Arrival in Cusco
DAY 1. Arrival in Cusco, and transfer from the airport or bus station, to the hotel located in the city center. Rest of the day off, and overnight at the hotel.
City Tour Cusco and 4 nearby ruins
DAY 2. We’ll pick you up from the hotel, and start the tour visiting the Temple of the Sun well-known as Koricancha. This symbolic place has a clear example of the fusion between Incan and Hispanic cultures, and its base was used to build Santo Domingo’s Church and its famous convent.
Then, we’re going to visit the Cathedral located in the Main Square, to appreciate a beautiful religious paintings of the Cusco School. The Cusco City Tour continues in Sacsayhuaman, an amazing archaeological complex with huge carved stones which fit each other in a perfect way, and it is said that it was built by more than 20 thousand men, and took over 70 years to finish it.
Then we will visit Qenqo religious temple, place where the Incas worshiped their Gods like the Sun, the Moon and the Earth. You will have an incredible experience exploring through its underground galleries, and admire a semicircular amphitheater. We will continue this entertaining excursion in the military compound of Puca Pucara, which means “Red Fortress” for its reddish infrastructure.
Then we will go the water’s worship center of Tambomachay, with aqueducts and waterfalls provided from nearby springs. At the end, we will back to the hotel.
Chinchero, Maras salt mines and Moray ruins
DAY 3. Early in the morning, we will pick you up from the hotel to start this fascinating tour to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Our first stop will be at the town of Chinchero, located 17 miles from Cusco city. Here, we will visit a local workshop to appreciate the ancestral techniques to create amazing textiles.
Then, we will visit the salt mines of Maras located on an open hill in Urubamba’s valley. This place has an impressive process created by Incas, where a subterranean stream evaporates salty water and it emerges at a spring. The flow is then directed into an intricate system of tiny channels constructed so that the water runs gradually down onto the several hundred ancient terraced ponds. The water, which is exposed to the sun, leaves salt on the land.
After visiting the salt mines near Maras, head to the Moray ruins, which are made up of three coliseums thought to have been used by the Incas as a sort of open air crop laboratory. The coliseums consist of several enormous terraced circular depressions, the largest of which is about 30 meters (98 feet) deep. Admire these terraces which are arranged in concentric circles and are reminiscent of an ancient Greek theater.
The Sacred Valley of the Incas has extensive fertile lands perfect for cultivation, as well as impressive archaeological sites. This place will show us the lifestyle of the Inca Empire and its advanced construction techniques. After the tour you will return to Cusco.
Pisac Market, Ollantaytambo Ruins and Expedition Train to Machu Picchu
DAY 4. Breakfast at the hotel. We will pick you up from the hotel in Cusco, to start a 30 Km. journey until Pisac. This fantastic place has an amazing market, and archaeological temples of stone buildings, with incredible views to the valley and the magnificent Inca platforms.
Then, we will continue until Urubamba to enjoy a delicious buffet lunch, and later we will reach Ollantaytambo. Its temple was the headquarter of Inca’s army, as well as a religious and agricultural place. It has stunning views, and more than a hundred Inca platforms with an advanced irrigation canal for that period.
Later, you be transferred to the train station in Ollantaytambo to take the Train Expedition to Aguas Calientes. Arrival and transfer to the hotel. Short briefing with the guide before the excursion to the citadel. Overnight.
Machu Picchu
DAY 5. Breakfast at the hotel. Early morning, you will board the bus to go up the winding road to Machu Picchu, amid a spectacular view of the Urubamba River and its canyon. The Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu, will astonish us with its terraces, ceremonial shrines, steps and urban areas.
Energy is all around us. After a guided visit, you will hace time enough to stay for more time or take the bus to back to Aguas Calientes Town, and have lunch (Optional).
At the arranged time, we will return to Cusco from Ollantaytambo train station by tourist bus, and drop you off at the hotel located in the city of Cusco. Overnight.
South Valley: Tipón, Pikillaqta and Andahuaylillas DAY 6. Breakfast at the hotel. After picking you up at the hotel, we will go to the Cusco’s South Valley, starting the visit to the water temple of Tipón, a big area with 12 incredible terraces. Their irrigation system is even more impressive, because it’s still working and it continues to irrigate crops until today.
The next stop is Pikillaqta, an important pre-Inca urban Centre, and a significant place for Huari Empire development. Then, we will continue to Andahuaylillas. This traditional Andean town has an amazing chapel, well-known as “The Sisitine Chapel of America” too. After the visit, we will back to your hotel in Cusco City.
Departure from Cusco
DAY 7. Breakfast at the hotel. Pick up at the agreed time to transfer you to the bus station or airport in the city of Cusco .
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