Advice on Peru Itninerary
 

We are going to Peru this thanksgiving and need some insights with our itinerary

20th Nov- Fly to Lima from US. Arriving late night.
21st Nov- Flight to Cusco from Lima. Taxi to Sacred Valley (Urubamba) from Cusco Airport
22nd Nov- Sacred Valley
23rd Nov- Train to Aguas Calientes from Ollantaytambo. Overnight in Aguas Calientes.
24th Nov- Early morning to Macchu Picchu. Train back to Cusco late afternoon
25th Nov- Cusco
26th Nov- Flight to Lima from Cusco
27th Nov-Flight back to US from Lima

I am particularly concerned about returning to Cusco the same day after doing the MP ruins with a 10 year old. Should we stay back in Aguas Calientes that night, and take the train to Cusco early next morning?

Any other tips and advice on travelling with a kid would be most appreciated!

I don’t see any problem in getting back to Cusco the same day and for me it would be far preferable to staying an extra night in AC. A 10 year old is far less likely to get bored etc. On a train where they can get up and walk around etc. than in Asia. Bus or a car..

The only tip that springs to mind is to watch them like a hawk anywhere near any ruins. Safety is not strongly ingrained in the Peruvian consciousnessa and some of those staircases can be lethal.

Follow the guidelines for adjusting to altitude http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advic...nd-travel.aspx you seem to be on the right track by going straight to the SV and leaving Cusco till last..

On the 23rd after MP you could go back just to Ollantaytambo have a look at the old town area (or stay there). I have usually stayed closer to the train station or the central square. In Olly iIf you are interested in more ruins and it is still daylight the ones in Olly are good, climb the steps for a great view over town, and ask someone to demo the fountain "trick". Then go to Cusco on the morning of the 24th. On the way back to Cusco a quick stop at the Salineras (ancient salt mines) or perhaps Awana Kancha which has a petting zoo. This would mean that you only have one night to sleep at the high altitude in Cusco.

I think Cusco would be more interesting for adults who like to drink and go to bars than for kids. The SV is a lot more tranquil even where it is touristy.

Thanks for all inputs.
We decided to visit MP on the 23rd and come back to SV on 23rd.This will give us an extra day at Cusco. In SV, we will be based out of Urubamba, we shall take the morning train to MP from the station at Tambo del Inka.
There's no direct evening train from MP to Urubamba that day, so we will take the train from MP to Ollantaytambo. Hoping it is not too hard to find a taxi ride from Ollantaytambo to Urubamba?

With that decided, now we are working on the train tickets to MP and tickets to the MP ruins. We find the machupicchu.gob.pe site extremely confusing. Are there any good travel agents that we can buy the tickets from? Also how rushed is this time of the year? Our hotel at Urubamba (Sol y Luna) suggested we buy the entrance tickets first and then the train tickets and said both can get sold out very soon.
It isnt' helping with the government website acting up. Any help on this is much much appreciated!!

If you had asked here first I might have suggested not staying in Urubamba. Sorry that doesn't answer you question, but given it's a holiday in the US it may be busy, you might want to book a taxi ahead of time. Another reason I would have suggested using Ollantatytambo and not Urubamba. I assume though that ship has sailed.

I see you have planned all, it's very good. Try to acclimatize to the climate especially your kid and eat the local food is delicious.

You acclimatize to the altitude, not the climate (clima), JuanGonazales. (For your future postings trying to direct business to your website)

I just saw this message. We used a travel agent from Peru Best Tours to customize a trip for us and I found them very easy to work with. Although we asked them to schedule more of our trip, I would imagine they would be able to just book MP and train tickets for you. PBT also booked a one hour small group tour of MP for us which we really enjoyed and we then explored further on our own (another option to consider.)

Happy planning!