Bogota to Cusco??

LolaDub

Hi all, i'm volunteering in Colombia in July and hoping to take a few days when its over to see a little bit of Peru, hopefully Machu Picchu and maybe see the rainforest. I'm trying to find ways of travelling from Bogota to Cusco but can't find any direct flights. Would anybody know of direct ways to get there? I'd prefer not to have to go through Lima. I'll only have a couple of days so i'll probably fly rather than go by train/bus but any helpful suggestions would be very welcome. If anybody can recommend any hotels in Cusco also that would be great! Thanks!

mikedragon32

Moved from reviews. Please read the charters before posting!

LolaDub

Hi mikedragon32 i had already pm'd buffybot to ask for it to be moved to travel and holidays and apologised for the mistake when you moved it. I'm not a student or travelling on youth visas/travel. Can it be moved to travel and holidays? Thanks!

BuffyBot

No, but it does fall into the "Independent" part of the forum

This is probably the best place. You'll find other people who've gone around South America and it's various nooks and crannies. They may have suggestions

Travel & Holidays is more the "two weeks in Malaga"/"4 days in New York, where do I shop" sort of place

dory

I really don't think you are going to find a direct flight. Lima to Cuzco is only an hour by plane and Lima airport is small so wouldn't be too much hassle to stop off there.
Don't know any good hotels, we staying in Casa de Campo and wouldn't recommend it. We had to ring reception every time we wanted to go to the bathroom so they could tyrn on the water. San Blas is a nice area to stay in, but a bit of a hike up hill.

Gaz

Overlanding from Bogata to Cusco takes forever, you will need to fly via Lima. While in Cusco stay in Loki's , its an Irish run hostel, great craic.

kraggy

Gaz wrote: »

Overlanding from Bogata to Cusco takes forever, you will need to fly via Lima. While in Cusco stay in Loki's , its an Irish run hostel, great craic.

Or The Point Hostel if you're into partying. Madness can be found there if you're up for it.

Even if you aren't, it's a good place to meet people and the staff are sound.

LolaDub

Hi guys, thanks to all that have replied so far. I will be going with another person and not looking for big parties, we will be going out to restaurants and for a few drinks but as we have such a short time there i don't want to spend it hungover! Will only have 4/5 nights in cusco so hoping to get the see machu picchu etc and maybe the rainforest. Is there anything else thats a must see in cusco? We're thinking of staying in either the Terra Andina Hotel or the Libertador Palacio del inka cusco or the Hotel Arqueologo

Has anyone been to any of these hotels? What should we be looking for in cusco location wise? Is cusco big at all? I'm not sure how central these hotels are. Also any restaurant/bars/ safety recommendations would be great.

Is the quickest way to get to cusco from bogota to go by air through lima? Flights are about $520, would rail or bus be any better? I didn't want to go through lima because of altitude sickness, it would suck if we missed a day for that. Bogota is high enough. We'll be in bogota sightseeing for about 2/3 days. If anyone knows of what to do there and where to stay that would be great! Thanks for all the help!!!

Gaz

There are no train or bus links as far as I know. The Colombia-Peruvian border is really the middle of no where, with Leticia being the only real town and last stop of civilization. From there its a few days on a boat down the Amazon to Iquitos and from there you can get a bus (I think).

So yeah , you will need to fly.

dory

I don't understand what do you mean you don't want to go via Lima because of altitude? If you're up high in Bogota, then the small amount of time you spend in Lima won't totally wreck you for Cusco.
Travel is like this. You could get a bus from Bogota - Quito. It's somewhere around 12-18 hours I believe. Quito - Lima is 24-26 hours. Lima to Cusco by bus is also 24-26 hours.
Flights from Lima to Cusco start at around $50 on LAN (last I checked - in summer 07). Busing it would take so much time, I'd fly.
And out of the three you've mentioned I have stayed in the Libertador. Sorry, I presumed you were another budget holiday maker so didn't mention that the first time. It's great, looks just like Jury's and it's in a perfect location.

LolaDub

We just want a nice clean hotel, good location and service. From reviews service seems like it can be a big problem there. Thanks for the travel advice, flying it is. We were advised by previous visitors to cusco that they suffered from altitude sickness for about two days after they arrived and they attributed it to the flight coming from lima. As i said we're only spending a few days there so i was hoping for a direct flight to cut corners on time.

Is the libertador in the city centre? Would it be withing walking distance to shops, restaurants, sights etc?

I read somethng about hot air balloons going over the sacred valley, has anyone done this and is it worth it? The only one two with a price listed were $300-$500

Thanks so much for all the help!!!

Neamhshuntasach

Think Lima will be your only option. Doubt there are many international flights arriving in Cusco. There's a lot better places than Bogota too. You should try get around Colombia too if you can.

LolaDub

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

Think Lima will be your only option. Doubt there are many international flights arriving in Cusco. There's a lot better places than Bogota too. You should try get around Colombia too if you can.

I'll be volunteering in Colombia for three weeks, no time off during that to see Colombia so i'm just going to use one day to see the centre and then take off to cusco. I'm using up all my holiday entitlement to do the volunteering so no chance of another trip away later, just trying to make the most of the few days and i'm dying to see Machu Picchu.

