I am arriving Oct 4th and would like to do a road trip to the south and eventually ending up in Cusco.Transport is my problem . Is renting a car a good way to do independant travel or is there a local bus circuit that I can use, stoping at various towns for overnights... I would prefer this method. I am on a budget so I would prefer not to need to go by air.Any suggestions would be so helpful.
Thanks

Yes, there are many buses running in Peru and in use by budget travellers to go from one place to the other. Cruz del Sur is one of the best.