threepointkid

bhrubin, your insight is invaluable to me, so thank you very much. What you said essentially confirmed what I suspected in that the bulk of one’s time would be spent between Cusco and the Sacred Valley (also Machu Picchu), just depending on one’s interest and/or time constraints.

Your trip certainly allowed you to see so many different aspects of Peru in so much detail which must have been spectacular. The trip I am aiming at taking will be 6-8 days so I think my girlfriend and I will concentrate on the Sacred Valley.

Machu Picchu is definitely a draw and I’d like to do a day trip there and also I’d love to spend a night or two at the Sanctuary Lodge, but I think time constraints will prevent that, at least for this trip. While I looked at Belmond Rio Sagrado, I think that Explora Sacred Valley fits what we are looking for most. I am particularly interested in some of the “off the beaten path” explorations they offer such as the hike to the Moray Ruins, the hike to Salineras, and the bike ride to the Huaypo Views.

I definitely understand what you mean by having the luxury of just a day of taking a breath to relax or enjoy some spa treatments amidst all of the exploring and sightseeing.

While I would love to explore and try some restaurants in Lima for a day or two I think that for this trip I will skip it and take a connecting flight to Cusco as quickly as possible. We will be traveling from Boston (which require 2 connections and be a tiring journey in itself) so I anticipate taking 1-2 nights in Cusco either at one of the Belmond properties or at Palacio del Inka to rest/explore Cusco at a leisurely pace before traveling to Explora Sacred Valley for the bulk of our trip.

I don’t think we will have time to add a full cruise like you did, but I am definitely considering adding 2-3 nights at Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica (or something similar) at the end of the trip. It's something I will have to look into more.

Again, thanks so much for your insight it definitely helps me have some food for thought to ultimately construct this trip in the manner that best fits what we are looking for.

bhrubin

threepointkid

Good to know to skip the Pisac market, but that the other outings will be fantastic. Your feedback reassures me I'm on the right track in planning this trip, so again, thank you!

amaroo

We visited May 2016 - loved it.

Our itinerary....
3 nights Sacred Valley - Belmond Hotel Rio Sagrado
Belmond Hiram Bingham
2 nights Machu Picchu - Belmond Sanctuary Lodge
Belmond Hiram Bingham
2 nights Cuzco - Belmond Palacio Nazarenas
3 nights Lake Titicaca - Titilaka Lodge

Sacred Valley is superb! We visited Ollantaytambo, Qantus Raqay, Q'allaqasa, Chinchero, Moray, Maras .... we hired a car driver/guide for 2 days. First day was 8hrs the second was for 5hrs.

Titilaka was icing on the cake - well worth tacking this onto a MP/Sacred Valley trip.

damon88

SojournsOf

I'd actually just head to the Sacred Valley first. The altitude at Sacred Valley is much lower than Cusco, so just facilitates that whole acclimatization piece a little easier for a short visit.

I visited a few years ago and did 1 night Lima, 3 nights Sacred Valley, 1 night MP, 2 nights Cusco, 1 night Lima. All Belmond, except Sacred V which was Sol Y Luna. Explora wasn't open then I don't think but it does look like a great option.

damon88

That was the advice we received as well. Here is our itinerary: 2 nights Lima (Belmond) 5 nights Sacred Valley (Tambo del Inka) Hiram Bingham 2 nights MP (Belmond) 3 nights Cusco (Palacio del Inka) 2 nights Lima (Belmond)

aa213bb

DSI

You called Maido way before anyone else IIRC. Kudos

ekartash

We are looking to book a trip for August with our boys (age 10 and 12). I like the idea of Explora. My wife and I stayed at their Patagonia property 13 years ago. With all the organized hikes/activities, i think the boys would be better engaged and have better time. I am just trying how to structure the trip. My wife and I did the trail to MP on that same trip 13 years ago. This would ofcourse be different. We need some time to acclimate before Explora. I would like to take advantage of the activities and going straight there without getting used to the altitude would really hamper that. So....

Do we do 2 nights in Cusco, followed by 4 - 5 nights at Explora, and then finish off with 2 -3 nights Lima? This would mean using Explora's day trip to MP.

Another option I am thinking is to do 2 nights Cusco, off to MP and a night in Sanctuary Lodge. Train back to Cusco, spend the night. Morning to Explora. 1 night in Lima

Yet another option. 2 nights somewhere in Sacred Valley, 4 -5 nights Explora, 2 nights Cusco. Starting in Sacred Valley would make it easier to acclimate, but would it be redundant with a stay in Explora right after?

And yet another option. 2 nights Cusco, 4 nights Explora, 3 nights in Inkaterra Amazonica, 1 night Lima.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Steven013

We are planning for a trip to Peru this fall, and given we only have six days, I was thinking about spilt it between Lima and Arequipa instead of doing Machu Picchu, Cusco route(probably will find a longer period of time to visit those places in the future). In terms of accommodations in Arequipa, has anyone stayed in this R&C property called CIRQA before and it would be great if someone has any other recommendations for boutique hotels. And the last question we have is how should we spilt time in these two places, more specifically Is it worth to stay more than two nights in Arequipa? Some friends have told us Colca Canyon is a must if we decide to visit Arequipa but the trip to the Canyon seems to be impossible to squeeze into the itinerary unless we stay there for four nights.

SanDiego1K

We stayed in Arequippa and visited Colca Canyon. There is a beautiful cathedral and convent in Arequippa but otherwise I think Colca Canyon is the point. We did one night in Chivay. Perhaps you could do it in three days? We did:

Day 1 - flight from Lima to Arequippa, city tour
Day 2 - ride from Arequippa to Chivay
Day 3 - early start to see condors at Colca Canyon; afternoon transfer to Arequippa
Day 4 - we went on to Puno but you could go back to Lima

We stayed at somewhere adequate but not fancy in Chivay. I see there is a Belmond property in Colca Canyon that you might research.
https://www.belmond.com/hotels/south...d-las-casitas/

Be aware of the high elevation going to Colca Canyon.
Elevation From 10,950 ft (3,340 m) at Yanque to 15,685 ft (4,870 m) at Mirador de los Andes on the route between Arequipa and Colca.
A young woman on our van got altitude sickness.

Steven013

Noted this is very helpful, we will look into it and do some more research but three days seem reasonable.

mykel67

For our trip to Peru we began and ended with stays in Lima at Belmond Miraflores Park (beautiful room with terrific views, incredibly attentive service, very good on site dining). In the middle, we stayed in Arequipa (boutique hotel Casa Arequipa—lovely people, but would not return), Cusco (Belmond Monasterio—iconic, atmospheric), and Belmond Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge (small room for the huge price, but food, service, and perks of the location made it worthwhile).

Steven013

Thanks for the input and most likely Miraflores Park will be our pick for Lima and I just realized there’s also a Belmond hotel next to Colca Canyon called Las Casitas. The other possibility my travel agent proposed to us was to cut our time at Lima even shorter so we might be able to do a combo with Titilaka and a boutique hotel in Arequipa but the six hours drive in between just sounds painful.