Peru Express - 12 Days

Lima City Tour

The first stop on our Lima city tour is Huaca Pucllana, a huge archaeological site in Miraflores, one of Lima’s most popular districts. Huaca Pucllana was an important ceremonial and administrative center of the Lima culture, which developed along this part of the Peruvian coast between 200 AD and 700 AD. This sacred place was built from seven staggered platforms surrounded by a plaza and large walls. It’s a very impressive site, and certainly not what you expect to find in lively Miraflores!  

 After exploring Huaca Pucllana with your bilingual guide, we’ll drive to the historic center of Lima, of which is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. We’ll go to the beautiful Plaza de Armas (Lima’s main square) which is surrounded by impressive colonial and Republican-era buildings, many of which have ornate wooden balconies. Some of Peru’s most important buildings surround the square, including the Government Palace, the Cathedral of Lima, the Archbishop's Palace of Lima, the Municipal Palace, and the Palace of the Union.  

 We’ll visit the Cathedral of Lima, which was completed in 1649. It’s a huge structure, with a large central nave and 14 side chapels. Inside, we’ll see the sculptures and paintings that decorate the interior. The cathedral is also home to the tomb of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro.  

 Next, we’ll walk one block to the Convent of Santo Domingo. Founded in the 1530s and completed in 1766, it is one of the most important religious buildings in Peru, and its large bell tower is a landmark in the historic center of Lima. As we walk around the interior of the convent, we’ll see the beautiful Sevillian azulejos (ceramic tiles) that decorate the walls, dating from 1604 and 1606. There is also a series of paintings that present passages of the life of Saint Dominic, the founder of the Dominican order, which dates to around 1608.  

 This is the last stop on our Lima city tour, but if you want to know more about this fascinating and historic city, you can join us on one of our Lima city tour extensions.

Services Included: 

Excursion: Lima City Tour (4 hours approx.). 

Entrance Fee: Santo Domingo Convent  

Local Tour Guide: English/Spanish.  

Overnight: Jose Antonio Hotel. Accommodation in a Standard Room with a private bath.  

Lima to Cusco - Transfer to Sacred Valley- Visit to Chinchero

After breakfast, it will be time to start our trip back to Puerto Maldonado. We will return to the port of the Tambopata River and then continue to the city. When we arrive in Puerto Maldonado, we will take you to the airport to take your flight to Cusco! After you arrive in Cusco, your cultural excursion will begin when we pick you up in Cusco and then we will continue our journey towards the Sacred Valley of the Incas but with a brief stop in the community of Chinchero. When we arrive, we will meet the local people. Where you can appreciate textile manufacturing and the entire manufacturing process. Weaving techniques have been passed down from one woman to another for centuries, and today Chinchero produces some of the most amazing textiles in Peru. During your visit you will be able to attend a talk and see a demonstration of how these textiles are made, learning all about the ancient techniques that are still used today. One of the Quechua-speaking weavers will tell us the secrets of the traditional iconography that they use in their designs and will show you the entire manufacturing process from shearing the wool to spinning and washing the wool with natural soap. You will also learn about the plants and flowers that are collected to use as dyes. 

At the end of this stop, we will continue with our trip in Urubamba, where our hotel is. 

 Services Included: 

Transport: Hotel - Lima Airport (1 hour approx.). 

Cusco Airport – Sacred Valley. (3 hours approx.). 

Tour Guide: Spanish/English. 

Excursion: Chinchero 

Entrance Fee: General Ticket Tourist. 

Overnight: Hotel Augusto Urubamba. Accommodation in Standard Room with a private bath. 

Sacred Valley Tour - Visit Huilloc

We will pick you up from your hotel at 8:30 am and we will go to the Sacred Valley. In Pisac, we will go to the ruins of Pisac, which are located on top of a hill at the entrance of the valley.  At the Pisac archaeological site, we'll explore the extensive ruins and enjoy beautiful views of the valley. You will be given a guided tour of the ruins, passing various structures that once served as houses, storehouses, and temples, and you will see Inca altars, carvings, tunnels, caves, and the famous Intihuatana, the "liaison post of the sun." ." We will explore Pisac for about 90 minutes. Alternatively, if you would like to spend time in the Pisac market instead of seeing the ruins, you can talk to your guide and arrange a time and place to meet when the tour group returns to the market afterward. of the ruins. After visiting Pisac, we will now head towards Urubamba, where we will make a stop of about 45 minutes for lunch (not included). After another 1 hour trip we headed to the community of Huilloc Ruqqa where you can learn about their customs and be able to do some activities with them, after spending a few hours in the community we said goodbye to the family to go to the Inca town of Ollantaytambo that is It is located 25 minutes from this beautiful community.  

