Feedback
 

We have almost finalized our trip to Peru and I wanted to get some feedback from the experts here. Our agenda is as follows:

Night 1 arrive in Lima late and spend night at airport hotel
nights 2-5 Urubamba- explore Sacred Valley
night 6 MP
night 7- 8 Cusco
night 9- 11 Lodge near Puerto Maldonado
night 12- Lima
night 13- flight home

Some background on us: We are a family of 5 with three boys aged 8, 14, & 16. My boys are active but also have pretty good attention spans. We are hoping to mix the archeological sites with activities such as biking or horseback riding.

I would love your feedback as to whether our time is distributed well and any special activities that you might recommend.

Is it easy to get to MP from Urubamba? I had read that a bridge is out-- does it affect the train from there?

Can we take a train from Urubamba or Ollantaytambo and return to Cusco? What is the least expensive train to travel on to/from MP? If we go directly to Cusco from MP, we won't be able to store the luggage at our hotel in Urubamba. Is there room on the train for luggage? (Originally had planned to stay in Ollantaytambo prior to and after MP; however this does not seem to be the most efficient use of our time). If not, what do you suggest?

Our flight from P. Maldonado to Lima arrives around 5:30pm. How long will it take to get to a hotel in Miraflores district? Our flight home leaves just after midnight on the 13th night. Have we given ourselves enough time in Lima (just one day)? (I do believe that our hotel will allow us to use their facilities to store our luggage until we are ready to leave to the airport).

I would go back to your original plan and stay in Ollantaytambo. The trains leave from there to MP and Cusco and it makes much more sense than Urumbamba which is 20 mins away by bus. Olly is much prettier than Urumbamba which is much more of a working town. It is easy to arrange the activities you seek in Olly.many of the sights in the SV are easil accessed from Ollantaytambo but do try and fit in half a day in Pisac ( I preferred it to MP!).

The backpacker train is the cheapest option and, having travelled on both, there really isn't that much difference. You could either get the train back to Cusco or get a cab from Olly which would probably work out cheaper fro you and provides the options of including some sightseeing en route.

Places in the SV that we loved included Moray, Maras, Chinchero Pisac and , of course Ollantaytambo itself (just wandering the streets of the town looking at the original inca architecture is a great use of time. Do investigate buying a bolleto Turistico to see whether it will save you money taking into account the sights you want to see. It is getting old now but here is a link to our blog covering our time in Peru which as a lot of photos and some more detail. http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...ai/1/tpod.html entries 56 - 64 cover Peru. . I plan to update when we return to South America in a couple of weeks.

Crellston, thanks for your feedback. We will be in Peru in July and I am having problems finding a hotel room(s) for our family in Ollantaytambo on the days we would need-- hence the reason we are staying in Urubamba. Do you have a hotel that you would suggest there?

Yes, I prefer to go on the backpacker train. I think the more "luxurious" trains would be a waste of $ for us. I hadn't thought about taking a cab from Ollantaytambo but I think you are right. With five people, we will probably save $ taking a cab vs the train. Great suggestion!

Any suggestions about our luggage? Can it be stored at the train station?

Apu Lodge has a famly room for five people.

Most hotels will store your luggage for free.

mlgb, if we can't find a hotel in Ollantaytambo, then we don't have a hotel to store the luggage. We wouldn't want to leave our luggage in Urubamba since we don't plan to return there after MP. I'll check to see if Apu has the family room still available.

Does anyone know if there is a luggage storage facility at the rail station? Or is it possible to take our luggage on the train? (we would probably have 4 good sized pieces and a carry on).

Another option that we are considering is not spending the night in AC, but instead going to MP as a day trip from Urubamba. Just concerned that it may be a very long day to do this but it may solve our luggage issue and the hotel in Urubamba is much less expensive than the ones I investigated in AC. Thoughts?

You can leave the luggage at the train station if you don't have any other option. They often will let you take it on the train, but there is no guarantee of that, so I would get there early just in case you do need to check it.

Ollantaytambo has a lot of smaller hostals that you might need to go to TripAdvisor to find. Hostals are not the same as hostels. It just means a small inn. Often the service is better than a hotel.

Thanks mlgb. I am using tripadvisor to send out emails. May have found a place, Hotel Sol-- just waiting for them to confirm that they have two rooms next to each other.

Thoughts on the other questions I asked?

Not sure which questions but I'll answer several

Takes about an hour to get from Lima Airport to Miraflores.

City stays up late, but historic sites close early (5 or 6 in rare cases). I am a huge fan of Lima and could spend weeks there, but the big sprawl-y nature of it doesn't bother me and others don't care for it. In fact I feel very at home in Lima. For "beginners" I think one full day gives you a flavor. If you like food and museums, I would do two.

Yes you can do a train back to Cusco, but that doesn't work if your luggage is somewhere else. So if you show up with tons of luggage at the train station in Olly and they say "check it" you are in a pickle. If you find a hotel in Olly, I would leave the luggage there and book the train roundtrip to Olly.

I don't think there is enough difference between the two train classes to opt for one over the other, and just pick based on the schedule. Also if PeruRail is out, you can check Inka Rail.

You can also split your stay between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, if you don't mind moving hotels.

I am one of those that prefers to get up early and come back late from MP, rather than doing the overnight at AC. Makes the luggage thing a lot easier. I take the first train. Yes the one at 5 or 6 am.

Thanks for your feedback. The 6th night (it is a Thursday) seems to be a problem in getting a hotel in Ollantaytambo. I have found several hotels that have appropriate accommodations for us on nights 4 & 5. So I think we are going to change our agenda so that we are in Ollantaytambo for nights 4 & 5 and Cusco for nights 6-8. We will go to MP as a day trip from Ollantaytambo.

Mlgb, hubby and I like museums-- I think the boys will be up for only one in Lima. Which museum do you suggest that we see? And we all love food! I have read that Lima is a great place to eat. Suggestions for dinner and lunch? We eat almost anything.

Mlgb, quick question for you. Apu has appropriate rooms for us. On tripadvisor, one critic that I read is that the walk up to the hotel is difficult-- is this correct? I understand that taxis can't go up this road. How long of a walk is it from the plaza de armas? from the train station? Thanks.