South America - Itinerary Help CUZ-Machu Picchu

We are on a cruise ship which docks in Lima (not sure how close to the city the terminal is) on a Tuesday afternoon and we have to get off the ship the next day which is a Wednesday. We have a flight from LIM-JFK booked which departs at 1:05 pm on the Saturday.

We would like to get to Machu Picchu, perhaps by staying the night before our visit in Aguas Calientes so as to get into the ruins before the crowds. We would also like to visit the markets but I understand that the market is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday which means it would have to be Thursday (we could miss the market).

Any suggestions for a plan would be great. Obviously we want to make sure we don't miss out flight out of LIM. I believe we could get off of the ship on the Tuesday afternoon if this helped.

Hmm, here's a rough idea ...

Wed (am) - Get off ship. Get flight from Lima to Cusco. Arrive midday. Rest.
Thur - Train from Cusco to AC.
Fri - MP early morning. Catch late train back to Cusco.
Sat - Cusco to Lima flight early in morning. Catch connecting flight to JFK. Earliest is something like 7am.

I would skip the markets. Would also recommend getting some rest on that Wed when you get to Cusco. Coming literally from sea-level, you'll need it. AC and MP are lower than cusco but I find the period spent higher helps once I go lower the next day.

SometimesFlyer itinerary is good, maybe the best you can do, though the Sat program is a bit risky if the Cusco-Lima flight is delayed. If you are coming in a non rainy season that risk is very low, but if you are arriving during march or april, rains could be an issue for flight schedules.

The port is not so far from airport, though traffic is an issue. In that case the best would be if you get off the ship on tuesday and stay at the Ramada within the airport. Or getting off on wednesday as early as possible is good too. There are flights to Cusco almost the whole morning.

Hmm yeah I would just be a little leary of the Lima-Cusco flights as I hear they get delayed ofetent from the cloud celing and weather. Machu Picchu is incredible but if you go make sure you secured your park enterance ticket as early as possible too as the cap the capacity at 2500 a day?

SometimesFlyer itinerary is good, maybe the best you can do, though the Sat program is a bit risky if the Cusco-Lima flight is delayed. If you are coming in a non rainy season that risk is very low, but if you are arriving during march or april, rains could be an issue for flight schedules.

The port is not so far from airport, though traffic is an issue. In that case the best would be if you get off the ship on tuesday and stay at the Ramada within the airport. Or getting off on wednesday as early as possible is good too. There are flights to Cusco almost the whole morning.

Yeah, that Sat connection may be a little risky but there are flights from Cusco to Lima pretty much all morning, every 30-45 mins. I would book to be on the very first one so that you have a margin of error. Not that it applies to you but the afternoon Cusco-Lima flights are the ones that seem to get cancelled or delayed for weather reasons.

At the risk of sounding like a shill for this restaurant (I've recommended it countless times), on the day that you dock, you should consider taking a cab to Miraflores (I don't know where the port is) and have dinner at Astrid y Gaston. It is one of the top-rated restaurants in the world and would be well worth the effort. If you decide to take my suggestion, make a reservation because otherwise you probably won't get in.

We would like to get to Machu Picchu, perhaps by staying the night before our visit in Aguas Calientes so as to get into the ruins before the crowds.

That's a VERY good idea! The views at Machu Picchu can change drastically from dawn to noon and the shifting early morning fog provides a different photo opp every 30 minutes.