Peru Explorer includes travelling to all the best places in Peru on this great value peru travel package. Get to know Peru as no one else in this 3 weeks trip through this ancient country full of mystical cultures.
This is an incredible tour where nature will show us the diverse and unpredictable micro-weather. During the next three weeks we will have an incomparable trip through the most beautiful regions of Peru, and will have the privilege to discover the ancient cultures, incas and pre-incas and get in contact with the different Andean cultures.
Visit the Sacred Valley a beautfil site located 35km from Cusco, on the shoreline of Urubamba river this wonderful location was the principal farmer on the Inca Empire especially Cusco. There you can do rafting and explore unexplored sites.
Also in the tour you are passing through the amazon jungle where abounds the green vegetation, orchids and animals of all kind, the pictures you'll take will be the most impressly about treks, the weather is so nice is for that the jungle is visited many times by travellers.
At final is Machu Picchu, arriving to the lost citadel you can purchase some remainders from crafting houses and take food going to markets of the area, at the end climb to the main attration, the Inca ruins for then explore the mountain and listening histories about monuments, climbing the Huyana Picchu mountain you'll have the best panoramic views from the lost citadel and the ruins.
Day 01: Lima
Day 02: Paracas
Day 03: Ballestas Islands Tour
Day 04: Nazca Lines over-flight
Day 05: Arequipa
Day 06: Colca Canyon Tour
Day 07: Bus Arequipa-Puno
Day 8-9: Titicaca Lake Tour
Day 10: Sightseeing bus to Cusco
Day 11: Sacred Valley of the Incas
Day 12-15: Classic Inca Trail
Day 16: Cusco Sightseeing Tour
Day 17-18: Amazonian Jungle Tour
Day 19: Lima
Day 20: Departure
Crew: A Inca Trail Machu Representatives in Lima, Paracas, Arequipa, Puno, Cusco and Puerto Maldonado as well as professional local bilingual Tour Guides, a Cook and Porters (during the Classic Inca Trail).
Accommodation: 12 nights in 3* hotels, 3 nights in campsites, 1 night in a family homestay, 2 nights in jungle lodges.
Meals: 18x breakfast, 9x lunch, 6x dinner (Please allow USD 200 - 250 for meals not included).
Transportation: 2x domestic flight, transportation by a private van as well as tourist buses, a train (Expedition Class), motorboat transportation.
Arrival to the city of Lima, transfer to the hotel. Note that the first and the last day, there are no planned activities, so you can take the rest of day free. When you arrive to the airport at Lima, our Representative waits for you holding a sheet with your name and takes you to your hotel.
Transfer to the bus station to take a local bs to the city of Paracas. Once we arrive there, Upon your arrival, you are met by our Representative and taken to your hotel, optional activities such as Paraca’s reserve, museums or just explore the city.
Transfer to the pier of Paracas, to take the hovercraft. It will take us around the bay of Paracas, the port of San Martin and the foothill of the mysterious “Candelabro” hill (giant figure in the sand). We continue the tour to the Ballestas Islands, one of the most beautiful sceneries of the Peruvian coast. There one can appreciate the guano birds (birds that produce manure) and sea lion colonies in their natural habitat. In the afternoon a bus takes us from Pisco to the city ofNasca. Transfer to hotel.
After breakfast we take a flight over the Nasca Lines.
More than 2000 years ago, an advanced pre Inca culture left us one of the biggest mysteries of our times: giant figures traced in the desert that can only be appreciated from a plane and form what some experts call “the biggest calendar of the world”, even though nobody really know their exact meaning. Our tour starts at the airport, where we board a light aircraft that will take us over the mysterious Nasca Lines. The flight lasts around 45minutes.After this awesome tour, we take an overnight bus to Arequipa.
Arequipa is the second biggest city in Peru, located in the south of the country, and under the shadow of the famous volcano, “El Misti”. Get to know why it is called “The White City”...
