SometimesFlyer

I would point out that there may be at least 2 things in/near the hotel that are not a "waste" of time ...

1) The pottery studio of Pablo Seminario (http://www.ceramicaseminario.com/en/) He is a great artist whose works have been exhibited all over the world. I've met him and his wife and they are really passionate about their work (as well as preserving Peru's indigenous cultural art forms.)

2) The municipal market. I know I know ... another "market". But this 3-story affair in the middle of town about 10 mins from the hotel is not a tourist market. Rather, it caters to locals, you get a chance to see the variety of food (like potatoes and tomatos you have never seen before) and spices used in Peruvian cooking. Nice experience if you have a spare hour. The little food stalls on top level are good for a simple lunch too.

Cheers,
SF

iahphx

Yeah, the Seminario ceramics shop is the one I was talking about. It's by no means a must-see attraction, but it's definitely the most interesting site in Urubamba. If you visit, ask to see Mr. Seminario's personal studio. If he's not too busy, he'll meet you. He's an interesting individual, and like his work. And, over the years, I've bought a few items in the gift shop (affordable, especially compared to handcrafted pottery prices in "first world" countries).

I'm not sure I'd agree that the municipal market is worthy of a stop. If you've never seen such a market in a developing country, it's definitely worth a stop. If you have, it's definitely missable. It does seem very "authentic," though -- too "authentic," I would submit! FWIW, there's a similar market in Aguas Calientes -- hidden away from the tourist hordes.

Thunderroad

I recall having an informative exchange upthread after I gushed about Urubamba. Someone wisely pointing out to me that it's not everyone's cup of tea in that, except for several nice restaurants, it doesn't cater to tourists. Since I work in developing countries a lot, I found it pretty interesting as a "normal" and non-touristy town, that's relatively prosperous by Peruvian (though certainly not by Western) standards. (We liked taking a walk through that market, for instance, partly for the colorful produce, including more varieties of potatoes than I ever knew existed.) But clearly not everyone will feel that way.

What I'll add, though, is that in simply walking around town we chanced upon a fun fiesta celebrating a national holiday in a schoolyard with some friendly dancing and drinking going on. And several days later, turning left out of the hotel, perhaps ten minutes walk up the road, we came to a large park that had all sorts of local fun stuff going on, in terms of football/soccer, volleyball, kids playing games and running around, etc. Not sure whether it was another holiday or simply because it was the weekend, but it was an interesting scene to take in.

My point being that simply going for a small wander can be worthwhile for what you might luck into or simply for seeing what a bit of life is like beyond the hotel walls.

To get back to zorn's question, in addition to the advice from painintheuk (one of the better FT handles I've come across ) you might want to peruse reviews of TdI at tripadvisor.com. In preparation for our own trip a couple of years ago, I came across one or two reviews there that talked about hiking in the area. Of course, be aware that you'll be at altitude.

iahphx

Yeah, overall though, folks should know that Urubamba is about the least interesting town you're likely to find a 5-star hotel in. It is odd to me that several nice tourists restaurants have sprung up in town (the locals certainly could not afford to eat in them, and you won't find them there), but so far almost nothing else of interest to tourists (except the Seminario ceramics shop). Indeed, if I were advising a local entrepreneur, I'd recommend opening a tourist-oriented store selling Peruvian merchandise -- you'd have that business to yourself!

Some will find this "local slice of life" thing interesting. I did -- for about an hour. And I suspect the typical guest at the Tambo will be significantly less interested in it than me.

zorndeslammes

Thanks to everyone who's responded. This is really great stuff - I've seen some stuff like what's being described in the Caribbean, but I'd assume pretty much automatically that it is more or less tourist oriented compared to what I'd find in Urubamba. I actually went through on Google Street View (seriously, Google Street View went throughout the town) and, yeah - there's definitely nowhere to hike to if you want to go do that sort of thing from the hotel. I admit a perverse level of interest in the basketball stadium near the hotel. There's no way any basketball of a really high level is being played there, but I found some website about Peruvian basketball and emailed them to find out what the deal is with it. I'll probably keep my wandering then to a minimum in town aside from picking out a couple restaurants to get food at.

I've seen a few things I'm interested in tour wise. There's a group that does tours w/llamas, and that hook may be unique enough to pull me. White water rafting also seems like an interesting idea.

iahphx

Yeah, the "Sacred Valley" has a ton of activities likely to interest most tourists. Urubamba does not -- unless your interest is "let's see how the locals live." You will have absolutely no trouble filling your days, as long as you decide to venture a little further afield from Urubamba.

Of course, you could also decide to do nothing except relax at this 5-star hotel.

Sam P. Goodman

We'll be visiting TDI in March. Working out trip details now, but planning a five night stay with a few day trips along with some downtime at the resort. We'll have a toddler in tow so we move a little slower than we used to and spend a little more time at the hotel.

My question is about Platinum upgrades. I've read this whole thread and it sounds like TDI is pretty good about upgrading Platinums. Any advice on whether to apply Suite Night Awards (junior suite) to my reservation? This is one of our bigger hotel stays this year where an upgrade would be especially nice so I'm thinking of applying SNAs, but I also don't want to waste them if an upgrade is very likely.

SometimesFlyer

My own record here has been 2 for 2 with plat upgrades. I think many others have had the same experience based on the posts. However, as usual, never 100% sure.

March is before the peak season so maybe you are ok?

The suites are nice, much larger than the regular rooms and lots of space to spread out.

