6 weeks in South America on a Budget Itinerary- HELP
Hi all! My boyfriend and I have 6 weeks and around $1800 to travel in South America next summer. Here's our VERY FLEXIBLE interary. With the highlights we plan on doing. Just looking for some feedback: are we doing too much? not enough? did we miss anything essential? something we should skip? Pretty much any advice at all would be great!
Cheers!
MAY
10-12: Arrive in Lima -->Huacachina (Sand-boarding)
13-14: Paracas -->Cusco/Sacred Valley
14-17: Machu Pichu/ Inca Trail
18-20: Colca Canyon
21-22: Arequipa/Puno (Lake Titicaca)
23-24: Copacabana --> La Paz
25-26: Death Road --> Sucre
27-28: Potosi -->Salt Flats
29-30: Salt Flats -->San Pedro
JUNE
1-2: Attacama Desert
3-4: Baha
5-6: Elqui Valley
8-9: Santiago
10-11: Mendoza
12-13: San Juan --> Catamarca
14-16: Salta
17-18: Quebrada de Humahuaca
19-20: Lima
22: Depart from Lima
You arrive and depart in Lima. Have you consider returning home from a different place instead, therefore not retracing your steps?
You move very fast which mean you loose out on actual sightseeing time. Distances are huge in SA and cost goes up every time you move.
Your route in Peru s a bit funny. Can't comment on Bolivia and Chile, but would question why you backtrack to Lima.
In Peru I would travel to Arequipa from Paracas. Do a tour to Colca Canyon from Arequipa. Head to Cusco from Arequipa. Cusco is a fantastic town so you can easily spend time there before doing your Incatrail trek.
From Cusco to Puno and on to Bolivia.
Doing it this way you get slowly acclimatised to the heights by starting in Arequipa and spending time in Cusco before your trek.
Also is that $1800 for both of you or per person? If it's for both of you I really don't think it's enough.
You can't visit South America without adding Brazil to your itinerary 😀
The Inca Trail and Machu Picchu tours, while fantastic, are expensive. The Peruvian government controls the number of tourists on the trail very strictly and do not allow independent walkers - you have to engage local guides/tour groups. That will be a big chunk out of your cash. A cheaper way would be simply to take the train to Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu pueblo and walk up the (very steep) hill to Machu Picchu. There are buses but walking is free, but quite a slog ... If you do that I recommend an overnight stay in Aguas Calientes - it's a charming town and means you don't have to rush your Machu Picchu visit.
I visited Machu Picchu a few years back, I really enjoyed it. Get a guided tour for Machu Picchu, I did and really like it its worth the cost.