DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN
LIMA
Upon your arrival at Lima airport, we will transfer you to your hotel located
in the heart of Lima city. You will have the rest of the day free. Overnight
at the hotel.
DAY 2: LIMA CITY
TOUR AND LARCO MUSEUM
In the morning, we will begin our Lima city tour at the magnificent Larco Museum, located in the
traditional district of Pueblo Libre. Founded by Peruvian archaeologist Rafael
Larco Hoyle in 1926, the museum is housed in an 18th-century mansion surrounded
by extensive and beautiful gardens.
The Larco Museum
is a marvel. It boasts a comprehensive collection of over 5,000 pre-Hispanic
ceramic pieces, as well as gold and silver artifacts, and pre-Columbian erotic
pottery. We will walk through its stunning galleries in chronological order,
learning about the fascinating civilizations of ancient Peru.
Next, we will
head to Lima`s historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. This
area features beautiful squares, colonial mansions, and a rich history. We will
visit the Aliaga House, a colonial
mansion built in 1536, renowned for its exquisite spaces filled with invaluable
art and history. Remarkably, descendants of Jerónimo de Aliaga, a Spanish
conquistador and ally of Francisco Pizarro, still inhabit this architectural
gem.
We will continue
to the Plaza de Armas, the
birthplace of Lima in 1535 and the site where Peru’s independence was declared
in 1821. During the viceroyalty, it served as a marketplace and a place for
public executions.
From the Plaza de
Armas, we will admire historical buildings such as the Government Palace, the Archbishop`s Palace, the Municipal Palace,
and other significant colonial structures. We will visit Lima`s Cathedral, a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site, built during the
Spanish conquest in the 16th century.
After the tour,
you will be transferred back to your hotel. Overnight stay.
DAY 3: LIMA /
AREQUIPA CITY TOUR
At the scheduled time, we will transfer you to Lima airport for your flight to Arequipa. Upon arrival, we
will escort you to your hotel in the city center.
We will then
begin the city tour with a visit to the Plaza
de Armas, one of the most beautiful squares in the country, and the
adjacent Arequipa Cathedral, built in the 17th century. We will explore the
Cathedral and the Church of the Society of Jesus (1590), a classic example of
local baroque architecture housing exceptional paintings and murals.
You will also
visit the stunning Monastery of Santa
Catalina, a genuine medieval cloister established in September 1579, still
in use today. Spanning 20,000 square meters, this mysterious convent was built
with sillar, the main material of local architecture.
The tour includes
stops in the districts of Yanahuara and
Carmen Alto, offering panoramic views of Arequipa`s countryside and the
surrounding volcanoes: Misti, Chachani, and Pichu Pichu. You will have time for
photos.
Finally, we will
visit the main square of Cayma district
and the Church of San Miguel Arcángel de Cayma. At the end of the tour, we will
transfer you back to your hotel. Overnight stay.
DAY 4: AREQUIPA /
CUSCO
At the agreed time, we will take you to Arequipa airport for your flight to
Cusco. Upon arrival, we will transfer you to your hotel. The rest of the day is
free. Overnight stay.
DAY 5: PISAC AND
OLLANTAYTAMBO WITH OVERNIGHT IN AGUAS CALIENTES
Today, we will tour the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
After traveling
30 km from Cusco, we will reach the small town
of Pisac, a charming place with a fantastic traditional market and an
archaeological site featuring stone temples and structures overlooking the
valley and its terraces.
We will then
continue to Urubamba, where we will
enjoy a delicious buffet lunch at a traditional restaurant by the Urubamba
River.
Next, we will
visit the town of Ollantaytambo and
its fortress, an impressive example of Inca architecture that served as a
military, religious, and agricultural hub. It offers stunning valley views and
features advanced irrigation systems.
We will end the
day with a visit to Chinchero and
its colorful market, offering a variety of Andean ceramics and textiles.
You will then
board a train at Ollantaytambo station, heading towards Aguas Calientes. Upon arrival, our staff will assist you to your
hotel. In the evening, we will have a briefing about the next day’s visit to
Machu Picchu. Overnight stay.
DAY 6: FULL DAY
AT MACHU PICCHU
You will take a bus ascending 30 minutes along a road with spectacular views of
the Urubamba River and its canyon.
Machu Picchu, meaning “Old Mountain,” will greet you with its incredible
terraces, stairways, ceremonial sites, and urban areas, radiating a unique
energy.
During a 2.5-hour
guided tour, you will learn all about this extraordinary site. Afterward, you
will have free time to continue exploring or, if adventurous, hike Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain
(optional).
Alternatively,
you can return to Aguas Calientes
for a delightful lunch (optional) at one of its excellent restaurants.
At the scheduled
time, you will take the train back to
Ollantaytambo, followed by a bus transfer to Cusco. Overnight stay.
DAY 7: CUSCO PUNO BUS TOUR
After
boarding the tourist bus in the city of Cusco, we will begin a
1-hour journey towards the beautiful south valley in order to
make the first stop in Andahuaylillas situated at 3,093 meters
above sea level.
