Peru — I am the Wanderer

Machu Picchu's timed-entry circuit system now rewards travelers who plan a year out, and the Belmond Andean Explorer — the continent's only luxury sleeper — still has dry-season cabins open for next year. A strong dollar against the sol softens Belmond's bill, and Lima connects easily on points via United or Avianca with Chase UR.

Itinerary — tap a stop on the map

First nightpick a date — the classic window is May–Sep

Lima (Barranco) · 1 night

nights 1–1

Barranco art-boutique: Hotel B, a Relais & Châteaux 1914 mansion hung with contemporary Peruvian art, or the quieter garden rooms at Villa Barranco.

Sacred Valley (Ollantaytambo / Urubamba) · 2 nights

nights 2–3

Valley hacienda: Sol y Luna (Relais & Châteaux casitas in flower gardens, Urubamba) or the rail-side farmhouse rooms at El Albergue right on Ollantaytambo station; on Marriott points, Tambo del Inka.

Machu Picchu Pueblo · 1 night

nights 4–4

Cloud-forest casitas at Inkaterra Machupicchu Pueblo Hotel — 12 acres of orchids and hummingbirds above the river; the splurge is Sanctuary Lodge, the only bed at the citadel gate.

Cusco · 2 nights

nights 5–6

Converted monastery: Monasterio, A Belmond Hotel around a 1592 cloister (with oxygen-enriched rooms), or on Amex-transferred Marriott points the Palacio del Inka, a Luxury Collection palace opposite Qorikancha.

Aboard the Andean Explorer (Cusco → Lake Titicaca / Puno) · 1 night

nights 7–7

A snug two-berth sleeper cabin with en-suite shower aboard the Belmond Andean Explorer on its one-night 'Spirit of the Water' run — book a Deluxe Double cabin for the biggest window.

Arequipa · 2 nights

nights 8–9

Sillar-stone casona: Cirqa — a candlelit 1540 inn of vaulted white volcanic stone — or Casa Andina Premium Arequipa, set in the city's 18th-century mint.

Signature moments

A pisco sour in the open-back observation car as vicuñas scatter across La Raya pass at 4,319 m
The Vistadome's skylight windows filling with cloud forest on the climb toward Machu Picchu
Waking in your sleeper berth to Lake Titicaca outside the window, reed boats already out
Machu Picchu's terraces in first light, an hour before the day-trip trains arrive
Queso helado in Arequipa's Plaza de Armas, El Misti volcano framed in white sillar arches

The treasury

$13,000–18,000 for 2 adults including economy flights from the US (train cabin ~$4,500–5,500 for two, hotels ~$3,500–5,500); closer to $25,000 with business-class air and all-Belmond hotels

Fly it on Chase UR: transfer to United for the Houston/Newark–Lima nonstops (~35k economy / 70–90k business each way per person) or to Air Canada Aeroplan to book the same United metal at fixed rates. Then use Amex MR → Marriott Bonvoy 1:1 to wipe out the two priciest ground stays — Tambo del Inka (Luxury Collection, Sacred Valley) and Palacio del Inka (Luxury Collection, Cusco), roughly 50–80k points per night each. The Belmond Andean Explorer and Sanctuary Lodge are cash-only, so concentrate points on flights and those two hotels and pay cash where points can't reach.

Straight talk

Machu Picchu runs on timed-entry circuit tickets with capped daily slots — dry-season dates and the ~350/day Huayna Picchu permits sell out months ahead, so lock your entry date and circuit (Circuit 2 for the postcard view) before booking anything else.
The Belmond Andean Explorer departs Cusco only on fixed days — typically one 'Spirit of the Water' run per week — and dry-season cabins book out close to a year ahead; build the whole itinerary backward from the train date.
Altitude is the real tax: Cusco sits at 11,150 ft and the train crests 14,170 ft at La Raya. This routing deliberately sleeps low in the Sacred Valley first, but still go easy on alcohol for the first 48 hours and ask your doctor about acetazolamide before you fly.
Dry season means brilliant days but hard-freezing altiplano nights, and regional strikes (paros) can close roads and rail lines on a day's notice — treat the two Cusco nights before the train as your buffer, and avoid same-day international connections out of Lima.

With a small one (○○○ leave the baby home): Leave the baby home: Cusco sits at 11,150 ft and pediatricians say no to sustained altitude under age two — the snug two-berth sleeper cabins are grown-up romance anyway.

TAKE IT OFF THE SHELFpick your first night above — the dates flow through the whole planPlan this trip →

Sacred Valley, Cusco, Altiplano, Arequipa — via South America's only luxury sleeper · curated by I am the Wanderer