Advice Needed: Lima--> Santiago--> Easter Island

Hi All,

I have up to 3 weeks to dedicate to the above itinerary. I really appreciate your advice on how I should allocate my time, what I should do, and when I should go! I'm thinking ~10 days in Peru including a Machu Picchu trek, 7 days in Santiago, and 4 days in Easter Island. Any feedback or suggestions??

My frequent flier miles about about to expire, so I need to book this trip in the next few days.

Thank you in advance!

I've researched a similar trip, but haven't had enough time off to execute it yet! It sounds awesome. A few things I discovered in my research that may help with your itinerary:

-Not sure when you're planning your trip, but the Inca Trail (traditional trail) is closed in February. There are other options, though, but that time of year may be wet.

-7 days in Santiago may be excessive without a few day trips (not sure what those would be, my research there is limited) - you could allot a few of those days to explore more of Peru, around Cuzco, that seems to be a popular thing to do.

How are you getting around? Flying? Into LIM->CUZ->IPC->Out SCL?

Have a great trip, and be sure to report back!

I don't know what kind of traveler you are but I think 7 days in Santiago is way too long unless you are going skiing. Santiago was pretty smoggy when we flew in and out in August 2009.

We only had a day and a half in Chile so we landed at 6 am and rented a car for a drive to the coast (make sure you have Chilean cash for the 3 tolls on the freeway.) We passed a few wineries along the way and stayed in ConCon, north of Vina del Mar. Sorry we missed Valparaiso and would have liked to have had a day or two in Santiago but no more. A friend who has family there said there's not much to see or do there and steered us to the coast. It was quite wonderful. It's a lot like Northern California around Big Sur.

We are going to Easter Island in March. The way the flights through Lima run, we will be on the ground for a total of 3.5 days. We are hoping to pack in a lot in a short amount of time.

I've been researching Peru trips, wanting to fly over the Nazca Lines in addition to Cuzco and Macchu Picchu and I think 10 days might be right. Make sure to include some time to acclimate to the altitude.

You can read about my trip to Chile (and Argentina and Uruguay) as well as my trip to Easter Island when we get back on my blog. I hope I'm not too late to help with your planning. I just discovered BootsnAll. Happy travels!

Lima is not really much. Spend time in Cuzco and, of course, MP.

4 days in Easter Island is more than enough. It's a small island, and you will see everything you need to see in one to two days. The flight from Santiago to Easter Island is a bit long, so you may want some time to relax, or just enjoy the beach.

Seven days in Santiago?? Unless you have friends or family in the city, there is no reason to do this. Santiago has character, but not enough to merit seven days of such a short trip! I would say that rather than so much time in Stgo, you should add some time in northern Chile - especially San Pedro De Atacama and possibly Iquique, or Valle del Elqui (further south). Otherwise, if you aren't up for desert - you should head south and visit any of the major places in Southern Chile - Torres del Paine, Chiloe/Puerto Montt, or even Pucon. If you were limiting yourself to Santiago because you didn't want to incur additional travel costs - perhaps just a smaller outing to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar would do.