Essential Lima And Cusco

Day 01. ARRIVAL IN LIMA

Arrive at Jorge Chavez International Airport and transfer to your selected hotel. Overnight stay.

Day 02. LIMA

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel. At 9:00 a.m., we will begin our tour at the remarkable Larco Museum, located in the Pueblo Libre district, where you can admire an extensive collection of over 5,000 ceramic artifacts, alongside gold and silver pieces, and pre-Columbian erotic art.

Following the museum visit, we will proceed to the historic center to explore Casa Aliaga, a colonial mansion featuring exquisite rooms filled with invaluable art and history. We then move to the Plaza de Armas, home to the Government Palace, the Archbishop’s Palace, the Municipal Palace, and other significant colonial-era buildings, including a visit to the 16th-century Cathedral.

Afterward, you will be transferred back to your hotel at 2:00 p.m. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon at your leisure, an ideal time to start connecting with the culture. Overnight at your hotel.

Day 03. LIMA / CUSCO

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Cusco. Upon arrival, transfer to your accommodation in Cusco. Enjoy free time to acclimate to the altitude. Overnight stay.

Day 04. CUSCO / SACRED VALLEY: Pisac Market + Ollantaytambo Fortress / MACHU PICCHU (Aguas Calientes)

Breakfast at the hotel. We will pick you up from your Cusco hotel for a 30 km journey to Pisac. This incredible location features a vibrant market and archaeological stone temples, offering stunning views of the valley and magnificent Inca terraces.

We will then continue to Urubamba for a delicious buffet lunch before heading to Ollantaytambo. This site served as a military, religious, and agricultural hub for the Incas, boasting impressive views and more than a hundred Inca terraces equipped with an advanced irrigation system.

Finally, we will proceed to Ollantaytambo station to board the Train Expedition to Aguas Calientes, departing at 7:00 p.m. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel and have a briefing session at 9:00 p.m. with your guide to organize the Machu Picchu visit. Overnight at the hotel.

Note: If you wish to climb Huayna Picchu, please request reservation and admission when confirming your booking, subject to an additional fee.

Day 05. Visit MACHU PICCHU at Sunrise / CUSCO

Breakfast at the hotel. In the early morning, board the bus up the winding road to Machu Picchu (the first bus departs at 5:30 a.m.). The Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu, will captivate you with its terraces, ceremonial shrines, steps, and urban areas.

Feel the energy surrounding you. After a guided tour, return by bus to Aguas Calientes, and depart from the train station to head back to Ollantaytambo. From there, take the tourist bus to Cusco and drop off at your hotel in the historic center of Cusco. Overnight stay.

Day 06. CUSCO / SACRED VALLEY: Chinchero-Maras-Moray / CUSCO

Breakfast at the hotel. Early in the morning, we will pick you up to embark on an enthralling tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Our first stop is Chinchero, situated 17 miles from Cusco. Here, we will visit a local workshop to witness the ancestral techniques used to create stunning textiles.

We will then visit the salt mines of Maras, set on an open hill in the Urubamba Valley. The site showcases an impressive Inca-created process where subterranean streams evaporate salty water that emerges at a spring. The flow is directed into a network of tiny channels, allowing the water to gradually run down onto several hundred terraced ponds. As the water is exposed to the sun, salt is left behind.

After touring the salt mines, we will explore the Moray ruins, known for their three coliseums believed to be used by the Incas as an open-air agricultural laboratory. These structures comprise several enormous terraced circular depressions, the deepest being approximately 30 meters (98 feet). Marvel at these terraces arranged in concentric circles, reminiscent of an ancient Greek theater.

Day 07. CUZCO: City Tour and Nearby Ruins

Breakfast at the hotel. In the afternoon, we’ll collect you from your hotel to begin the tour with a visit to the Temple of the Sun, known as Koricancha. This symbolic site illustrates the fusion of Incan and Hispanic cultures, with its base forming the foundation of Santo Domingo’s Church and its renowned convent.

Next, we’ll visit the Cathedral in the Main Square, where you can appreciate beautiful religious paintings from the Cusco School. The Cusco City Tour continues at Sacsayhuaman, a remarkable archaeological complex featuring massive carved stones that fit together perfectly, reportedly constructed by over 20,000 men over 70 years.

Our journey proceeds to the Qenqo religious temple, where the Incas worshiped deities like the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Experience the thrill of exploring its underground galleries and admire the semicircular amphitheater.

We will continue this exciting excursion at the Puca Pucara military compound, meaning “Red Fortress” due to its reddish hues. Finally, we will visit the water worship center of Tambomachay, featuring aqueducts and waterfalls fed by nearby springs. The tour concludes with a return to Cusco, where you will be dropped off at El Regocijo Square, just a block from Plaza de Armas.

Day 08. Cuzco / Lima:

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to the airport for your regular flight back to Lima, followed by an international flight connection.

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