I will be in Lima on business (in March) and then want to visit MP. The Lima to MP trip and back will be on personal expenses and time. What is the minimum reasonable time I should set aside for the visit to MP?

Is it better to go on an organised tour to MP from Lima or better to do your own thing? If tours, then can anyone point me to a website where such tours are advertised?

Is flying to Cuzco the best option and are these flights expensive? Would it be cheaper to tag on this flight to my ticket from London?

I have never been to South America so would welcome any advice.

I want to go there too in about a year. . I cant wait. . What would the costs be or the best way to get from Lima to the MT?

Flights between LIM & CUZ are about an hour long and are inevitably in the morning, as flying conditions in CUZ are poor after mid-day. You can do a day trip between Cuzco and MP easily enough, by taking the train to Aguas Calientes and a bus from there. So, minimum would be three days, on day 1 you could take an early a.m. flight to CUZ then spend the rest of the day exploring the city, stay overnight and take the early a.m. train the next day to MP, return that evening and return to LIM the following morning to connect with a flight in the afternoon or evening back to London.

You can do all this without booking a tour, but it will certainly help if you speak some Spanish. At least March is not high season (expect rain in Cuzco) so hotel space, etc., shouldn't be a problem.

LAN Peru flies between LIM & CUZ, so if you're flying BA/AA to LIM then you could easily wrap the domestic flight into your ticket and probably save some money.

Siempre Viajando has pretty much summed it up. Flights are easy and LAN is a good carrier. 3 days two nights would be the minimum. You can book tours at the airport there are a few tour companies there and they seem like good value.

If I was you I would add an extra day to acclimatise and maybe a trip to the Sacred Valley.
Day1- Fly into Cuzco transfer to hotel and walk around city
Day2- Tour of Sacred Valley
Day3- Train to MP, day in MP and train back to Cuzco
Day4- Fly back to Lima

Thanks for the detailed information. I can speak Urdu and French but sadly no Spanish. I guess in this a tour should be considered?

As I said in my earlier post, Spanish would be helpful, but I'm not convinced that it's necessary to book a tour if you don't speak it. The Lima-Cuzco-MP route is well trodden by many non-Spanish speaking tourists. Get the Lonely Planet Peru guidebook, read it in advance of your trip and I'm sure you'll do fine.

Many at MP do NOT speak spanish(street venders etc.) However, for MP soley, there is no need to know spanish. At MP there is a restaurant with a buffet that is good for the price otherwise there is one other snack place that is very mediocore. Also, be sure to bring change as they do charge you to use thier horrible bathrooms.

Mrs P & myself went on our own. we don't speak spanish and did not havae any difficulty. Once we reached MP , we found a english speaking guide and paid 100 soles ($30). This was much more cheaper & independent than going on an organized tour. You can book the LAN tickets online from Lima-Cuz, Also book the train tickets ahead of time . If you are a student you will get 50% discount at most sites if you can show your student id.

You can find Peruvian travel agents on line who will sell you a tour so you don't have to arrange everything yourself. I used Peru Gateway Travel/Orquida Tours. The good thing was they got us to the train station and on the appropriate car. We had an English speaking tour guide at MP, but the quality really varies. It will probably be cheaper to do it on your own. I found Peru Gateway Travel to be significantly cheaper than using a US agent, however.

Thanks for the information. Do you remember the approximate cost? Did you go for 3 days/2 nights?

I heard that numbers travelling to MP are now restricted. Could this be a problem in March?

Can I book train tickets from Cuzco on the internet? Or do I have to book these once I am in Lima?

I have booked my flights up to Lima. Will soon book my Lima-Cuzco flights.

I don't remember the price because it was part of a two week trip to Peru. I bought different parts together. I think it was at least two nights in Cusco and then overnight in MP and then another night in Cusco. Sorry. I had planned to do a couple of day trips from Cusco.

My wife and I went to MP over July 4 two years ago. We stayed in Cusco for two days (10,000 ft) to acclimate, then went to MP (8,000ft). Stayed one night in Agua Calientes to see MP without the 10am to 2pm daytrippers that have to catch a train to/from Cusco. Limits when we were there were only for Inca trail backpackers, who need a permit. We took the middle cost of the three trains and middle priced hotel of the three main hotels in Agua Calientes. More hotels were under construction when we were there, so prices may be less now. I'm very thrifty, but remember the $400/night for the one night to be near MP was worth it. Train tickets have to be done 24 hours in advance, IIRC.

Have fun. We would love to go back but there are other seven wonders to see.

Outoftown