 Ollantaytambo was the royal estate of the Inca emperor Pachacuti, who conquered the region and built the town and a ceremonial center. We will spend about an hour exploring these magnificent ruins, visiting the incredible Temple of the Sun, and seeing huge blocks of rock that were perfectly carved and polished by Inca master stonemasons. Ollantaytambo is also a fine example of Inca agricultural construction and hydroengineering, with a complex series of stone water sources, canals, and agricultural terraces, the latter organized by elevation to create different microclimates for crop experimentation. 

 We will see the extent of the water system when we return to the town, where the fast-flowing water channels built by the Incas are still in use today. Walking towards the town square, we will have great views of the ruins above us, as well as the Inca granaries and warehouses built into the surrounding mountain slopes. Here we can also observe the daily life of Ollantaytambo, where many of the locals still wear traditional clothing. 

 After the visit to Ollantaytambo, we return to Urubamba where you will check into your accommodation. 

 Services Included: 

 Excursion: Full Day Sacred Valley (8 hours approx.)  

Experience: Huilloc 

Tour Guide: Spanish/English.  

Entrance Fee: General Tourist Ticket 

Overnight: Hotel Agustos Urubamba. Accommodation in Standard Room with private bath. 

Sacred Valley – Machu Picchu

Our tour begins in Cusco, where we’ll pick you up at 06h00. and then head to the train station to board the train to Aguas Calientes (also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo). The train leaves at approximately 07h50 although the exact schedule does change sometimes. The two-hour train journey is a memorable experience in itself, as we pass through river canyons and rolling hills, then your guide will pick you up from the train station at around 09h15. We’ll then walk to the bus departure point for the short but zigzagging ascent up the road to Machu Picchu.  

We’ll then pass through the gates to the Machu Picchu archaeological site. Here you’ll begin your guided walking tour with an experienced and highly knowledgeable guide. Our tour of Machu Picchu will last about two hours and will take you to all the most famous and spectacular parts of the extensive archaeological complex. These include the House of the Guardian, Intihuatana, Temple of the Sun, Sacred Plaza, and other key locations. And as we walk around, we’ll have spectacular views across the agricultural terraces of Machu Picchu and across to the surrounding mountains and plunging gorges.  

 Once we’ve finished our tour of Machu Picchu, we’ll take the bus back down to Aguas Calientes where you can relax. 

 Aguas Calientes is also surrounded by thermal hot springs, and when we arrive you’ll have plenty of time to relax and enjoy a dip in one of the steaming natural springs. You’ll also have time to walk around the town, exploring the colorful markets and general buzz of this unique Peruvian settlement. 

Services Included: 

Transport: Hotel – Train Station Ollantaytambo (30 minutes approx.). 

Train Tickets: Ollantaytambo - Aguas Calientes (Expedition Train 83 at 07h45 – 09h15). 

Tour Guide: Spanish/English.  

Bus Tickets Consetur: Aguas Caliente – Machu Picchu – Aguas Calientes (20 minutes approx.). 

Entrance Fee: Machu Picchu City. 

Overnight Hatun Inti Boutique. Accommodation in a Suite Room with a private bath.  

Aguas Calientes – Cusco - Optional Second visit to Machu Picchu

This morning is at leisure. We recommend you either pre-book an optional early morning visit to Machu Picchu (2nd bus and entry not included). Enjoy the sunrise over the ruins and watch the mist rise over this mountain-top citadel at dawn or perhaps climb Huayna Picchu. 

 Optional services in Aguas Calientes: 

Local Hot Springs – Cost per person $ 7 

Second entrance to Machu Picchu – Cost per person is $ 90 (Only Entrance Fee and Bus Tickets). 

Wayna Picchu – The cost per person is $105 (Only Entrance Fee and Bus Tickets).  

**The second day or subsequent days’ entry fee to Machu Picchu and return bus ticket is not included in your tour cost. To avoid disappointment, it is recommended you pre-purchase the 2nd day entrance & bus transfers as part of this package as spaces are limited and can sell out. 

 This afternoon, you will board the train back to Poroy. Upon your arrival at the train station, we will pick you up and take you back to your hotel in Cusco.  

 Services Included: 

Train Tickets: Aguas Calientes – Poroy (Expedition Train 34 at 15h20 – 19h05). 

Transport: Train Station Poroy – Hotel in Cusco (30 minutes approx.). 

