9 Day Peru itinerary
 

We have now decided to push through with our Machu Picchu trip next year.

Can anyone here help me in making an itinerary for a 9 day stay in Peru?

Day 1: we'll arrive in LIM at 7:30AM from a very long trip. We're from the Philippines.
Day 9: flight out of LIM departs 12:00PM

So far, only Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountains are in our list of not to miss places.

I would need some help in planning for the days of our stay. Should we stay in Lima first or fly straight to Cusco from LIM?

What's the best (easiest) way to go to MP, straight from Cusco? from Ollantaytambo? or stay a night before in Aguas Calientes? We won't be doing any long or steep hikes since one in the group have a knee problem.

What's the best way to go to Rainbow Mountain? Can we hire a car that can drive as to Rainbow Mountain and back to Cusco? Is it true there are horses that we can rent in Rainbow Mountain?

What are the other things that we can do aside from MP and RM?

I was planning on going to Peru on the 12/23, but due to the political situation, we have canceled the trip. Our plan was to fly into Cusco, and stay in Urubamba (Sacred Valley), then go to Cusco after MP, then Lima. Not sure I would recommend going to Peru right now with all the protests, Cusco airport was shut down today due to riots. However the situation could improve by the time your travel…

Currently, flights have been suspended to and from Cusco airport and train service to and from Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu also remains suspended.

We're going in May or June next year. I hope the situation would improve by then.

I was very happy with our itinerary though this was more than the week you have scheduled

1. Flew to Arequippa. Took a city tour.
2. Visited Colca Canyon to see the condors. This was higher altitude than Cusco so I hoped it would help me prepare for Macchu Picchu
3. Flew to Puno. Did a tour of Lake Titicaca
4. Took the train to Cusco. Stayed in Cusco for several days to see Macchu Picchu and the various places around Cusco
5. Flew to Lima. There are some amazing restaurants there.
6. On a subsequent trip, did a day tour to see the Nazca Lines. Loved it.

It is definitely worth a visit once things get back to normal politically. Lima is a lovely city for business and food but the beaches were rocky for my tastes. I wouldn't spend more than a night there getting to other destinations like Cusco (at least 3 days; I enjoyed shopping for souvenirs in the local malls that are just a collection of independent stands) and Arequipa (at least 2 days). There was a 1-day bus tour I liked out of Lima that went to Ica (sea lions and sea birds), Huacachina (dune buggies), and a winery. The same company also did 1-day tours of Vinicunca from Cusco. Consider flights for routes through the mountains that are difficult to drive through.

Lima is home to three restaurants on the San Pellegrino list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants, numbers 2, 11 and 32. We dined at all three of them, in reverse order, on three consecutive days. There was plenty to see and do in Lima when we were not busy eating.

I was there in April. 2 days in Lima, flew to Iquitos with 5 days on the Amazon, then to Cusco for 3 days, finally to the Inka Trail for 4 days ending with MP, and finally two days in Urubamba before returning to the US.

A couple of thoughts. I stayed in Miraflores, but should have stayed in historic Lima. You didn't ask about the Amazon, so I'll skip those details. I acclimatized in Cusco before starting the Inka Trail. There are some day trips from Cusco, but 1.5 days were work days for me. I did one of the "free" walking tours of Cusco and it was very informative. Not sure how to guide you re: a day trip to MP as I did the trail ending at MP. It appeared that there were a lot of logistics involved re: anything related to the MP and unfortunately it seems as if one is bound by those logistics. I do know that there is a limit of the number of entries each day, so plan ahead.

Let me know if you have any questions.

How's the situation now in Peru? Don't want to be stranded like what happened to some tourists last month.

Very sad. We had hoped to finally visit Machu Picchu this year, but I think for the time being Peru is off the list for us. Just not worth the hassle/risk...

Regards

We were extremely lucky with the timing of our trip. We were there in mid-November, just a few weeks before the protests started. I feel really bad for the guides that we had on the trip, in Cusco and environs, the Sacred Valley, the Inca Trail, Machu Piccu and the Tambopata National Reserve; their livelihood vanished for two years during the pandemic, and now this financial hit.

Based on our visit in late December and January ‘23, I think that you have a decent chance to get there in May or June, as long as you keep watching the news. We kept our schedule flexible with reservations that could be cancelled. We reached MP a couple of days after it reopened the first time and left before it closed the second time, long before it closed the third time. It is open today. I recommend making the 1.5 hour flight onward to Cusco the first day because Lima is a massive city with little near the airport. You can rest in Cusco. We felt like we wasted the first night by staying near the airport in Lima just because we had a long international flight. It is probably necessary to spend at least one night in Lima before leaving in case protests delay transportation. Lima is worth a couple of days near departure because it has good restaurants and neighborhoods near the sea. Ollantaytambo was much more interesting than Aguas Calientes because it was an ancient Inca town. It is one hour by car or van from Cusco. The train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes takes 1 hour 45 minutes and can be a day trip. We enjoyed visiting the rain forests across the mountains from Cusco. We loved hiking in the Cordillera Blanca Mountains north of Lima, but it required a 7 hour car or bus ride from Lima.

The protests were in southern Peru and near the fenced off government buildings in the historical center of Lima (not impacting other Lima neighborhoods). The embassy thought that it was not safe in Puno or Ayacucho.

OP:

We didn't go to the Rainbow Mountain, but we did spend just about a week in Peru. Feel free to check out my ongoing trip report in the Trip Reports forum :-)

If you haven't already visited yet, have fun. It is a great destination!

Access to the Inca Trail is tightly controlled. You cannot enter the trail without purchasing a permit in advance. Permits are issued to specific persons for specific dates. The number of permits is limited to 500 per day and that includes approximately 300 porters, cooks and guides. You will not allowed on the trail without a licensed guide accompanying you.