The Colca canyon “is one of the deepest in the world”, on the way there; we will see how they produce the Tuna (prickly pear) and the Cochinilla which is a worm that in Inca times was used to dye fabrics and also the famous Cactus and its fruit called “Muske”. During our walk we can also see the imposing snow capped mountains and the life style of the real andean communities, their culture, clothing and how they really live in the high lands.
Once we get at Chivay, a small town in the Colca’s valley, we go to our hotel and in the afternoon free time to go to the hot springs to relax and enjoy the natural scenery.
The second day, we visit the Cruz del Condor to observe condors flying above the canyon. Before we get there, we make some stops along the way to view the local villages of Cabanaconde and Yanque with their colonial churches and typical clothing as well as nearby pre-Incan tombs placed in mountain walls.
Upon the visit of the Cruz del Condor, we continue our way to the city of Puno where we get in the late afternoon. After arrival, we are accommodated in a hotel to overnight.
In the morning, we board our comfortable motorboat to explore Uros Floating Islands as well as Amantani and Taquile islands laying on Titicaca Lake. We stop at the islands to view the magic of the lake's scenery and to meet friendly people of its communities.
The lake is located at 3,830 metres above sea level resulting in extreme wheather conditions with very cold nights and strong sunshine during days. The city of Puno situated on its shores is well-known for wealth of its traditional dances, there are up to 100 different varieties, usually performed in street processions celebrating of Catholic feast´s days. Another highlight and a popular optional activity of Puno is a visit of its nearby spectacular Chullpas of Sillustani, tower-like tombs of pre-Incan culture Colla.
Titicaca Lake is the largest lake in the world above 2,000 metres and the highest placed navigable lake in the world! Our first stop on the lake are the floating islands of the Uros people. The Uros began their unusual floating existence centuries ago in an effort to isolate themselves from militant Colla´s and Incan tribes. Unfortunately, Uros language got extincted, so nowadays´ Uros people speak Aymara due to intermarriages with Aymara´s speakers. There are about 300 families living on the islands, however, their number has been slowly declining.
The islands are made of layers upon layers of totora reeds that grew in the shallow of the lake. When layers, which are the nearest to water, start to rot, they are replaced with fresh totora layers on the top. Totora is basically used to make everything on the islands, including real boats and small model boats serving as souvenirs. A construction of a real totora boat takes up to 6 months!
After visiting the Uros Floating Islands, we continue towards Amantani Island. There, we land and our Tour Guide shows us around the island with its stunning Titicaca Lake views and friendly inhabitants with their particular folklore. We overnight in familial houses on the island to experience a bit more of the local culture.
The following day, we continue our motorboat ride after breakfast in the familial houses. Our next destination is Taquile Island, famous for its fine handwoven textile and clothing considered as the highest-quality handicraft of Peru. Taquile and its textile art was even recognized by UNESCO in 2005!
After a visit of this spectacular island and enjoying its amazing Titicaca Lake views, we return to Puno at afternoon hours. There, we transfer you from the Puno´s port to your hotel.
Today, we take a tourist bus that takes us to each important site of the Puno-Cusco route.
Our first stop is in the village of Pucara where we visit the Lithic Museum exhibiting artefacts of an pre-Incan culture.
Then, we continue to La Raya representing the border between the Puno´s and Cusco´s regions. This place is well- known for its viewpoint offering splendid views of surrounding Andes.
After that, we continue to Raqchi where we observe the Temple of Wiracocha (Incan god - creator).
Later on, we get to Southern Valley (also called the Sun Route), where we stop in the pre-Incan city of Pikillaqta beeing once one of the most impressive regional centers of the culture Wari!! The culture was seated in Ayacucho and its centres were occupied by Incas for many years. Today, Pikillaqta is a national archaeological park of great importance!!
The word Pikillaqta is made up of Quechuan words "piki" = flea and "llaqta" = town, so that the meaning of the city´s name was the “City of the Fleas”. It does not want to say that fleas lived in the city nor that its inhabitants were lousy. The name was derived from the fact that each inhabitant lived in cramped conditions, in a very small room. Constructions of Pikillaqta consists of over 200 kanchas (apartments), 504 golgas (storages) and other constructions. The city accommodated a population of approximately 10 thousands of inhabitants!!
