One Week in Peru
Where we stayed: Lima, Cusco, and Aguas Calientes
When we went: September 2019
6 nights: 2 in Lima, 1 in Aguas Calientes, 3 in Cusco
Peru was one of the best trips of our lives and we hope you’ll plan a trip there someday. We’ll put together detailed lists for Lima and Cusco, but we wanted to put together an easy to digest guide to one week in Peru!
Stop #1 Lima
Hotel: Hilton Lima Mira Flores (Our rating: 5 stars!)
Time Spent: 1 day and 1 night
We absolutely loved our hotel and neighborhood choice in Lima. We did a lot of research and learned Mira Flores is one of the safest places to stay. Our hotel was a quick walk to the beautiful main shopping area on the water called Larcomar. There are amazing restaurants, top name brand stores, and pretty views. Nearby Mira Flores is the neighborhood called Barranco. (Pictured below) It is colorful, filled with beautiful murals, delicious restaurants, and bars. The puente de los suspiros is located in this neighborhood, which is a bridge that brings you good luck for crossing while holding your breath. We would not recommend staying in Lima for more than 1 day. You can do it all, have a great time, and head up to Cusco.
Stop #2 Aguas Calientes & Machu Picchu
Hotel: Jaya Suite Machupicchu (Our rating: 4 stars)
Time Spent: 1 day and 1 night
We took a quick 1 hour flight from Lima to Cusco and immediately got on the train to Aguas Calientes, the town where Machu Picchu is located. We read a helpful Travel & Leisure article that recommended going straight to Aguas Calientes because it is a few thousand feet lower than the city of Cusco that is at 11,000 feet above sea level. You definitely feel the altitude so starting off at around 8,000 feet will help you acclimate in a less extreme way. Coca tea and the natural medicine they sell in Peru, Alti Vital, will help a lot with the effects of the high altitude.
We were very happy that we went straight to Machu Picchu because the train ride takes about 3-4 hours and most tourists have to do that ride from Cusco at 5am….that did not sound fun to us. Waking up, enjoying breakfast, and heading straight to Machu Picchu at 9am was perfect. We definitely recommend taking the bus up to Machu Picchu because it is a long windy mountain road and walking up will take almost 2 hours. We spent about 3 hours walking around and took the 5pm train back to Cusco. We took the Inka Rail in and the Peru Rail out, so we got to try out both train options! The Peru Rail is a more luxury experience, but either are fine to take. Machu Picchu is one of the coolest and most magical things we have ever seen, so this is a must! Book your tickets before you get to Peru because time slots and seats on the trains fill up!
Stop #3 Cusco
Hotel: Hilton Garden Inn Cusco (Our rating: 3 stars)
Time Spent: 3 days and 3 nights
Wow, Cusco is a beautiful place. The rooftops are all a beautiful terracotta red, the people are friendly, and the food is interesting and delicious. Matt tried things like Guinea Pig, Alpaca, and Cow Heart…and we both drank a lot of Pisco Sours. Pisco is a local alcohol made from grapes that you have to try. We recommend the Pisco Sour Museum! Besides walking around the city and enjoying the views from the hillsides, we also hired a driver for a full day of adventuring nearby. Your hotel can help you coordinate someone for a full day for less than $80 and they will take you wherever you want! Our driver drove us about 1 1/2 hours outside the city to the Incan Salt Mines called the Maras. We also did the Rainbow Mountain hike that has taken Instagram by storm. Think twice before doing this hike and come prepared. We drove 2 hours outside of Cusco, hiked in dumping snow, hail, high winds, and along dangerous cliffs, at 17,000 feet above sea level. We are proud that we did it, but if you don’t have time it really would be okay to skip this one. Cusco is an amazing place and you can’t miss this stop on your Peru trip!
Stop #4 Lima
On our way back home we flew back to Lima from Cusco. Most of the flights back to the US are red eyes out of Lima so we flew back to Lima around 3pm the day of our flight home. We booked a hotel to rest up because we didn’t have to be at the airport until midnight. Hanging out in the pool and relaxing for a few hours was an amazing way to end our trip before the easy flight back to the US.
A few last recommendations:
Try all of the unique food
Drink lots of Pisco
Get cash out at the airport in Lima…ATMs are hard to come by
Uber is available, so it’s easy to find safe transportation
Our favorite altitude medicine was called Alti Vital and was available at the pharmacies all over Cusco
A local told us to never hand your card to a server. Always watch how much you are paying by checking out at the table.
Make sure you find some adorable alpacas to meet!
Safe Travels!
The Cecils