My friend and I will be traveling to Peru from (arriving in Lima) July to August. We will be staying for 32 days. What is a suggested itinerary during our stay? Would airbnb be a good/affordable place to find cheap places to stay in the area?
Would it be best to arrive and leave at LIM airport or leave at a different airport to be able to explore more (was thinking Ecuador) or will it be too rushed?
PS: My friend speaks Spanish
What is a suggested itinerary during our stay?
Peru is a big country with lots of different things to see and do. It's impossible for anyone to suggest an itinerary without knowing any of your interests. There is plenty of information available online and in guidebooks about the country. Have a read and see which places appeal to you.
Would airbnb be a good/affordable place to find cheap places to stay in the area?
Never used airbnb in Peru. There are plenty of cheap hostels and guesthouses. Again, you can easily compare the options using Google.
Would it be best to arrive and leave at LIM airport or leave at a different airport to be able to explore more (was thinking Ecuador) or will it be too rushed?
Well there is more than enough in Peru to keep most people entertained for 32 days. Again though it depends on your interests. If south Peru doesn't appeal you could do north Peru and then go into Ecuador.
Hi like the previous person said, it is hard to suggest something if we don't know your interests.
It seems reasonable to assume that you would like to visit Cusco + Machu Picchu so the most classic itinerary would be:
Paracas (Ballestas Islands + National reserve) 1 Day
Huacachina (Sandboarding + oasis) 1 Day
Nazca (Nazca Lines) 1 Day
Arequipa (beautiful city centre + Colca Canyon + Volcanoes) 2 Days-3Days
Puno (Floating islands of the Uros) 1 Day
Cusco (historical centre + museums+Machu Picchu) 5 days
Ollantaytambo (sacred valley - there is so much to do here) 1 day is enough but there's stuff to do to fill way more
from there, your can visit the jungle in Puerto Maldonado or fly to Iquitos and do a jungle tour there (biggest jungle city in the world not reachable over land).
Or you could fly to Quito and go back to Lima following the next itinerary:
Galapagos (REALLY EXPENSIVE) 4 Days - Baños (canyoning, ziplining) 2 days - Mancora (laid back beach town) 3-4 days - Huanchaco (surfing + Chan Chan ruins) 1-2 days unless you like surfing.
I can also recommend the ruins of Kuelap in the North of Peru!
If you have a month, you have a lot of time to visit places and see which ones you like so you can stay somewhere longer. If you would visit all of these places though, I think you would easily spend the whole month. Especially if you go by the beach. I put the beach in the end because it's tempting to stay longer.
For buses check busportal.pe and for the south check peruhop.com (bus lima-cusco has all stops and itinerary that matches the bus times + smaller free stops as they are a hop on/off bus).
For flights to Ecuador best Avianca or Latam. You could also try smaller companies like Star Peru, Peruvian Airlines. I haven't used any of them so I'm not sure.
Have fun
32 days, you should probably just stick to Peru. There's plenty to see there; you'll never be bored. And you should definitely plan to see some places in northern Peru, which gets a whole lot less tourists than the southern part of the country. Trujillo and Chachapoyas are the first that come to mind.
#2 poster did a good job of laying out a lot of the different places you could visit. But if you and your friend like trekking in the mountains, you should also plan time for the Cordillera Blanca from Huaraz. It's the premiere trekking mecca in Peru, and July-August the weather is perfect there.
You can easily spend 32 days in Peru so I wouldn't try to add another country. Your itinerary depends on your interests. For example: do you want to include the Amazon? Do you like mountain trekking?
We didn't use Airbnb in Peru (but I don't see why not... we did use Airbnb in Colombia) but we had no problem finding affordable hostels and hotels.
We traveled mostly by bus and did not use Peru Hop as going by bus is easy and cheaper.
We had 30 days and didn't go the Amazon, Huaraz or Lake Titicaca. Northern Peru was great. Here is our itinerary and (very long!) trip report:
Day 1: Lima. Overnight bus to Trujillo.
Day 2: Chan Chan, overnight in Huanchaco
Day 3: Huaca de La Luna, Trujillo, overnight in Huanchaco
Day 4: bus to Chiclayo. Shared taxi to Lambayeque.
Day 5: Tucume. Lord of Sipan museum. Overnight bus to Chachapoyas.
Day 6: hiked Inca Road from Levanto to Chachapoyas
Day 7: Gocta Falls
Day 8: Kuelap
Day 9: Minibus to Leymebamba, mummies museum
Day 10: Minibus to Celendin and minibus to Cajamarca
Day 11: Inca baths and Ventanillas de Otuzco
Day 12: Cumbe Mayo and flight to Lima
Day 13: flight to Cusco and explore Cusco
Day 14: bus to Pisac (hiked to top of ruins and back), bus to Urubamba
Day 15: bus to Chinchero, shared taxi to Maras and hike from Maras to Moray and back, on to the salineras and the road to Urubamba
Day 16: bus to Ollantaytambo. Tried to hike to Inca Quarries (got lost, still a great hike)
Day 17: Ollantaytambo ruins. Shuttle to Santa Teresa. Hot springs.
Day 18: minibus to Lucmabamba, hike via Llactapata (great view of MP) and Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes
Day 19: walk up to MP, MP + MP Montana, walk back down to AC
Day 20: quiet morning in AC, walk back to Hidroelectrica, shuttle to Ollantaytambo
Day 21: granaries in Ollantaytambo, bus to Cusco, bus to Pisac but got off at Tambomachay and walked via Puka Pukara and Q'enqo to Sacsayhuaman. Overnight bus to Arequipa
Day 22: Arequipa
Day 23: bus to Cabanaconde
Day 24: hike down Colca Canyon to Llahuar
Day 25: hike in Colca Canyon: Llahuar to Fure to Sangalle
Day 26: hike back to Cabanaconde (walk planned for afternoon but needed a rest!)
Day 27: early bus to Cruz del Condor. Bus to Arequipa. Night bus to Ica
Day 28: Huacachina
Day 29: bus to highway near Pisco, taxi to Paracas, bike ride in Paracas Reserve
Day 30: Ballestas Islands boat tour. Bus to Lima. Flight home after midnight.
Personally, I'd suggest one of two options, either south or north Peru. Usually, those coming to Peru for the first time choose the south, with Cuzco and Machu Picchu as the highlight of the trip.
Going south you can include also a short trip to Bolivia and northern Chile, making a loop and avoiding backtracking.
I made a similar trip in the same time frame as yours, travelling by busses only, with the following itinerary: Lima - Pisco/Paracas - Ica - Cuzco/MP/Salkantay trail - Puno/Titikaka lake + Uros/Amantani/Taquile - Copacabana - La Paz - Uyuni/Salar tour - Chilean border - San Pedro de Atacama - Arica - Tacna - Arequipa/Colca Canyon - Lima.
I'd leave northern Peru for another trip where you could combine it with Ecuador.
You might also consider the weather factor. July/August is winter and it gets cold on higher altitudes in southern Peru and Bolivia. Otoh, it's dry period and you get better views in the mountains.
Northern Peru and Ecuador will be much warmer in that time of year.
It seems there is still a lot of damage in parts of northern Peru, after the recent floods and landslides.
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