We will be visiting South America early next year and are trying to decide whether to travel independently as we usually do in our travels or whether to book through an Agency to have everything organized, especially since we only speak English.

For the Peru portion of our trip we will be flying into Cusco in the early afternoon on day 1. I would like to travel straight to the Sacred Valley, probably staying at Ollantaytambo for two nights and spend day 2 touring around the Sacred Valley.
On day 3 we could travel on an early train to Aguas Calientes and up to Machu Pichu. I'd like to stay at Aguas Calientes overnight and have the flexibility to return to Machu Pichu the next morning in case the weather wasn't so good the day before. Later that day we could return to Cusco, staying there for two nights and spending day 5 looking around Cusco. On day 6 we fly out of Cusco on an early morning flight.

I'm trying to work out the logistics of luggage with the train trip from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes as I've read about luggage restrictions on the train. Would it be better if we went to Ollantaytambo on day 1, staying overnight there and then asking the hotel to keep some of our luggage while we travel to Aguas Calientes and then stay at the same hotel again two nights later? Does this seem to be the best way to fill in the days we have available?

1 Arrive Cusco at 2pm and travel to Ollantaytambo o/n Ollantaytambo
2 Early train to Aguas Calientes. Travel to Machu Pichu o/n Aguas Calientes
3 Morning at Machu Pichu. Train back to Ollantaytambo later in day o/n Ollantaytambo
4 Sacred Valley tour. Travel to Cusco later in day o/n Cusco
5 Day in Cusco o/n Cusco
6 Fly out of Cusco early morning flight.

Does this seem easily doable doing everything totally independently or do you think it would be better to use an Agency to have everything booked and organized for us?

I just booked a very similar trip (one extra day) independently. I do speak Spanish and most of my emailing in Spanish, but everyone I'm dealing with seems to speak English as well.

We doing our SV activities at the beginning of the trip to acclimate. Also other ruins seem anticlimactic after MP (I've been there before - the rest of my family hasn't). I incorporated two days to relax (Day 3 and Day 5), but you could tweak this to spend two days at MP by leaving earlier on Day 3.

This is what we're doing:

1 - Arrive Cusco 10am - to Ollantaytambo w/ guide, stop in SV
2 - Ollantaytambo (1/2 day horse trek to Maras and Salineras?)
3 - Ollantaytambo until midday; train to AC
4 - Machu Picchu - train to Ollantaytambo, taxi to Cusco
5 - Cusco - spa day
6 - Cusco - market, shop
7 - home

Our hotel in Ollanta will hold our luggage and give it to the driver who will meet our train and take us to Cusco. We're leaving very soon and I can let you know how it goes.

Thanks crosscheck. I'll look forward to hearing how your trip goes. Have you already booked the guide for the trip from Cusco to Ollantaytambo? Is that a private transfer for you and your family?

Yes, for Day 1 I booked Percy Salas, a private guide with much fame here on Fodors and on TA. (And our friends used him for their 4-day Cusco-MP trip after their Galapagos cruise.) Percy booked our MP guide for us. I arranged the Ollanta-Cusco transfer on Day 4 through our Ollanta hotel because they will be holding our luggage. We want some downtime on this trip and haven't made plans yet for Day 2 or Days 5-6, will wing it depending on how we feel.

This is a last-minute trip - planned everything 3-4 weeks before the trip, including flights w/ mileage. May is supposed to be before the peak tourist season, but an ideal time weatherwise, so I hope the one day at MP works out.

Quite a few hotels were full, but I think we ended up with a good selection. What time of year are you going?

When you say "7-home" this implies that you want to fly from Cusco to Lima on the same day as your international flight. This is never a good idea since flights between Cusco and Lima can be delayed or cancelled for a variety of reasons (or sometimes no good reason other than the flight isn't full). I always recommend returning to Lima the day before your international flight. Lima is an interesting city and you will be able to fill your time for a day. Amazing restaurants. I like Barranco as a location.

If you are comfortable with booking your own vacations then there is no problem with doing so in Peru.

The larger hotels have their own websites and many hotels are on booking.com or Expedia. You can also email. Even small hotels will have someone who helps them with English correspondence, although you may have to wait 24-48 hours for a reply. You can email in English and then also include a Google translate version in Spanish (which is a useful way to learn some "tourist Spanish"). I request that the reply is in English if possible.

Hotels can arrange your airport transfers (this is a good idea if you don't speak Spanish). Many of the hotels in the SV/Cusco have connections with tour guides as well. Given the great reviews that Percy always gets here, I wouldn't hesitate to book him for a day. You will also find tour guides at the entrance to the major archaeological sites (of varying quality and English fluency, be sure to chat a bit before hiring).

