I posted this on SS board also but am really looking for thoughts on our land trip.

We have a combo Peru-Galapagos trip scheduled for next September. Roughly the itinerary is flying to Lima for a couple of days, then a day in the Sacred Valley (via a flight to Cusco, of course), train to MP with an overnight in Aguas Caliente, train back to Cusco and a day in Cusco, train to Puno (Lake Titicaca) day on Lake then fly back to Lima for an overnight at Airport Hotel prior to flight to Quito for connection to 7 day Galapagos cruise.

If you find a list clearer:

Two nights in Lima
One night Sacred Valley
One Night Machu Picchu
Two nights Cusco
One Night Lake Titicaca
One night Lima (arrive late leave early)
One night Quito
Seven day Galapagos Cruise
One night Guayaquil on way home

I know we're not spending enough time in any one place to really do it justice. Also, have been along Peru's coast on a South American cruise (spent two whole days in Lima).

Thoughts? Suggestions? Hints?

Thanks,
Greg

Greg, I think your itinerary sounds great. We've been to some but not all of your stops. Just be careful when you step off the plane in Cusco, I remember feeling light headed and dizzy due to altitude. Not sure if you're going on the Hiram Bingham train but if so, you'll love it.

You are smart to spend a couple of days in Lima - there are quite a few museums that will give you a good background for what you will be seeing on the rest of the trip. And there are some amazingly good restaurants in Lima.

The Sacred Valley is worth several days - if you have any flexibility at this point I'd suggest adding a day or two there and perhaps eliminating Lake Titicaca.

And if you have any altitude concerns, bear in mind that Lake Titicaca is 1,000' higher than Cusco!

Definitely get the attitude meds. They helped us a lot and we still got a little sick in Cusco.

We did your itinerary without Titicaca several years ago. Marvelous. But upon landing in Cusco, I was hit with severe altitude illness. I could only walk the MP ruins 20 minutes at a time. So amen to the advice on altitude meds. I'm still glad we took the trip. But no more high altitude trips for me.

I'd also suggest spending more time in the Sacred Valley. It's very interesting and will help you acclimate to the higher altitude of MP and Cusco.

Everyone, thanks for the suggestions! We live at nearly 6,000ft MSL and have never had trouble skiing at Copper MT (base 8,800 top of Copper Peak 12,200) so I'm cautiously optimistic about the altitude thing. Our cousin who's going with us though lives in Sacramento, so she and her niece are doing some conditioning walks in the Tahoe area. All that said altitude meds will be available as I know Altitude sickness can hit anyone anytime, regardless of condition.

The main reason for Lake Titicaca is that one of our friends went there 5 or 6 years ago and loved it. Also, I always wanted to see the floating islands. We did opt to spend a whole day in Cusco to see the sights there rather than just passing through. That recommendation came from Susan W. who helped us set this up through MyExcursions. We're only riding the Vistadome to MP but will be on the Belmond Train Cusco to Puno which is also considered one of the better train rides in the world. The highest point on our trip will be on the train when we stop at La Reya (about 13,500).

I know we're not devoting the time to do Peru justice but we're trying to fill in some of the gaps from our SA cruise where we spent 3 days in Lima and visited two other ports on the coast.

Greg

Have a great time, Greg. Crystal and I took a similar trip last August. Hope you love the Silver Galapagos. We did.