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Since there was some interest in my original planning, I figured I’d write this up for anyone looking to combine Easter Island and Machu Picchu in 2 weeks. Here’s what we did:
Santiago – 2nts
Easter Island – 4nts
Valparaiso – 2nts
Lima – 2nts
Ollantaytambo – 3nts
Machu Picchu – 1nt
Cusco – 2ntsLong haul was IB, everything else LATAM.
We landed early and were at the hotel for 8am so we could have just stayed 1 night in Santiago and that would have been enough. It’s a nice enough city, but unless you want to visit the museums, a day would be fine. Still, it let us slow down before the rest of the trip.
There was quite a bit of travel, especially between SCL and Easter Island. SCL-IPC is 5.5 hour flight and has long checkin requirements despite being a domestic flight. It’s better on the way back as you can have a productive morning, drop bags at T-3 and go and have a decent lunch in town.
4 nights in Easter Island was plenty and we did 2 days of organised touring (all but 2 sites now require a guide) and we did 1 day solo. We hired a car, but it’s not overly necessary to do so for the whole time as you can walk from your hotel to the rental office if you want one for a day. It was certainly helpful for the sunrise as we could make our own way there and just come back for breakfast before heading out again. It was only $80 per day and we got more than that back on a tour discount for driving the guide ourselves.
We got into Valparaiso late with our hire car (cheaper than a taxi each way) so we only had one day which was OK. We saw one mugging: fool had swanky sunglasses on show that were easily grabbed. Otherwise the tourist bits felt similarly safe to London or Manchester. Valparaiso-SCL-LIM took the day and 90 mins in SCL immigration left us 5 mins spare before door close. The contrast with LIM was stark where we went wheels down to taxi in 35 minutes.
We stayed in Barranco in Lima, mainly so it was easy to walk to the restaurants we wanted to visit. In hindsight, I’d have picked somewhere closer to the airport and downtown even though the food we had was exceptional. Casa Republica was beautiful and outstanding in every way, but it is an hour from the airport and we were there for 2 days. We used Cabify to get around.
Ollantaytambo was basically Blackpool and reminded me of Koh Tao: all backscratcher restaurants and tat shops. The hotel in the station is very nice with a decent restaurant and good cocktails so we spent most of our time in town there.
For choosing what to saw and when, the rental car in Sacred Valley was great and we were not shackled to tour groups and their foibles/pace. We stumbled across some things we would likely not have seen otherwise like the Urubamba market. It was a bit of a headache in Ollantaytambo, but once we’d negotiated the parking near the station with my Duolingo Spanish, we were sorted. In Cusco it was a total liability and I don’t know why I kept it rather than returning. Sixt Cusco was terrible: walk with bags from the airport across mad traffic to pick up a PoS Yaris that was supposedly mid-range. Damed thing drove like a dog and was falling apart.
Our Sanctuary Lodge stay was inspired by this blog and we pretty much did the same except OH’s knees were being pushed getting to we the top of the city so no mountains. We booked through BA Avios hotels as the rate is identical everywhere and I added full board and an upgrade to a terrace. It’s a superb hotel with great food and drink, and outstanding staff. We went guide-free in the afternoon and paid the hotel $138 for a guide in the morning so that we would not be rushed risking OH’s knees by a guide looking to recycle punters. She was outstanding and patient and we were back for breakfast after 3 hours. The full board is actually all inclusive and the room is stashed with booze and trail nibbles. But it came in at an eye-watering £1200 which is well over our usual pain threshold even for one of those once-only trips. Allow 2-3 hours from train arrival to entry into MP to get the bus, check-in, and have lunch.
Cusco started with a parking nightmare not helped by incorrect directions from the concierge. It took an hour for somebody to take some ownership in helping me. Still, was a nice hotel in the end and another BA Avios hotels win. We thought the city was lovely and I’d have happily stayed longer as we didn’t scratch the surface locally or nearby.
There was a fair amount of dead travel time, though the time in a car doesn’t feel dead to me as there’s the excitement of speedbump overtakes and dodging potholes at speed. All in all, the amount of travel was fine to see two once-in-a-life places on one long haul trip.
