We are planning to go to Peru/Machu Picchu/Sacred Valley/Lago Titicaca and possibly on into Bolivia. I was thinking about using a tour company to avoid having to plan it all out but I have read so many posts about how easy it is to plan your own trip and travel in country. SO my question is, how much should I already have planned out and made reservations for? I'm thinking hotels and Machu Picchu entrance fees for sure, but should I already have train and bus tickets reserved for in country travel? Should I have pre-reserved a tour to Sacred Valley from one of our stops? Thoughts from people who have done this already would be appreciated!

Somethings like flights MP entrance, trains to and from MP Ollantambo or Cusco you will need to book in advance. If you want to stay in particular hotels or high end hotels then these are also best booked in advance. this assumes that you are on a fixed itinerary and have maybe a couple of weeks to visit. if you are saying longer then it is perfectly feasible to make it up as you go along.

no idea where you are from but the most expensive option will be to book via an operator in your own country, less expensive a Peruvian tour operator, cheapest of all is to DIY direct with airlines, bus companies and maybe booking.com for hotels etc.

it is very easy to travel in Peru as it has a well developed tourism infrastructure. A little more challenging i Bolivia, but still relatively straightforward depending on where you want to go.

We did some of both. We decided to use a local agent for some hotels, train tickets and tickets to MP. We made a couple of hotel reservation on our own (using points). But the agent could get us better prices than we could for most of our hotels.

I used to always book everything myself, then I traveled to a couple of places where local agents could get me better prices (Sri Lanka) and one place where (at the time) local agents were the only way to book, Burma/Myanmar. So I now often check with a local agent as well pricing things out myself on the web. I find that a local agent can get me better prices on hotels (we stay high end) about 75% of the time.

Wow Kathie...good to know on the local agents. Have never done that on any of my travels. How do you go about finding a local agent for things like hotel reservations?
Crellston-I'm from TX so I would agree that I'd be better finding someone "in-country." Thanks!

It's really all up to your level of interest and the time you want to spend.

I find Peru incredibly easy to book online with the exception of the Machu Picchu entry tickets (seem to be an issue with their credit card processing). It's really no more difficult than booking a vacation in Florida.

Bolivia is another story and you probably need to use a different tour company (even if you take a bus from Peru or Chile, they will switch out guides at the border). If you want a name brand company that caters to middle class international tourists you could try Grupo Rosario (Turisbus) which is based in the Rosario Hotel.

Kanoo Tours in La Paz is an agency offering low to middle tours, booking services and they have a great website.

www.kanootours.com

You'll get charged a "reciprocity fee" to go to Bolivia if you are a US citizen. So unless you are going beyond the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, it probably isn't worth while. You'll want to include the Salad de Uyuni trip if you go to the expense, for sure.

LOL SalaR de Uyuni!!!

Don't you just love those Bolivian salads?

Holawick - here is a link which provides info on local agencies in Peru http://www.andeantravelweb.com/peru/...eru/index.html

muy bueno