Peru Highlights – 7 Days

Arrive Lima Airport where you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel. The Peruvian capital is a modern metropolis full of history, currently undergoing an exciting process of cultural and economic changes.

Overnight.

Breakfast. Enjoy a tour of Lima’s old town, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site packed with fascinating historical buildings. Visit the Larco Museum, housed in a beautifully restored vice regal mansion built on a pre-Columbian pyramid in the traditional Pueblo Libre district. The museum boasts the world’s most complete pre-Hispanic collection of gold and silver objects and pieces of erotic art. Visit Casa Aliaga, a colonial mansion that chief conquistador Francisco Pizarro granted to Jeronimo de Aliaga, one of his captains, in 1535. This is the only house from that time still owned by the same family. Tour colonial downtown, where you can appreciate the grandiose architecture of the Spanish Empire and Lima’s amazing 16th-century cathedral, which took more than 80 years to complete. Return to the hotel.

Overnight.

Optional: Magical Water Circuit + Dinner Show. This is the largest fountain complex in the world, with 13 distinct fountains. Enjoy the colourful laser light program synchronized with music, making the fountains sparkle as the water flows in unique patterns and shapes.

Breakfast. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Cusco. Once in the city a transport service will take you to your hotel. In the afternoon, enjoy a guided tour of the former capital of the Inca Empire. Visit Santo Domingo Convent, a large Renaissance-baroque complex, which was built over the Inca Coricancha temple, which was dedicated to worshipping of the sun. Its foundations are still prominent. Visit the imposing Cathedral in the Main Square. Visit the remains of the fortress of Sacsayhuaman, for a stunning panoramic view of Cusco, and see the ruins of the temple and amphitheatre of Qenqo, where the Incas practised agricultural rituals. Visit Puka Pukara (‘Red fortress’ in Quechua) an Inca military complex located on a prominent hill. Return to your hotel.

Overnight.

Breakfast. Head along the Sacred Valley towards the archaeological site of Moray (approximately one and a half hours away). As with many Inca ruins, its exact function remains a mystery. Continue to Mars, where thousands of small salt ponds provide work to help feed many local families. Return to your hotel.

Overnight.

*From December to March (rainy season), Chinchero, the town of Maras and chicherias, is visited instead of the salt mines. In these months, you can replace this tour with a visit to South Valley.

Optional: Visit the planetarium.

Breakfast. Pick up from your hotel to visit the town of Chinchero, a traditional Cusco urban centre located at an elevated point with a beautiful view of the valley. The inhabitants here preserve the artisan traditions and the inherited knowledge of the Incas and display them in their clothes and customs. In Chinchero there are also archaeological remains and a beautiful 17th century church, one of the first Catholic buildings in Peru. Transfer to the Living Museum of Yucay, an Andean centre with demonstrations textile production, adobe, pottery and silverware, following techniques used by ancestors. Also, residents of the museum include llamas, sheep, and alpacas, and they can be fed!

Visit the town of Ollantaytambo upon your arrival, inhabited uninterruptedly since Inca times and enjoy a superior Andean gastronomy experience in a restaurant. Later, climb the iconic fortress, built next to a mountain. Transfer to your hotel.

Overnight.

*On Sundays, also visit the local market.

Breakfast. Check out. Transportation service will pick you up and transfer you to the Ollanta Station to board the train to Aguas Calientes, the nearest town to Machu Picchu. Following a scenic journey through dramatic Andean landscapes, arrive at the station and board a coach for a 25-minute ride to Machu Picchu. The ‘Lost City of the Incas’ is believed to have been built in the 1450s by Inca Emperor Pachacutec as a holiday retreat. But within a century the city was abandoned following the Spanish conquest. The Spaniards never found it and it was slowly swallowed up by the jungle and saved from destruction. A guided tour explains the origins behind this awe-inspiring citadel, presenting its most prominent landmarks. *Lunch included. Return to Aquas Calientesto board the train back to Cusco.

Overnight.

*Lunch time could vary depending on the entrance to the citadel. Overnight.

**Kindly remember to purchase your tickets before your trip due to the limited capacity of the citadel. Entrances are subject to availability.

Breakfast. A vehicle will take you to Cusco airport to board your departure flight.

End of Tour.