Planning the itinerary for the Peru trip
Peru-Planning the itinerary for the trip
Our itinerary
Things to consider
Planning the itinerary for Peru trip
Hard to believe, we finally put Peru on top of the our travel list! All items on our checklist for a trip like this got checked off:
- Kids old enough for long days of travel – check
- World stops revolving around diapers and naps – check
- Everyone can hike and carry their daypacks – check
- Everyone old enough to build and keep memories – check
Planning the itinerary for Peru turned out to be surprisingly easy. We were torn between DIY planning and a travel agent at first. I like independent traveling but was intimidated a little with the idea of traveling on our own when we don’t know Spanish. After spending a few weeks of getting my own estimates using travel sites and a couple of travel agents, we found that the travel agents either matched our estimates or had a better one. And it included a perfectly choreographed drop-off and pick up from every airport, hotel and sight-seeing tour.
Our itinerary
DAY BY DAY ITINERARY 12 Days
DAY 1: Lima – Arrival at 11PM
Arrival in Lima and transfer to our hotel, Casa Wayra in Miraflores.
2 nights in Lima at Casa Wayra hotel – Standard room: 1 Quad (Breakfast included).
DAY 2: Lima – City Tour
We spent the morning at Larcomar Mall and the afternoon on a half day guided city tour of Lima visiting downtown area, Lima’s Main Plazas, the Presidential Palace, Convent of San Francisco and the Catacombs located below the surface of the church, San Isidro District to see main residential neighborhoods and commercial areas, Huaca Huallamarca, an archaeological site from Pre-hispanic times and the Park of Love and Larcomar Mall by the Pacific Ocean.
DAY 3: Lima – Cuzco – Sacred Valley – Travel day
Flight from Lima to Cuzco by Star Peru airlines.
Transfer to our hotel in the Sacred Valley.
2 nights in Ollantaytambo at Tunupa Lodge hotel – Superior room: 1 Quad
We had a full day private guided tour of the Sacred Valley visiting Awanacancha, the Pisaq Archaeological Park, Pisaq Market to buy some locally made handicrafts. Ended the day with a visit to Ollantaytambo town and a hike to the sun temple at the Ollantaytambo Archaeological Park. A delicious buffet lunch was included on this day.
We spent the morning relaxing in Ollantaytambo and caught the Expedition train to Aguas Calientes by Peru Rail www.perurail.com in the afternoon.
Overnight stay at Santuario hotel – Standard room: 1 Quad (Breakfast included).
DAY 6: Machu Pichhu and travel to Cusco
Spent the morning on a guided tour of Machu Picchu and caught the Expedition train to Cusco by Peru Rail www.perurail.com in the afternoon.
4 nights in Cuzco at Casa Elena hotel – Standard room: 1 Quad (Breakfast included)
DAY 7: Cusco – San Blas and Cusco city tour
Visited the artisan area of San Blas near Cusco in the morning. Afternoon was spent in a shared city tour walking through the cobblestoned streets on our way to visit downtown area, where the Plaza de Armas is located. The tour included the Santo Domingo Convent, which was build where the Qoricancha temple originally stood. The tour ended with the four surrounding archaeological sites of Sacsayhuaman, Quenco, Tambomachay and Puca Pucará.
DAY 8: Maras & Moray tour
Morning – 5 hours private tour visiting Moray, the oldest known horticultural experimental center in the world. Each terraced level has a different micro-climate in which different crops can be grown. Then, Maras, 4 km from Moray, is the site of pre-Inca salineras (salt ponds). The Maras salineras are still active today and maintained cooperatively by the community.
DAY 9: Cusco – Inti Raymi
Spent the morning watching the annual Festival of the Sun, Inti Raymi at the Plaza De Armas. This is a re-enactment of the ancient Incan festival on the winter solstice.
Afternoon was spent shopping for souvenirs on the narrow cobblestone streets around the Plaza De Armas.
