For Spring Break 2024, my teen-aged sons and I took my seventy-three year old father on a “men’s trip” to Peru. Machu Picchu had always been on dad’s bucket list. Preston, Andrew, and I convinced him that considering the altitude and rigors of the journey, if he wanted to see it on this side of the bucket, now might be a good time. Altitude sickness itself did not bother anyone on our trip. The altitude amplified the rigors of the hikes, however, and the general undeveloped nature of traveling in Peru made the trip a bit more difficult for some in our party.

Multi-generational travel by nature requires everyone involved to be alert to differing abilities and willing to make compromises for mutual enjoyment of the trip. Differing expectations on accommodations and expenditures can add to the challenges. Previous trips involving multiple generations were little easier for us to navigate. This was largely because we were escorting older relatives to domestic cities for family reunions. Travel conditions are generally more predictable in Ohio or Colorado than Peru. Travelers of all generations can enjoy playing cards and sharing family memories around folding tables. Hiking up Wayna Picchu, scaling Vinicunca at 16,500’, or even a 40 km jaunt in a colectivo can be quite different matters.

As first-time visitors to Peru, our trip predictably centered around a visit to the iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site, Machu Picchu. I built a thirteen day trip around red-eye flights to and from Lima from Lubbock. I had originally planned four or five days in the Cusco area and another four or so around Chachapoyas. I would really like to visit Chachapoyas, but it quickly became apparent that in order to do a good job of seeing the Cusco area – and in order not to burn out my 73 year old father – we had best confine our trip to a week and a half in Cusco around one recovery day in Lima on either end of our trip.

My modus operandi tends to be independent travel. I try to eschew cruises, all-inclusive trips, package deals, or anything else that impedes my ability to determine how much or how little time I will spend in a given area or at a specific site. Since Machu Picchu was to be the trip’s centerpiece, and also the only destination requiring a set schedule, I opted to build the rest of the trip around those tickets. Macchu Picchu tickets should be bought weeks or months in advance through the Peru Ministry of Culture. This process is not as smooth as it ought to be, but with some patience, it can be navigated without assistance. Most travelers to the area use Cusco as a base camp for exploring the area. We followed that pattern.

We set our Machu Picchu visit up to occur a few days after we arrived in Cusco, so as to be well adapted to the elevation before setting out on long, strenuous trips away from base camp. For more information on our visit to Machu Picchu and our reflections on how we incorporated that into our trip, see the page dedicated to our visit to Machu Picchu.

We knew we also wanted to hike Vinicunca (the Rainbow Mountain). Beyond that, we used a nifty tool called the Boleto Touristico (tourist ticket) as a sort of checklist of other items to see while in the area. This tourist ticket can be purchased at city offices in Cusco for S./130. You get ten days to visit sixteen other sites around Cusco and the Sacred Valley: 12 archaeological sites, one monument, a few museums, and a performing arts center. There are several other sites we were interested in visiting that were not covered by this tourist ticket. The tourist ticket sites, the additional places we found, meals, and church attendance kept the rest of our days occupied. We used these additional activities to flesh out our trip around the visits to Machu Picchu and Vinicunca.

We arrived in Cusco on a Friday afternoon. I had arranged a VRBO cabin for just over a week. This was cost effective, and allowed us to leave some of our baggage in the room at all times, even when we were gone overnight to Machu Picchu. See my Peru accommodations page for more details and recommendations. We ate dinner Friday evening, visited the Plaza Mayor, and got up ready to explore Cusco on Saturday. Although the altitude is near 12,000’ at Cusco, I figured if we stayed near the area, anyone not feeling 100% could return to the cabin to rest since we were close. Sacsaywaman, Q’enco, Jesus Blanco, Puka Pukara, and Tambomachay are all relatively close to town. All of these sites we saw on Saturday. See my sites near Cusco article for details on these locations. We had another nice dinner that evening at Andean Grill. See my article on food and drink in Peru for my thoughts on the cuisine.

On both of our Sundays in Cusco, we attended the Iglesia de Cristo, Wanchaq. We turned down a very tempting offer to eat lunch with our fellow church visitors the first Sunday to catch an Uber out to Pisaq, which turned out to be a beautiful and interesting site in its own right. The village of Pisaq has a cool market and square as well. On our trip out to Pisaq, we met an Uber driver who was willing to drive us out Monday to the train at Ollantaytambo one-way via several other Sacred Valley sites, many of which were included on our Boleto Touristico. For more insights on transportation and tours in the Peru highlands, click HERE. In this way, we were able to visit Chinchero, Moray, Maras, Ollantaytambo, and a textile factory on what otherwise would have been simply a travel day toward Machu Picchu, where we spent Tuesday.

We got back to Cusco from Machu Picchu fairly late Tuesday evening. I planned Wednesday as a flex day, where anyone who wanted could visit a couple of sites or museums while others could rest in the room as needed. I went to Tipon with my dad in the morning, and to Pikallacta and Rumicolqa  with the boys in the afternoon. The boys were rested enough to head out with me to Vinicunca on Thursday, while my dad rested in town and Ubered around to some local museums. I spent a good part of Friday helping my dad figure out how to rapidly get home so he could navigate a minor medical issue that came up.

On Saturday, the boys and I tried to see all of the rest of the local cathedrals, museums, and other sites we hadn’t yet visited, because we knew we would be heading back to Lima after church on Sunday. We had a full day in Lima on Monday where we saw the Plaza Mayor, the major cathedral, the bones of Francisco Pizarro, and many other amusing things before departing for the USA at midnight. All in all, it was a great, if busy trip. Detailed reflections and advice are included in the links provided regarding specific sites visited, accommodations, travel, and food.