Machu Picchu Tour Question

Has anyone taken a tour from the Lima port to Machu Picchu- not offered through the ship? Would appreciate any information.

Thanks

I visited MP last year as a DIY tour, prior to my embarkation of the Crown Princess in Chile for an around the horn cruise to Florida. It was a great cruise.

First, if you want to visit MP "during" a cruise you are best to leverage the cruise tour. MP is a long, long way from the ship, and will involve at minimum 2 nights ashore. You will see MP, but you will be doing a LOT of traveling for just a few hours at the Citadel. (IMHO - not recommended)

If, you want to visit before or after a cruise (IMHO - recommended), here's the short answer:

• Day 1 - Fly from Lima to Cusco (LATAM Airlines), arrive have dinner and spend the night.
  
• Day 2 - Hire a car and driver for the next day to tour the Sacred Valley and spend the night between Cusco and MP (maybe Ollantantaybo).
  
• Day 3 - Board the train the next morning for the trip to Aquas Calientes (the town at the foot of MP). Visit MP in the afternoon. Spend the night in Aquas Calientes or atop MP at the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge
  
• Day 4 - Vist MP in the morning. Via train return to Cusco.
  
• Day 5 - Tour Cusco. Fly to Lima in the afternoon.
  

I totally acknowledge you can spend less time or more time on this excursion based on your personal preferences. Appreciate that MP while truly spectacular is surrounded by many, many wonderful sights in the Sacred Valley. Cusco alone is wonderful - you could easily spend 2 full days exploring and eating.

Here's the URL for the CC South American site - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76

Final advice. Pisco Sours.

Safe Travels

Has anyone taken a tour from the Lima port to Machu Picchu- not offered through the ship? Would appreciate any information.

Thanks

To answer you question, if taking the tour from the ship and returning to the ship I would only do it with Princess. If there are any transportation problems you will not be stranded.

On the cruise we had which offered this, fog prevented our docking at the port for Lima until about noon. This caused those who had the Princess tour to miss their flight from Lima. However, Princess arranged a hotel in Lima for that night and a flight out the next morning. Although the time on the tour was less than planned, the group did get to go to M.P. and all said they enjoyed the experience. If someone had made their own arrangements, they might not have been able to get to M.P. at all.

If there was a flight problem when going to the port to get back on the ship, Princess would arrange for you to join the ship at a later port at no expense to you. I am not sure that would be true if you had made other arrangements.

But to answer a question you did not ask, if you have the time before or after the cruise to take a multi-day tour to the Sacred Valley and M.P., that would be a better option than the ship's tour. It would be less rushed and would give you a better chance to adjust to the high altitude. Also, a five day tour before/after the cruise would likely cost less than the much shorter Princess tour.

I have been reseraching MP tours on our own. We are doing Eclipse from Chile to San Diego next March.

Celebrity wants $3300 per person for a MP tour.

I found three companies, one in Chile and two in Peru that offer 4-6 day tours that include one or two nights in Lima then two in Cusco and one in Aquas Calientes.

Prices range from about $800 per person to $1200 pp (that one is for a private tour for four). All tours have four star hotels that have excellent reviews on TripAdvisor.

If I Interpret your question correctly. No. The mid cruise excursion to MP leaves the ship from Pisco and rejoins the ship on the second Lima day. We took the pre cruise MP tour and it was a triumph in logistics. A 1 to 4 ratio guides to guests. We had friends who did the mid cruise excursion and there was almost a mutany it was so intense. Odds of a DIY excursion, make sure you can afford to catch up with the ship.

I booked with a travel company called Peru Agency

ventas1@peruagency.com

https://www.peruagency.com

I also looked at Monica Tours in Lima and SouthExcursions from Chile.

We looked at taking a ship excursion but decided to go on a land tour with OAT.. There is so much more to see than just Machu Picchu, some just as amazing at MP. In Cusco see the Sacsayhuanan Fortress, La Compania Church and the Hatunrumiyoc street. Typically you will need a couple of days to get adjusted to the altitude, Cusco is 11,000 ft and Machu Picchu around 8,000 ft. You should also visit Pisac and Ollantaytambo in the Scared Valley.

this is a video on the area

One thing you might want to observe about Machu Picchu is noted on the following video. I'm not trying to advocate ancient techologies (pre Inca) but just pointing out something I wish I was aware of before we went there.

