I’ve mentioned before that my wife and I are heading to Peru this summer as one of the 6 (SIX!) trips that I’m currently in the process of booking. This trip will be without the kids as Carolyn and I explore Machu Picchu. I’ve written before about booking the lie flat seats to Peru, so we have that all taken care of. I did have to make one change – originally I had booked us a day in Lima beforehand to “acclimate” to the high elevation – but that was before I realized that Lima is at sea level (whoops!). So now we arrive on a red eye to Lima and fly to Cuzco around 9 a.m.
Staying at the Tambo del Inka in Urubamba
After lots of (too much!) deliberation, I ended up just booking us 5 nights at the Tambo del Inka in Urubamba. That will leave us with one night back in Cuzco, which I still need to book.
The Tambo del Inka was the overwhelming choice when I asked for hotel advice a few months ago. As a Category 4 SPG hotel, it costs 12,000 SPG points / night, with the 5th night free (48,000 points total for 5 nights). It ended up that the standard room was not available on a few of our nights, so when I called in, they offered a Deluxe Suite for 54,000 points. I figured an extra 6,000 points for 5 nights of an upgrade was not too bad, so I took it.
Here’s the room we ended up with
Though actually the refundable rate is $338 / night + taxes, or $433 / night out the door. We paid 54,000 points for 5 nights, or 10,800 points / night. That’s just over 4 cents per point of value from an SPG point – not too shabby!
One more night in Cuzco (and one in Lima)
I do still need to book one night in Cuzco before our flight back to Lima. I’ve been looking at the JW Marriott in Cuzco. It’s 40,000 Marriott points, though the current cash price is in the $200s, which would make me want to book it through the Chase UR portal
[Why it pays to check the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal before booking]
On the other hand, I’m not super excited about dropping 20K Ultimate Rewards points for one night at a hotel – we may just use either UR points or Arrival miles to book a cheaper local hotel.
We also have an overnight in Lima and need to book a hotel there. Currently we get into Lima from Cuzco around 4pm and fly out 9 a.m. the next day. It looks like the Lima airport is far away from the city center, which doesn’t jive well with our current flight times. Luckily with AA miles as long as your origin and destination remain the same, you can change your flights for free even without status, so I may end up booking a CUZ-LIM flight earlier in the day
What to do in the Sacred Valley
My thoughts so far would be booking a tour guide when we get to Cuzco that will give us a 1/2 day or so tour in Cuzco and then take us to Urubamba where our hotel is. From the things I’ve read, something like that will be comparable in price to just a taxi ride from the airport to Urubamba. If anyone has suggestions for a good tour guide in Cuzco, let me know!
We haven’t booked our tickets to Machu Picchu yet, but I’ve checked the official ticket site and there are still over 2000 tickets left, so I’m not super worried about that. We’ve decided to just take an early train into Aguas Calientes and spend the day at MP and take a train back the same day rather than overnighting in Aguas Calientes. I know the Tambo del Inka has its own train station but I’ve also heard good things about getting a train from the city instead.
My thoughts right now are to hire a guide for the 2-3 days that we’ll be in Urubamba that will take us around to the different sites in the Sacred Valley. So again, if you’ve got suggestions or good experiences with a particular tour guide / group near Urubamba, let me know!
Calling for any and all Peru / Machu Picchu tips in the comments!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
It’s a long trek from Tambo to the city and then to do it again after the trip to MP is probably more than you’ll want to deal with. Just book it from Tambo.
Definitely take the early train from Tambo. I also highly recommend staying in AC so you have more than just a few hours in MP. Being in MP early in the morning before the trains arrive is wonderful.
We used taxidatum.com to hire tour guides to/from Cusco and Tambo, and for a day to take us to several Sacred Valley sites. Couldn’t have been happier.
We were just there last week and did a tour with Lima tours. Their prices are cheap and the tour was fantastic, so I highly recommend it, especially for the cusco tour. We had two parties on our tour that did similar to what you said of doing the sacred valley tour and getting dropped off at a hotel near ollaytaytambo station. For the overnight in Lima, we stayed at Taytaypa Apartel. The furnishings are a bit old, but you get a whole two bedroom apartment with living room and kitchen and it was very clean and comfortable. The host Marco was fantastic! It’s like having your personal concierge
I suggest you look for another hotel than the Marriott in Cuzco. I’m sure the hotel is nice but it’s in a really rough part of town. I would stay closer to the plaza de armas if you plan on walking around town at all.
My husband and I just came back from a two weeks vacation and we stayed at the maytaq hotel in Cuzco. Nice and close to Plaza de Armas and down town. Stay away from the tour company Sky Travel since they are totally unreliable…
Years ago we stayed at the Sanctuary Lodge right onsite of Machu Picchu. Well worth the cost to experience the solitude once all the crowds leave. Food was wonderful and star gazing beautiful!
