Why Peru Is One of the Hardest Countries to Plan a Trip To
When I first started planning our trip to Peru, I looked at the map and thought:
“Okay… Peru. How hard can this be?”
Famous last words. 😂
Peru looks surprisingly manageable on a map, but once you actually start planning a trip, you quickly realize that this country is huge, incredibly diverse, and not always easy to get around.
You can go from the Pacific coast to the Andes, from the Andes to the Amazon rainforest, and from desert dunes to ancient Inca cities — all within the same country.
Sounds amazing, right?
It is.
Planning it? That's a completely different story.
Peru looks small… until you start connecting the dots
One of the first things I learned while planning was that distances on the map don't tell the whole story.
Peru's geography is complicated because the Andes run right through the country, creating enormous changes in elevation and terrain. You have the Pacific coast, massive mountains, canyons, high-altitude valleys, desert, and the Amazon rainforest.
And that diversity is exactly what makes Peru so incredible - and so complicated to plan.
At first, I thought:
“Why don't we just do everything?”
Amazon? Yes.
Machu Picchu? Obviously.
Cusco? Of course.
Arequipa? Sure!
Colca Canyon? Absolutely!
Lake Titicaca? Why not?
Paracas? Sure!
Huacachina? Throw it in!
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I was basically trying to collect Peru like Pokémon. 😂
Then I started looking at the actual transportation between all these places.
And that's when my beautiful Peru itinerary started fighting back.
Want to see the itinerary I actually ended up creating?
I put together our complete 16-day Peru itinerary, including the destinations we visited and how we organized the trip.
👉 Read: The Perfect Peru Itinerary: 16 Days in Peru
Flying around Peru isn't always as straightforward as you think
When you look at Peru on a map, you might assume you can simply fly from one destination to the next.
Not necessarily.
Depending on your itinerary, you may find yourself backtracking through Lima to connect different parts of the country.
For example, when I was trying to combine Cusco and Iquitos, I quickly discovered that getting from one to the other wasn't as simple as drawing a straight line across the map.
Our planning started looking something like:
Toronto → Lima → Cusco → Sacred Valley → Machu Picchu → Lima → Iquitos → Lima → Paracas → Ica → Huacachina...
At some point I stopped planning a vacation and started planning an airline's entire operations department. 😂
For our trip, we flew SKY Airline for our flight to Cusco and LATAM for our flights to Iquitos. Both airlines were options I came across while putting together our itinerary, and the schedules and prices played a big part in deciding what worked for us.
My advice is to shop around before booking. Don't automatically book the first flight you find. Check different airlines, compare departure times, connection times and baggage fees, and see which option makes the most sense for your itinerary and budget.
👉 Search Peru flights on Expedia
And remember that flight prices and schedules can change, so what works for one trip might not be the cheapest or most convenient option for another.
And this was only part of the problem.
Then there are the buses...
If you don't want to fly everywhere or there simply isn't a convenient flight, you need to look at buses and ground transportation.
And Peru has some very long bus journeys.
Depending on the route, you could spend several hours on a tourist bus.
One company you'll probably come across again and again while researching transportation is Peru Hop, which is a popular tourist bus option that connects several destinations in Peru.
We actually didn't use Peru Hop during our trip. Instead, we decided to take our chances and rent a car for part of our journey.
Was I nervous about it?
A little. 😂
But having our own car gave us more flexibility with our schedule and allowed us to travel between some of the destinations at our own pace.
That said, renting a car isn't necessarily for everyone. Peru's roads, mountains, traffic, altitude and long distances can make driving very different from looking at Google Maps and thinking:
“Oh, that's not that far.” 😂
If you're not comfortable driving, Peru Hop and other long-distance bus options are worth researching. Depending on your route, you could be sitting on a tourist bus for several hours, but it can be a convenient way to connect multiple destinations without having to deal with driving yourself.
For example, Peru's official tourism information lists the journey from Lima to Cusco at roughly 21 hours by bus or car, compared with about 1 hour 15 minutes by air.
Suddenly that flight starts looking pretty good. 😂
But sometimes the bus makes sense.
Sometimes it's cheaper.
Sometimes it takes you somewhere a flight doesn't.
And sometimes you're sitting there thinking:
“I could have been there already.”
The destinations I had to take OFF the list
This is where my original Peru itinerary started getting a little too ambitious.
I really wanted to visit Arequipa, Colca Canyon and Lake Titicaca.
They all looked incredible.
And when you're planning a trip all the way from Canada to Peru, it's very tempting to think:
“We're already there… why not add a few more places?”
Well, because those “few more places” aren't necessarily quick little stops.
Once I started researching the transportation, travel times and how each destination would fit into the rest of the trip, I realized I couldn't keep adding destinations without sacrificing time somewhere else.
And eventually I had to make a decision:
Something had to go.
So Arequipa, Colca Canyon and Lake Titicaca were removed from our itinerary.
Not because I didn't want to see them.
Because there simply wasn't enough time.
And honestly, this was probably one of the most important lessons I learned while planning Peru.
Sometimes the hardest part of creating an itinerary isn't figuring out what to add.
It's figuring out what to remove.
And then you reach Machu Picchu…
You might think:
“Okay, we made it to Cusco. We're basically there!”
Nope. 😂
Machu Picchu is another transportation puzzle.
From Cusco, you can travel toward the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo, and from there take a train toward Machu Picchu Pueblo, also known as Aguas Calientes.