Tour Guide: Spanish/English.  

Overnight: Jose Antonio Hotel. Accommodation in a Standard Room with private bath.  

Cusco City Tour

The Cusco city tour begins in the morning when we’ll first head to the wonderful Koricancha, next door to Santo Domingo Church. According to the chroniclers who wrote during the period directly after the Spanish Conquest, the Koricancha was the most sacred and most important temple in the Inca Empire. Its walls were covered with gold, and life-size statues of plants and animals – all made of pure gold and silver – decorated its rooms and hallways. Sadly, this wealth was stripped out by the Spanish conquistadors. It remains a magnificent temple, however, and your guide will take you around the Koricancha, showing you details that you almost certainly miss if you visit without a guide.  After visiting the Koricancha, we’ll head to Cusco Cathedral, located on the Plaza de Armas. Built between 1560 and 1654 on top of the foundations of an existing Inca temple, this spectacular cathedral houses many works of art by the Cusco School of painters, and its main altar and pulpit are covered in gold and silver relief work. Look carefully and you’ll also see elements of indigenous religious symbolism incorporated into the church by the native people who worked on its construction, such as the carved head of a jaguar on the doors.  Our next stop is the imposing Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman, which sits on a hill above Cusco. Here you will see some of the finest examples of Inca stonework and construction, including massive rocks that were carefully cut and perfectly fitted together to form the walls. From here you’ll also have beautiful panoramic views of Cusco.  

After exploring Sacsayhuaman we’ll head up the hill to the Tambomachay Archeological Complex. The exact purpose of this site is unknown, but it may have functioned, at least in part, as an Inca spa. Inca hydro-engineering is apparent here, with a series of aqueducts, canals, and waterfalls running through the terraced rocks. Tambomachay is the last attraction on our city tour, after which we’ll head back down into Cusco and drop you off at your hotel. 

 Services Included: 

Excursion: Cusco City Tour (4 hours approx.).  

Entrance fees: Koricancha, Cathedral & General Tourist (BTC). 

Overnight: Jose Antonio Hotel. Accommodation in Standard Room with a private bath.  

Cusco open day

After breakfast, enjoy a free day to explore Cusco at your ease. The capital city of the Inca Empire is now the undisputed archaeological capital of the Americas, as well as the continent’s oldest continuously inhabited city. 

 Optional: 

Classic Cooking Class - The cost per person is $ 75. 

With an approximate duration of 3 hours, this service starts at 11 am, picking up the user from their hotel on the way to the house of the chosen cook. Once in the place, the tourists receive a brief explanation of the activities they will carry out, and they will receive the appropriate clothing for the class. What we will do next is practical cooking classes where tourists learn the preparation of traditional plates of the city, presented by experienced chefs, who teach various conventional recipes. In this service, all the ingredients are already at home. Lunch/Dinner at the cook's house: We want all the tourists to feel immersed in the local culture, for this, each chef has prepared various stories and experiences that are transmitted at the table and surrounded by local people (the cook and his family) while tasting the food made in the cooking class. 

Rainbow Mountain - Cost per person $ 90. 

We will Pick you up from your hotel around 05h30 – 06h00. We´ll head to the community of CUSIPATA, we’ll get there in about 2 hours. Then we continue for some 30 minutes more, to the Town of CHILLIHUANIl, where we will pass through picturesque places like TINTINKO and RIO TIGRE and the Mountain of Surina in LLACTO, where you will also enjoy the flora and fauna in its natural habitat. (Llamas, Alpacas, Vicunas, etc.). 20 minutes later we will reach the starting point of our walk to Rainbow Mountain. This walk will last about 1 hour and a half, We’ll enjoy panoramic views such as the Red Valley and Nevado Ausangate and small lagoons just before arriving to the spot where we can watch the whole colorful mountain. Our guide will explain to you the science behind the colors and we`ll have some hot tea and something to eat. Then we will begin to descend to our starting point. Our vehicle will be waiting for us there to return to your hotel in Cusco, arriving around 18h00. 

Maras Moray – Cos per person $ 65 

We will pick you up from your hotel around 08h00 to take you to Moray “The Inca agricultural greenhouse or laboratory.” We will drive for about 1 hour and 20 minutes through the snow-capped peaks of the Andes, through lush yellow fields of wheat, and past some villages.  Finally, you will arrive at the fascinating display of terraces in Moray. Moray boasts three amphitheater-like terraces made by the Incas. These terraces, which are carved deep into the earth in a bowl shape, were thought to be used to determine the optimal conditions for growing crops. When we finish exploring Moray, we will continue and visit the salt mines of Maras, which is about 2 miles away.  This village is known as a former salt-producing center that is thought to date back to pre-Inca times. There are over 3000 salt pools all carved into the mountainside; the highly salty water emerges at a spring, a natural outlet of the underground stream. The flow is 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 this fantastic visit, we will drive back to Cusco. 

