7 Day Itinerary in Peru

7 Days in Peru

A trip to Peru should be on everyone’s bucket list. The history and culture are fascinating and going to Macchu Picchu is an experience that everyone should have in their lifetime.

Day 1

I arrived in Lima via Panama in the early afternoon. Flying through Panama has its benefits. (I’ll explain later). Hotels are reasonably inexpensive even in Lima so we chose to stay at the Sheraton Lima Hotel and Convention Center

When possible, I stay at Marriott properties because is the Bonvoy rewards program is the best hotel rewards program out there (more details in another blog). The Sheraton is perfectly located in the city though many of the interesting things to do are located outside of Lima. After dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was good, we went to bed because we had to wake up early for our tour.

Day 2

Our tour with Peru Hop began at 5am when a van picked us up at our hotel. After loading everyone into the bus at the Peru Hop office, we headed on a 4 hour ride to the town of Paracas. After arriving we got on a speedboat and took a ride out to the Ballestas Islands, otherwise known as the Poor Man’s Galapagos. We saw some of the best Peruvian wildlife from penguins to sea lions to many different species of birds,. On the boat ride out to the islands, we saw the Paracas Candlelabra, known as the Candlelabra of the Andes. Etched deep into the Peruvian seaside sand hill 2 feet deep, this candlelabra stands 600 feet tall from tip to tip. Thanks to carbon dating of artifacts found near this massive geoglyph, it has been dated back to around 200 BCE, but the purpose and creators of the symbol are still unknown. The islands are home to so many wildlife. There were many bird species, sea lions basking with their partner in the sun and penguins at the top of the rocks walking around. They were so cute. We spent about 45 minutes driving from island to island. The boat was able to pull up close to the rocks so we could get a good look and great pictures of the animals.

Once we returned to Paracas, we had a bit of time to explore the town, including a light lunch at one of the many restaurants by the water. (They all looked tasty and had a similar menu). We then returned to the bus where we headed to Huacachina where we would visit the only desert oasis in South America. The bus ride took one hour, and once we arrived, we climbed up a steep sand hill in the hot sun. Sweaty and out of breath, we climbed aboard the famous dune buggies, strapped in and got ready for the ride which simulated a roller coaster. We went flying up and down, over and around the sand dunes, our bodies flying from side to side and actually going airborne a few times. We made two stops at some steep hills where we got to go sand boarding. Lying down on the board, the tour guide gave us a good push and we went flying down the sand hill. It was like sled riding on sand. After sand boarding, we had dinner at Wild Rover, a youth hostels and then boarded the bus to head back to Lima. It was a 4-hour drive and we all fell asleep. It had been a long day and we wouldn’t be back at our hotel until midnight. But it was well worth it and I highly recommend Peru hop for this tour. They were very knowledgeable; the tour was very well organized, and the guides were very friendly.

Day 3

The next day, we flew to Cusco, Peru which is 11,152 ft above sea level. In preparation for this flight, we took acetazolamide to ward off the effects of altitude sickness. It worked great. The only effects we had from the altitude was feeling out of breath when we were exerting ourselves. Upon arrival in Cusco, we checked into our hotel Hilton Garden Inn. This hotel is conveniently located, reasonably priced and the rooms are spacious and updated and breakfast is included. After getting settled, we headed out to explore the city. From the hotel, we walked down several flights of stairs on this steep street near the hotel. After walking around the city we settled on a lovely restaurant called La Feria (which means Guinea Pig). We got to sit upstairs and look out at the lovely Plaza de Armes. Make sure you ask for a table by the window. It’s a great city to walk around. There are many little shops to buy souvenirs.

Day 4

We got up at 5am to catch the Peru Rail to Machu Picchu. You actually take the train to Aguas Calientes. The ride takes you through the Sacred Valley. Don’t miss seeing the Skylodge Adventure Suites on the way. If you are adventurous, you can book a pod to stay at which is secured to the side of the mountain and overlooks the whole valley. But make sure you aren’t afraid of heights because you have to climb 400 meters straight up to get to them. They were all booked so we didn’t get to go. I recommend booking a year out or maybe you will be luckier than we were. When we arrived, around 10am, we checked into our hotel, Hatun Inti. I highly recommend this hotel but definitely request a room on the back of the hotel. From your balcony you will see a river and the mountains instead of the noise from the street. The rooms were well furnished and even had a large jacuzzi tub and fresh flowers. After we got settled in, we headed to the bus which is only a block away in the middle of town.

I highly recommend getting tickets for Machu Picchu for two days to ensure that you get good weather at least one of the two days. If there are a lot of clouds, you can’t get a good view of the village from above. Your ticket will be for a specific time but that really just means you can’t go in before that time. You can go later than the time specified on your ticket. The entrance ticket to Machu Picchu includes the very winding bus ride up the mountain. Once you enter, you can stay for as long as you want. Another reason for getting two tickets is this allows you to take your time and explore and not feel rushed. There is a lot to see there and spending 5-6 hours can be exhausting. We entered and went to the upper area first. That is where you will get the best pictures. After a marathon picture session to get that perfect Instagram picture, we explored the upper area some more and went to the lower village but decided to save most of the exploring there for day 2. Don’t miss the passport stamping station, a table below the entrance area where you can get a Machu Picchu stamp in your passport. We stayed about 3 hours and then returned to Aguas Calientes by bus. Some people hike up or down but since I had knee surgery recently, we took the bus.

