7-Week South America Itinerary - Feedback welcome

Lima: As you are completely skipping northern Peru, see Huaca Pucllana in Lima for the construction and a different culture. Many areas of Lima are "unsafe" but Huaca Pucllana is in a safe area (or was when I visited) with loads of hostels and walking distance. Watch out for Peruvian Hairless Dog - an unusual breed that was becoming very rare so Gov. encouraged archaeological sites to keep them but in practice generally only the lowland archaeological sites do.

In my view not a lot else in Lima but opinions differ.

Ian

3rd time lucky on server error! Grrr

Cuzco to Ollantaytambo: Take a Collectivo. Same for return. Minibuses run, no schedule but frequently. All for a destination run from a set place on a road/junction eg Cuzco to Ollantaytambo. Hostel will tell you where for any destination. Convenient local service used by locals. Note where dropped off in Ollantaytambo as that's where you'll catch one back from. Minivan leaves when enough people but on way out of city shouts to get more passengers. eghttps://www.google.com/maps/place/Pavitos+Colectivo+A+Ollantaytambo/@-13.5229282,-71.9975066,15z/data=!4m10!1m2!2m1!1scuzco+collectivo!3m6!1s0x916dd6758868faf3:0x6a1e2aff6499d4f9!8m2!3d-13.5229282!4d-71.9794822!15sCg9jdXNjbyBjb2xlY3Rpdm-SAQhidXNfc3RvcOABAA!16s%2Fg%2F1td14bf9?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Pusac: Collectivo. Do independently. Cheaper, easier and see what you want on your schedule. I walked down mountain from site on small footpaths passing loads of small buildings and more small sites - no tour will do that.

Copacabana what are you going to do there? Isla del Sol Ok but not amazing if you are short of time. PeruHop/BoliviaHop push punters out to it but gawd knows why.

Arequipa to Cuzco - much cheaper to take overnight bus

Peru and Bolivia - overnight buses are brilliant (and regulated). Cama or semi-cama seating Sleeping on them is fine. They often leave evening (you have time to eat before depart) and arrive early morning meaning you have full day at both departure and arrival places (often not the case with flights).

Ian

[ Edit: Edited on 1 Oct 2024, 23:04 GMT by Psamathe ]

Thank you so much for all of your help with this, your suggestions and advice have been invaluable and have really helped us with going about the planning of this trip! I don't want to take up too much of your time, so I won't pester you with any more questions now but we'll continue to plan based on what you've said

Just signed up here but we (wife and I) have a bit of travel history. I have not been to all of the places on your list in 2 visits to South America, but SA/3 has a growing list of new places to see. Some general comments:

La Paz is on our next trip list. But this is to see Puma Punku and Tiwanaku++ but when it comes time, I'll research more. This thread will prove very helpful. I don't think we'd need as many days as you are planning, but I see what others have said.

Ollantaytambo - fabulous and we stayed at a great small hotel. The ruins there are must see. The hotel also arranged a driver between Cusco, their hotel and then back to Cusco a few days later. Not too expensive at the time for the length of the drive. We took the train from here to Machu Pucchu.

Machu Picchu - I'd warn about 1 day there. Our first day was heavy cloud cover. We walked through all of the structures and close up you could see everything. But the classic all-encompassing shot was a no-go. I had planned a second day (half a day plus) and it was beautiful this day. This was a key site for us so while we packed a ton into our trip, I thought it was worth 2 days in the neighboring city (Aguas Calientes).

Lima - we spent a couple of days here. We thought we'd see how they celebrated Easter so we were there at that time. It was interesting for sure. Lima is good for the ruins someone else mentioned. We stayed close to the cliffs/beach/ocean and that was good to see. IMO, it's not worth too many days but 2, maybe 3?

Iguazu Falls - IMO, your need 2 days here. One for the Argentina side and the another from the Brazil side. They are different views and both sides are magnificent.

I have trip reports if I can PM/DM here. Long and wordy with more pictures than necessary, but that's what we do! Can't share links freely as my tiny web server can't handle large volumes.

[ Edit: Edited on 12 Oct 2024, 15:42 GMT by knick1959 ]

I was in Lima briefly - well I was on a cruise ship in Calleo - the port. We had a very nice boat trip to the outer islands off the coast there with sea lions, penguins, pelicans, and assorted other birds.

https://grandmapanama.travellerspoint.com/12/

We also saw a very nice museum (the Museo Arqueologico Rafael Larco Herrera) which had a lot of information about the indiginous people including their pottery and other artifacts. There was also the Gold Museum which is the opposite - not all of the exhibits were appropriately obtained and not all of them are authentic - plus they are not displayed in an educational manner.

https://grandmapanama.travellerspoint.com/71/

[ Edit: Edited on 12 Oct 2024, 22:50 GMT by greatgrandmaR ]

I'll start off by confirming some things others have mentioned;

- Definitely go for a 3-day trip in Salar de Uyuni. I've done a great deal of travelling in various parts of the world but this remains one of my absolute top experiences I've ever had! I include the volcanic surroundings as well as the salt flats themselves.

