Itinerary Peru 9 nights
Jul 21st, 2019 | 03:54 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Itinerary Peru 9 nights
Hello, we are a family with 2 children 7&9 travelling to Peru for 9 days ts in October. I need some help with the itinerary and questions. This is what I have so far:
Day 1 arrive at night to Cusco (we are coming from Bogota which is quite high in altitude so I don’t think we will have a lot of issues with high altitude)
Day 2 Cusco
Day 3 Aguas Calientes
Day 4 Ollantaytambo
Day 5 Ollantaytambo
Day 6 Not sure where to spend this night. Options back to Cusco, fly to Pisco and see the Nazca lines, go to Lima
Day 7 Lima
Day 8 Lima
Day 9 we fly back home in the late afternoon
Any comments on itinerary would be much appreciated.
Questions: is it worth staying in AC or doing Machu Pichu as a day trip from Ollatytambo is ok?
what do you do with the bags if you can only take a small bag in the train to MP?
How hard is the walk to Huayna Picchu? Has anyone done this with children? In the new system for tickets you can only go to this mountain in the am?
Many thanks in advance
Day 1 arrive at night to Cusco (we are coming from Bogota which is quite high in altitude so I don’t think we will have a lot of issues with high altitude)
Day 2 Cusco
Day 3 Aguas Calientes
Day 4 Ollantaytambo
Day 5 Ollantaytambo
Day 6 Not sure where to spend this night. Options back to Cusco, fly to Pisco and see the Nazca lines, go to Lima
Day 7 Lima
Day 8 Lima
Day 9 we fly back home in the late afternoon
Any comments on itinerary would be much appreciated.
Questions: is it worth staying in AC or doing Machu Pichu as a day trip from Ollatytambo is ok?
what do you do with the bags if you can only take a small bag in the train to MP?
How hard is the walk to Huayna Picchu? Has anyone done this with children? In the new system for tickets you can only go to this mountain in the am?
Many thanks in advance
Jul 21st, 2019 | 09:57 AM
#2
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 25,617
Likes: 0
It depends on your interests, but you might consider adding time to Cusco or Lima. I'm assuming that you have two days in Ollantaytambo to give you time in the Sacred Valley? If not, a stop in Pisac is well worth considering.
Aguas Calientes is not a particularly pleasant place, IMO, but it can be a good place to spend a night if that's what works best for your visit to Machu Picchu. I wanted to have options to visit Machu Picchu on two separate days, in case the weather didn't cooperate, and so staying overnight worked well for me.
There is a luggage storage area at the train station in Ollantaytambo. When I was there, it wan't open 24/7, so make sure you know its hours before using it.
I didn't go up to Huayna Picchu and so can't comment on that.
If you haven't seen my trip report, you might find some useful information in it. It's long, but searchable.
Praise for Peru – A report of my solo month in this amazing country
Aguas Calientes is not a particularly pleasant place, IMO, but it can be a good place to spend a night if that's what works best for your visit to Machu Picchu. I wanted to have options to visit Machu Picchu on two separate days, in case the weather didn't cooperate, and so staying overnight worked well for me.
There is a luggage storage area at the train station in Ollantaytambo. When I was there, it wan't open 24/7, so make sure you know its hours before using it.
I didn't go up to Huayna Picchu and so can't comment on that.
If you haven't seen my trip report, you might find some useful information in it. It's long, but searchable.
Praise for Peru – A report of my solo month in this amazing country
Jul 21st, 2019 | 02:41 PM
#3
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 26,243
Likes: 0
I didn’t but my husband and some other members of our group did go up Huayna Picchu. I just asked him and said “I wouldn’t do it...one mis-step...”. It’s very narrow and in some places there’s nothing to hang onto but the wall. And it’s straight down.
Jul 21st, 2019 | 08:45 PM
#4
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 9,773
Likes: 0
As you will already be acclimatised, I would plan for something along these lines:
Day 1 Cusco (night of arrival)
Day 2 Cusco
Day 3 Cusco (side trip to Pisac, Tambo Machay, Sacsayhuaman )
Day 4 Ollantaytambo (visit Chinchero, Moray, Maras by taxi en route - 5 hours, explore ruins in the late pm after the crowds have gone)
Day 5 Ollantaytambo (side trip to Machu Picchu, early train up, late train back)
Day 6 Cusco
Day 7 Lima
Day 8 Lima
Day fly back home in the late afternoon
I would say do a MP as a day trip from Ollantaytambo unless you really want to do one of the peaks. Personally, I wouldn’t want to do that with children.
Any hotel in Ollantaytambo will store your bags for you. NB Family friendly/multi bed rooms in Ollantaytambo may be scarce so book soon. Apu Lodge has enormous rooms as I recall and may be a good choice.
With the time you have, I would definitely spend the final days in Lima as there is a lot to see and do and stuff that the children will enjoy, to say nothing of the great food! I think trying to squeeze in another destination like the Nazca lines would just add too much travelling time.
Day 1 Cusco (night of arrival)
Day 2 Cusco
Day 3 Cusco (side trip to Pisac, Tambo Machay, Sacsayhuaman )
Day 4 Ollantaytambo (visit Chinchero, Moray, Maras by taxi en route - 5 hours, explore ruins in the late pm after the crowds have gone)
Day 5 Ollantaytambo (side trip to Machu Picchu, early train up, late train back)
Day 6 Cusco
Day 7 Lima
Day 8 Lima
Day fly back home in the late afternoon
I would say do a MP as a day trip from Ollantaytambo unless you really want to do one of the peaks. Personally, I wouldn’t want to do that with children.
Any hotel in Ollantaytambo will store your bags for you. NB Family friendly/multi bed rooms in Ollantaytambo may be scarce so book soon. Apu Lodge has enormous rooms as I recall and may be a good choice.
With the time you have, I would definitely spend the final days in Lima as there is a lot to see and do and stuff that the children will enjoy, to say nothing of the great food! I think trying to squeeze in another destination like the Nazca lines would just add too much travelling time.
Aug 6th, 2019 | 06:46 PM
#5
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,529
Likes: 8
Yikes. Wife slipped on some wet stones/steps and fell off the trail making room for another, older, lady going down. Fortunately she held on by grabbing handfuls of grass, weeds, shrubs, whatever before she fell to an untimely demise.