Have a great trip,
SF

ellaq2008

We were just there last week. There was a huge group (requiring several buses to take everyone around) that had a conference/new year celebration at the hotel, so we didn't get any upgrade during our 5-night stay. The hotel seemed pretty apologetic for not being able to upgrade us, so they offered us 15% discount on food and beverage and spa during our stay. Not sure if they offered that to all Platinum members, but we were glad that they offered that to us.

margarita girl

I was there for 3 nights in Oct. My SNAs were denied, but I was upgraded to a suite for nights 2 and 3. So I wouldn't waste the SNAs. They will upgrade you if they can.

Journey4Happy

I've got a flight leaving CUZ at 7am. Do you think I'd be able to get one of those $35 taxis at 4am leaving TdI?

alamedaguy

I don't know about finding a taxi at that hour (as in "I don't know," not "I think it might be a problem"). I think, though, you could probably find a cabbie a day or two before and make a plan to be picked up at that hour at a fair price.

zorndeslammes

Stayed here last month after contributing and shot of a room tour of our spot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBqEJch7hg4

I also did a series of trip reports on my blogs and have a bunch of pictures of TDI (and other stuff) for those interested - https://realtalkguidetoawesome.wordp...report-series/

Journey4Happy

Ok, I just read through every single post (403 of them), and still left with some questions:

1) Only 1 person has acknowledged the question of actually trying to do Huayna Picchu from TdI. They gave ZERO information, though, so I'm not sure if they're talking from experience or just talking. The Urubamba train arrives at AC at 9:24am. If I've got a 10am HP ticket, will that give me enough time to make it? I'm not looking for suggestions (e.g. "you should overnight in AC"), I'm asking if anybody knows if it's possible or impossible... or if they've tried and succeeded/failed.

2) As a test, I tried to book a PeruRail train for tomorrow .... plenty of availability. Any reason to book the train far in advance? I don't mind reserving the morning trip towards AC, but I'd rather have some flexibility on the way back. I don't want to be rushing down MP to catch a train, while I also don't want my DW to be crying about boredom or exhaustion while sitting in AC doing nothing if we're done early. Has anybody ever come back to Olla without pre-purchasing a train ticket? Do they sell them onsite?

3) Any way to pre-purchase the MP Bus/Shuttle tickets before arriving to AC, without being on a tour?

4) Assuming "no" for Question 3, what kind of time should I expect between landing in AC, buying the bus ticket, and taking it up to the top? Circling back to question 1 - if I arrive at 9:24am, what time should I expect to enter Machu Picchu? If it's too late for HP, if I took a taxi from TdI to Olla instead and took an earlier train to arrive AC around 8:30am - would that now give me enough time? Or are the bus lines too long at that hour, too?

5) What spot provides the "iconic" view of Machu Picchu? Is it the top of HP? Montaņa? Sun Gate? somewhere else? many other places?

Right now I'm trying to decide whether to go for
- HP (yes there is availability on the Gov't website. It's 2+ months from now),
- montaņa, or
- just do the ruins (+museum maybe?)

Staying in AC is not an option. I've got the 5th night free with points at TdI, so no splitting up the week + my new wife does not like switching hotels (and it'll be our honeymoon, so she gets her way). I'm fluent in Spanish so not afraid of negotiating taxis, but prefer to just chill on the train. So have to decide (there and back) between
- Urubamba train or
- taxi to/from Olla

I want to do HP for the adventure, but my wife's a little scared of it. So if I can get the "iconic" MP view without HP or montaņa, and get my "adventure" by doing the Inka Bridge. I would just take a noon time train to AC to not worry about the hassle of everything else (like waking up early! oof, we are not morning people!).

Anybody out there can help answer my questions?

travelswithmyself

1. AC station to bus stand including buying ticket - 10-15mins
2. Bus ride up - 10-15mins (not including waiting time for bus - fairly frequent)
3. Walking from bus drop-off to HP entrance (far end of citadel) - 20-30mins (assuming time to find your way, get lost, etc). Faster if you run.

10AM ticket is valid for entry from 10:00-11:00H. Assuming no delays, you can make it.

I didn't. But I presume there may be situtations where the perfect storm occurs and the trains are full. But I can't say for sure either way.

They sell tickets at AC station. It's in the Perurail site.

https://www.perurail.com/tickets_buy.php


Yes you can buy them at the ticket offices. Info's all on the webpage.

http://www.consettur.com/horarios.html

But I really don't see the need to. Buses are big and run very frequently, and even with a queue I don't expect having to wait more than 20 mins.

See my previous answers



You do realise this is the TdI thread and not the Visit-MP thread... :P


The iconic view of MP (the one in all the pictures) is from the Guard House, which is about 15mins climb from the entrance, less if you are really fit.

I didn't climb either HP or Montana P but the pictures I saw taken from the tops were not as "iconic". There is no "view" of MP from the Sun Gate - it just looks like a ruin far away.


Plenty to see and do around TdI, MP is only one of the sites.

That said, I stayed in AC and it IS an option. I kept the rooms in TdI. Since I booked a 5nights for 4 rate or somesuch I just wrote it off. Stayed in a nice hostal in AC and was up at MP for sunrise.


HP: supposed to be a milder but steeper climb than Montana. My friend did Montana while we did the Sun Gate. She's an experienced hiker and said it was not an easy climb.

The Inka Bridge - is not an adventure. It's fun to see, and the path there is nice especially since there are no railings, it's narrow in parts, and a sheer cliff on one side :P. But the Bridge is a let-down in a way.

If you need adventure, go climb the mountain OPPOSITE MP. I can't remember what it's called but you scale it by climbing vertical rope/wood ladders. I didn't even make it to the base because of time issues but that sounds like a lot of fun. Google it.