My girlfriend and I are going to peru for a week in mid February on our way to argentina and we purchased separate tickets from Lima to Cusco for the days of our arrival and departure (to spend more time in Cusco / at Machu Picchu).

Now, after reading, I've heard you're supposed to allow a day in between international and national flights. Has anyone had any experience flying into Lima and then directly on to Cusco? We have a 3 hr delay in between our arrival in lima and our flight from Lima to Cuzco, should this be enough? How long will customs take at Lima?

Also, has anyone used any left luggage services in Cuzco? How much did it cost / how did it work out?

hey! fun trip.

You should be fine on the lima to Cuzco thing. I flew from Santiago, Chile, went through customs and then moved into the domestic part of the airport within about 45 minutes, if memory serves. There is a domestic flight departure tax that you have to pay (can't remember price, maybe ten bucks?), and once you scan the paper to go through, you cannot return, which I mainly mention because the food food (cooked items) are only in the public side, not past the tax point, so if you're hungry, get food before you go through unless you want a cold airport sandwich or chips. I really think you should be fine on this. Plus there are multiple departures to Cuzco, so if it's on the same/affiliated carrier, I'm sure they can put you on another flight.

I don't know about left luggage in Cuzco, but generally a hostel that you stay in will have a bodega (storage area) where they can hold luggage. Shouldn't be pricey. They're used to people coming and going alot. Drink lots of coca tea, and have a great trip.

eileen

http://www.bearshapedsphere.blogspot.com

I didn't have any time issues in flying from the U.S. to Lima, then going straight from Lima to Cusco. I think I only had a 2-3 hour layover in Lima, and it wasn't a problem.

Went through customs very quickly.

(It's coming back through the U.S. that takes a LONG time, esp. if you go through Miami )

There is so much to see of Peru, and Peru for Less helped us to see as much and as deeply as we could, in our 18 days. The Peruvian people are warm, friendly and helpful; pre-Columbian ruins are all over, and the food is wonderfully good and inexpensive. Our trip to Trujillo and Chiclayo was amazing. There we saw huge sites that are not well known. Peru for Less helped us see beyond Machu Picchu, and made our trip smooth. I highly recommend Peru For Less.

Hmm.. very interesting, going to other country will be nice if the people lives there are nice and friendly.. I haven't went to Peru but I'd like to.. Hope someday. Actually I'd like to have a trip around the world and good if I can comeback to Yellowstone Cabin which I'd really love to.

Just wanted to thank everybody for the advice and follow up to say that we didnt have problem and had plenty of time to catch our connecting flight (2.5 hrs in between and ended up waiting for more than 1 hr before the flight from lima to cuzco left).

Also, side note, LAN is a great airline for anyone looking for flights between the US and Peru or Argentina, we've had several flights with them so far (nyc -> lima, lima <-> cuzco, lima -> buenos aires) and they were all great.

Thanks!

I'm looking for tips on a good guide to book the Inca Trail trip with. My results are coming up rather bad here on our forums.... what's up with that?

i looked up Peru for Less as recommended above. for the 4 day hike their price is $625, and 2 other places I've found online are hovering around $500. Doesn't sound like LESS to me!

Anyone have any good recommendations for Machu Picchu?

thanks
chris