- Arequipa is a really lovely, historic place which I really liked. I was only there for about a day and a half and I really wish I'd been able to stay longer!

- The Ballestas Islands are well worth going on a boat trip round for all the different wildlife you see (though if I absolutely had to cut something from my itinerary, it would probably be this - not because they aren't worth seeing, because they definitely are, but because everything else is even more amazing!)

- There's tons to do and see in Cuzco and around. If you're there at the right time in June you should be able to see the Corpus Christi processions - absolutely fabulous experience. The processions, Plaza de Armas, the Inca Museum and the historic church & convent of Santo Domingo of Guzmán were my favourite experiences within the city itself. Again, I really wish I'd had longer than a couple of days!

- I loved the Sacred Valley, the Inca Trail/ Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo and Pisac. I also very much enjoyed Nazca (I agree that a short flight in a light plane is the best way to see the the Nazca Lines, not the viewing tower) and Lake Titicaca (I went to Taquile Island, Amantani Island and the floating Uros Islands)

- La Paz is a very interesting city, well worth a visit.

I spent two weeks across Buenos Aires and Uruguay (Colonia del Sacramento and Montevideo) on my honeymoon. I'd say there's more than enough to do and see in BA for six days! We spent each day exploring a different area of the city (Centro, Retiro, San Telmo, Recoleta, the ecological reserve, etc.) and then took the ferry to the wonderful Colonia del Sacramento, spending two full days there as well as a day trip from there to Montevideo. On our return to BA we then had a full day to go on a day trip to Tigre and the Paraná Delta. I did a blog about it which you can see here - https://3traveller2.travellerspoint.com/toc/

As far as Lima goes, I had hardly any time there and was staying in Miraflores district which was on the edge of the city and seemed very nice. I'm kicking myself for not managing to squeeze in a trip into the historic centre - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although I haven't personally experienced the centre, from what I've read there's a decent amount to see and do there - museums, art galleries, historic monasteries and churches, etc. If it were me I'd spend at least two full days in Lima (I do like my museums, historic buildings, etc. though!)

In Bolivia, if you are able to add any other destinations, I'd suggest Sucre, the other capital. I loved it - really beautiful and historic, with lots to do and see. I also enjoyed the city of Pososí (be aware of its altitude though) - also quite a historic place, and with mines that are fascinating to visit.

If you have time to add anything to Peru, then I recommend Chauchilla Cemetery, which is quite close to Nazca. This is an ancient cemetery with preserved mummies found in the desert. North of Nazca, near to Ica I went sandbuggying and sandboarding in the desert - it was really good fun.

There's also Colca Canyon, which I recommend as a place to see Andean condors in the wild. It's also a great place to go hiking, although I didn't have time to do that. It's more out of your way than Chauchilla and sandboarding, though, so not sure you'd have time for it. Not sure if a day trip is possible unless you travel to the villages nearby and stay the night there.

[ Edit: Edited on 15 Oct 2024, 20:04 GMT by 3Traveller ]

Quoting 3Traveller

...
There's also Colca Canyon, which I recommend as a place to see Andean condors in the wild. It's also a great place to go hiking, although I didn't have time to do that. It's more out of your way than Chauchilla and sandboarding, though, so not sure you'd have time for it. Not sure if a day trip is possible unless you travel to the villages nearby and stay the night there.

You can see Colca Canyon incl seeing the condors in a day from Arequipa leaving around 4:00am getting back late (but not the hiking trip options). But, if stopping in Arequipa on way "up" to acclimatise for altitude, Colca Canyon is high so may not be appropriate. But you are going high during day and returning lower in evening ... I'm no expert but having seen others suffer (not at Colca) I'm cautious as it can be horrific and dangerous.

If you are interested in wildlife seeing the vondors is excellent (they are not common). But if not so interested in wildlife then scenery is dramatic, canyon much deeper than US Grand Canyon (twice as deep?) but there is a lot of dramatic stuff in Peru & Bolivia eg WMDR outside La Paz takes a day and if limited on time then you can't see and do everything.

Ian

[ Edit: Edited on 15 Oct 2024, 20:20 GMT by Psamathe ]