How to plan a trip to Peru

It was our most ambitious trip ever! A new continent, so far away from everything else we had visited I had put in loads of effort to plan it to the minutest detail. The only couple of things I missed was looking up restaurants in Lima city centre and in Cusco near our hotel. I will carry this learning when I plan my future trips

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Planning an itinerary

Peru is a vast country with so much of history, natural wonders, beautiful cities and multitude of landforms. Other than the obvious Machu Picchu, which probably boosted tourism in the country, there’s

The Amazon rainforest
Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world
The Andes mountains with innumerable hikes that takes us to glaciers, lakes carved by glaciers and colourful mountains exposed just about 10 years ago by receding glaciers
Nazca Lines
Colca Canyon
Cities – Cusco, Arequipa, Trujillo, Lima
Ballestas Islands for a mini Galapagos experience
Huacachina for a desert oasis and sand boarding

Here’s a rough guide on how much each place would require –

Place	Time required	Time to reach	Access from
Lima	1 day	1 day from Europe / 1/2 a day from US	All major cities in the world. Will be the point of entry in Peru usually
Cusco	2 days	1/2 a day	Good connections to all major cities within Peru
Sacred Valley	2 days	2-3 hours	Cusco
Machu Picchu	1 -2 days	2 1/2 hours	Ollantaytambo / Sacred Valley. There’s access from Cusco too
Inca Trail	4-5 days		Cusco/ Sacred Valley
Amazon Rainforest	3-4 days	1/2 a day	Iquitos, Puerto Maldonado or Cusco
Huacachina & Ballestas Islands	2 days	4 hours	Lima
Nazca Lines	1 day	2 hours at most	Ica or Pisco
Colca canyon and Arequipa	3-4 days	1/2 a day	Fly to Arequipa from Lima and by road to Colca canyon from Arequipa
Lake Titicaca	2 days	1/2 a day	Puno or Arequipa

Lima

In most cases this city is only for point of entry and departure. Though there are some archaeological sites within the city we did not find it more appealing than the sites in Cusco or Sacred Valley. This is the capital of Peru and it was nice to see how people lived here, in this part of the world. Our day in Lima here.

Inca highlights

Those who visit Machu Picchu usually visit Sacred Valley and Cusco. This totally requires 5-7 days. One, to acclimatise to the high altitude (thinner air and less oxygen concentration) and also to look at other Incan sites and experience the culture of Peru.

Machu Picchu

This is the highlight and most expensive sight to visit! The easiest access is from Ollantaytambo with a train to Aguas Calientes (or Machu Picchu pueblo) and then a bus up to the citadel. However it’s all priced in US Dollars!

First, book the entrance ticket to the site. It costs $51 for adults and $23 for a child. It can be booked online at https://www.machupicchu.gob.pe/?lang=en. There are hikes that you can take to nearby mountains and you pay extra for that. You have to pick a date and time slot to enter, enter your passport details, pay and a link to print the tickets get emailed to you. A passport is required for entry so ensure that you carry it with you on the day of your visit. The tickets should be purchased 2-3 months in advance during peak periods like August and December. The tickets that include entry to the site and hikes to nearby mountains sell out quicker than just entry tickets

Then book the train to and from AC. We chose Peru Rail and the rates varied from $60 to $85 per person depending on the kind of train (vista dome or expedition) and the time of travel. The trains can be booked at https://www.perurail.com or Incan rail. Allow at least 30 minutes between the arrival of the train and the entry slot at Machu Picchu. More if you want to have snacks / lunch at AC and/or time to relax. We booked Peru Rail as they had more trains and more convenient timings than Inca rail. We chose the Vistadome for our onward and Expedition for our return. The Vistadome train has slightly larger windows and includes a snack and drink. The return Vistadome train apparently has some cultural performances and sale of souvenirs too that we decided to skip!

Then book the bus from AC to MaPi. It can be booked at https://comprar.consettur.com. It takes 15-20 minutes for the ride to the top and costs USD12 each way per person. The ride to the top is a series of switch backs but since it is not very long it was manageable. We did not ride up after a heavy meal either. There are multiple buses running one after the other. So if you can’t find seats together you could wait for the next one. There is no specific bus you have to ride. Apparently there’s a long queue for the first entry slot as most of the people who booked the first slot want to enter the site as soon as it opens to catch the first rays of sun falling on the citadel.

