dshaz

So I'm going on my honeymoon soon had the whole tripped planned out, except that I didn't actually book very much yet. When I go to start booking things I realize there are some travel issues that just aren't working out in my favor. Specifically, I found that flights directly to Cuzco from Arequipa are only at 8 am and are only every couple of days. The only other flights go back through Lima and have really long layovers. My backup plan was to bus from Arequipa to Puno and take the train, but the train also only leaves on certain days and only early in the morning. I can deal with this, but it really messes with my itinerary. Here is the original plan:

Friday Day 1. (flight) Home->Lima
2. (3hr bus) -> Paracas
3. Paracas
4. (bus) Ica/Huacachina -> (overnight bus to Arequipa)
5. Arequipa
6. Arequipa
7. (bus) Colca Canyon
Friday 8. Colca Canyon
9. (bus) Arequipa (flight) Cuzco
10. Cuzco
11. Cuzco
12,13,14,15. (trek Inca Trail) Machu Picchu
Saturday 16. Cuzco
17. (flight) Lima->Home

The plan breaks down on Day 9, because there is no flight to take. Instead, the only flight is a day earlier at 7:30am, which means I need to be back in Arequipa on Day 7.

That essentially cuts Colca Canyon completely out of the trip. I end up spending 3 days in Arequipa and then 4 full days in Cuzco before departing on the Inca Trail, which I already have my tickets for. So now my itinerary looks like this.

Friday Day 1. (flight) Home->Lima
2. (3hr bus) -> Paracas
3. Paracas
4. (bus) Ica/Huacachina -> (overnight bus to Arequipa)
5. Arequipa
6. Arequipa
7. Arequipa
Friday 8. (early morning flight) -> Cuzco
9. Cuzco
10. Cuzco
11. Cuzco
12,13,14,15. (trek Inca Trail) Machu Picchu
Saturday 16. Cuzco
17. (flight) Lima->Home

This is a bummer to me, because I don't know if Arequipa is worth spending 3 days in. I don't know if Cuzco is worth spending 4 days in. And I kind of wanted to see Colca Canyon. So now I'm a bit lost on what to do.

I'm considering these changes:
1. Spending just 1 day in Arequipa and leaving on day 6 to take the bus to Puno. Spending Day 7 in Puno, and then taking the Andean Explorer train on Friday to Cuzco. That will still leave me with 3 days in Cuzco. But I'm not sure if my fiancee will be up for it because thats a lot of traveling between day 4 and day 8. I think she'd rather stay put for longer than spending just 1 full day in each of two towns during a 4 day period.
2. Another possibility is leaving Cuzco right when we get there to go down into the sacred valley and spending a couple of nights there (perhaps at the SPG hotel in Urambamba) before heading back to Cuzco for a couple more nights. I'll probably do this one if I end up taking that Day 8 flight to cuzco.
3. Leaving Arequipa as soon as I get there to go to Chivay, and spending days 5 and 6 in the Colca Canyon before returning on Day 7. The problem with this one is it cuts out pretty much any time to actually see Arequipa. And it adds more bus time on top of already spending the entire previous night on a bus.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Should I try to do something else instead of spending 3 days in Arequipa or should I just find a way to enjoy Arequipa for 3 days?