10D/9D

PER-001

DAILY ITINERARY. Vegetarian or vegan meals included.

LIMA, AREQUIPA, CUSCO

Day 1: 2015. Lima

Upon arrival in Lima, reception at the airport and transfer to your hotel. Our representative will give you a documentation kit with detailed program explanation. Luggage and hotel registration assistance is offered.
Overnight - Britania Hotel - Miraflores. www.hbritania.com

Meals included none

Day 2: 2015.  Lima, Arequipa

At scheduled time pick up from your hotel and transfer to the airport for your flight to Arequipa.
Upon arrival in Arequipa, meet and transfer to the hotel.

CITY TOUR + SANTA CATALINA CONVENT
Visit the Ciudad Blanca (White City), one of the most important in Peru, surrounded by three volcanoes. Founded in 1540, the city has a historic downtown made out almost totally of sillar (a white volcanic stone), from where the city gets its name. Take a tour around the Main Square and its colonial buildings, the Church of the Society of Jesus, beautiful exponent from the mixed barroque art and Spanish churrigueresque barroque from the XVII century, along with colorful fresco paintings at the San Ignacio Dome, known as America’s Sixtine Chapel. The visit includes Santa Catalina Convent, that rather than a cloistered convent, represents a beautiful XVI century citadel, with Spanish cities pure style, such as Andalusia. Going on with the tour, we will appreciate the typical districts of Cayma and Yanahuara, the latter with its viewpoint and church.

Overnight - Meliana Hotel. www.hotelmeliana.com.pe

Meals included (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Day 3: 2015: Arequipa 

COLCA CANYON 2D/1N

We will leave the hotel very early to start the journey to Yura Village and Aguada Blanca National Reserve and Pampa Cañahuas. We will make a stop at Patapampa to freshen up, and then we will head for Chivay, where you will be able to have lunch at a typical restaurant or at your hotel. We will get back to the hotel to stay overnight. Overnight - Eco Inn Colca.

Meals included (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Day 4: 2015: Arequipa

COLCA CANYON 2D/1N

We will leave very early to the Cross of the Condor, the best location to admire the Colca Canyon and the flight of the majestic condor. Back to the lodging, we will visit the picturesque villages in Maca and Yanque to arrive at Chivay. Then you will have lunch, back to the hotel in Arequipa.

Overnight - Meliana Hotel. www.hotelmeliana.com.pe

Meals included (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Day 5: 2015: Arequipa, Cusco      

At scheduled time pick up from your hotel and transfer to the airport for your flight to Cusco.
Upon arrival in Cusco, meet and transfer to the hotel.

City tour + nearby archeological remains

Get to know the city of Cusco, an UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site and possessor of a style all its own. The tour begins at the Koricancha Temple, an old Incan palace and main center for the worship of the sun god, Inti. Once the Spanish conquered Peru, the Dominican order built a lovely church over top this temple’s foundations: the church of Santo Domingo, that is still there today. Your next destination is the Main Square, upon which sit the Cathedral, the beautiful Church of La Compañia de Jesus (Society of Christ), and other Colonial period buildings. The adventure continues to the Sacsayhuaman Fortress built of enormous stone blocks expertly shaped by the Incas. It is strategically located at the top of a hill overlooking the city of Cuzco. What a view of the city! The tour ends with visits to three archeological sites: Qenko, Puca-Pucara, and Tambomachay, important religious and administrative centers for the Incas.

Overnight - Eco Inn Cusco. www.ecoinnhotels.com

Meals included (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Day 6: 2015: Cusco   

F/D AUTHENTIC SACRED VALLEY + LUNCH

Discover the best of the Sacred Valley of the Incas through this route starting on the Inca's Balcony, a beautiful terrace with an impressive view of Chinchero, where twelve families still preserve their traditional costums, showing you the ancestral way in which they process the wool and obtain those vivid colors for their textiles. Afterwards, we will get to Ollantaytambo, one of the most monumental architectural complexes of the ancient Inca Empire, one of the few places where the Spanish conquistadors lost a major battle. Very well known for its “andenes” (terraces dug into the slopes of mountains for agricultural purposes), Ollantaytambo was a highly effective fortress that also served as a temple. Then, we will continue to the town of Ollantaytambo, “the unique living Inca town”: the best surviving example of Inca city planning, with narrow cobblestone streets that have been continuously inhabited since the 13th century.

Overnight - Willka Tika. www.willkatika.com

Meals included: breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Day 7: 2015: Cusco

Day at leisure at the Willka Tika (Sacred Valley of the Incas).
Vegetarian Cooking lessons, Yoga and Lectures can be programmed.
Walking, trekking or horse riding activities available   (additional, not included in the program).

Overnight - Willka Tika. www.willkatika.com

Meals included: breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Day 8: 2015: Cusco
  

Transfer from hotel to Ollantaytambo train station

MACHU PICCHU + LUNCH IN VISTADOME

Awaiting you today is by far and away one of the high points in world tourism: Machu Picchu. Your adventure starts on a train ride to the city of Aguas Calientes, where you disembark and then board a bus that drives you to the actual Machu Picchu archeological site, where you will definitely have an experience you will never forget. The tour includes every nook and cranny of this New 7 Wonder of the World and UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site; afterwards, there is some free time for you to explore the site on your own, to relax, or to meditate. At the agreed upon hour, you will descend to Aguas Calientes for lunch at a local restaurant.

Overnight - El Mapi by Inkaterra. www.elmapihotel.com

Meals included (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Day 9: 2015: Cusco

HUAYNA PICCHU SECOND DAY

Today you will tour Machu Picchu, a national sanctuary, UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. After an amazing day of discovery among this architectural masterpiece, you can choose to come back the following day (this includes the entrance fee to Machu Picchu and the bus ticket) to climb to the top of Mount Huayna Picchu (2667 meters), Quechua for “Young Mountain”, on the eastern side of the Central Cordillera. This peak shelters another archeological site, the Temple of the Moon, that is connected to Machu Picchu and is a marvel in its own right for the wondrous underground galleries built there. Later that afternoon, you will ride the train back to the Cusco Station, where you will be picked up and driven to your hotel.
Transfer In Ollanta/Cusco Inca Trail PVT.

Overnight - Eco Inn Cusco. www.ecoinnhotels.com

Meals included (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

Day 10: 2015: Cusco, Lima
   

At the scheduled time, transfer to the airport to take the flight back to Lima.

CITY TOUR + LARCO MUSEUM
 

Visit colonial Lima’s downtown: go around the Main Square, where you can find the Presidential Palace, the Cathedral, the Archbishop’s Palace and the Metropolitan City Hall, historic and traditional buildings. Then, get to know Santo Domingo church and monastery, a XVII century jewel, recognized as cultural heritage by UNESCO. The tour goes on to the modern district of San Isidro. Finally you will visit Larco Museum, a private collection that has a collection of treasures from Old Peru, and makes visitors discover, understand and enjoy more than five thousand years of ancient Peru’s history through more than 45,000 pieces.

At properly time transfer to the airport for your international flight.

Meals included (Breakfast/Lunch)