Peru: Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu - 9-day Itinerary

Travel: Flew into Lima, arriving late at night.
Transfer: We always use Welcome Pickups for airport transfers when traveling internationally. I highly recommended them, they are easy to book online, meet you inside the airport with an english speaking driver.

Stay: Miraflores District offers a vibrant and scenic atmosphere.
Activities:
- Enjoy a walk along the ocean, stopping at the Amor Park to see the famous “El Beso” statue.
- Continue walking along the ocean and visit Larcomar, an open-air shopping center with stunning ocean views.
- Take a taxi to Lima’s historic center and take in the awesome architecture. This is about a 30 minute taxi from Miraflores.
Dining:
- Lunch at Isolina in the artsy district of Barranco.
- Dinner at Astrid y Gastón, a Michelin-starred restaurant. We also tried for Maido, but it was fully booked. Central is another renowned option, and Carnaval is a top-ranked bar globally.

Travel: Fly to Cusco, then proceed directly to the Sacred Valley. Cusco is at a very high altitude so it is recommended to visit the Sacred Valley first which is halfway between sea level and Cusco to acclimate to the altitude. Read more about Cusco vs. the Sacred Valley here.
Transfer: We used Exclusive Inca Tours for all our transfers and most tour bookings in the Sacred Valley & Cusco. I highly recommended them, they were great to work with, offered top notch guides and also helped us out of a jam when we were stranded at 1am and needed a ride!
Stay: Tambo del Inka in Urubamba. This is an amazing, beautiful and relaxing property, I can’t recommend it enough.
Dining: Enjoy dinner at El Colonial, which offers beautiful views of Urubamba Square. While Urubamba is a quiet town, the hotel experience at Tambo del Inka makes it worthwhile.

Planning:
- When you’re planning your trip you should start your planning here. First decide which route(s) you want to hike. Do you just want to see the most scenic vistas or do you want to do a more difficult hike to a higher elevation? I won’t go into the detail of the routes as they change frequently, and we visited during the rainy season so the route we planned to hike was actually closed.
- Buy tickets months in advance as they sell out quickly. Pay attention to fixed entry times to coordinate train schedules.
Convenience: The hotel has a convenient train station, though with limited timings. Alternatively, Ollantaytambo offers more flexible options.
Recommendation: Use a tour company (we used Exclusive Inca Tours) for train, bus, and guide arrangements to handle timings and unexpected changes.

Activity: We did a 5-hour mountain biking tour to Moras and Moray. It was great to see these sites from high above the mountains and we saw such amazing views you might not see by car. The mountain biking however I did find tougher than I expected and I would only recommend it for intermediate cyclists with some off road experience.
Dining: Lunch at Mountain View, just a 20-minute taxi ride from Tambo del Inka. The food is excellent, but the views and interactions with llamas and alpacas are the highlights!
Relaxation: Spent the afternoon at the hotel spa and enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Travel: Traveled by car to Cusco and checked into the Palacio del Inka, a sister hotel to Tambo del Inka. This hotel was very good, but not a must-stay like Tambo del Inka.
Recommendation: Aim to arrive in Cusco around lunchtime and consider a walking tour or hop-on-hop-off bus tour. Remember, Cusco’s high altitude means taking it slow is wise.
Alternative Plan: Due to strikes, roads were closed, leading us to explore Ollantaytambo and Pisac instead and arriving later in the evening.

Planned Activity: A trip to Rainbow Mountain, a 3-hour drive requiring a significant hike, well rewarded by breathtaking views at the end.
Alternate Activity: Due to adverse weather affecting the mountain colors, we opted for additional sightseeing in Cusco. We spent time shopping for baby alpaca sweaters and scarves.
Dining: Dinner at a Nikkei restaurant called Limo in Plaza de Armas.

Travel: Flew back to Lima. Alternatively, if flight timings align you could fly from Cusco home, but for us the schedule did not work out. All international flights from Cusco connect through Lima.
Activities: Spent the afternoon shopping and dining.

Continue reading my tips & tricks I learned about Peru travel.

Peru: Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu – 9-day Itinerary