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Hello travel experts!

Please share your advice and help make our honeymoon spectacular!

My fiance and I are getting married in September 2012. For our honeymoon we are thinking of a trip to South America.
Here's an idea of our proposed itinerary... And a couple of questions.. Please lets us know if you think this is "do-able" in the time frame and which other places you may think are worth a visit. We would like to end in Rio to have some beach time to relax and enjoy at the end. I will ask about hotel/restaurant and so forth later...

We will have 2 1/2 - 3 weeks.

We can go in October, January 2013 or May 2013 -- when is the best time to go?

I think because of the time -- and area -- it's best to fly everywhere? Is it easy to book flights there? cheaper? or better to set it all up from home? (Canada)

Itinerary

Fly into Peru…Lima (2nights)
Fly to Cusco (2) …
Train to M.P (1) (better to stay in town at bottom or expensive hotel at the top?)
Train Back to Cusco
Fly back to Lima
Fly to buenos Aris - Argentina (3) (Any other short trips/cities nearby (bus) we should go?)
Fly to Iguassu Falls in Paraguay (2) (any other short trips?)
Fly to Rio, Brazil (3)

Thoughts?
Thanks in advance for all help/suggestions

qwovadis

First congrats

September is a nice time to go.

latinamericaforless.com
great for multi-country itineraries

Did a 5 K road trip last year in SA

Usually fly despegar.com the long legs
driver/guide from $50/half day or bus short legs
based on budget. 20 days not a lot of time make more if you can.

Week 1

Fly to Lima do the "Gringo" Trail to Cusco for Machu Picchu
www.casa-andina.com best hotels Private Collection

Week 2

Fly to Buenos Aires(Claridge) or Sheraton Libertador
Iguazu spg.com Sheraton Falls view room
very nice for us in the past. wowargentina.com

Week 3

pick up nexussurf.com Florianopolis 42 PERFECT beaches on your
way to Rio. brazilnuts.com top Copacabana HM hotels many there

Less is more Paraguay not touristic skip it.

Happy Trails!

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Thanks qwovadis!
I've got a lot of planning to do!
I have been reading the boards here a lot.. there are some great ideas.
Hopefully more Fodors Travellers who have been to SA will post their tips and ideas for our trip!
Or course we want it to be amazing!
Cheers

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Iguazu Falls are on the border between Brazil and Argentina. No need to enter Paraguay at all.

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Yes my bad. So is the general feeling among travellers out there "skip Paraguay" ... maybe more time in Argentina? Brazil?

Matt_Askham

How are the plans for this going now 8?

I am planning a very similar honeymoon with my fiance for October 2013 and would be very interested to hear how you've got on with this. We are thinking 3 weeks to do a similar itinerary to you but have only just started looking so have no idea what price we are looking at.

onthemove247

Yeah, I would say skip Paraguay, but the Argentine and Brazilian sides are a definite must see! Have you looked into any travel agencies to help you plan your trip? I don't know what kind of traveler you are, but since I assume you want to relax on your honeymoon it might be worth looking into one so you don't have to worry about all the details... Also where are you from? Because I know that some countries have to have a visa to enter the Brazil side of the falls... Just something to look into while you are planing

There is a travel agency that a good friend of mine used when she was doing volunteer work down in Peru and Argentina... I believe it was called Dos Manos Travel Agency... She said they set up everything for her, airport pickup, setting up her hotels etc. It might be worth looking into, but I am sure you can do a google search and find it. There are many different travel agencies in the areas you are going to since they attract so many tourists, so you should have no problem finding one that works!

For little trips, I would definitely recommend that you look into going to Mendoza for maybe a weekend or something, it is a very beautiful place with good wine and very romantic, perfect for your honeymoon

Annie_KhueVuong

OMG, I cant believe there is someone have exact the same plan as us.
We just got married 2 weeks ago and plan our honeymoon to Peru, Argentina and wishing to end at Brazil beaches to relax too. and we plan to do it in 16-20days around Jan or Feb 2013 but dont know its a good time or not. So wondering is it a good time to travel?

My husband just suggest if you gus havent gone yet maybe we should do it together hehe...

mick675

I did this roud:
Lima one day and then continue to Paracas - visit the national park there (boat) and then continue to Ica (fly over the Nazca lines and the sleep in Huacachina get some action . sandbording and sandbuggies) then go to Cusco - visit the city (main cathedral, koricancha and Sacsayhuaman) next stop will me Machu Picchu, take a train from Cusco or Ollantaytambo. Spend the night in Aguas Calientes town and next day take the bus up to Machu Picchu (6am) you will enjoy the sunrise over Machu Picchu less people at the Inca city at that time

I didn't go to Iguazu falls...

Good luck

mick675

You may need this link for info in Peru http://www.mythicaltrailsperu.com/

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OMG! Matt_Askham, onthemove247, Annie_khueVuong and mick675!!!
I'm so sorry I haven't responded sooner!! Akk!!

It's been so long in the planning... and then at the same time I was planning our wedding! (Sept.1st) I hadn't looked at this thread in a VERY long time. As you know... So Now that the dust has settled.... knott tied....

Matt_Askham & Annie_KhueVuong first congrats hopefully you're still looking at this thread- lol! - and I can be of some help!!

This is what we've decided.

Just under 3 weeks Peru & Argentina. ( We wanted to end with beach in Brazil.. but it's much more travel time than you would think between all the countries. It just seemed too rushed to squish in Brazil for 2 nights. So we decided to finish with wine instead ;0)

We're going late Nov/Dec (leave in about a month!!!!) because from what I've researched it's spring.. nice temp around 22-25C.

Onthemove247 we're leaving from Canada (BC) - going to Cusco.. then taxi straight to Olly. Olly is lower than Cusco.. I've heard it's an easier start to adjust to altitude than Cusco. Its going to be a long time getting there.. but I think it's the best thing.

So Olly for a couple of days.. then Aguas Caliente for 1 night to be close to MP ... up to see MP (if you haven't booked your tickets already you can no longer do it online because of Visa fraud. so you have to do it through a Peruvian travel agency.. or a trusted guide if you can fine one) Then back to Olly for 1 night.. then day trip to Pisac to see the market and straight on to Cusco for 3 nights.

Then fly to Buenos Aires for 5 nights with a side trip to San Antonio De Areco to see the the Gauchos a horse show and eat a crazy amount of bbq After that on to Mendoza to drink an equal amount of wine!! (Similar minds onthemove257 similar minds!) And then home.. which I'm sure will kill us as it will be around 24 hours of travel!

Thanks for the tip about MP Mick675! We plan to take the first bus up! hopefully I score some amazing photos! Less crowed sounds much better to us

Hope that helps a little.. and thanks everyone for your input.

VidaNaPraia

"We wanted to end with beach in Brazil.. but it's much more travel time than you would think between all the countries. It just seemed too rushed to squish in Brazil for 2 nights."

Wise decision. Save Brazil for a more extensive Anniversary Trip later.