Hi all:
Planning on a Dec 3-13 trip to Peru. We are trying to slow travel this one with maximum of three places to stay. Lima, Cusco and ...? It looks like we have to take mostly airplanes locally? Is seven days in Lima and seven in Cusco limiting ourselves too much? Thanks so much.
Depending on your interests, 7 days in Lima might be too much. I moved here in June and am loving it, but there aren't very many huge sites. It is a wonderful place to eat, drink, and explore, though.
My sister is visiting us over Christmas and we will probably do about 5 days at home in Lima, 5 days in Cusco/ Machu Picchu, and 5 days in the Amazon. We literally haven't been anywhere else yet, but those are some of the "must see places".
We are going to Arequipa and Colca Canyon next month, and I've heard Paracas is a wonderful area, too.
Enjoy! Happy to pass on any restaurant recommendations for Lima, if you'd like.
Yes.
My trip to Peru in June-July this year was: arrived in Lima before 9pm, 2 nights in lima, bus to Nazca, a night in nazca. Marcos who works at hostal camiluz where i stayed is also a tour guide, he gave me a tour of 3 sites but it he charges 400 soles, probably per person. Then overnight bus to Arequipa but I had trouble sleeping on the bus. Your experience might be better. One night in arequipa, overnight bus to Cusco, taxi to Ollantaytambo, 2 nights in there, day trip to Machu Picchu, taxi back to Cusco, 3 nights in Cusco, plane to Lima, 4 nights in Lima. There is no such thing as the perfect itinerary. Check the Rough Guide and/or Lonely Planet guidebooks.
Most travelers pick just a few museums and skip the rest. A lot of travelers skip most of the museums in Lima. You will see some good objects in some museums, and after seeing multiple art and archaeology museums, I noticed very similar objects in more than one of the museums was in. Unfortunately, I got a disease in lima that affected my digestive tract and I stayed in my hostel for most of a day. I ended up with only 2-1/4 whole days for museums in Lima. 7 whole days in Lime and another 7 in Cusco is too many in either, for most travelers, unless you are taking day trips, but do not attempt to do a day trip from Lima to Nasca.
There are 5 commercial airports in Peru. For everywhere else you should take the bus, or a taxi if the cost and distance are low enough. Traffic in Lima, Cusco, and Arequipa is too crazy to rent a car and then who knows how much time you would waste finding parking spaces. Don't try to see Machu Picchu as a day trip from Cusco, if you see it. Or investgate traveling to the sites in Northern Peru that few Americans go to - Chan Chan ruins, the city of Trujillo, and so on. I took a few short rides with Uber and reserved some taxi tours with Taxidatum.
I also think 7 days in Lima is too much. We did 3 days and felt we saw most of the major sites. So 4-5 days should be fine.
We spent 3 nights at Machu Picchu/Aguas Clientes. Got to visit MP twice for two different perspectives. 2-3 full days in Cusco should also be fine.