The other access to MaPi is through the Inca trail – the route the Incas took to reach MaPi. There’s a 4D/3N trek from the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu that you see at sunrise on day 4. There is also a shorter 2D/1N trek that doesn’t require you to stay in campsites. These treks are operated by tours and you need to book them way in advance, even before you decide to book online tickets to MaPi. There are limited passes issued for the trek and they get sold out way in advance. The tour operators have guides and cooks and carry all food and necessary equipment for camping. The trek requires complete acclimatisation to the altitude before it can be attempted as it takes you to places higher in elevation that the sacred valley or MaPi. One recommended operator is https://www.alpacaexpeditions.com who also operate guided treks to other destinations in the sacred valley and Cusco.

You can read about our visit to Machu Picchu here

Sacred Valley

The valley in the Andes between Cusco and Machu Picchu is called the sacred valley and is dotted with Incan sites. There are several hikes that can be taken here too but except for the Inca trail, aren’t very popular with tourists. The main sites that people visit are

Chinchero – a town famous for its Spanish church on Incan foundations, market and weaving, located at 12,000 feet (3800m) above sea level.
Maras – A salt mine where salt has been mined since pre-incan times and continues to operate today
Moray – A terraced crop circle each terrace with a micro climate. Used by the Incas to study the impact of the micro climate on agriculture
Ollantaytambo – one of the largest sites in the valley where the Inca king took refuge and was even successful in thwarting attempts of the Spanish conquistadors in capturing him though eventually was captured and executed. A town that still retains many original buildings and is being lived in continuously from Incan times.
Pisac – famous for its site high up in the mountains, a colourful town centre and market.

A BTC (Boleto Turístico del Cusco) ticket is required for entrance into the various sites. There are 4 types of tickets available.

Type of BTC	No of days valid	Cost (Adult) PEN	Cost (Child) PEN
Integral (All sites in Cusco and SV)	10	130	70
Circuit I (Cusco)	1	70	40
Circuit II (Cusco museums)	1	70	40
Circuit III (Sacred Valley excl Maras)	2	70	40

You can read about how we planned our itinerary in the Sacred Valley here.

Cusco

This is the Incan capital and situation at 10,000 feet above sea level and high up the Andes! This was also the city where the Incas lost to the Spanish conquistadors. It’s a city that has seen so much history. Buildings with Incan foundations topped by Spanish construction, Incan sights and Spanish churches, a modern day bustling city with Quechuas, some still dressed in their traditional attire. Lovely vistas from several points in the city and from Saqsaywaman – a Incan fort. This is also the city from where tours take you to glacier lakes like the Humantay lake, Rainbow mountains – Vinucunca or Palccoyo. All these options require one to be hiking from the drop off point to the lake/mountain at very high altitudes. Some over 5000m and require complete acclimatisation. Most of these tours provide breakfast/lunch as well.

Here’s how we spent our two days in Cusco.

The Amazon Rainforest

This was a must visit destination for me for a long time. Earlier when we were looking at Brazil, I wanted to include Manaus and 3 days in the Amazon river cruise. But it was turning to be more expensive than we imagined. So when we saw that we could also visit the Peruvian side of the rainforest I started my research and realised that there was easier access to wildlife in this part of the world. There are three areas that you could visit from within peru

Iquitos

This is the furthest from Lima / Cusco and is in the northern part of Peru. The Amazon river runs through this city. The only access to this city is by air or obviously, through the river. There are lot of experiences to be had at Iquitos. There are river cruises run by star operators that take you deep into the rainforest and back. There are simpler cruises offered by boats with not so much facilities. There are resorts offering all inclusive options. There are also options to go further downstream into real rainforest for better wildlife viewing.

