Kristina, I'm looking forward to your trip report!

Any reason you are going back to Cusco from SV and then to MP? Why not go directly to MP from the SV and have all your time in cusco together.

We want to leave for MP from Cusco so we get the full time on the Hiram Bingham. Since we are springing for the Orient-Express train, we want the maximum time on it. Also, since we have to spend a night in Cusco between MP and Lima, we figured we might as well have two nights so we have time to do/see something (and maybe buy something).

While the time you have in and around Cusco is not too much (although three days at MP might be), it's a pity you can't see more of Peru. There are lots of things to do on the coast, like the Islas Ballestas and the Paracas Peninsula to the south.

When you're in Lima be sure to go to one of the big Archaeological Museums. I like the National Archaeological as it gives a good chronological survey of the Pre-Columbian cultures and has some very important objects as well if you're into cultures other than just Inkan.

There are plenty of things we would have liked to see on the coast, that will have to wait for next trip. We certainly will visit at least one of the archaeological museums in Lima. This trip is focussed on the Inka. I have studied some of the coastal cultures as well, but that will have to wait for next trip.

Good to hear that you are planning another trip to Peru! It's a wonderful country with lots and lots to see and do.

There is a branch of the Museo Larco in Cusco that as I recall focuses more on the Inka than the one in Lima, which focuses more on Mochica and Chimu.

Don't go to the Museo del Oro in Lima. Most of the unique items they had were determined to be fakes in the early part of the 21st C.and have since been removed.

Thanks for the museum tips! Which museum(s) do you recommend in Lima?

For archaeology, National Archaeological. It gives a good chronological overview of the Peruvian cultures and will give you an idea of what's where archaeologically speaking for your next trip There is a new archaeological museum near the US embassy but I haven't been there-closed the day we went.

Others: Museum of the Inquisition very near the Plaza de Armas and San Francisco church and monastery, also in that area.

With just two nites on arrival and most of the day on departure, you might want to see the Plaza de Armas and area around it on the first day, then go to Barranco in the evening. Barranco is very interesting, nite-life sort of place right on the Pacific.

Then see the National Archaeological Museum on your last day in country. Don't know when your flight to Lima arrives on the last day, but I've generally had time to take a cab to one of the museums, see it, have lunch, and then return to the airport.

If you don't want to do that, there is a great old Spanish fort in Callao, not far from the airport.

Thanks, I appreciate the recommendations.