Some investigators supposed that Pikillacta turned into a city of “mitimaes” during Incan times ("Mitimae" comes from the Quechuan word "mitma" meaning "resettlement". So mitimaes were originally groups of families taken by Incas from their native place to loyal or conquered towns to perform political, cultural, social, and economic functions.).
Our last stop is in the village of Andahuaylillas in order to visit the famous San Pedro Church, which is called the "Sixtine Chapel of Americas". There, we observe the quality of its works of art! The church was constructed by Jesuits in the edge of the 16th and the 17th centuries. Its architectural structure is typical for small town´s churches while its wide walls are characteristic of colonial buildings. It is made of adobe and its facade is decorated with white painting. Two stoned columns are projected towards its main entrance. Although its architecture is relatively modest, its interior is richly decorated with amazing wall paintings!
Finally, we reach the city of Cusco where we accommodate ourselves in a hotel.
Early in the morning a bus will pick us up to go to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It starts out in Pisac, a picturesque town with colonial and racially mixed features. In the archaeological centre of Pisac there is a hill called Intihuatana with an impressive view of the valley. We continue our trip to Ollantaytambo that was at the times of the Tahuantinsuyo a giant centre for agriculture, administration, social, religious and military activities.
Here we will spend the night and get some sleep to start our Inca Trail.
The 4-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is physically challenging, but worthwhile!! Its difficulty is within ability of the most reasonably fit. This 44-km (27 mile) trek is often steep including 3 high passes to be crossed, one of which reaches an elevation of 4,200 m (13,776 ft). Temperature at nights may fall below zero so it is important to get ready for that! It also sometimes rains, even during a dry season!
This is the most famous ancient trek of the Incas! It begans with a morning trip to Km 82 - the initial hiking point. It is very important to not forget your passport with you because it is checked at the entrance as well as you get a stamp of the Inca Trail on it!! Our Porters and Tour Guides are a guarantee that the trip is without any worries, so you enjoy its awesome Incan ruins (Llactapata, Runkuraqay, Sayacmarca, Phuyupatamarka, Wiñay Wayna) and spectacular mountain scenery every day as much as you can!! Early morning of the last day, you climb antique steps to Inti Punku (the Sun Gate) to watch the Sunrise above the long-expected citadel of Machu Picchu!! Then, you enjoy a 2 and half an hour guided visit of the so called "Lost City of the Incas"!! Afterwards, you have an opportunity to climb the peak of Huayna Picchu (45 minutes up and the same time back) on your own to take some panoramic pictures of Machu Picchu!! In the afternoon, you descend to the town of Aguas Calientes to take a train back to Cusco. Arrival in the evening.
Today is a free day, for relax, take a massage, explore the city, take some optional tours such as horse riding, rafting, visit the ruins that surrounds the city, its museums and churchs, go for shopping to the local markets and buy souvenirs, or just find a place in a bar around teh main square and get a good local coffe.
Early in the morning, we leave to the airport, to take the flight to Puerto Maldonado. Transfer to the port of the Tambopata river, where a motor boat will take us to the lodge in the jungle. Here we will enjoy a guided tour to appreciate the abundant flora and fauna, will watch monkeys, aligators, capivaras(a big rodent), spiders, etc, will take a boat trip in a hidden lake and try to fish piranas and if we are lucky, we can see the “Giant Otter River” in its natural habitat.
On the third day of the tour, we take you after breakfast to the airport at Puerto Maldonado to take a flight back to the capital of Peru.
Today departure day, but also a good time to check out our website at the tailor Made section to extend your holidays!
Meal budget: Please allow USD 250-300 for meals not included.
Single room: Please note that if you have booked the "Single Room" option for this tour, you receive your own single room for all overnights and a single tent for the Inca Trail.
Local flights: All local flights are included in the cost of your tour. It is very important that we have got your passport details at the time of booking in order to process all air tickets! Internal flight tickets are issued locally and will be given to you prior to each flight departure!