At the Lima airport you can safely use "Taxi Green" booked inside the airport, at the kiosk near arrivals.

Internal flights can be booked online, as can the train to Aguas Caleintes. Hotels in the SV/Olly/Cusco are used to holding luggage for guests going to MP.

Great place to visit, Peru..I've been 5 times.

I think the OP is going elsewhere in South America, but will take our chances on a same day CUZ-LIM connection. I have been to Lima before - It is a fine city and I agree that the cuisine is excellent, but I didn't want four destinations in a one-week trip.

We scheduled a 4-hour layover between our domestic and international flights and an early flight out of Cusco, so with some luck it will work. Our intl. airline (COPA) has another flight 12 hours later, so if we miss our flight (booked with miles, so we can rebook), we will do a Lima day tour.

^^Oops - I meant WE will take our chances.

mlgb, You made me slightly nervous so I just called United (whose mileage we used to book COPA) and asked what happens if we miss our connecting flight in Lima. They said that if Copa doesn't put us on the next flight for free, United would do it for a small penalty fee.

If you book everything through one airline or on one ticket there isn't as much of a risk. Using LAN's airpass or miles, less penalty if you miss a connection.

But if you buy domestic tickets separately from your international there may be no recourse other than a verrrrry expensive one way ticket home (or at least the fare difference).

Most travel insurance requires more time between flights to pay for a missed connection.

Thanks crosscheck and mlgb for your replies. I'll contact Percy Salas and see if he's available for the dates we'll be there - in January.

I've already booked our flights with the LAN South America Airpass so if there are delays out of Cusco we should have no problems being put on the next flight from Lima to Santiago.

mlgb - when you said that hotels can arrange your airport transfers, can they usually also organise transfers from the airport to their hotel, as well as from the hotel back to the airport, if you contact them after booking?

Yes Koz2 they can arrange for someone to meet tou at the airport.

<<But if you buy domestic tickets separately from your international there may be no recourse other than a verrrrry expensive one way ticket home (or at least the fare difference).>>

Not entirely true. Most US airlines abide by the 'flat tire rule,' in which you can fly standby on the next flight if you arrive at the airport within two hours of your original flight. (For a list of airlines, check flyertalk.) For this trip, we have additional protection because we're using award tickets. With those, most airlines let you fly standby on the same day or the next for a minimal cost.

LAN...not a US airline. And real Bstrds when it comes to accommodating customers with any kind of problem.

Domestic flights within Peru...not operated by US airlines unless codeshare counts?

Usually when there is a delay between Cusco and Lima it is likely to be due to weather that grounds some or all airlines entirely. (LAN I believe can fly when others cannot). Far more than two hours. In many cases it may take a day or two to be rebooked on a flight with available seats.

Wow, How much fog is there in May? Hope we don't get delayed for days. Mr. Crosscheck will not be a happy camper.

Re: the flat tire rule. I was referencing our flight, not the OP's. Sorry for the confusion. We're traveling on Copa with United tickets. United does honor the rule, even for foreign partner codeshares. (Just as LAN will honor the rule if you book through AA.) But, more importantly, our award tickets are changeable if we stick to the same route.

Biggest issue for us on this trip will be if we have to check a bag on the return. We always travel with carry-on, but those textiles and alpaca sweaters look very tempting.

In the case of the OP, there shouldn't be an issue because he/she is booked solely through LAN. I'm surprised to hear about LAN's poor customer service - I fly them often from LAX-SCL, awesome for that route.

May is THE month of fog in Lima. Think San Francisco. I believe LAN has the equipment to land in fog, but not all of the small airlines do.

I didn't realize Copa flew to Cusco.

Are you sure you aren't flying TACA for your Cusco leg? They are part of Star Alliance.

I think the main issue with TACA inside Peru is that they don't run a lot of flights, so that if there is a problem somewhere in the system everything gets backed up.

I flew them Lima to Chiclayo and they were delayed 3 hours, no weather issues. Just "equipment".

Much confusion - sorry. We ARE flying LAN at 8:30am from Cusco to Lima, connecting to Copa at 2:00pm from Lima to Panama City to LAX.

I could change our Lima-Panama flight from 2:00pm to 3:00am, but Mr. Crosscheck would be very cross indeed if we ended up with an unnecessary 17-hour layover.

Off tomorrow on another trip, then to Peru. Please send positive defogging thoughts.

Have a great trip. LAN has many more flights and the ability to land in fog, so fingers crossed for the crosschecks.

I actually like the cool weather in Lima, since it means one can sleep with the windows closed!

Cusco is great and there is so much to do! So much to eat too, be sure to try out the yummy street food!

http://www.spanishschoolsblog.com/sp...s-street-food/