Based on my research I realised that the rainforest around the city was hugely compromised. There has been lot of human and development activity taking place in and near Iquitos that most of wildlife have moved away further. Though there has been measures taken to control deforestation and curb development, the wildlife apparently hasn’t returned. There are also very touristy activities like visiting a native village and learning to blow poisonous darts. Apparently all the tribes around here have been modernised and they wear traditional clothes and sell traditional items only for tourists. Delving deeper into the forest means we needed more time and it would be more expensive. Despite The Amazon river being a major attraction we decided to drop Iquitos.

Manu Forest

This is one of the largest untouched area of the Amazon eco system that starts from the Andes mountains and ventures further east. About 80% of the forest is inaccessible to outsiders and there are some indigenous tribes still living there with no contact to the outside world. The only access to this part is by road from Cusco. The wildlife is abundant but the facilities for tourists is quite basic and the access by road takes hours. It’s apparently too “wild”!

Tambopata

This region is accessed by flying into Puerto Maldonado, a city that sits where two rivers meet – Tambopata and Made de dios. There are many tours operating out of PEM. The itineraries are usually 3-4 days though there are tours operating less than that too.

The rainforest along the Tambopata river is un-compromised (as far away from Puerto Maldonado) as possible. There is a buffer zone between the Tambopata national reserve and the city which allows the modernised indigenous tribes to farm and operate lodges. Tambopata reserve has the second best wildlife spotting among all the options. The lodges are also comfortable and are used to handling lot of tourists.

There are many luxury stays along the Made de dios river that offer 3-4 day itineraries. The biggest draw to this part of the Tambopata region is the oxbow lake – Lake Sandoval. There’s several wildlife including giant river otters and giant caimans to be spotted here. Other than that there wasn’t really anything.

There are several lodges along the Tambopata river offering similar services. The biggest draw of this area is the Macaw clay licks found south in the Tambopata river inside the national reserve. There are also a few oxbow lakes in this region though not as popular as lake Sandoval. Lodges operated by Rainforest Expeditions are on the higher end and several lodges, most of them operating individually, on the lower end.

We chose the mid-range JunglePro Expeditions with their lodge at Finca Sachavacayoc. We chose this option among all as we wanted to see the macaws, we weren’t interested in touristy options like visiting a indigenous tribe or climbing canpopy towers or rope bridges. We wanted to feel the forest, spot some wildlife and see the macaws.

Now most travel books and websites tell you to avoid the rainforest in the wet or rainy season (that runs from November – March). We traveled in December and had the best experience of our lives! However be prepared for the worst and keep your expectations in check but stay optimistic as wildlife sighting including the Macaws visiting the clay lick needs a lot of luck in addition to good weather!

Our adventures in the The Amazon Rainforest.

Our itinerary

We based our itinerary off the number of days we had to spend. We started off with a week and extended it to 10 days to include the time taken for travel between the different places.

We decided that we should one more spot as we were spending a whole day just to travel to the country. The choice was between The Amazon rainforest and Huacachina / Ballestas Islands. We chose the Amazon because it was on our bucket list and also because it appealed to us more than other cities and sights.

This was our itinerary

Day	Itinerary	Stayed at
1	Fly from UK (via Amsterdam) to Lima	Lima
2	Begin Amazon experience by flying to Puerto Maldonado, boat to lodge and a night walk to see the insects	Jungle lodge
3	Early morning visit to Macaw clay lick, afternoon walk to spot wildlife and night boat ride to spot caimans	Jungle lodge
4	Leave the jungle lodge, boat to Puerto Maldonado, fly to Cusco, taxi to Ollantaytambo (Sacred Valley)	Ollantaytambo
5	Sacred Valley sites – Chinchero, Maras and Moray	Ollantaytambo
6	Machu Picchu	Ollantaytambo
7	Sacred valley sites – Ollantaytambo and Pisac and drive to Cusco	Cusco
8	Sights in Cusco – Saqsaywaman, San blas, Plaza des aramas	Cusco
9	Sights in Cusco – Qorikancha and San Pedro market and fly to Lima	Lima
10	Sights in Lima – Plaza mayor and Parque del Amor. Evening flight to Amsterdam	Flight
11	Arrival and layover in Amsterdam (short visit to the city) and fly to the UK	Home

Flights

We tracked flight fares and routes for a couple of months with different dates keyed in on Google Flights. We had used Kayak and Skyscanner before but I felt Google offered the best UI and experience for tracking flights and fares.