 Services Included: 

Overnight: Jose Antonio Hotel. Accommodation in a Standard Room with private bath.  

Cusco to Puno

After breakfast, you'll be picked up from your hotel at 06h30 and dropped off at the bus station to take a bus trip, more like a tour - a guide will be on board, and you'll stop at four exciting sites: 

•  Andahuaylillas: The Sistine Chapel of South America. This church is one of the most beautiful examples of Andean popular religious art.  

•   Raqchi (Wiracocha God Temple): This was an Inca church of considerable dimensions; 328 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The temple is divided into two naves, and each nave has 11 large columns. 

•   La Raya: This is the halfway point between Cusco and Puno and also the highest point (14,222 feet above sea level). The landscapes here are stunning and typical Andean animals like the llama, alpaca, and vicuña are familiar sights. It is also the geographic border between two cultures - Quechua and Aymara.  

•    Pukara: This is the most important and oldest ceremonial center of the altiplano. There are new lite sculptures and tombs. 

Arrival time to Puno will be around 5 pm.  

Upgrade Titicaca Train Cusco to Puno - $285 per person 

Services Included: 

Tour Guide: Spanish/English.  

Transport: Hotel – Bus Station Cusco (20 minutes approx.). 

Touristic Bus: Puno – Cusco (10 hours approx.). 

Transport: Bus Station Puno – Hotel (15 minutes approx.). 

Entrance Fee: Along the way. 

Overnight: Jose Antonio Puno Hotel. Accommodation in Standard Room with a private bath. 

Uros islands - Lake Titicaca

Our full-day trip begins at around 7 a.m. when we pick you up from your hotel in Puno. We’ll then head down to the port and board our comfortable motor launch to ride out to the island of Taquile.  

Taquile is one of the most beautiful islands in Peru, where the traditional way of life is still very much alive. We’ll meet some of the master weavers of this ancient Andean community, whose textiles are considered among the best in the country. According to legend, the Incas themselves learned how to weave from the artisans of this island. On Taquile, the men are the weavers, and the women spin the yarn.  After seeing the weavers and exploring the beautiful island, we’ll head down to the small port on Taquile at around midday and head by boat towards the Chucuito Peninsula. This is in the Aymara region of Lake Titicaca, and it represents the communal identity of the Peruvian-Bolivian altiplano. We’ll visit the small and rarely visited rural community of Luquina, where we’ll enjoy a wonderful buffet lunch at the local fisherman’s house.  

Later in the afternoon, as we begin heading back towards Puno, we’ll visit the amazing Floating Islands of the Uros people. When we arrive at the floating islands, you’ll probably be amazed by the scale of these floating reed constructions. The Uros originally built these islands for defensive reasons: if a threat appeared, they could move their island homes to a safer location. The islands are made from the totora reeds that grow around the lake, and each island is in a constant state of reconstruction, as old reeds are replaced by new ones.  Stepping onto the islands is quite an experience, as the springy reed floor feels strange beneath your feet. We’ll explore the main island, and see the houses, watchtowers, and other structures, all built of reeds. One of the locals will then give a brief presentation about how the islands are made, and then you can meet one of the local families to see how they live. After visiting the Uros islands, we’ll head back to Puno, where we’ll take you to your hotel. 

 Services Included: 

Excursion: Full day Uros & Taquile Islands  

Local Tour Guide: Spanish/English. 

Entrance Fee: Uros – Taquile Island.  

Overnight: Jose Antonio Puno Hotel. Accommodation in Standard Room with a private bath. 

Puno to Lima

After Breakfast, transfer Hotel to Juliaca Airport for your flight to Lima. Upon arrival at Lima airport, a transfer will be arranged to the hotel where the rest of the evening is at leisure. 

 Services Included: 

Transport: Hotel – Juliaca Airport (1 hour approx.). 

Lima Airport – Hotel (1 hour approx.). 

Overnight: Jose Antonio Hotel. Accommodation in a Standard Room with private bath.  

Lima Airport

This morning you will be picked up from the hotel and transferred to the airport. 

Services Included: 

Transport: Hotel – Lima Airport (1 hour).