Iberia was a little hit and miss in business. MAD-SCL we had older seats that were very narrow and we both found them uncomfortable. LIM- MAD was an A350-900 and much better. Food from MAD was excellent, but from Lima looked so uninspiring I just went straight to sleep. Real espresso when I woke up, so win over BA who save it for First. Real wide-body business class LHR-MAD rather than fake business class was nice. Miles and TPs credited within about a week.
LATAM as low cost economy airline was excellent and once we got used to the automated checkins they were brilliant. We got outstanding seats (can’t remember if I paid for them) and everything was very comfortable. IPC business looked very nice, but it wasn’t worth the cash difference to us. Miles credited mostly within 24 hours.
Priority Pass lounges continue to disappoint. I’ve yet to be in one lounge I would pay my own money for. Amex Platinum value credit zero for me.
Everything was cash, so it was about Avios/TP collection. I used Revolut for pretty much everything so no huge return there, but everything else was about 50k Avios collected plus a healthy chunk of TPs.
On where to stay in Lima – best stick to Miraflores or Barranco. Downtown area is not safe after dark and there is literary nothing to do in the evening.
It takes 40 minutes from Miraflores or Barranco to the airport, not an hour, you were unlucky really or went during rush hour.
Agreed, Miraflores, Barranco or San Isidro is where you want to stay in Lima as city centre gets dangerous after dark.
For the Sacred Valley, I prefer to stay in Cusco and then do one day tours everywhere (including Machu Picchu
Taxis to the airport were an hour each time. Traffic was very, very bad.
A day trip to MP from Cusco would push my tolerance for travel!
If you want to do MP as a day trip best to start in Ollantaytambo or Sacred Valley. Otherwise it’s too long of a day and you end up going with crowds. I don’t rate Cusco highly either. One night is enough to see everything. Restaurants are much better in Lima.
The above link is broken. I assume this is the one: https://www.paradoxtravels.com/post/a-luxury-travel-review-of-the-belmond-sanctuary-lodge
Friends stayed there as part of their honeymoon and also loved it. Price was too punchy for me so I was up early for the first bus from Aguas Calientes.
Being in early (before the crowds, in golden hour) was a huge plus for me, both for the photography and the ambiance. If Sanctuary Lodge is too expensive I would recommend one night in Aguas Calientes (uninspiring though it is) rather than attempting a day trip to MP.
@masaccio Can I ask please where you stayed on EI and would you recommend it?I did a day trip from Sacred Valley to Macchu Picchu and it was fine and plenty of time to climb and explore without crowds. Just avoid going at the busiest train times. I did have a car though so drove to Ollantaytambo train station (half an hour from Urubamba) for 7am start and took a train back at 6pm.
Make sure to pre-book everything online – train tickets, bus tickets from Agua Calientes to MP and MP tickets itself. I also purchased two sets of tickets one for morning slot and one for afternoon slot. This will more importantly solve the restroom issue (because there are no restrooms inside and no re-entry is allowed). The most I waited in a queue was 10 minutes for the bus up.
The first buses now arrive before 6am so the only real benefit to Sanctuary Lodge is saving the bus trips if you want multiple entries and the general laid back vibe. Oh and the joy of hearing an Italian couple on plain that they needed to take a public bus to the hotel. Service is exceptional but the price is London steep even accounting for F&B.
We stayed at Hare Nua on Easter Island and I would very much recommend it. Well paid $268 a night through hotels.com which was competitive at the time. BA tracked the click but not seen the miles yet.
You can walk from the hotel to a lot of restaurants and car rental companies (if you want to do that). It’s also a 20 minute walk to the sunset platform and these is a good restaurant next to that platform.
@masaccio. This information is really helpful as we will be starting our 3 month trip to South America in two weeks.
After nearly 3 weeks in Peru, we’re heading down to Chile. After 4 days in San Pedro de Atacama, we have only allowed 1 day Santiago, 2 days Valparaiso before flying to Easter Island for 4 nights. Is Easter Island cash based, or can we use credit cards and are shops etc open on a Sunday – have read various reports?
