Peru Highlights

Enjoy a half day guided sightseeing tour to the most attractive and important sites in Lima: the City of Kings. Visit Lima’s Historical Center, passing by Plaza San Martin, Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, the City Hall, the Cathedral and its Religious Art Museum (closed on Sunday and Saturday pm; Santo Domingo Convent is provided instead on these days), as well as San Francisco Monastery and its famous underground crypts known as the Catacombs.

Continue through the residential districts of San Isidro and Miraflores, passing by the Huaca Pucllana, a ceremonial and administrative center of the Lima culture built in the second century that the Incas considered a “Ñaupallaqta” or Sacred Town. Visit El Olivar Park with olive trees brought from Spain in the fifteenth century, the Central Park of Miraflores and El Parque del Amor or Peruvian Love Park. Stop at the Larco Museum for an excellent overview of Peru’s ancient past, as it houses the best private collection of pre-Columbian art in the country. Tour through this old Hacienda House in the Pueblo Libre district, which was built upon a pre-Incan sacred site (huaca), housing the private collection of the great Peruvian scholar Don Rafael Larco Hoyle. The Larco Museum is one of the few museums in the world that allows such intimate access to its displays-around 45,000 pieces-and includes a fascinating exhibition of erotic pre-Colombian art. After the visit you will be transferred to your hotel and may spend the afternoon and evening at leisure.

Meet a representative at the hotel lobby and transfer to the Lima Airport to board your independently arranged flight to Arequipa. A representative will assist with check-in procedures and all departure formalities. Upon arrival to Arequipa, transfer to the hotel and enjoy a half day city tour of Arequipa, including the main square, one of the most beautiful squares in Peru, and the Cathedral, a prime example of 19th Century Peruvian architecture housing beautiful treasures in gold and silver. Visit La Compañia Church, an ancient Jesuit temple which is perhaps the most important one in Arequipa due to its history and tradition. Then visit the Santa Catalina Convent, a ‘small town’ built in the 19th Century and opened to the public in 1970 after 400 years as a cloister, which has been perfectly preserved for four centuries. See the numerous spacious patios and gardens, the kitchen and slave quarters and the stone washtubs. About 20 nuns still live in a section of this convent. After the tour, return to your hotel and spend the afternoon at your leisure.

After breakfast, depart on a wonderful four-hour journey to the Colca Valley, one of the deepest canyons in the world. Drive across Pampa Canahous in Aguada Blanca National Reserve, inhabited by herds of vicunas and alpacas, and see the other face of Arequipa’s volcanoes Misti and Chachani. Drive across various lakes, beautiful landscapes, related to this ecosystem. A gratifying stop will make you taste a coca tea in a rustic restaurant on the road. At the highest point of the journey, observe many volcanoes, and in the distance, the source of the Amazon River. Upon arrival to Chivay town, enjoy included lunch, and perhaps take a short walk around town before being transferred to the hotel.

Leave early this morning and head to the Cruz del Condor, an ideal place to observe (weather permitting) the majestic flight of the Condor, the largest bird in the world.

Visit traditional villages with ancient terraces constructed by the Collaguas, a pre-Inka culture. Stroll around the town of Maca, at the base of the volcano Sabancaya, and then Yanque with its church and baroque façade. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant in Chivay before traveling the roughly 8 hours towards Lake Titicaca, through beautiful landscapes corresponding to high altitude ecosystems, on mostly paved roads. Puno sits on the banks of Lake Titicaca–the highest navigable lake in the world. This region is the birthplace of Inca mythology.

Stop at Lagunillas viewpoint to observe a series of beautiful small lagoons called Lagunillas, where it may be possible to see Andean Flamingos and other Andean birds, trout farms and locals fishing on their artisan boats. Upon arrival in Puno, transfer to your hotel.

Early in the morning, begin the day’s unforgettable motorboat excursion on the waters of Lake Titicaca to Taquile, a natural island inhabited by Quechua-speaking natives, who have developed efficient and unique social systems, as well as fine hand waving techniques, passed down through the generations. Continue on motorboat to the peninsula of Chucuito, for a stop at the rural Aymara Community of Luguina. Savor a buffet lunch, including regional dishes while enjoying a magnificent view of Lake Titicaca.

