Machu Picchu - what to twin with?

[KenAdams]

I'm I dreaming by wanting to twin a relaxing hotel with a nice pool after Machu Picchu?

Everything seems an expensive internal flight away. Am I missing somewhere obvious?

I did look at Galapagos but the water will be quite cloudy there at that, so we'll miss half the wildlife.

So do you just want a nice hotel to chill after MP?

Have you looked at Cusco? There will definitely be some nice spa type hotels there. It’s the main gateway town to MP.

I tend to the 'will I come back' system. If you will never go back, pick the Galapagos. If you will, any generic nice hotel in Cusco will do.

I think you can see a lot of the animals out of the water - penguins, sealions, marine iguanas etc. To be honest the sealions came so close when were snorkling that you would have to have had your eyes shut to miss them - they clealry have not read the instruction to stay 6m (or even 1m) away! The turltes were also easy to have a good look at.

We went in April/May I think and the water was clear, so I think it would be any diving that might be troublesome to you but I got as close to a hammerhead as I was comfortable with, but we got pretty close to several white tipped reef sharks.

When would you be going?

We'd be going in August.

Well land in Lima so will have to head to Cusco anywhere, they just seemed like more of a city vibe hotels wise, but a spa hotel is a good shout.

Stop in Rio on your way back. Go UK-Lima take LATAM to Rio, spend a few days there, or up to Buzio for all smaller beach vibe.

then back to UK on BA.

peru’s beaches are great but the info structure / transport/ medical faculties are at times lacking or a lot of cash.

Not sure of your budget but for the most luxurious lodges look outside of Cusco in the Urumbamba Valley towards Machu Picu. Explora or Aranwa tend to be ultra all inclusive.

You can also (not beach) fly south to Patagonia.

source: live in Chile and have been pretty much all over South America

if you want other ideas give me your budget and I’ll can give you advice

re: internal flights to ey are expensive for foreigners to book, you can book cheaper locally but you’ll need a contact with a local credit card / agent.

The high end hotels will help you…or at least they used to I’ve had a local credit card for many years so can’t say up to date on that exactly

sorry for typos have a one year old “helping”

Thank you! We've got BA companion vouchers so need to travel into and out of the same destination but Rio might be a good shout. We also have Chilean friends I can ask actually.

August is winter in Rio. There some amazing hotels in Cuzco! The Belmond Palacio Nazarinas would tick anyone’s boxes for luxury! The Inkaterra La Casona is also lovely. Save the air fare and stay somewhere amazing in Cuzco. Rio is ok but it’s a flight away. Do you want more travelling?

I'm happy to do a flight if we need to but I was finding it was multiple flights in some cases which might be a bit much!

Good tip about it being winter in Brazil, I'd not even thought about that yet.

@KenAdams I was just thinking you could have a high quality hotel in Peru without moving on. I guess Mexico would be hotter but it’s a good 5/6 hour flight. The best bet in Latin America is Costa Rica. Nearer and good temperatures but it’s a shame not to see everything else if you are going there. Ditto Mexico and Brazil too!

When we went to Peru we went via Madrid. BA/Iberia link up. What about staying in Spain on the way home?