dream trip Peru Bolivia (3 weeks in May)

I am happily starting to organise a trip to Perou and Bolivia in May.
My boyfriend and I are fond of nature, culture and adventure.

Below is a draft itinerary based on our 3-week stay (24 nights). Late arrival on the 4th of May, late departure on 27th May, from Lima.
We would appreciate a lot your comments! interest of sites, feasibility of travel time, anything you loved and is missing there, also would swapping some activities be preferable, not sure if we miss a lot not going to Sucre

2 nights LIMA: nice dinners, Larco museum
3 nights CUSCO: Cusco, Sacred Valley
2 nights AGUAS CALIENTES: Macchu Picchu, Wayna Picchu
2 nights QUELLOMAYO: not sure about this! but I read about YellowRiver homestay and they have amazing reviews. Thought it was the opportunity to see a more 'true' Peru, hike/walk in the jungle away from the Macchu Picchu crowd, see coffee plantations (it's really not on the way, but not sure to find same level of quality/authenticity in homestays near Coroico or Sucre)
1 night LA PAZ: markets, lines
1 nights YUNGAS: most dangerous road biking. Maybe staying 3 nights for hikes and relaxing if not going to Quellomayo
2 nights ISLA DEL SOL: is 1 enough?
1 night BUS TO UYUNI
5/6 nights in Sud Lipez, ideally also Tupiza and Atacama desert
1 night stop in Lima
4 nights in Mancora

Thanks a ton in advance for your help!

Severine

A couple of thoughts on timing (I'm not going to get into the overall itinerary):

How do you plan to get from Quellomayo to La Paz? I can't see how you are going to do this in a day, taking into account the border crossing.

Similarly how do you plan to travel from "Sud Lipez, ideally also Tupiza and Atacama desert"? If you end up in San Pedro de Atacama then get to Antofagasta and fly to Lima then I guess it's doable.
1 night stop in Lima
4 nights in Mancora

I assume you also plan to fly from LIM to TYL to go to Mancora?

Hi, thanks,
I was thinking flying from Uyuni to La Paz and Lima, then go to Mancora the morning after.

OK that will work assuming no flight delays. So you will return to Uyuni and not Tupiza or San Pedro: in the time this makes sense.

How about Quellomayo to La Paz?

Hi,
From Quellomayo i was thinking... well a car I guess (not sure if it's super expensive to have a 'taxi' for 4 hours) up to Cusco then fly. I didn't think about the border formalities thought so will take into account.
Yes for the Sud Lipez, I see a lot of 4 day tour with 3 nights in Uyuni/Sud Lipez, i see you have the option to cross the border but I am not sure if it's worth actually spending 1 night there, and if this can be part of these packaged tours. The option of flying from there is interesting!
Tupiza i read that weather is nicer so wanted to fit it if possible but i guess I am too tight

The taxi from Quellomayo to Ollantaytambo will not be that expensive really, however it will be a long tiring trip, then either keep the same taxi, get another one, or ride the 'bus, to Cuzco; then fly to La Paz. This is a long day but feasible.

Land transport will be around 24 hours travel, unless you have your own vehicle in which case it's still 18 hours or so at a guess.

Cusco/Sacred Valley/MP: you might want to go to Ollantaytambo first (lower in elevation than Cusco and a nice town... don't miss the ruins) and then MP (you don't need two nights in Aguas Calientes) and then Cusco. Quellomayo: only you can decide about going there. You could walk from Aguas Calientes to Hidroelectrica and take a shared taxi or minibus to Santa Teresa. From Santa Teresa you can take a minibus to Santa Maria and a bus to Cusco. Would it not make sense to then go to Puno and Lake Titicaca/Isla del Sol first? I have not been to Bolivia yet (going in March) but it seems like you need more time for La Paz. I would skip Mancora if it were my trip (long way to go for a beach... and Peru is really not about the beach).

Yes, going Quellomayo to La Paz would take 2 days. I haven't been to Quellomayo, but I'm sure even if you have taxi transport it's at least 5 hours time to reach Cusco. And the fast direct flights between Cusco and La Paz only leave during the morning hours. Maybe you should just spend your time in Corioco to avoid this problem. The las Yungas region is really beautiful.

But if you fly to La Paz from Cusco, that doesn't get you to lake Titicaca along the way, so maybe that's the flaw in your plan? Bus or train/bus transport between Cusco and Copacabana (for Isla del Sol) would take 2 days time via Puno.

2 nights ISLA DEL SOL: is 1 enough?

1 night on the island is enough for almost anyone. But it's impossible to do the visit without spending at least one night in Copacabana, either on your way to or from the island.

Thanks very much for your reply. Yes Quellomayo sounded nice but really not on the way... Coroico seems more sensible. Train to titicaca would be nice, and a way to avoid another flight. I'll add Copacabana too. Have you had a beach stay somewhere or not at all?

Thanks Sonia,
So Ollotaytambo requires a night there (not relevant as day trip from Cusco)? I will do ot first then. For Aguas Calientes, is it not to short to do Macchu Picchu and Wayna Picchu the same day? Second time to enter Wayna Picchu is 10am so i wonder if its a shame to have to rush Macchu Picchu? And maybe there are other hikes i dont know for the afternoon. Thanks for the bus infos. I will add more time in La Paz and probably Puno on the way. Maybe skip Mancora as beach far and maybe not so great but we like to have a cosy place to relax at the end. Is there anywhere relevant or is it just not the country for that?

Thank you very much. Do you recon its relevant to rent a car for parts of a trip on Peru/Bolivia?

