Day 1 – Welcome to Peru

Arrival to the Peruvian capital Lima, pick up from the airport and transfer to the chosen hotel to check into your room.
For an additional cost, you can visit the beautiful fountains of the Magic Circuit of Water in the evening. Thirteen different fountains can be admired and there is a show with music, colored lights and lasers. This optional activity is only available from Wednesday to Sunday.
Return to your hotel and overnight.

Meals included: none

Day 2 – Modern and Colonial Lima

After breakfast, your guide will pick you up from the hotel to visit the most representative historical and modern sites in Lima. During this city tour, you witness the city’s three most important historical periods – the pre-Hispanic, the colonial and the contemporary.
The excursion includes a panoramic view of the ceremonial and administrative center Huaca Pucllana from around 500 AD, a drive on the Paseo de la República road and visits to the San Martin Square and the Plaza Mayor where the Government Palace, Archbishop’s Palace, the Basilica Cathedral and the Municipality are located. Afterwards, you continue to the most traditional residential areas of Lima: San Isidro and Miraflores. The tour ends at the Larcomar shopping center in Miraflores in front of the sea, which is the contemporary tourist center of Lima. Here, you have a wide choice of restaurants to enjoy lunch.
Free afternoon to continue exploring Lima on your own.
Overnight in the chosen hotel in Lima.

Meals included: breakfast

Day 3 – Cuzco and nearby Ruins

After breakfast, you will be picked up at the hotel to take your flight from Lima to Cuzco (flight not included). Welcome in Cuzco and transfer to your chosen hotel where a cup of the typical “mate de coca” tea waits for you.
At 13:00 in the afternoon, your Cuzco city tour starts. First, you visit the Plaza de Armas, the heart of modern and Inca Cuzco where you can also admire the cathedral. Then, your guide takes you to the Santo Domingo Church and Qoricancha, the Inca temple of the sun.
Afterwards, you head to the Inca fortress Sacsayhuaman, which impresses with its monumental scale and beauty to detail. The next stop is Qenko that shows excellent examples of artfully carved rocks and the Inca “rock worship”. From the Puca Pucara ruins, you can enjoy a stunning view of Cusco and its surroundings. The fourth and last ruin you visit today is Tambomachay, which is commonly referred to as the Inca baths.
Return to your hotel in Cuzco.

Meals included: breakfast

Day 4 – Machu Picchu

After an early breakfast, you are transferred to the train station to start your three-hour journey through beautiful Andean landscapes to Aguas Calientes. From there, you take a bus to the “Lost City of the Incas” – Machu Picchu. You join a guided tour to explore and learn about the different areas of the citadel including the main plaza, the circular tower, the sacred sundial, the royal quarters, the temple with the three windows and various burial grounds. After the tour is finished, you can wander around Machu Picchu and take pictures at your leisure.
A buffet-style lunch in a local restaurant is included and in the late afternoon, you take the return train to Cuzco.
Transfer to your hotel in Cuzco.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch

Day 5 – Sacred Valley OR Rainbow Mountains

After breakfast, you start your excursion to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Your first stop is at a typical market in Pisac where you can bargain with the indigenous vendors and buy souvenirs. On your way, you can appreciate the Andean landscapes including the Vilcanota River Canyon.
After a buffet-style lunch in a local countryside restaurant, you continue the journey, passing through the towns of Calco and Urubamba, until you finally arrive to Ollantaytambo. This place is also known as the living Inca city because it is the best still-existing example of Inca city planning. The buildings, Inca terraces and narrow cobblestone streets remain in their original state. The Inca fortress and citadel of Ollantaytambo were built to protect the entrance to the Sacred Valley from any invasion. Imagine how a military, agricultural and religious center looked like during the Inca Empire by climbing the fortress’s terraces and strolling through the town’s streets.
On the way back to Cuzco, you visit the ruins of Tupac Inca Yupanqui’s royal hacienda in Chincheros. In this picturesque Andean town, you can also admire a well-preserved Inca wall at the main square and a colonial temple that was built on Inca foundations.
Return to Cuzco.

For an extra cost, active travelers can take an alternative tour to the Rainbow Mountains instead of the Sacred Valley excursion. A good physical condition is necessary for this alternative full-day tour, as you will be hiking above 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) above sea level. The Rainbow Mountains lie to the south of Cuzco and offer a spectacular view because of the different minerals that make the mountains appear in beautiful colors like a rainbow.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch

Day 6 – Cuzco to Puno

Today you embark on an eight-hour bus ride from Cuzco to your next destination – Puno. The journey takes you through the Andean plateau, passing by wild meadows and typical towns. Some short stops are made at the so-called “Sistine Chapel of America” in Andahuaylillas, at the Temple of Wiracocha’s in Raqchi, at the La Raya pass and finally in Pukara.
Upon arrival in Puno, you are transferred to the hotel.

Meals included: breakfast

Day 7 – Titicaca Lake

After an early breakfast, you start your boat excursion on the Titicaca Lake, the world’s highest lake, to see the Urus people on their floating islands and learn about their way of life and traditions. The Urus built the floating islands, their houses and their boats on their own with the special “tortora” reed.
You continue the boat journey to the 6 km long Taquile Island, which is inhabited by Quechua people that have perfected their hand weaving techniques over generations. In the town, you first have lunch and then explore the island’s hills and archaeological sites.
Return to Puno.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch

Day 8 – Return

Breakfast at the hotel and free time to shop for souvenirs or just stroll around Puno. Transfer to Juliaca airport to take your flight to Lima and from there, the connecting flight to your next destination.

Meals included: breakfast