One final note, I would take a pair of collapsing walking sticks, some of the steps can be very steep and uneven. Many of the people on the tour got sick so I would take over the counter medications. Our tour guide arranged to have a doctor come to the hotel and have a pharmacy deliver medication to the hotel. The cost was very reasonable and was covered by normal trip insurance.

We looked at taking a ship excursion but decided to go on a land tour with OAT.. There is so much more to see than just Machu Picchu, some just as amazing at MP. In Cusco see the Sacsayhuanan Fortress, La Compania Church and the Hatunrumiyoc street. Typically you will need a couple of days to get adjusted to the altitude, Cusco is 11,000 ft and Machu Picchu around 8,000 ft. You should also visit Pisac and Ollantaytambo in the Scared Valley.

 

this is a video on the area

 

 

One thing you might want to observe about Machu Picchu is noted on the following video. I'm not trying to advocate ancient techologies (pre Inca) but just pointing out something I wish I was aware of before we went there.

 

 

One final note, I would take a pair of collapsing walking sticks, some of the steps can be very steep and uneven. Many of the people on the tour got sick so I would take over the counter medications. Our tour guide arranged to have a doctor come to the hotel and have a pharmacy deliver medication to the hotel. The cost was very reasonable and was covered by normal trip insurance.

Yes,

Our tour has three full days of tour, two of those for Cusco.

Two days should be more that enough to see the major sites (the stone work is unbelievable - especially the church and the Sacsayhuanan Fortress).

If you or your wife have problems with altitude, try the Coca Tea, it doesn't taste that good, but many on our tour said it helped.

When we went, OAT sent us a list of things to bring, but unfortunately I can't find the list. However, this might help you

https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/20-travel-tips-climbing-machu-picchu/

Hope you have a good time. When ever some asks us where should they go for a vacation, we always say go to Machu Picchu while you can (some of our friends have health problems and will never be able to go because of the altitude.)

We are going back to Japan on a Princess Cruise to see four of the summer festivals in August, it's the worst time to go because it's hot and humid, but that is the only time they have the festivals.

Two days should be more that enough to see the major sites (the stone work is unbelievable - especially the church and the Sacsayhuanan Fortress).

 

If you or your wife have problems with altitude, try the Coca Tea, it doesn't taste that good, but many on our tour said it helped.

 

When we went, OAT sent us a list of things to bring, but unfortunately I can't find the list. However, this might help you

 

https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/20-travel-tips-climbing-machu-picchu/

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you have a good time. When ever some asks us where should they go for a vacation, we always say go to Machu Picchu while you can (some of our friends have health problems and will never be able to go because of the altitude.)

 

We are going back to Japan on a Princess Cruise to see four of the summer festivals in August, it's the worst time to go because it's hot and humid, but that is the only time they have the festivals.

We did a wonderful cruise out of Tokyo on Celebrity Millenium. Here is my review.

Japan and a little bit of China

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=518503&et_cid=2531924&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards

We did a wonderful cruise out of Tokyo on Celebrity Millenium. Here is my review.

 

Japan and a little bit of China

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=518503&et_cid=2531924&et_rid=17221689&et_referrer=Boards

Thanks, we were on the cruise with you. I was the one that arranged the Green Tomato transportation from the Hotel Metropoolitan Marunouchi to the pier in Yokohama.

Link to an article from AFAR about Machu Picchu

https://www.afar.com/magazine/the-true-magic-of-machu-picchu-isnt-where-you-think-it-is?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=060918%20Machu&utm_content=Final&utm_term=Daily%20Wander%20Newsletter

Link to an article from AFAR about Machu Picchu

 

 

https://www.afar.com/magazine/the-true-magic-of-machu-picchu-isnt-where-you-think-it-is?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=060918%20Machu&utm_content=Final&utm_term=Daily%20Wander%20Newsletter

loeb,

thank for the interesting article. Yes, I remember the Green Tomato and our great Japan trip and cruise.

George