Lima.

You may want to rearrange things a bit to hit Pisac and Chinchero on a Sunday to see one of the markets.

I have done a lot of research on this site and Trip Advisor and recommend the following itinerary, based on ours for October:
1 - arrive Lima, stay at airport Ramada
2 - morning flight to Cusco; drive to Ollantaytambo via Pisac (ruins, market) or Moray, Maras and Chincero. By going directly to SV you don't have to waste a day acclimatizing.
3 - Tour Ollanta ruins and what you did not see on day 2.
4 - early afternoon train to MP; tour MP; overnight at Inkaterra Pueblo Hotel.
5 - early morning return to MP; afternoon train to Cusco. Or you could stay an extra night in AC and leave for Cusco day 6.
6 - Cusco - ruins, Awanacancha, city tour
7 - Cusco
8 - fly to Lima
9 - Lima
10- fly home

The number of days in Cusco/Lima can be adjusted based on the time of your flight home and your interests. We are just spending one day in Lima. You could also add a day in the SV. For example, we are staying the second night in Pisac, and then going to Ollanta.

Thank you both for the feedback, I really appreciate it.

I was looking at this recommend 7 day Itinerary as well
http://www.andeantravelweb.com/peru/...cchu-lima.html

I guess I'm just wondering if there is a lot to see in the sacred valley or is just a day tour enough from Cuzco? We are extremely active people and don't sit around much, so most vacations we've been on people tell us that we are planning too much, but we prefer waking up early and staying active throughout the day until we go to sleep. This is why I'm wondering if the day tours of sacred valley are enough from Cuzco and maybe add other things in the trip like Arequipa.

My concern is that we are really active and get bored really fast if there's only something small to see. This is why I'm wondering if the tours are better or if I'm betting off spending days maybe in arequipa to get used to the altitude first. I have to agree that I think going to SV is a better option than sitting around Cuzco to get adjusted, especially for people like myself and my wife who have trouble just sitting still.

hmelman are you renting a vehicle? I'm wondering because of the way you are planning things and your words "drive to Ollantaytambo". I was under the impression most people don't recommend driving there.

You can take taxis around the SV for less than the cost of a car rental. If you're up for it you can also take local transport.

If you want to do some extra activities around the SV you might check the bike tours offered by KB out of Ollantaytambo. You can also walk/drive to some of these places instead of biking one way or R/T

http://www.kbperu.com/mbtour.html

There is also horseback riding and rafting. You'll find plenty to do but don't underestimate the altitude even Ollantaytambo is at 9000 feet.

adventures.worldnomads.com/destination/168/itinerary/23.aspx

might follow this route to see more adjust to altitude better

and save lots of money if you fly right away to Cusco 11000 ft

you might get sick plus miss Nasca Colca Titicaca

Flew cheaply down to Lima from FLL last year

first class for the price of coach

casa-andina.com best hotels everywhere for price

www.cruzdelsur.com.pe best bus nice ride

did the downstairs VIP seats

spent under 1K pp when there last.

Did it in 10 days insuremytrip.com always wise strikes/storms

always pay with CC never wire money many scammers

Happy Travels!

Spirit.com FLL LIM for me last $239 all in RT plus

$50 each way to upgrade to their first class

big leather seats.

Thanks qwovadis
I've checked spirit a few times and in October they only have certain flights certain days of the week and I would change my schedule around, but they are about $550 dollars.
I saw copair for $375 dollars roundtrip from Miami, but I didn't end up buying it. Right now the least expensive I've been able to find for a flight is about $450 -470

I went to the link you provided and saw the gringo trail, which I've seen it before, but I'm not sure I'm intrested in seeing some of these things. I've tried to look at pictures as much as I can, but have a hard time finding good pictures for that trail. I read a person's trip report that went on the same trail or similar and they wrote that the cañon de colca was the least impressive thing they did and even regretted wasting a day on it.

If I had more time I wouldn't mind seeing Titicaca, but it doesn't intrest me as much as seeing other places as Arequipa. The other concern is it appears you will spend probably a day or more on a bus alone. Did you end up sleeping on a bus a lot of times for night trips? I have a lot of trouble sleeping as it is, so on a bus would be really hard for me, unless it was once or twice it wouldn't bother me.