What are Colombia and Peru like, whats the general atmosphere? Thanks so much everybody for your help, i really appreciate it!

kraggy

dory wrote: »

I don't understand what do you mean you don't want to go via Lima because of altitude? If you're up high in Bogota, then the small amount of time you spend in Lima won't totally wreck you for Cusco.
Travel is like this. You could get a bus from Bogota - Quito. It's somewhere around 12-18 hours I believe. Quito - Lima is 24-26 hours. Lima to Cusco by bus is also 24-26 hours.
Flights from Lima to Cusco start at around $50 on LAN (last I checked - in summer 07). Busing it would take so much time, I'd fly.
And out of the three you've mentioned I have stayed in the Libertador. Sorry, I presumed you were another budget holiday maker so didn't mention that the first time. It's great, looks just like Jury's and it's in a perfect location.

I was strongly advised not to bus it from Lima to Cusco as it's supposed to be one of the worst bus journeys in S.America. Bumpy, twisty, really uncomfortable ride.

Gaz

Not at all, pay for cama if you can and its a very nice journey ... all be it a very long one, 24hrs I think.

RATM

OP I know your heart seems set on going to Macchu Pichu but it sounds like you are going to have to put yourself to an awful lot of trouble and expense to get there from Bogota. ( and do you have to go back to Bogota to get home too? )
Why not consider using your travel time to see more of Colombia, its a fab country IMO, one of the best in the whole continent and to miss it would be a shame. The Cuidad Perida ( Lost City ) trek would more than make up for missing out on MP.
In my experience people who go to S.America always end up going back again at some stage, its like a magnet that draws you in....:)

dory

Gaz wrote: »

Not at all, pay for cama if you can and its a very nice journey ... all be it a very long one, 24hrs I think.

kraggy wrote: »

I was strongly advised not to bus it from Lima to Cusco as it's supposed to be one of the worst bus journeys in S.America. Bumpy, twisty, really uncomfortable ride.

Actually fellas, you could both be right.
Some buses go up through the mountains. Takes 24 hours and is meant to be hell. No chance of sleeping with all the twisting and turning, and lots of poeple start throwiing up.

On the other hand, you could take the 26 hour bus that takes the beautiful smooth roads from Lima-Arequipa-Puno-Cusco. This way just annoys people more than anything who don't want to go through places they are going to be returning to so want to do a proper loop and go to Arequipa/Puno after Cusco.

Both bus journeys are long as hell and cost round €30 last I checked for a cama. As I said before, my one hour flight cost €50, and I had no problems with altitude that make some people afraid of flying. They think suddenly landing in a place high up will make them fall over but the slow incline of the bus will be fine. Truth is you don't get enough fluids/coca tea usually on a bus, so that might screw you over just as much.

I also agree with RATM, staying in Colombia might be a very good idea. Just about everyone I'd met said it was their favourite city.

LolaDub

Everyone said bogota was their favourite city?

My travelling partner isn't too keen on staying in Colombia and we both want to see Cusco. The flights from bogota-lima-cusco are $516 return, at least thats the cheapest for now. Has anyone heard of the koyllur hotel? Thers a hostel and hotel and only four reviews on trip advisor. Can anyone tell me whats the best area to stay in and what should we be trying to stay close to? Are most things in walking distance? Any helpful hints on restaurants and sites are very welcome!! Thanks all

Neamhshuntasach

LolaDub wrote: »

Everyone said bogota was their favourite city?

My travelling partner isn't too keen on staying in Colombia and we both want to see Cusco. The flights from bogota-lima-cusco are $516 return, at least thats the cheapest for now. Has anyone heard of the koyllur hotel? Thers a hostel and hotel and only four reviews on trip advisor. Can anyone tell me whats the best area to stay in and what should we be trying to stay close to? Are most things in walking distance? Any helpful hints on restaurants and sites are very welcome!! Thanks all

Well if your partner isn't too keen on staying in Colombia he should really look at what other countries will be like. For me Colombia is very safe and the people are great. You can feel how the friendliness level differs as soon as you cross into Ecuador. So don't worry about Colombia any more than you or he would worry about Peru.. Never heard of that hotel but la candelaria is a good area to stay in. It's right beside the center of the city. A hostel i would recommend is the cranky croc. a reservation is probably wise beforehand though. my real advice is don't plan too much. forget recommended restaurants and such. just go wherever looks good.

dory

LolaDub wrote: »

Everyone said bogota was their favourite city?

Sorry, I meant to say that Colombia was their favourite country, not Bogota their favourite city. Besides Buenos Aires and maybe Rio, people generally don't have a lot of good things to say about the capital cities in South America. It's all about the smaller places.

another world

Two separate trips in my opinion. I´d reccommend doing Macchu Pichu another time. It´ll be there for a long time. Colombia is a great spot to visit, especially now as it isn´t overflowing with tourists like some of the other countries in SA. Although, I´m biast as I live here With the 516 euro plus other money when you´re there you could do some much here e.g. Jungle trips, carribean, ciudad Perdida etc.

Ps. Who are you doing the volunteer work with?