And once you're in Aguas Calientes, you're still not actually at Machu Picchu.
You need another connection — usually the bus up to the entrance, or you can hike.
So your “simple visit to Machu Picchu” can actually look like:
Hotel → bus/car → train → Aguas Calientes → bus → Machu Picchu
And then you have to do it all in reverse.
This is one of those moments when you realize that Peru isn't really a:
“Let's just wing it”
kind of destination.
Want to save money? Be prepared to work for it.
One thing I discovered while researching Peru was that there are usually different ways to get somewhere depending on your budget, comfort level and how much time you have.
You can sometimes choose between:
✈️ Flying
🚌 Taking a long-distance bus
🚗 Driving
🚶 Hiking
🚆 Taking a train
🚐 Taking shared transportation
And sometimes the cheaper option takes significantly longer.
For adventurous travelers, there are routes where you can replace part of the transportation with hiking.
But if you're traveling with luggage, kids, limited time, or simply prefer comfort, paying more for transportation can make a lot of sense.
So planning Peru becomes a constant balancing act:
Money vs. time vs. comfort vs. adventure.
And honestly?
Sometimes all four are fighting each other. 😂
High season makes planning even more important
Another thing I learned very quickly is that when you go matters.
For the Andes, the drier season generally falls around April/May through October, with June through August being particularly popular for visiting places like Cusco and Machu Picchu.
And if you're traveling during the popular dry season, you need to think about reservations before you arrive.
We're not talking about just booking a hotel.
You may need to coordinate:
✈️ Flights
🏨 Hotels
🚆 Trains
🎟️ Machu Picchu tickets
🚌 Transfers
🚐 Tours
🎫 Other attractions
For Machu Picchu especially, I would check the official ticket website before planning the rest of your itinerary.
👉 Official Machu Picchu Tickets
You'll also need to look at your train options. There are two main train companies serving the Machu Picchu route: PeruRail and Inca Rail. It's worth checking both websites for schedules, availability and prices before deciding which one works best for your itinerary.
👉 Check PeruRail
👉 Check Inca Rail
The reason I recommend doing these things early is because everything is connected.
You can't always book one piece without thinking about the next one.
For example, your Machu Picchu entry time affects your transportation schedule, which can affect your train, which can affect where you stay the night before.
It's basically one giant travel domino effect.
So you can't just say:
“We'll figure out Machu Picchu when we get there.”
Well… you can.
But I wouldn't build my entire Peru trip around that strategy. 😂
My biggest Peru-planning mistake
My biggest mistake was thinking I could simply put every place I wanted to visit onto a list and then connect the dots afterward.
Don't do that.
Start with the destinations you really want to see.
Then ask:
How do I get there?
How long does it actually take?
What transportation do I need?
Do I need to stay overnight?
And finally:
What needs to be booked before something else?
Because that's where the puzzle really begins.
You might discover that adding one destination means adding an entire flight, an extra night, or a very long bus ride.
And suddenly your “quick little stop” has eaten two days of your itinerary.
So… can you see everything in Peru?
Peru has way too much to see in one trip.
And believe me, I wanted to see ALL OF IT.
But at some point you have to look at your calendar and admit:
“Okay, Maria. That's enough.” 😂
Trying to squeeze everything into one itinerary can leave you spending half your vacation in airports, buses, cars and train stations instead of actually enjoying the places you came to see.
So I decided to remove some destinations and give ourselves enough time to actually experience the places we did visit.
And I'm glad I did.
My advice if you're planning Peru
If you're planning your first trip to Peru, my biggest advice is:
Don't start with the places. Start with the transportation.
Figure out the geography first.
Look at the map.
Check flights.
Check bus times.
Check train schedules.
Look at how many hours you're actually spending getting from one place to another.
Then build your itinerary.
And most importantly:
Leave some things for your next trip.
You don't have to see all of Peru at once.
After weeks of researching flights, buses, trains, hotels, tours and different routes, I finally managed to put together an itinerary that worked for us.
We ended up experiencing Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu, Paracas, Ica, Huacachina and the Amazon rainforest around Iquitos.
Arequipa, Colca Canyon and Lake Titicaca?
They're still on my Peru list.
I guess I'll just have to go back. 😉
Was it easy to plan?
Absolutely not.
Was it worth it?
Let's just say… I spent weeks planning it, and I would probably do it all over again. ❤️🇵🇪
Planning Your Own Peru Trip?
If you're starting to plan your own Peru adventure, here are some of the things you'll want to look into before you go:
✈️ Flights — compare routes and connection times
🏨 Hotels — especially in Cusco, Aguas Calientes and other popular destinations
🚆 Machu Picchu trains — check schedules before locking in your itinerary
🎟️ Tours and activities — especially for places like the Amazon and Machu Picchu
🚗 Car rentals — if you're planning to explore independently
Some links on this page are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you book through them, at no extra cost to you.
Want to see exactly how we did it?
I put together our complete 16-day Peru itinerary, including the destinations we visited and how we connected them.
👉 Read the full Peru itinerary here
And if you're planning your own trip, I hope it saves you at least a few of the hours I spent staring at maps, flight schedules and transportation options. 😂
If you're planning a Peru trip, don't make the mistake I almost made — assuming everything is close because it looks close on the map.
Peru is one of those countries where the itinerary is only half the trip. Figuring out how to get between the places is the other half. 😂
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