Peru 18 day itinerary help please!
 

My husband, 11 year old son and I are traveling to Peru on December 21st for 18 days. I have created an itinerary and would really appreciate any suggestions and feedback you can offer to make this trip a great one... We are experienced travels and are fluent Spanish speakers. Would lov some recommendations for lodging or sites to visit also.

12/21: Arrive in Lima at 6:15am, bus to Paracas. ATV Paracas National Reserve (stay in Ica)
12/22: Ballestas Islands in the am / Huacachina sandboarding in pm (stay in Huacachina or Ica)
12/23: Bus back to Lima, fly to Cusco
12/24: Cusco stay in Cusco)
12/25 - 12/28: Inka Jungle Tour
12/29 - 12/31: Sacred Valley (stay in Ollantaytambo)
1/1: pm train to Puno (stay in Puno)
1/2: Lake Titicaca, pm bus to Chivay or Yankee (stay in Chivay or Yankee)
1/3 - 1/4 Colca Canyon (stay in Arechipa)
1/5 - 1/6 Arechipa, pm flight to Lima
1/7- Lima, midnight flight home

Thank you in advance for taking the time to help me.

Hello!

Just spent a few months travelling in Peru, so thought I'd give my thoughts.

First thing, as you're travelling over the Christmas and New Year period, have you confirmed that all these excursions and tours are operating on those dates?

On your first night, I would recommend staying the night in Paracas itself (a little town on the coast with few hotels, hostels and seafood restaurants) rather than Ica - Paracas is also where tours depart for Ballestas, so that saves you extra transport time the next day.

Sandboarding is awesome - I just published this post about it. Again, I'd recommend staying in Huanchaco rather than Ica (it's only a 10 minute taxi ride away) http://www.alongdustyroads.com/posts...ies-tours-peru

Where you've written Sacred Valley over two days, what are you planning to include?

Last thing, I would take at least one thing out of the itinerary. You're going to be covering A LOT of ground (including lots of hiking and activities) in this time frame and I would suggest missing out on one thing to allow you to enjoy Peru a little more at a slower pace.

Hope that helps!

Completely agree with wanderingscot - it's best to spend your first night at Paracas. It's 2+ hours bus journey between Paracas and Ica, no need to do it twice.

What parts of your itinerary you already booked?

We did a similar trip, but in different order. We went to Cusco/Sacred Valley after a day in Lima -> Sacred Valley -> Machu Picchu ->Cusco -> Puno/Lake Titicaca -> Yankee/Colca Canyon -> Arequipa -> overnight bus to Nazca (possible to take bus to Ica) -> Ica -> Paracas -> Lima

If you can do the lower elevations first (work your way up to Cusco and Titicaca) I would. It made an amazing difference for me, and altitude is no respecter of persons: it can affect the young and fit.

Of course, I'd also fit in the Amazon and take away something else, but that's just me--I'm a little biased toward the Peruvian Amazon! https://missalg.smugmug.com/Travel/P...n-Amazon-2015/

I think you are packing a little too much in to your itinerary. Personally, I would omit the coastal portion and add it to the sacred valley or Arequipa. Arequipa itself is a wonderful city and you could spend half a day at Monasterio de Santa Catalina alone.

I would consider staying at the lower altitude of Ollantaytambo for a day or two to aid your acclimatisation before your trek.

You don't mention what your plans are for your time in the SV but presume you are covering the usual places close to Ollantaytambo - Moray, Maras, Chinchero etc. I would also add an an early morning trip to Pisac from Cusco. On the way back, get the bus to drop you at Tambo Machay and walk back to Cusco along the old inca trails via Q'enka, Sacsayhuaman etc. Takes around three hours and there are some amazing views.

Some more info and photos on our blog @ http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...ai/6/tpod.html entries 17 - 22 and 37 - 40 cover Peru.

Finally, an alternative to the train to Puno is one of the tour buses such as Inka Express. It follows virtually the same route as the train but has the advantage of stopping at places of interest along the way (and is way cheaper).

I agree with much of the above.

Including

1) Stay in Paracas, not Ica between the land and sea portion.

2) Consider options of reversing your route and dropping one location.

3) Check that the Inka Jungle Tour is in fact available. If it has been raining, IMO this is too dangerous to undertake. Guides and tourists have been killed by landslides in the past on this route. December/January are the start of the rainy season in earnest. I would probably just do the MP visit by train, if you want to do a bit of hiking you can walk up to the Sun Gate. You can also hike down from Pisac, or hike around Ollantaytambo. Since you are fluent, I recommend the official Peruvian weather site, www.senamhi.gob.pe

4) Check time tables to be sure when the buses run between Puno, Arequipa and Colca Canyon. 4-M Express is a comfortable tourist bus that I've used. Don't take a night bus, especially in the rain.