10 Days In Peru
From landmarks like Machu Picchu, Rainbow Mountain, and the Colca Canyon to its widely regarded culinary scene, complete with ceviche and pisco sour, Peru is, in my opinion, one of the top travel destinations in the world. Unfortunately, compared to my ventures into Europe, planning was a little more complicated, with fewer articles highlighting what and how to book your trip.
After visiting in November 2023, I put together our own 10-day itinerary to help you get started. Keep in mind there is lots more we would have loved to see, and we started building a plan for what we would do next time we visit.
Day 1 Huacachina, Peru
Day 2 Travel Day - Huacachina - Lima - Cusco
Day 3 Cusco - Salkantay Trek
Day 4 Cusco - Salkantay Trek
Day 5 Cusco - Aguas Calientes
Day 6 Machu Pichu
Day 7 Rainbow Mountain
Day 8 Arequipa (original plan but ended up doing an extra day in Lima - this is what I would recommend for a visitor)
Day 9 Lima
Day 10 Lima
Flying from Canada, we faced a few delays in our layover in Houston, Texas and ended up in Lima at 3 a.m. So, we were not off to a great start, given that our real first day started at 8 a.m. (in 5 hours).
Day 1 - Huacachina
Our first day began at the Hotel Britania Crystal Collection in Miraflores. We had heard mixed reviews about Lima's safety, but Miraflores is known as a touristy and safe area. The hotel was conveniently located, just 9 minutes from the bus station (a short Uber ride away). We felt safe and comfortable in this area, and it was a great starting point for our adventure.
We opted for Peru Bus (Cruz Del Sur is another popular choice). It was easy to find, but our Uber dropped us off on the wrong side of the road, so we had to navigate the busy street. The bus ride was about 4 hours and comfortable, but it actually stopped in the town of Ica. Taking the bus will be your only option to get here (other than a car rental) since Huacachina has no airport. Peru Hop is the only bus that goes directly to Huscachina; the rest (including the one we took stop in Ica). From there, we took a local taxi from the bus station to Huacachina. Despite being warned about the safety of taxis, the local ones at the bus station were safe, and we were able to share our ride with another passenger from Uruguay who was on the same bus from Lima.
We ended up staying at Bananas Adventure Hostel, which is located in the Oasis of the largest sand dunes in South America. Here, we booked a private room, which was even a little nicer than the hotel we had stayed at in Lima. However, the best part of these accomodations was the location! Yes, these are the dunes pictured out our back gate.
We spent some time having lunch and taking a rest before we set off on our evening Dune Buggy at Sunset and Sandboarding Tour. From our accomodations, we could walk over to the starting point of our tour and walk back afterwards as well.
After we did a short lap of the Oasis before having dinner and going to sleep early, in preparation for a sunrise exploration of the sand dunes.
Day 2
We woke up for sunrise and wandered around the sand dunes. Lot's of great photos and unfortunately lots of sand in our shoes and clothes that we carried with us for the rest of the trip. From there we took a taxi back to Ica and caught our bus back to Lima. This time we did try Cruz Del Sur and found that we had no issues.
Once back in Lima, we walked over to a nearby gas station to grab some water and snacks before we caught a ride to the Lima Airport and flew into the historic town of Cusco. It was already dark by the time we arrived, meaning as we Ubered to our accommodations, we weren't able to take note of our beautiful surroundings, which included exquisite churches, markets and narrow cobble-stone streets.
We grabbed a quick dinner at one of the restauraunts in the touristy area, before heading back to our hotel the Tierra Viva Cusco Centro.
Day 3
The Salkantay Trek takes you on what would be the first two days of the five day hike that goes to Machu Pichu. Since we were a little pressed for time (and my friend wanted to have photos of her dream destination of Machu Pichu in not wet clothing) we decided to just do the trek to Humantay Lake and Salkantay Pass, before we would return and take the train over to the world wonder.
Due to the high elevation, it is typically recommended you do a day or two in Cusco to avoid the pounding headache and lack of energy that come with altitude sickness. Unfortunately due to time constraints we also didn’t have time to factor this in and gave ourselves overnight to adjust to the altitude alongside some medication we got in Canada.
The tour started quite early since it was a bit of a drive to the starting point, however, our hotel provided us a bagged breakfast and we were able to nap on the way up. It is worth noting that we were wondering where to store our backpacks during the trek and made alternate arrangements. This proved to be unnecessary as we made a stop to store baggage (included in the tour price) and were also given duffle bags where we could store our things that we wanted to meet us at the camp but didn’t feel like carrying up.
The hike was moderate, although more challenging as it was pouring rain. Due to the uneven terrain I would definetly recommend a proper backpack and hiking shoes.
Day 4
Our trek continued the next day to Salkantay Pass, which is the highest point elevation wise that you would travel to on the full hike to Machu Pichu. The elevation is said to be around 4,600 meters. At this point I would highlight that acclimatization is often recommended since Altitude Sickness is real. In my personal experience, I found that although the hike wasn’t difficult, there was no scrambling, walking with a pounding headache is far from enjoyable (or easy!)
Day 5
Tierra Viva (8 SOL Uber - 3 CAD) wa chat station is close to Cusco city centre. From there we took the bus and the train to Aguas Calientes, better known as the gateway to the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.
While there isn’t tons to see in the town, the surrounding mountains make for a one-of-a-kind destination. We ended up using our day 5 as a travel day to get here.
Day 6
I know many people say one side of the Vistadome train to Machu Pichu is better than the other so I tried to take notes on seat selection if you have the choice. Unfortunately, in our case we didn’t get to choose seats so it didn’t matter. But here were the notes I had jotted town. On our train going to Aguas Calientes seats 53 and 54 were facing, 51 52 were backwards, 46 45 were facing.
Day 7
hike up about an hour
Horse 70 PEN (90 ROUNDTRIP)
llamas at the top you can take photos with voluntary donation
Altitude is 5000 metres (higher than Salkantay pass) - maybe do this at the end of your trip. You are likely to feel it on the way down.
Day 8
We used our day 6 to wander around the street of Cusco, at this point we were pretty tired from our two-day trek a day earlier. We checked back into our hotel, the Tierra Viva Cusco Centro before getting lost in the streets of the historic town.
To start our journey, we went into the community of San Blas, a neighbourhood most widely recognized as the cultural and art district of Cusco - complete with coffee shops and galleries.
the L’atelier - sit on the balcony
Day 8
Join the locals for a Sunday Walk along Arequipa Avenue
Walk along the Malecon de Miraflores
Larcomar Shopping Mall
Admire La Marina Lighthouse
Museo del Pisco
Other Things We Would Recommend Visiting:
Arequipa
Paracas -
Laguna 69
Laguna Paron
