Before leaving for Peru, I was excited to check off two of my bucket list items in one trip: to visit all 7 continents (I only have one to go...you have one guess) and to visit the 7 Wonders of the World (I still have a few left). But this trip ended up fulfilling so much more than a checklist. This trip was possibly one of my favorite, and I really enjoyed our itinerary and the companies we traveled with. If you ever would like to go yourself, here are a few recommendations:
When? Peru has two seasons: dry season (cold/"winter") and wet season (warm/"summer"). Most people travel during their dry season, which happens to coincide with our summer break. July and August are the busiest months. However, I would recommend September or October. Stephen and I traveled during the first week of October, mostly because that is when I had a week off from work, and we had beautiful weather. It is technically the beginning of their rainy season, but with weather being an unpredictable element, anytime you go is taking a chance.
What/What to do?
With only a week (plenty of time), we packed our schedule tight, but it ended up being the perfect amount. Here is a list of the companies and activities we used/did.
Flight: Flights will depend on when you buy them (we actually bought everything fairly last minute- August-but I was still pleased with the pricing).
We flew with the airline LAN. I hadn't heard of them previously (having never flown to South America before), but I had a very pleasant experience with them. Great service, plenty of food (even snacks (free!) for our one hour flight from Lima to Cusco! a rarity these days), and in-flight entertainment. I don't recall the seats being particularly tight or spacious.
Taxi or Pick-up Service? Stephen and I had heard that the taxis will over-charge you, and since we were unfamiliar with the area, we decided to hire a service to pick us up and take us to our hotel. I used Expedia to book a Shared Shuttle with Gray Line Peru. Someone was at the airport with our names on a sign and dropped us off at our hotel.
Hotel: We stayed at a cute little hotel called "Casa San Blas Boutique Hotel." It was clean, professional, included a complimentary breakfast, but what I think I liked the best was the location. We were walking distance (about a 5-10 minute walk) to the main plaza in Cusco. But even better, we were right around the corner from an outstanding restaurant called "Pacha Papa." The guide from our shuttle service has recommended the restaurant, and after eating there the first night, we ended up going back every night we were in Cusco (2 other times). It was that good. We later found out that the chef is apparently the best in Cusco...or Peru. I can't remember which, but either way, it was delicious.
During our Acclimation Day, we did an ATV/Zipline tour with Maras Zipline.
I never finished this blog...sorry. :)
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