5 weeks in Peru & Bolivia?

kneejerk

Hi. I am looking for some help regarding an itinerary for 5 weeks for me and my gf in August spent between Peru & Bolivia.

We are restricted by time and have not a huge amount of money and would like to have an easy going itinerary so as to be able to take in my surroundings rather than be constantly on the move. As such I would liek to hear what people think are the best places to chill out

Saying that I would like to visit Lima – Cuzco - Machu Picchu - Puno - Lake Titicac And La Paz

I do not intend trekking Machu Picchu as I cannot afford (€600!!!) it so I will have to get the train.

Any help would be much appreciated

dory

Just on the issue of MP (short on time here) - you don't have to spend €600!! Very possible to do it for around $160. Just do the alternative route, not the traditional one. Train isn't too cheap as far as I know so you're not saving too much!

jobless

id recommend the salt flats tour in bolivia if you can... where are you flying in and out?.... i wouldnt spend anymore time than you have to in lima if you only have 5 weeks

kevrr

About Machu Picchu, like dory said there are a lot of cheaper hikes you can go on. Many of them are around the same price it will cost you to pay for the train and the entrance fee, and some of them are really nice, so if you had a few days it would probably be worth going on one of these. The cheapest way to book them is probably to just wait until getting to Cusco and you can go into the offices of the tour companies and bargain a bit.

Also if you're on a budget, Bolivia is quite a bit cheaper than Peru, you'd probably save a lot of money spending more time there.

Saltflats and Potosi both well worth a look. Also if you wanted somewhere to chill out and relax look into some of the mountain towns outside La Paz, like Coroico, or there's loads of other nice places up in the more remote areas of Bolivia.

Notch000

+a for bolivia, its awesome. Load to do, seriously cheap & people there are great. La paz is cool, do bike the death road, visit potosi & climb deep into mines, do the salt flat tours on the biggest salt planes in the world, Also from la paz you can go out into the sub tropics and tours around on the amazon pampas and swin with camens, snakes & fresh water dolphins.

Also consider arriquipa, its near (ish?) cusco, and has load of cool stuff to see & do there, like treking the colca canyon.

Also for Machu Peach the Inca jungle trail is only around $ 150 whcih included everything except your beer........

have fun

Daisies

+1 for not spending anymore time than necessary in Lima, was not a fan. Loved Sucre in Bolivia.
If you can at all, do the Salt Flats, Ptosoi.

In La Paz, make sure to do the World's Most Dangerous Road and go to San Pedro prison ( read Marching Powder if you can).

Notch000

Liama is not so bad, Mira flores is real nice, like any down classy downtown area full of pubs, shops, clubs and has excellent surfing if your into that or want to learn {cheaply}
The historic town center is worth a look to for a day trip