Peru & Bolivia
 

Hello, 2 30y/o guys from NYC are planning a 2 weeks trip to Peru and Bolivia next July/August. Yes I know its crazy planning so far ahead :) but thats how we roll :). One of us is Bolivian, so we have to designate about 5 days in La Paz to stay with his family. The rest of the itinerary is up to us. Here is what we have come up with:

Day 1: Arrive AM in Lima, explore Lima, relax
Day 2: early flight to Cuzco, explore Cuzco
Day 3/4: Sacred Valley/Maccu Picchu
Day 5: bus/train to Pino/Lake Titicaca
Day 6: Pino & Uru islands
Day 7: transfer to Copacabana, Bolivia
Day 8: Copacabana/Isla del Sol
Day 9-13: La Paz (5 days are mandatory)
Day 14/15: Sucre, Bolivia
Day 16: Santa Cruz
Day 17: flight home

we wanted to go to Uyuni, but I just don't see how this is possible.

How does the itinerary look? Too much?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Sergey

Hi Sergey,

My first thoughts are that this is not much time at all to cover everything!

A couple of options:

Day 1: Arrive AM in Lima, explore Lima, relax
Day 2: early flight to Cuzco, explore Cuzco
Day 3/4: Sacred Valley/Maccu Picchu
Day 5: bus/train to Puno/Lake Titicaca
Day 6: Puno & Uru islands & PM transfer to Copacabana, Bolivia
Day 7: Copacabana/Isla del Sol - you can do AM and travel to La Paz PM?
Day 8 - 12: La Paz (5 days are mandatory)

I have a question over your last few days. Are you flying home from Santa Cruz because if not you have plenty of time to do Uyuni and the Salt Flats with 5 days left. You can fly from La Paz to Uyuni and if you are flying to Santa Cruz then you can do that from La Paz.

All this depends on how flexible the end of your trip is!

Yes quite rushed.

I would go

Day 1 Lima
Day 2 fly to Cusco, taxi to Ollantaytambo, see Ollantaytambo ruins. Overnight Ollantaytambo.
Day 3 Early morning train to Machu Picchu, see MP, return late train to Ollantaytambo.
Day 4 travel to Cusco (half day sightseeing in SV, half day in Cusco city, overnight Cusco),
Day 5 Fly to Juliaca, see Uros Islands. (You MAY be able to get this on Star Peru). This will save you a full day.
Day 6 Full day transfer from Puno via Copacabana and Isla del Sol to La Paz (Transturin runs this service via catamaran, it is expensive but more worthwhile than the train between Cusco and Puno!)
So Day 7-11 you are in La Paz
Day 12 you can fly to Uyuni (or you can take the overnight bus on night 11). You can get on a tour that same day,
Day 12, 13, 14 Uyuni, returning around dinner time on Day 14. There are evening busses to Potosi although a bit scary, might look into a private transfer. Or wait til the next morning!

Day 15 You can travel Uyuni to Potosi, I think it is worth staying there one night and see the Moneda. Then continue on to Sucre. Or you can do the whole 9 hours++ in one stretch.

Day 16 Do you need to fly to Santa Cruz this day to catch a flight?

this great feedback. We are flying on AA, so we can either fly from La Paz with a stop over in Santa Cruz, or we can fly from Santa Cruz.

We are keen on spending a day or 2 on the Bolivian side of Lake Titikaka, so we don't want to skip it..but theoretically, if we skip Sucre and Santa Cruz, than we can squeeze in 3 days in Uyuni..but this would be cutting it very close

Transturin's transfer from Puno includes a cruise on the Bolivan side, and you visit both Copacabana and Isla del Sol. You could also add an overnight if you want .

That transfer starts early, around 6:30 am pickup from the hotel, and you arrive into La Paz at dusk.

You could fly from Cusco to La Paz and visit Lake Titicaca from La Paz, as well.

Is it better cross the border from Peru to Bolivia or from Chile to Bolivia?
any advice? Thanks

I think easier and more options from Peru. There were some problems down by the border between Chile and Bolivia (near the Salar de Uyuni) that were causing detours and delays.

Were you planning on doing a tour between Chile and Uyuni or Tupiza? If so maybe the Chilean operator knows the current status of blockade issues inside Bolivia.

Our trip is finally approaching and the itinerary looks the following:

Day 1: via 3 flights and a taxi ride, arrive early afternoon to Sacred valley, relax
Day 2/3: Sacred Valley/Maccu Picchu
Day 4: Cusco
Day 5: Cusco AM, 4pm flight to Puno, evening in Puno
Day 6: Uros islands in the AM, bus to Copacabana in the PM
Day 7: Isla del Sol in the AM, pick-up by friends from La Paz in PM and drive to La Paz
Day 8/9/10: La Paz
Day 11: AM flight to Uyuni, start tour
Day 12/13: Uyuni Tour
Day 14: AM flight to La Paz, day in La Paz
Day 15/16: La Paz
Day 17: flight home