DAY 10: Cuzco – Puno – Travel Day
Caught the early morning tourist bus by Turismo Mer from Cusco to Puno. Its a full day bus ride stopping on the way to visit important archaeological and cultural sites like San Pedro Church in Andahuaylillas, also known as the Sistine Chapel of America, Raqchi, La Raya (highest point of the route at a height of over 4.335 meters above the sea level) and Pukará. We had a buffet lunch in Sicuani about half way.
2 nights in Puno at Qelqatani hotel – Standard room: 1 Quad (Breakfast included).
DAY 11: Lake Titicaca Tour
A full day Lake Titicaca Tour: Early morning transfer to the dock where we went on a boat ride on the largest lake in South America and the highest navigable lake in the world! We stopped for a visit at Uros Floating Islands and met some members of this traditional community. Later, we visited Taquile Island to learn more about local customs, while enjoying a homemade lunch with the community members.
Caught a late night flight from Juliaca to Lima by Lan Peru airlines.
2 nights in Lima at Casa Wayra hotel – Standard room: 1 Quad (Breakfast included).
DAY 12: Lima
Took a half day tour with the Colors and Flavors Tour of Lima. Jim, our tour guide took us through local markets with stops on the way to taste local fruits and authentic food from the coast of Lima to the rain-forests of Amazon.
Flew back to Florida on an early morning flight back from Lima.
Things to consider while planning
Duration of the trip
Packaged tours tend to be as short as 4-5 days and as long as 2 weeks. When travelling with kids, we have found that its easiest on all of us if the kids get enough sleep. We try to start our days after 8:30 and be back in the hotel by 6 PM. We add an extra day for most travel days so we are not going out for an excursion the same day we fly into a city. This made our trip about 12 days long. Apart from 2-3 days where we had to wake the kids up at 5 in the morning, the rest of the days were relatively easy.
Amazon rain forest or not
We had a hard time deciding between including the Amazon rain-forest or spending those 3-4 days in our currently scheduled stops in Lima, Cusco, Puno and Machu Picchu to get a better exposure to the cities and their culture. We ended up choosing to leave the rain-forest for a future trip and take our time to enjoy our stay in the rest of Peru.
The best time to travel
Once we got down to booking the trip, the first question was the dates we wanted for the trip. Summer was no-brainer for 2 reasons. One, a 2 week trip is easy to make during the kids summer break than any other time of the year. Two, May through September is the dry and cold season in Peru, making outdoor hikes and visits a lot easier and more comfortable. A bonus was that we could celebrate our son’s 10th birthday at Machu Picchu.
All about Machu Picchu
With the dates decided, the first thing to book would be a trip to Machu Picchu. As of 2011, the total number of daily allowed visitors is capped to 2500. We did not want to leave it to chance and wait to book the tickets at the entrance, especially during high season of June through August. Its a good idea to book the tickets at least a few days in advance, we booked ours 3 months in advance, booking the train tickets both ways to Aguas Calientes at the same time. Once the tickets and travel to Machu Picchu are confirmed, everything just falls into place.
At the time of booking the Machu Picchu ticket, we have the choice of booking Machu Picchu with an option of Huayna Picchu climb. We were warned by our travel agent that the climb to Huayna Picchu is difficult and not a great idea for people with fear of heights and/or with any physical or mental challenges for a steep climb. With a recently broken and healing ankle and a mild fear of heights, we decided to exclude the climb from our trip. Some portions of the climb are steep steps with a 60% angle and could be slippery with morning rain. Something to keep in mind for kids as well. The climb is reserved for 2 slots per day, 7 AM and 11 AM.
Perurail – Expedition or VisatDome?
The train to Machu Picchu is actually the train to and from the base city of Aguas Calientes. The railway offers two categories of train travel, Expedition and Vistadome. Vistadome tickets cost 50 USD more than a ticket on the Expedition. We booked Expedition and really enjoyed our ride. We did not feel cheated of the views as the Expedition has wide windows as well and has some snacks and drinks on board with VERY clean washrooms.
Also see: Traveling to Peru with kids