My whirlwind long weekend to Peru
 

I have more miles than common sense and I am impulsive so I booked the following "fun weekend" trip in April 2009 for myself, Mrs. MileageAddict and MileageAddict Junior:

Day 1: arrive Cuzco 800am, visit Cuzco and stay the night
Day 2: train to Machu Picchu, return on late train to Cuzco, stay night in Cuzco
Day 3: CUZ-LIM late morning, visit sights of Lima, stay night in Lima
Day 4: 6am departure LIM-MIA-DCA


Yes, it's nuts but then again, I also do mileage runs. We just want to have a fun weekend and see something amazing. Pretty much, Cuzco, Machu Picchu for a full day and an afternoon/evening in Lima.

My biggest concern is the time it takes to check-in for the LIM-MIA flight which departs at 6am. Should I stay at an airport hotel? I would prefer to stay at the Starwood property in Lima but if I need to get up at 2am, it's not worth it.

I dislike the idea of a 6am departure but it was the only thing available with miles.

Any suggestions or ideas? Please share!

I'm refining my itinerary a bit:

Day 1: arrive Cuzco 800am, take it easy - lunch and then taxi to Ollantaytambo (night in Ollantaytambo)

Day 2: morning train to Machu Picchu, return on late afternoon train to Cuzco, dinner and stay the night in Cuzco

Day 3: Explore Cuzco in the morning, fly to Lima, afternoon sights and dinner in Lima, stay night in Miraflores (nearer the airport)

Day 4: 6am departure LIM-MIA-DCA

I did even a quicker trip :)

Landed in Lima PM
Flew to Cuzco 8am...took bus to different sights near Cuzco few hours away
Spend the night vomiting because of the altitude sickness
Took train Machu Picchu
Flew Cuzco-Lima-Miami

Obviously I am not an expert, but these are some of my observations:
I would probably take the bus, not the train to Machu Picchu. There is nothing wrong with the train other than it takes 3 hours there and 3 hours back. The bus I took the first day during the day trip was literally within 10 minutes of the Machu Picchu entrance. Perhaps I would take the bus to a city close to Machu, spend the night there, and then catch the train in the morning. Not only would this be a shorter train ride, but it would give you more sleeping time.

On the way back they give you the option of skipping the last hour of the train ride and taking an organized bus...would strongly recommend this.

Cuzco is small. I would stay at the 'right' place, not near the airport.

4 hours in Machu is more than enough unless you are really into archeology.

I wish I would have also scheduled the lineas de nasca as an airplane tour from Lima. I am not a city person.

why not? My roommate a few years ago did a trip to Macchu Picchu over a short Thanksgiving weekend. I did my first trip to Peru in June and the flight from Lima to Cuzco was one of the most scenic in my life. And when I got to my birdwatching lodge in on the Madre de Dios river, it was clear enough that we could see the cordillera of the Andes 100 or so miles away above the rainforest.

Saving Machu Picchu for next time, otherwise someone would have been mad at me for going alone :)

I am sure you researched this trip more than you posted here.;)

To take the train from Oilantaytambo (I believe, which what we did in Feb) you have to make reservations before and pick up your tickets in Cusco.
Not sure you can leave from one town and return to the other.

I would actually recommend you spend the two nights in O'tambo and travel back to Cusco early the following AM since the late train to Cusco gets in around 930 pm. ( it is about two hours further timewise from O'tambo)

We stayed at the wonderful little Pakaritampu hotel which is about 100 yards from the O'tambo station and if you contact the hotel they can arrange for driver to pick up (and return you to Cusco)

We also arranged with the hotel for a guide pick us up in Cusco to take us to Pisac and the ruins in O'tambo among other places and then privately arranged with the same guide to meet us in Macchu Picchu it was worth every penny I am absolutely sure I we had visited any of the sites even with all the guidebooks in hand we would have got less than 10% of what the guide imparted.

mike

p.s. noticed your earlier post about going to Lima airport we did something similar staying at the Doubletree also in Miraflores.
Our flight was 730 and left the hotel at 0500 at that time in the morning it took no more than 30 mins to the airport.

I will try my hardest to omit this activity from my itinerary. :p

Another itinerary revision
 

I'm refining yet again as award seats for returning a day later opened up . Any feedback or suggestions?

