Peru - Trip to Peru in August: Suggestions on Day Tours, Transportation and must-see's

Hi everyone,

I am planning a trip to Peru with my boyfriend and I'm looking for suggestions re: day tour companies and must see places. We will be there mid-August.

We have all hotels booked, but the only tours/activities that are taken care of thus far is when we are in Colca Canyon because the hotel handles everything and it's included in the room rate. I'm assuming we will need someone to show us around in most places except for maybe Lima where we can explore on our own? I would be so grateful for any advice or suggestions!

Itinerary is as follows:

---Fly into Lima - spending 2 nights there (Sheraton Lima)
---Fly from Lima - Cusco. 1 night in Cusco (Casa Andina), 2 nights in Sacred Valley (Aranwa Hotel). Plan to do day trip to Machu Pichu when staying in Sacred Valley.
---Fly from Cusco - Arequipa. 1 night in Arequipa (Casa Andina), 2 nights in Colca Canyon (Orient Express Hotel)
fly from Arequipa - Lima. 1 night in Lima (Sheraton) before flying home.

Also, we don't want the fanciest/most expensive options - I've seen tours that are thousands of dollars for a few days - that is well beyond our budget so I welcome less expensive but just as good suggestions!

Thanks so much in advance!

You can very easily explore on your own in cities - Lima, Cuzco, Arequipa, or find tour companies in place for the Sacred valey - lots of them and at good price.

Lima tours is awesome and they have people all over the country

Lima tours is awesome and they have people all over the country

I used Lima Tours this morning for a 3-hour trip to Pachacamac (about 23k south of Lima). I thought that they were good and very easy to work with. I actually had my hotel call to book them the day before. It was US$38 for the tour. They have a wide selection of tours that you can look at on their website. I can't remember the URL, but just google Lima Tours.

did something similar a few years back (trip report here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/181768-peru-long-parts-requested.html)) - the only thing that we did through a tour operator was the Inca Trail (no choice, used United Mice) and transport Peru/Bolivia border to La Paz.

Very easy to do it yourself, excellent public transport links - helps if you speak Spanish though.