End the day with a visit to the floating islands of the Uros, ancient inhabitants of the lake known as the Water Tribe, who have built their own island by periodcically adding new layers of a vegetabel fiber of the Papayrus family called Totora (scirpus totora), which is unique to the area. After the day’s activities, return to your hotel in Puno.

Meet a representative in the hotel lobby and transfer to the Juliaca Airport to board your independently arranged flight to your next destination. A representative will assist you with the corresponding check-in procedures and all departure formalities. Upon arrival into Cusco International Airport, you will be met by a representative and private driver and transferred to your hotel. Enjoy a guided sightseeing tour of the city of Cusco, the Imperial City and archaeological capital of South America, to admire the finest examples of Inca history and architecture. Visit the city’s most important historical monuments that reveal the influence of different cultures: the Plaza de Armas; the cathedral dating from Spanish viceroyalty times, built with great slabs of red granite renaissance style in contrast with the baroque style silverwork of its interior; and the Santo Domingo church built upon the foundations of the Inca temple Koricancha, dedicated in worship to the Sun God.

Continue to Cusco City’s main surrounding ruins: the Sacsayhuaman Fortress, a ceremonial compound and magnificent example of Inca military power that boasts a panoramic view of the city; the Qenqo Amphitheater, a ritualistic site with subterranean galleries that form an underground maze; Puca Pucara or red fortress; and the Inca Baths of Tambomachay. After the tour you will be transferred to your hotel.

En route towards the Urubamba Valley, visit Awanacancha, an Andean textile center whose principal objective is to keep the wealth of Incan textile art alive. Learn about the dyeing techniques and instruments used for hundreds of years in the weaving of these famous textiles. Then visit the Pisac archeological complex, formed by a collection of remains of Incan dwellings, temples and terracing, all of which combine perfectly with the majestic landscape of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

Continue on to the Pisac Markets for the chance to interact with the local folk and even barter with the merchants. End the day with a visit to the Incan fortress and citadel of Ollantaytambo. This fortress was constructed in order to guard the entrance to this part of the valley and protect it from possible invasions of tribes from the jungle lowlands. It was later the scene of Incan resistance in 1537, when Manco Inca’s forces faced Hernando Pizarro’s troops. After the tour you will be driven back to your hotel.

Take a morning transfer to the train station for an amazing train journey to the famous Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu, the great mountain-top city abandoned by the Inca Empire, reclaimed by the jungle and lost to humanity until its rediscovery in 1911. Along the way, enjoy the changing landscape as you travel from Andean highlands to the beginnings of the jungle, or “eyebrow of the jungle,” before finally arriving at the town of Aguas Calientes. Take a 20-minute bus ride up to the citadel of Machu Picchu, or Lost City of the Incas, which sits upon the summit bearing the same name and is one of the most representative and recognized examples of Incan architecture. A guided tour of the Citadel includes the Main Plaza, the Circular Tower, the Sacred Sun Dial, the Royal Quarters, the Temple of the Three Windows and various burial grounds.

The legendary Lost City is without a doubt one of the world’s most impressive archaeological sites. Built by the Incas on the summit of Machu Picchu, or “old peak,” it overlooks the deep canyon of the Urubamba River in a semi-tropical area 75 miles from the city of Cusco. Located on a mountain of extraordinary beauty in the middle of a tropical mountain forest, Machu Picchu was probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height, with its giant walls, terraces and ramps, which appear as though they have been cut naturally in the continuous rock escarpments. Machu Picchu is also one of the Inca’s best kept secrets since they did not leave written records and Spanish chronicles make no mention of the citadel; it remains a mystery. Enjoy a buffet lunch at Tinkuy Restaurant and in the afternoon, return to your hotel.

This morning, the choice is yours. Today is an excellent opportunity to wake up early and enjoy a beautiful sunrise or stroll around the town of Aguas Calientes and visit its hot springs thermal waters. Other activities (not included in the overall price) include visiting the Citadel of Machu Picchu for a second time, or perhaps climbing up the Huayna Picchu from where you can appreciate the immensity of Machu Picchu, even more amazing from this height and distance. No guide services included this day.

In the afternoon return to Cusco by taking the shuttle bus to Aguas Calientes to board your return train. Upon arrival at the train station, be met by your representative and private driver who will transfer you to your Cusco hotel.

This morning, meet a representative at the hotel lobby and transfer to the Cusco Airport to board your next flight. A representative will assist you with check-in procedures and all departure formalities.