We looked at routes through the USA and through Europe. Flights through USA were very time consuming and the layovers were very short. A minimum of 3 hour layover was recommended to clear customs and immigration. All flights through USA need one to hold a valid entry for USA on your passport.

The next best option was Europe. There are some Latin American airlines operating directly to Spain and Portugal but these again were time consuming.

The best option for us was KLM or Air France. Both had similar schedules and took similar time to reach Lima. We chose KLM as we had travelled with them before and we were content with their service. However we were disappointed this time with the way they handled our case at boarding. You can read about it here.

Hotels

First go-to for researching hotels was booking.com. But the kind of options we received was overwhelming with a range of budgets and a range of reviews. Based on guidebooks and trip reports on Tripadvisor we caught a few names. Many were either beyond our budget or priced very low. We were looking for midrange. Once we got the names we contacted the hotels individually to book.

We used booking.com for our Lima hotels as they offered a better rate than their own websites.

Lima

Holiday Inn Lima Airport

No frills but very good customer service and breakfast right across from the airport. Cheaper than the Wyndham that’s just across from the terminal. Holiday Inn offered free transfer from the airport to the hotel and does not recommend you to walk through the chaotic Lima traffic.

Double Tree by Hilton Lima Miraflores El Pardo

A four star hotel with a sumptuous breakfast, a roof top swimming pool, a gym and several facilities with good sized rooms. A little comfort to splurge on for our last night in Peru. Located in Miraflores with loads of shopping and food options nearby.

Amazon – JunglePro

We booked with JunglePro and chose their 3D/2N itinerary that includes everything except tips from the time you land at Puerto Maldonado till you depart 2 days later. We stayed at their quite new Finca Sachavacayoc. 2-3 hours upstream from Puerto Maldonado. A jungle lodge so you can’t expect great facilities. The room was comfortable, had screens to protect you from insects but they still got in. Mosquito nets over beds that really protected you at night. Good shower with hot water. Great food and excellent service. An enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide for our entire stay. Oscar who handled the administration was prompt in my email queries and responded patiently to all my questions. We were the only guests at the lodge due to the cancellations because of all the protests yet they went full swing in hosting us.

Sacred Valley – Ollantaytambo – Apu Lodge

We chose Ollantaytambo over other spots (especially the more popular Urubamba) because the train to MaPi departed from here and we only needed to walk down to the station in the morning.

Apu Lodge was located off a traffic free side street from the main square. The first day while I was still adjusting to the elevation I was almost fainting by the time I reached Apu Lodge from the main square. It improved greatly over the next few days. This lodge is located right below the (free) Pinkylluna ruins and has a lovely garden and a sufficient breakfast. Since it’s off the main square it was calm and peaceful here with the sound of running water keeping you company. The room was a tight fit for four of us and our suitcases but I guess most of the hotels in the area were small. The people were very friendly and helpful even before we arrived. They responded patiently to my questions over email.

Cusco – Tambo del Arriero

With so many options this was one city that I couldn’t narrow down my choices. Most of the trip reports recommended the Wyndham or the Hilton but they were way beyond our budget. One of Shash’s requirement was that it should have a courtyard and colourful walls just like the house in Disney’s Encanto had. This made it a little easier for me to narrow down hotels that met this criteria and I finally decided on Tambo del Arriero based on reviews and recommendations in guide books. I wasn’t disappointed at all!

Though it’s a steep climb from the main square in Cusco we were never far from facilities. There were markets and laundries all around. The only thing I did not research was restaurants, underestimating the effort needed in navigating steep roads. I had noted down a lot of places across the Plaza des Aramas that required a lot of climbing down and up.

The hotel was beautifully decorated and had great rooms and service. It does get cold in Cusco in the evenings (even for those from the UK) and they turned on the heating for us. We were the only guests due to a lot of cancellations but that didn’t deter them from giving us great service including great breakfasts, free airport transfer and a late check-out.