This
lovely Andean town has an incredible jewel of the architecture dating back to
the seventeenth century known as the Sistine Chapel, with an
impressive work covered in gold leaf and paintings of
the art school of Cusco.
There
is a fascinating artwork inside the Church of San Pedro de
Andahuaylillas, ceilings and walls decorated in a Baroque style, many of
them belong to the Peruvian painter Luis de Reaño. Definitely, it
should be a must in your travel bucket list.
The bus
ride continues, for one hour and a half, until reach the archaeological
site of Raqchi, our second stop located at 3,450 meters above sea level.
The temple of Wiracocha was built next to the Vilcanota River
during the fifteenth century and, currently, it has huge walls that belonged to
temples, as well as aqueducts and tombs.
In
this place, there are circular storehouses known as Colcas.
Them were used to hold different kind of grains such as quinoa, potato, corn,
among others. Another interesting fact is that Raqchi is part of the incredible Inca
Trail.
The
tour to Puno by bus continues until we reach the city
of Sicuani to enjoy a buffet lunch in a local
restaurant, that offers local and regional dishes, vegetables, desserts and hot
drinks like mate de coca.
After
lunch and a travel of 40 minutes by bus, we are going to reach the highest
point of the tour called La Raya Pass, situated at 4,335 meters
above sea level. This is the border of the cities of Cusco and Puno,
and here, we are going to make a short stop to admire the snow-capped Chimboya
and take pictures of beautiful landscapes.
The
next and the last visit will be at Museum of Pucara, after a trip
of more than an hour from La Raya pass. This museum has an excellent collection
of monoliths, stone sculptures and ceramics belonging to the culture of
Pucara, a civilization developed in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia.
At
the end, we will take the tourist bus to travel for two more hours towards
the city of Puno. Along the way you will be able to admire
landscapes of the heart of the Andes, passing through the city of Juliaca,
until we arrive at the bus station of Puno at 05:00 p.m.
Transfer to your
hotel and overnight stay.
DAY 8: UROS AND TAQUILE ISLANDS
After
breakfast at your hotel located in the city or bay of Puno, you will be
transferred to the lakeside port, where a boat will take you to the floating
islands of the Uros.
Located
7 kilometers northwest of the city of Puno, the Uros are an
ancestral society that inhabits a series of artificial islands constructed from
totora, which grows in the same lake.
To
build the Uros islands, the totora reeds are woven in the densest
areas, forming a natural layer. On top of this layer, they build their houses,
also made of the same material, and cook outdoors to prevent fires.
Lake
Titicaca is
situated between Peru and Bolivia at an altitude of 3,812 meters above sea
level, within the Andean Altiplano or Collao Plateau, making it the highest
navigable lake in the world.
We
will be on the floating island, in contact with the locals who will
show us their customs and way of life. There are over 200 families that inhabit
this highland area, who have adopted Aymara as their language, in addition to
Spanish.
Later,
we will take the boat for a one-and-a-half-hour journey to the island
of Taquile. This island is Quechua-speaking, unlike the other
Aymara-speaking islands in the lake. It was part of the Inca Empire, and you
can still see remnants of that culture in its constructions.
This
is the second largest island on Lake Titicaca, with an extension of 5.5
kilometers. Its textile art is marvelous and recognized as a UNESCO
heritage. The highest point reaches 4,050 meters above sea level.
This
place is perfect for experiencing experiential tourism and learning about the
local culture. The people are very friendly and engage in tourism, fishing, and
agriculture as their economic activities.
Afterward,
we will enjoy a delicious typical Andean meal and begin the
return journey to the port of Puno, where our transportation will be waiting to
take you back to your hotel. Overnight stay.
DAY 9. TOMBS OF SILLUSTANI AND
TRANSFER TO JULIACA’S AIRPORT
We
will pick you up from your hotel to go towards the archaeological site
of Sillustani Puno. This amazing complex is located on the top
of a peninsula on the shores of Lake Umayo, 22.3
miles from the city of Puno and Lake Titicaca.
This
place has circa 90 funerary towers built by the Kolla culture, an Aymara
community developed before the Inca Empire. A lot of mummies have
been found inside these towers, including important people as priests, leaders
and nobles. They were previously mummified and were places as fetal position,
along with all their belongings such as gold, silver and ceramics.
The
state of conservation of these burial towers is impressive,
all of them were made with stones with varying shapes that fix
each other perfectly. The architecture and engineering used by the Kolla
culture was quite advance for its time. Some of them are 12 meters’ high, where
the Lagarto Chullpa is the tallest and most representative tower.
The Sillustani
tour continues with the visit to a local family that
breeds Alpacas and they will show us how they process and cook their own food,
their lifestyle, their looms and how they maintain ancestral customs.
At
the end of the visit, you will be transferred to the airport of Juliaca. Arrival
in Lima and transfer to your hotel. Overnight stay.
DAY 1O. DEPARTURE FROM LIMA.
At the agreed time,
we are going to take you to the airport of Lima.