Travel from Buenos Aires to Cuzco??????????

I´m a female travelling alone. I need to get from Buenos Aires to Cuzco. I have a couple of days to spare to do it. But really need some tips. I know Aerolineas fly to Lima but then it´s another flight or 24hour bus to Cuzco.
Is it possible to do it by bus from maybe the North of Argentina, or would it be worth me trying to get into Bolivia first???

PLEASE HELP!!

From Buenos Aires to Cusco in a couple of days, I think you are going to need to fly a good portion of the trip. Given that, I think you might as well fly into Lima.

One of the good things about flying into Lima and then taking the bus from there would be the chance to acclimatize to the altitude. Lima is pretty low and Cuzco pretty high, so taking a slow approach to getting up there can reduce the chances of altitude sickness.

Hey Lucy,
I did the same journey 3 months ago, although i took about 10 days to do it.
If you didnt mind spending all your time on the bus,
Its 23 hrs from BA to Salta.
From there you need to get to the bolivian border and a town called La Quiaca. It is 7 hrs from Salta, but you may be able to get a direct bus from BA.
From La Quiaca, you cross the border to Villazon, from where I got a bus for 10 hours as far as Potosi.
La Paz is then a further 12 hours.
And Puno a further 6.
From Puno, you can get a bus for about 7 hrs to Cuzco.

So in all....your looking at about 65 hours driving. Not including the frequent mishaps which accompany Bolivian and Peruvian buses! Some parts of the road are a bit hairy but I think if you have the time, youll appreciate having made the effort! Its a pity you have to rush through it....

Good luck...
Paddy

The trip from Lima to Cusco was the worst trip on bus that I had in south america. Freezing, I mean FREEZING at night, and you have those stuffy electirc heaters under the chairs that make you feel sick. The bus spirals through the andes all night too, bugger the bus, i'd pay the £50 or whatever it was to fly, i did from Cusco back to Lima in the end, no way i was gonna bus it again. I'd fly, and then i would spend a couple of days acclimatising in cusco if you can spare the time. just make sure you do not do too much to quickly and you'll barely be affected.

It's a long bus ride from Lima to Cuzco and given the safety record of the buses I would suggest flying instead. Take it easy when you get there as it's a lot higher than Lima.
You can fly to Lima from Bs.A. I went with LAN. Go into any travel agent in Bs.A to buy the ticket - Usually plenty of space but give it a couple of days.
If you need any info on where to stay in Argentina or Peru then post again..

Grueben

Hi all

If you have just few days is better to fly to La Paz and then head to Cusco.

There are several reason for that.

1 - Save minimun 3 days in very dificult buses

2 - La Paz is 3.600 meter high and then you go down until Machu Picchu 2.000 meter.

3 - From La Paz to Cusco you can spende 3 to 4 days stopping in a beatifull landscape inclueding Titicaka Lake.

4 After spend all these good days you can take 24 hours from Cuso to Lima.

JC

[i]I agree with everbody,
if you have only a few days,fly to Lima or La Paz.
If you take La Paz,cross the Lake of Titicaca by ferry(I hope there is still one)to Puno.
Go by Train from Puno to Cusco.
take the train from Cusco to Machu Pichu

LAN Chile has several flights per day to Lima
(dont forget to try SEVICHE in Peru)

sunny regards
marlis

If you decide to travel by bus, visit Santiago del Estero in ARgentina. A wonderful place. Great food and people. more info in
http://www.sde.gov.ar

Hello, I might not get an answer here. But I am in Mendoza and I want to get to Cusco.

Would it be best for me to go to BA and fly to Lima (I need to acclimitize before I head to Cusco), or go into Chile and head to Lima from there?

Thanks!

Hi Davina,

Afaik, from Mendoza, going to Cusco via BsAs makes no sense at all, timewise nor moneywise.

Your best bet imo is bussing it; Mendoza - Santiago - Arica - Arequipa - Cusco. Esp. the road from Arequipa to Cusco is gorgeous, plus bus travel gives you plenty opportunity to acclimatise (there's no use doing that in Lima as you suggested yourself; Lima is pretty much at sea level ). The whole trip would take you 3 days approx, or 36 hours of continuous bussing.

Alternatively, flying from Santiago (LAN offers daily service directly to Cusco) may be an option. My guess would be that that's quite expensive (ran a quick check; prices are around 600USD), though flying from BsAs will doubtlessly cost you even more.

[ Edit: Edited on Feb 1, 2008, at 2:37 AM by bentivogli ]