Day 1: arrive Cuzco 800am, take it easy - explore Cusco liesurely. (night in Cusco)

Day 2: midday taxi to Ollantaytambo, explore village (night in Ollantaytambo)

Day 3: Early morning train to Machu Picchu, return late afternoon to Ollantaytambo (night in Ollantaytambo)

Day 4:Taxi to Cusco Airport in the morning, fly to Lima, afternoon sights and dinner in Lima, stay night in Miraflores (nearer the airport)

Day 5: 6am departure LIM-MIA-DCA

Having just stepped off the plane from LIM / CUZ, I would suggest to skip Lima altogether. With so little time I would concentrate on Cuzco and the Sacred Valley, and maybe visit a couple of other sights (like Pisac or Moray), instead of fighting Lima traffic. Lima's OK, but doesn't have nearly the charm of Cuzco. It takes about 45 mins from Miraflores to LIM, so it's actually a little farther than downtown, where the Sheraton is (note that there currently is a ton of construction right smack in front of it). (Oh, just re-reading your itin, and it looks like you probably can't get into LIM early enough for your flight back to the US...)

In Machu Picchu, if you want to climb Wayna Picchu, you need secure your "permit" as early as possible - they limit it to 200 ppl before 10AM and 200 ppl after 10AM. The view from up there is definitely worth the climb.

Thanks for the advice. Regarding Lima, my wife has a "pen-pal" friend there that may have us over for dinner.

I didn't realize Miraflores is about the same distance from LIM as downtown Lima. I might as well use Starwood points in the city.

Ideally, I will be able to secure award space on the late evening flight to MIA and skip an overnight stay in Lima altogether.

A couple of suggestions about visiting Machu Picchu. These are some lessons that I learned somewhat painfully earlier this month.

1. Machu Picchu is owned and operated by the Peruvian mosquitoes They just let you visit. Make sure you bring repellant.

2. Suntan lotion. Cuzco and Machu Picchu are at high altitude. Make sure you are prepared for a very intense sun.

3. Sleeping. High altitude really can affect your sleep, especially if you quickly transition from sea level. You might want to talk to your doctor about getting a sleeping aid (i.e. Sonata). It is a long way to travel to walk around all day in a sleep-deprived state.

The "advantage" of Miraflores is that you can use the coastal road for part of the trip to/from LIM - it has no lights or real intersections. To downtown I imagine you're stuck on roads with lights pretty much all the way. Cab drivers are good at "navigating through traffic", though.

As far as hotels in the airport, there is a Ramada across from the terminal in LIM. Nothing really of interest around LIM.

I also used an award to get there - booked about 6 weeks prior, with ample off-peak availability almost every day! (30k in Y). Actually, the DCA-MIA &vv legs were a lot more tricky than the MIA-LIM &vv legs.

Note that AA operates the A300 on the route, and you may get an aircraft that has the high-density Caribbean-service seating (no headrests, limited recline). F looked horrible - hello 1985. The plane on the way back was marginally better. Also, you may want to try for LP - LanPeru, who also has a LIM-MIA red-eye (leaves LIM at 00:20 or something vs. AA at 23:10).

I'm kind of stuck with the itinerary on AA as there are hefty fees (x3 of us going) to switch the international legs over to Lan Peru if I opted. Moot point since there is zero availability (at this time) on Lan Peru anyway.

I am encouraged by your posting about availability six weeks out as I would save a ton of money not staying overnight in Lima on the way back. I'd much rather leave at 1040pm than 600am the next morning.

Mosquito repellant and sunscreen. Check. On the list. :)

Hm, interesting - a few days ago there was a total of zero mosquitos at Machu Picchu... However, there were hundreds of Peruvian schoolchildren.

Another advantage of flying AA out of Lima is that the cost of the $32 departure fee is built into your tickets, the only airline flying out of LIM to offer this. Sounds like a great trip (I flew DCA-LIM 14 times from 2004-2007). Definitely take it slow that fist day in Cuzco! That 3000m altitude will sneak up on you!

~Alan

One suggestion how to avoid altitude sickness (don't know if it will work for everybody, worked for me, but I live at 900m altitude, so might be more immune anyway):
After arriving in Cuzco, immediately take a bus or a taxi to Ollantaytambo, then the train to Machu Picchu Pueblo. Sleep there, see the ruins and head back. Machu Picchu is lower than Cuzco and will not pose any problems, and by the time you arrive back in Cuzco, you'll have accomodated a bit.
Otherwise, a good idea for saving time is to take a guided Sacred Valley tour from Cuzco in the morning, see the sights and when you arrive at Ollantaytambo, leave and take the train to MP.
There are just 2 or 3 train departures daily from Cuzco to MP (just in the morning), but many more from Ollantaytambo.