Lima Travel Forum

Hi All,

I am planning to visit Lima(Peru) and Machu Picchu in April/May time frame. Have few questions and need advise from experts.

1. Is it good time to go in April end May time frame weather wise, pricing etc
2. I would like to spend some time in Lima visiting (1 or 2 days), and in Cusco and go to Machu Picchu by train ( not by Inca trail hike). Any advice on trip plan, what to cover, lodging etc.
3. Any good agents that you can recommend either local in Peru or in US. I am on a budget constraint.
4. Any recommendation on doing this on my own (without travel agent), and advise

Appreciate your replies.

Thx

I have not done this, although I have been to Lima by cruise ship at the end of November. April-May will be their fall. Lima is very dry and gets a fraction of an inch of rain a year, and the climate is very temperate. The same is not true for Machu Picchu. The excursion that was offered to us was to fly to Cusco and take the train up to Machu Picchu and back and then fly back to Lima. This was a three day trip. I did not take it because I was afraid of altitude sickness in Cusco, but I talked to several people who had done it and done it on their own much cheaper than the ship's tour. So it can be done, but I have no agent names to offer.

Weather will be fine that time of year, cool and dry and May is just before the high season kicks in, but with the crash they might not have a high season this year. Tourism seems to be way down and prices are getting slashed.

Not sure where you are coming from since you did not put much information in your profile so cannot advise you on airlines from the USA. There is nothing terribly complicated about making all the arrangements yourself. In Lima you might be more comfortable staying a bit more expensive area since the city can be iffy in some sections. Miraflores is a very nice area on the ocean and just a short distance into Lima center. Again, depending on where you are in the US you might check gotoday.com they have some well priced packages.

You would be wise to book the train in advance and here is the link for the web site http://www.perurail.com/web/tper/tper_a2a_home.jsp

Hope this helps and obviously if you have more questions ask away

suerte
SAM

If you're seriously interested I can supply you with a local contact in Lima.

I amin Peru now and I have a blog at www.travelpod.com/members/dzasta it might help

Thanks, Yes would appreciate a local contact.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I am in Bay Area, California. so would be flying out of San Francisco.
Thanks for the link to train to Machu Picchu.

Will take a look at the blog.

Thanks!

If so, email me here at VT. I'm not in the habit of giving out personal info such as names, addresses, phone numbers in a public forum.

You may want to have a look at my Peru (transportation) pages.