Internal transportation

Flights

Our flights between Lima – Puerto Maldonado, Puerto Maldonado – Cusco and Cusco – Lima were all booked Latam. They are the national carriers with the most number of flights anywhere in the country and in the unlikely event of one getting cancelled you can always find another one not too late from your original.

Latam Peru (in Spanish) or Latam New Zealand offers better rates than other Latam sites. You need to select the country and language from the drop down and stick to the country even if it recommends your home country after you select Peru or NZ. We booked the full fare that included seats and luggages. They are very specific about the weight limit. Each suitcase needs to be under 21kgs. Service was just fine except for a broken suitcase and lost luggage tags between Puerto Maldonado and Cusco. They served a bar of chocolate and water/coffee onboard.

Taxis

Sacred Valley

We had booked with Apu Lodge for our airport/cusco/ollantaytambo transfers and for sight seeing in Sacred Valley. A good car and a driver with limited English but was friendly and helpful.

Cusco

We asked the hotel to book a taxi to take us to the top of Saqsaywaman and they offered a free airport transfer for our return.

Lima

We used Taxi Datum (have a website that you can use to book) for our hotel – airport transfers in Lima. They were punctual and just perfect. Used uber for transport between hotel and Plaza mayor and Plaza mayor and Parque del Amor.

Walking routes

Google maps are perfect for planning times between destinations, routes and even the elevation gain/loss. It’s better to download an offline map of the cities you will be visiting. I also used Google maps to locate restaurants, look at their menus and prices. You can also save the establishments that you are planning to visit.

Food

Vegetarian food was plenty and easy to come by but I did research up some restaurants in Ollantaytambo and Cusco. My choices were based off recommendations on Tripadvisor and the painstaking process of looking up menus and prices on Google maps!

How to DIY your trip

Start with what you want to see and do. Rank them in order of priority
Decide on the number of days you want to spend totally. A week is minimum, 10 days ideal, 2 weeks to cover more. You could also give yourself a day or two between cities to rest and recover – we wish we did!
Book your international flights to and from Lima.
Buy travel insurance. Many in Europe do not cover many forms of cancellations. So ensure to read through the fine print.
Break up and arrange the itinerary based on the number of days in each place, the availability and cost of flights and hotels. There are flights between Cusco and Puerto Maldonado only on 4 days a week. So we went to Amazon first before Cusco against our initial plan of visiting Cusco and Sacred Valley before Amazon as there were no flight between them on the day we wanted to fly.
Book the flights first so that your dates in that particular city are confirmed.
Make a rough itinerary for the places you will be visiting day-wise in each location.
Book the entrance/treks to Machu Picchu, packages with Amazon tour operators and other tours that sell out quickly. Hold on to tours to Rainbow mountains and Humantay lake until you get there or book with free cancellation as you do not know how you will react to the altitude or how bad the weather is going to be.
Book the hotels. With free cancellation if possible and directly with the hotel if they are rated well. Booking.com and Hotels.com offer some protection in case the hotel messes up your booking but they also charge a fee over and above the hotel rates sometimes. In some cases they can actually be cheaper than the hotel’s websites. We had the Black Friday sales before our trip and we found a cheaper deal at Holiday Inn Lima airport.
Book taxis and airport transfers.
Fine-tune your itinerary for each location if necessary. Look up and mark places on Google maps for restaurant choices and sights (paid or free) that you want to visit.
Make a shopping list and shop for the items you need. Amazon required some specific items to be purchased. The tour operator also sends you a list with necessary items. We carried battery operated fans and flashlights. Look through your wardrobe and ensure you have necessary clothes to suit the climate and location.
Read up on the places you will be visiting if you are not using a guide.
Check on vaccinations or reports mandated by your country and update them
Take print outs of the entrance tickets and ALL bookings! WhatsApp a PDF copy of them to your family group.
Pack day wise and stick labels to tell you what you packed where. Share that with the family too.
Reconfirmation emails to all tour operators and hotels a couple of days before you leave. Watch the situation in Peru or the countries you will be transiting.
Check-in, fly and enjoy your holiday!

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How to plan a trip to Peru

Planning an itinerary