Peru for 3 weeks

smiley2011

Hi there all you travel loving people,

Myself and 3 friends are planning a 3 week (or just under) trip to Peru this September. Rough plan so far is to fly to Lima, fly from there to the Amazon jungle for a couple of days, fly to Cuzco, do the Inca trail or the Lars trek, from there down to lake Titicaca, Arequipa, Nazca, Pisco and back to Lima,

Have any of you done such a trip? Where would you recommend going to the Amazon Jungle? Inca Trail or Lars trek? Any major highlights that we really should see and what would you not bother with? Is this alot for 3 weeks? Is it relatively easy to travel around Peru? I have done quite a bit of independant travel in Asia.

Also any idea of what kind of budget you would need for independent travel. I know flights are approx 1000 euro and the inca trail is about 650 i think...

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated...

Thanks a million

S

jobless

sounds like a lot to do in three weeks....
I only did the inca trail, and lake titicaca and would highly recommend both, but if you're doing the inca trail you'll need at least 6 days in cuzco including a rest day (you'll need it) and a couple of days in lake titicaca.. not sure about the other cities but obviously you have to take into condideration the distance between each and then getting back to lima, also remember that things dont often run to schedule in peru..often there are protests which block certain routes etc.
you dont want to be spending half you hols on the road so might be worth cutting down on some places...
as for bugeting... peru is quite cheap... we were paying on average 20 euro between us a night for a double room..
i'd say maybe budget for 35-40 a day(including a few drinks )

jobless

also if you're doing the main inca trail you really need to get your skates on and book now.... most people book 6 months in advance!... there are other versions of it though that you dont need to

Pisco Sour

I'd recommend 4 days in Cusco for 2 reasons:

1) To acclimatise to the high altitude before undertaking the gruelling Inca Trail

2) Because it is an incredible place with so much to see. My favourite place in South America. You can purchase a "Boleto Turistica" (Tourist ticket) for 130 sols which will get you into 16 different sites and attractions. About 6 of them are in the city (Museems and that sort of thing, along with a great traditional Peruvian dance show) and the rest are outside the city and are mainly inca ruins.

http://www.boletoturisticocusco.com/

4 of them are close together and can be done in one day. Others are not so close and are more remote (Tipon is incredible!). If you are interested in history and ancient architecture, and indiginous culture then you will want to stay plenty of time in Cusco. Even just roaming the tiny narrow cobblestoned streets is a wonderful experience.

Then if you do the proper Inca Trail you will need to take a 5 day tour with GAP or whoever. The first day is spent in the Sacred Valley (Pisaq and Ollyantaytambo) as well as a trip to a remote village, and then the next 4 days is spent hiking from kilometre 82 to Machu Picchu.

Given all that info you are completely trying to stretch yourself trying to fit all the places you mentioned into 21 days. Either you go for a bit longer or just do Lima, Arequipa, Cusco, Inca Trail and one other thing if time permits.

solerina

I was in Peru for just under 3 weeks and saw everything you want to see, we started in Lima, flew to near Lake Titicaca, spent a night with a family on Amantani Island (brilliant) visited Taquile and the Reed Island (disappointing beacuse of the pushy locals), bussed it to Cuzco (amazing place) did the official Inca Trail (loved it would go back tomorrow, then onto the Amazon (Porto Maldona).....we wanted to trip to be easy and so we bopoked wirth Gap Adventures, the trip was called Peru Panorama, it was worth every penny because we saw everything in a short period of time....look up their web sites for information, you can always copy thier itinerary.....I would reccommend doing to official Inca, its a bit more expensive but well worth it, you def need to book through a company and book asap....leave plenty of time to acclimatise in Cuzco before...........I wish i was going again !!!

kraggy

I would drop Nasca.

And also, you'd need as much time in Cusco as possible. That's where the altitude starts having it's effects. It's not pretty if you're sensitive to it.

smiley2011

Thanks a million for the advice. I had a look on Gap and really like the Peru Panorama trip also. Do you mind me asking approx how much spending money did you need on top of this?

S

solerina

I found that I didnt spend very much money at all....the trip was amazing well organised. We had dinner out on two nights in Puno (Lake Titicaca) and both meals were amazing and cost less than 10euro (filet steak and wine on one occasion) We then spent the next two days out on the lake, our lunch on the first day was also amazing and again cost under 10 euro. Dinner that night and lunch the next day were included in the package. All the food on the inca trek were included so again very little spending money needed (tips for porters etc is about all, and you will want to tip, they are amazing people). In the jungle we could buy drinks/alcohol but again all of the food was included...so to be honest you wont spend all that much at all....and all the food we had was amazing. We paid for a few meals along the way and although 10 euro is possibly expensive fopr out there its not for us and we didnt mind because the food was so good....Its a brilliant trip !!!