We just got back from Peru. We got upgraded and stayed in the same room at Tambo del inka overlooking the waterfalls. Take the Vista dome from the hotel. That is one of the the reasons for staying there. Taxi to Urubamba is between 150-200 soles. Buy the Peru pass. Get a driver by the guard stand. Safe and cheap. The guard takes down driver info. Every morning driver picks us up and drops us off. Stay at jw marriott in Lima. Fantastic location and view. Peru is breathtaking. Enjoy
Great Read! Peru is interesting place to visit and I will definitely stay at Tambo del inka. I am always in search of new places with great adventure.
Thanks for Sharing.
So sad you won’t be staying in Agua Calientes. To go so far to see something like Machu Picchu and then feel rushed to get there and rushed to leave on time takes away from the peaceful feeling the whole place can give you. We got there with the early buses and stayed the whole day with a nice break for the lunch buffet at the Sanctuary Hotel on site. It was great to be there before the crowds came and after they left. You could sit up on the hill overlooking the site and just enjoy the beauty and serenity of the place.
The JW Marriott has one of the better lobbies out there, other than multiple hotels in Hawaii. Beautiful rooms and bathrooms.
I may have mentioned this on your Facebook page, but it’s worth repeating. Buy DEET before heading to MP and apply it to all exposed skin. You’ll see many many people with large welts on their body. Those people didn’t use deet. The mosquitos bite, and you don’t feel it; but the damage will already be done.
Get high altitude sickness pills from your doctor. Don’t be a bigshot like me and blow it off. This isn’t Denver at 5000′. You’re up high between 8000 – 11,000 feet in Cusco and MP. The headaches are the worst we’ve ever experienced, and they linger on and on until you get back to sea level.
I’d buy the tickets to MP sooner rather than later, as they do sell out. Make sure you have a train reservation back to town. Lots of tourist were stranded for a day or 2 up there because they didn’t have a ticket.
I agree that you should stay in Aguas Calientes. It’s not the nicest of towns, but important to catch an early bus up to MP to enjoy the day. If you are interested in hiking up Huayna Picchu, you can do that too, but buy tickets early. They are limited to two groups of 200 each day and will sell out. I stayed at both JWs in Lima and Cusco. I felt totally safe in Cusco and that hotel is not in a bad area. I would walk by myself anytime. The JW in Lima is far from the airport. Great hotel in a great area, but a long journey from the airport if you only have a few hours in town.
The area in Lima all tourists stay is Miraflores, very safe at any time, and a nice place. Leave 3 hours for your journey from there to the airport, before flight time. The centre of Lima is a nice place to explore during the day. Between Plaza San Martin and Plaza Mayor is a nice pedestrian street. Also near Plaza Mayor is the lovely San Francisco Church.
Allow plenty of travel time between Lima and the airport. The traffic is very hectic with big delays.
As people have already said, maybe stay a night in Aguas Calientes, then you can get upto MP early. It gets really busy after midday. Also get multiple entry tickets to MP. Because it’s busy they have a one way system, and no toilets on site. So after a few hours you may want to leave, have a toilet break at the toilets next to the entrance, then re-enter. If you are not doing the Inca trek, you’ll want to visit the sun gate and Inca Bridge. Both are over one hour round trips from inside the site. Enjoy, and make the most of it. Truly an amazing place.
I’m researching a potential trip to MP, so I found this article very useful. However, I’m confused by your itinerary since I thought Cuzco and MP are THE highlights of any trip to Peru. From what I can gather, you’re spending one full day in Cuzco and a half/full day in MP (how early is that train from Tambo to AG?). Why are you spending so much time in the Urubamba? Is it because there is a popular SPG hotel there? Also, will you have enough time to acclimatize. Everyone’s different but I wouldn’t do a tour of Cuzco on arrival. I would just go to my hotel and relax.
There’s also quite a bit to see in the Sacred Valley which Urubamba is in. That was our thinking. The train from Tambo to AC is pretty early in the morning (I think 7 a.m. ish?)
We arrived in Cuszo late morning, and our guide took us for a tour of the city. She said it was enough time. After MP, we returned to the JW Marriott late in the day, before departing the next day. I sat in the town square that morning and watched the kids heading to school. Very entertaining. By the way, there aren’t a lot of stores to grab a roll and a cup of coffee. I finally found a place to get a pastry and coffee, but it took a while (4 years ago).
Cuszo is higher than MP (11000 vs 8000 feet). The guide told us it’s better to head down to 8000 from 11000 feet. By the way, they spell Cusco/Cuzco both ways.
Don’t forget to buy Deet and use it.
Dan, have a great time. Too bad you don’t have more time. Peru has SOOOO much more to offer than just MP. We were lucky to live there for 3 years. Drink the coca tea also as it does help w/ the altitude. Definitely spend some time in Lima. There is actually alot to do there and there is some amazing food. Check out Astrid and Gaston or Huaca Pucllana. As for a guide in Cusco, contact Marco Nunez at zamalloaster@gmail.com. Hope this helps!