We spent some time walking around the town of Aguas Calientes and picking up a few souvenirs. There are some nice markets where you can get gifts, some unique and some touristy junk. By dinner time it was pouring rain so we found a close restaurant a short walk away called Café Inkaterra. We had a delicious dinner and then went to sleep. It had been a really long but wonderful day.

Day 5

Our tickets for Machu Picchu were for 6am but at this point we were so tired and just needed to sleep in. We asked them the day before and found out that we could go in any time after 6am so we took the bus around 9am. We lucked out and had great weather both days, despite the rain the night before. But we were glad to have the extra day to see the lower village when we weren’t so tired. The history is really interesting and if you want to pay a guide, you can have someone walk you around the site and tell you about all the history. We decided just to go on our own. We did however hear little bits of what guides were saying. One disappointment was there was no museum or video to give you a historical understanding Machu Picchu. But it is a site that everyone should see at some point in their life. We spent about another 2-3 hours there and then headed down by bus to collect our belongings and catch the bus back to Aguas Calientes. Our train would leave around 4pm to go back to Cusco. The Peru rail has different trains that have different levels of amenities. We took the Expedition, was the most basic train you can take but it was reasonable and clean, and met our needs. Some of the trains have dinners and shows but also cost a lot more. When we got back to Cusco, we stayed at Palacio del Inka, a Marriott luxury collection hotel. They gave us a lovely upgraded room since it was my daughter’s birthday. We were tired so we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. After dinner they brought her leftovers up to the room as if it were room service along with a lovely platter of chocolate covered strawberries for her birthday. Dinner was delicious. We were excited for a good night’s sleep in a very comfortable, cool and dark room.

Day 6

Today was my daughter’s birthday, which is why we stayed at this beautiful property, though it was not overly expensive. Today we had another tour planned but luckily it didn’t start until 1pm so we were able to sleep in and have a leisurely. We had a lovely breakfast. The buffet was extensive including a honeycomb, many homemade jams and breads and several hot dishes. Our ATV tour today included riding ATVs and seeing Maras Salt Mines and the Moray archaeological site. We chose the afternoon tour but there is also a morning tour as well. (see schedule on the website).

The ride to the ATVs is about an hour in the van. We had about 8-10 people on our tour. Once we arrived, we were fitted with helmets and goggles and given a short lesson and practice on driving the ATVs. We set off down a long dirt road through a town that seemed like it was from the 1800s. This was the first of two such towns. We rode through beautiful country with meadows on each side and mountains in the distance. It was very picturesque. We even stopped at a very picturesque area for pictures. With the mountains in the background, this was the perfect Instagram photo spot.

Next, and probably my favorite part of the ride, was through this town that looked like it was from 1800s. We drove on the main dirt road and there were little shops lining the street. Residents dressed in traditional clothes came out to watch us. This was clearly the big event of the day. None of the apartments looked like they had electricity. It was really amazing to think that people still live this way. We finally arrived at the Moray Archaeological site. Moray, known as a laboratory of agricultural research, allowed Incase to test and plant different crops at various elevations levels. Be aware that the elevation here is 11,500 Ft.; so you will definitely feel winded if you decide to go down into the site. We had about 30 minutes here and then got back on our ATVs and headed back through the town and back to the ATV home.

We then jumped into a van and headed to the Maras Salt Flats. Salidas de Mars, as they are known locally, are a collection of 3,000 salt ponds created by the Incas in the 1400s. Fed by a subterranean stream that flows through the intricate system of channels, the ponds are left to dry over the course of a few days. Salt can then be removed. There are different types of salt: white on top, pink in the middle (the best), and brown on the bottom. We had plenty of time to explore and take pictures here.

We then returned back to the hotel where we had a quick dinner at the bar in Palacio del Inka, collected our stuff and spent our last night at the Hilton Garden Inn because it was significantly cheaper and we were just going to sleep and get up very early to head back to Lima the next morning.

Day 7

We got up at 5am to catch our flight back to Lima. This would be a very long two days to return to Boston. We had initially planned to get into Lima around 9am and touring the city but we were so tired that we decided to spend the day at the airport hotel. This hotel is literally across the street from the terminal and requires no shuttle. We had breakfast and did a workout and then went to bed at 4pm because we were going to miss a night of sleep flying back to Boston. We slept until 10pm and then headed to the terminal to board our flight, which left at 2:35am.

Day 8

We arrived in Panama City (our stopover point) at 6am. We waited in the airport for a bit and then caught an Uber to go see the Panama Canal. I recommend going to the Miraflores Visitor Center to view the locks because there is also a museum there. The Uber is about $20 US and takes about 40 minutes. This is definitely something I recommend if you have a layover in Panama. We were lucky because when we arrived there was a ship just starting to enter the locks. It was really interesting to watch how the locks filled up and the gates opened. We stayed about 1:30 hours. In addition to watching the boats come through the locks, you can also visit the Miraflores visitor center museum. You can learn all about the history of the canal and the building of the locks. Well worth the $20 Uber ride! Our flight left at 1pm with Copa Airlines direct back to Boston.

5 Best things about this trip

1. Seeing Macchu Picchu

2. Experiencing the Peruvian Culture and food

3. Riding the ATVs through the towns still living like its 1800s

4. Sandboarding

5. Visiting the Ballestas Islands and seeing all the amazing wildlife