We didn’t use cash in Easter Island once. We offered tips via Revolut payment link (!) which annoyed one guide and another was shocked we’d want to tip him as he’d been paid already. Local ATMs wanted a fixed large fee for withdrawals — 8500 pesos). The hotel told us that tips were not required for their guides as they were well paid. I still felt a bit bad about it though.
We were not there on a Sunday so can’t comment on that. We were there for August 15, a major religious holiday, and a few restaurants were closed but it was not obviously shut down.
@masaccio. Thanks for that. We don’t have Revolut. Did you need cash in Perú or Chile? We’ve booked self catering cabanas and have been told to bring cash in US$ or Pesos. Have just got back from US with a wad of US $20 bills, but as I withdrew them from my US bank, they are not pristine. In Cambodia and Laos last year payment was in US$ which had to be new. Even one new $100 bill straight out of ATM had slight nick in corner and no one would take it. Think South America might be the same.
Sounds like you had a good trip. We’re also flying IB from Madrid to Lima, returning from Buenos Aires but using 241. Got thousands of Delta points, but couldn’t book any redemption flights on LATAM which we’re using internally in Peru and Chile and between Lima and Santiago.
I think US$ would be fine for guide tips as there are many Americans about I imagine it’s what a lot of them do anyway. We found we needed cash more in Peru: historic sites were cash only, parking was cash only, and craft stuff was cash unless it was higher value. When negotiating they will also accept a further discount for cash, but the difference may not be worth what you paid for the cash at an ATM.
Great tips and advice. Planning 2 months in S America next year. Galapagos and Peru itinerary sorted. Sanctuary Lodge a price point too far. In Lima we’re booked for Villa Barranco . Also nipping down to fly over Nazca lines before flight to Arequipa. Colca Canyon stuff with 3 nights at Colca Lodge. Needed an extra night for itinerary to fit in with Titicaca train from Puno-cusco. It seems that next year the train schedule is changing and cutting down to only once a week. A few more days cusco, SV, MP. then fly down to Santiago.
The Chile itinerary is a bit hazy at the moment.
4 nights planned for Easter Island and contemplating Hotel Taha Tai. Any one stayed there? 5 nights in San Pedro at possibly CASA don Tomás .
Any advice recommendations for Santiago hotels welcome. Also planning a day trip wine tour. Aim is to book Mad-Quito with IB and open jaw with BA SCL-LHR-Inv. Latam for internal flights , hopefully on Avios. Comments most welcome .Sounds like an amazing trip.
We stayed in The Singular in Santiago which was superb. Everything was beautiful, staff really nice, and the location is near some good restaurants. We ate at Bocanáriz and Mulato and enjoyed everything. You need reservations a couple of days in advance for Bocanáriz but it’s worth it, especially if you like wine. Booked through hotels.com via BA portal (can’t see the Avios yet) at £160 a night and the classic room was plenty good enough for us. Breakfast was not early enough for our 6am departure to the airport for Easter Island, but they did us a bagged breakfast.
Your MP hotel is a decent location. No idea what it’s like but we did have a decent enough meal in their restaurant. Our best meal was at the Nayara hotel round the corner from yours. The hotel looked like a ghetto for rich Americans, but the restaurant did good food and some cocktails.
Thanks for response. I think you mean our hotel on Easter Island. I’m also contemplating Hotel Ohana, Nua sounds good too. Can’t firm up anything until in Chile until the Peru stuff gets sorted, then I’ll know exactly dates. Any one done a wine trip from Santiago? Colchagua is a couple of hours distant, with Antonia valley snd Casablanca wineries a bit closer.
Please post following your trip @LD27On where to stay in Lima – best stick to Miraflores or Barranco. Downtown area is not safe after dark and there is literary nothing to do in the evening.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. If you’re after nightlife the last thing you want to do is go to the sterile soulless places in Miraflores.
If you want a taste of the local culture, there are excellent clubs, bars, squat parties and great street food in downtown.
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