EJS464

The 3PM train from Machu Picchu (you actually board the train in the town of Aguas Calientes in the valley below the site) to Cusco will be tight unless you climb Huayna Picchu during the 8:00AM slot; you do need a separate ticket for access to Huayna Picchu and I recommend buying that before you leave since the spots fill up fast. By taking your time on the climb and enjoying the view you can easily spend 2 hours and it will probably take another hour to get back to Aguas Calientes (Huayna Picchu is on the opposite end of the entrance so you have to walk through most of Machu Picchu and potentially wait to board a bus for the 20 minute ride back to town for the train).

As an alternative to Lake Titicaca, consider taking the train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo and spend 2 days in the Sacred Valley. Ollantaytambo and Urubamba are good base locations to explore several Mayan ruins (Ollantaytambo, Pisac, Moray), salt mines, local markets (Pisac), and rest up a bit. You can then continue to Cusco and complete days 5-6 of your current itinerary before flying back to Lima. From an altitude acclimatization perspective this may help as Machu Picchu is at about 6,000 feet, the Sacred Valley at about 9,000 feet, and Cusco at 11,000 feet. We enjoyed Lake Titicaca and spent one day seeing the floating islands as well as Taquile but Puno was nothing special ... we did feel the altitude here as you find yourself above 13,000 feet.

Any hotel in the Miraflores area of Lima will work. We have stayed at the Hilton and the Doubletree (using points each time) and had good but not necessarily memorable stays. On a side note, the Marriott in Cusco is one of our favorite hotels in the world, great location, great architecture, and fantastic service.