We planned our Peru and Bolivia trip for almost a year. Now this was obviously because the actual trek permits needs to be booked about 6 – 8 months in advance and we needed everything else in place as well to ensure we got holiday from work and all of that. But for a trip of this size and magnitude, preparation is key.
Of course, I will be detailing almost every aspect of this trip in subsequent blog posts but I thought starting out with a basic itinerary would be helpful. I have included our itinerary but also put in comments where could be improvements made or any corrections or better options that are available. You can extend the trip or make it shorter by skipping some of the plans and make it work for you. All of the pictures on this post are from our Instagram so make sure you are following us there and you can check out the exact locations and other details.
Day 1 – take flight from London > Lima, reaching Lima in the evening
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[our trip started out on a not-very-promising note – we slept in the Lima airport the first night. We wanted to get to Cuzco as soon as possible to ensure we are acclimatised before the trek so didn’t think it would make sense staying over in Lima only for a night. Also, from what we say of the Lima traffic situation on our last day that we were in Lima we were glad we did not attempt to get into the city and come back before our early morning flight to Cuzco.]
Day 2 – take flight from Lima > Cuzco (took early morning flight to Cuzco, spent rest of the day in Cuzco)
[we spent the day in Cuzco which is a lovely town, did some last minute shopping for the trek]
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Day 3 – Sacred Valley tour in Cuzco (full day)
[this is a must. And I am quite glad we did this before any other tour or before our visit to Machu Picchu. This tour provides a perfect introduction to Peruvian history and the Inca people.]
Day 4 – Tour of Moray and Maras from Cuzco (half day)
[again, a must. I had seen pictures of the Peruvian salt mines on Instagram and really wanted to see this. This was definitely a must-see for me. Also check if interested in visiting Rainbow Mountain then spend an extra day in Cuzco or do the half day Maras and Moray tour on Day 2 itself and keep Day 4 free for Rainbow Mountain. We skipped this since this is a trek and 4 days of trekking the Inca Trail was enough trekking for one holiday!]
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Day 5 – start Inca trail
Day 6 – on Inca trail
Day 7 – on Inca trail
Day 8 – reach Machu Picchu in the morning. Visit the site and stay there till afternoon and take bus back to Aguas Calientes. Have lunch and take evening train back to Cuzco.
Day 9 – take flight from Cuzco > La Paz (check into hotel, rest, walk around, take cable car over city for the views)
Day 10 – visit city centre and take overnight bus to Uyuni (we later found out there is an airport in Uyuni and flight from La Paz to Uyuni is possible so budget permitting, I would advise taking the flight out instead)
Day 11 – start 3 day salt desert tour (there is also an option of a 1 day tour but time permitting, the 3 day tour is recommended. There was definitely enough to see for 3 days and the experience of driving around in the salt desert is amazing.)
Day 12 – salt desert tour
Day 13 – salt desert tour ends back in Uyuni and take evening flight/ bus back to La Paz
Day 14 – spend the day in La Paz, check out the Plaza San Francisco, Cathedral San Francisco and the Witches Market (Mercado de las Brujas)
Day 15 – take flight from La Paz > Lima, spend whole day in Lima, see Plaza de Aramas, Plaza San Martin, Malecon walk and take night flight back to London
Day 16 – reach London by afternoon.
Honestly. I would have preferred to go onto to Columbia or Chile next but holidays have to end sometime. Sadly.
Guys, I am also super proud I managed to finish my Morocco posts but now I am going back to my fashion and beauty stuff for sometime (although I still have so much travel posts to write!). By the way, do you know we are on Twitter? Make sure you follow us and let us know if you read the blog!
– Anisha
Looks like so much fun
It was a great trip Stephanie! I would seriously recommend it. Any questions please let me know!