Is it three weeks, as in the title of your topic, or 25 days, as in your itinerary ?
Firstly, you haven't accounted for travel time between places, secondly Mancora is out of your way and exceeding the time frame of your travel.

For Aguas Calientes, is it not to short to do Macchu Picchu and Wayna Picchu the same day?

Although lots of people visit Machu Picchu on a day trip and enjoy it, the time available means leaving at around 1600h; after this the main ruins are far less busy and it's a good time to explore them, however this means staying two nights. I suggest that it's also worth climbing Monte Machu Picchu, which takes 3-4 hours, so if you want to climb Huayna Picchu as well, you have a long day, and staying two nights make sense.

Do you recon its relevant to rent a car for parts of a trip on Peru/Bolivia?

In the sense of being a valuable option - yes, however it's very much a case of how you want to travel. With your own vehicle you ahve complete freedom to go where you want, when you want, etc. This is also true if you rent a vehicle with a driver.

Thank you
Its a big 3 weeks. 23 nights.
Ok will put more time to consider travel.
Is there any comfy and nice place to stay relaxing before flying back or is the area just not relevant for that.
Best
Severine

For Aguas Calientes, is it not to short to do Macchu Picchu and Wayna Picchu the same day?

They are one site and not really sensible to do in two days. Before MP became as popular as it is today, it used to be visited as one site and on one ticket, covering MP and WP.

As for Mancora and beaches, depending on what your expectations are it might be not what you looking for. For me, personally, having been brought up near nice sandy beaches of southern Baltic, Mancora was a big letdown. Neither is the beach nice, nor is the infrastructure, such as you'd normally expect at a good beach.
You can have some beach time in Lima instead. Go to Barranco, where there is a beach and some nice cafés.

Ollantaytambo: I think you will want a night there because it is a nice town, you can visit the ruins and do the short walk up to the granaries. MP is of course amazing but there are many other great sites in the Cusco/Sacred Valley area like Ollantaytambo, Pisac (walk down from the top of the ruins to the village), Chinchero, Moray and the Maras salineras, Sacsayhuaman...

We had one day for Machu Picchu and that was enough for us. We chose MP Montana and loved it. We stayed in Aguas Calientes the night before. We walked up to MP (most people take the bus) and entered at 6:30 am. We explored the site till 9 am and that was really all we needed. We then hiked up MP Montana at 9 am. We were back down around noon. We stayed till 2:30 pm just because we could. Actually, my husband waited for me at one point while I went back for more pictures. I did not feel the need to hike up both mountains and also not to walk to the Sun Gate after the views from MP Montana which were amazing. We went in 2016 and there are now new entrance rules for MP but they have not been enforced yet. You do now have to choose a morning ticket or afternoon ticket. If you hike up a mountain you have to choose a morning ticket. If you choose HP (under the new rules) you get 6 hours at the site and if you choose MP Montana 7 hours. If the new rules were being enforced with a regular morning ticket (without a mountain) you could only visit in the morning and with an afternoon ticket only in the afternoon. But apparently they still let people with morning tickets stay for the whole day. Especially if you hike up the mountain first and then go to the actual site. You will have to keep an eye on travel forums (check TripAdvisor too) to see if/how the new rules are being enforced in the future. So if you want to make really sure you can stay a whole day you would have to buy a morning and an afternoon ticket. Or you could stay 2 nights and buy two morning tickets. If I went back I would do the same as what we did: morning ticket and hike up MP Montana. You can buy MP tickets here:
http://www.machupicchu.gob.pe/
HP (Huayna Picchu/Wayna Picchu) does sell out so if you choose HP you have to buy tickets soon. Not so if you choose MP Montana. You can buy train tickets online as well (Peru Rail or Inca Rail). I would take the train from Ollantaytambo, not from Cusco. More departures and generally cheaper. Also, the Ollantaytambo train station is in the town. The Cusco train station is not in Cusco but in Poroy.

You could consider Paracas (beach, Ballestas Islands, Paracas Reserve) at the end of your trip. But I think you will need all the time you have available for traveling to all the places you already mention.

Hi Sonia,
Thank you so much for your detailed tips. The key reason we picked the destination is Macchu Picchu so it makes sense to do it and the area of the Sacred Valley well informed.
Have a nice evening.
Severine

I just added some of the things I loved during my Peru trip with a *:

2 nights LIMA: nice dinners, Larco museum
*magic water fountains at night, visit Barranco during the day.
3 nights CUSCO: Cusco, Sacred Valley
**definitely go for the alternative rainbow mountain tour, that was my favourite sight after Machu Picchu in all of Peru! even if you'd need a day more for it, I'd highly recommend it.

Hope it helps :)

Thanks for your tips!
I heard about the rainbow mountain and scenery seems beautiful.
I was hesitating to go since i have quite some time in bolivia in sud lipez. Did you go to Bolivia sud lipez and you still recommend rainbow mountain?
What do you call alternative route? You mean outside the sacred valkey itself correct?
Best
Severine

I have heard conflicting reports about Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca) . The hike has become extremely popular recently so it has apparently become too crowded and the trail conditions have deteriorated. It is a high altitude hike so you have to be acclimatized. Don't do the hike when it rains (very muddy and slippery and muted colours) or might have snowed. Some people report that the colors did not seem as vivid as they appear in pictures. In tourist brochures the pictures have been photoshopped.

The alternative Rainbow Mountain is also called Palccoyo and it enters the area of the colored mountains through a different access with much less hiking. Hopefully it won't become as popular as Vinicunca.

All clear thanks very much!

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