Peru

Welcome to Peru! On arrival in Lima, assistance at the airport and transport to your selected hotel.

Breakfast in the Hotel. This day, you will do the Half Day City Tour in Lima. Enjoy the capital of Peru, its 2000 years of history and colonial wealth. Experience the artistic and contemporary traditions of its residents. See the Historic Centre of Lima, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and admire its imposing cathedral. Visit the Aliaga Mansion, the best preserved colonial town house in America, inhabited continuously by the same family since 1535. Next: the Monastery of San Francisco, a superb example of colonial-era architecture, which has an important collection of colonial-era paintings. Tour of the residential suburbs of San Isidro and Miraflores. Stop on the Costa Verde for a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean and beaches. Transport to your hotel.

Breakfast in the Hotel. Transport from hotel to airport for outbound flight. On arrival in Arequipa, assistance at the airport and transport to your hotel. Half Day City Tour in Arequipa with Santa Catalina. Visit to Arequipa, known as the white city because of its buildings made from sillar, a white volcanic stone. You will visit the Main Square, the Convent of Santa Catalina, founded in 1580 and one of the most beautiful convents in Peru. This convent is like a small colonial town, with houses for the nuns and their servants, cloisters, narrow streets, kitchens and a laundry, etc. The excursion continues with a visit to the church of the Society of Jesus, a masterpiece of local baroque art, which houses some beautiful paintings. The sacristy, decorated with beautiful murals representing the jungle and the cloisters of the old seminary should not be missed. Finally, you will visit the residential districts of Yanahuara and Chilina from which the magnificent Arequipa countryside and the volcano Misti can be appreciated.

Breakfast in the Hotel. Early morning start for a two day excursion by bus to the Colca Valley. Visit to Pampa Cañahuas in the Aguada Blanca Nature Reserve, home of vicuñas. Admire its beautiful pre-Hispanic terraces that are still used by the native Collaguas. Stay the night in your chosen lodge.

Breakfast in the Hotel. Leave in the morning for the Cruz de Condor, an observation point from which you can see these huge Andean birds as well as an impressive panorama of the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest in the world (3,000 m deep), then a trip of approximately 7 hours to Puno.

Excursion to the Uros and Taquile islands - Lake Titicaca with lunch included. Breakfast in the Hotel. Excursion by motor launch to the island of Taquile in Lake Titicaca, inhabited by indigenous Quechua-speaking people who have developed an original and efficient social system as well as one of the world's best hand weaving techniques. Visit the very interesting and unusual floating islands of the Uros before returning to Puno.

Breakfast in the Hotel. Journey by bus to Cusco through the impressive landscape of the Andean plateau with scattered indigenous villages and flocks of llamas and vicuñas. Our first stop is at the Pukara ruins (2000 B.C. - 300 A.D.) similar to Raqchi, an Inca temple build in homage to Wiracocha, one of the Incas' most important deities. Finally, we stop at Andahuaylillas, a beautiful Baroque church built at the beginning of the 17th Century and famous for its magnificent murals. We will lunch at a restaurant en route.

Breakfast in the Hotel. Half Day Cusco City Tour. See this magical city, capital of the Inca Empire (15th Century) on a tour that includes the Main Square, the cathedral, Santo Domingo monastery, the legendary Korikancha temple and the narrow streets of the old city. Then, in the outskirts you will see the Inca ruins at Sacsayhuaman, an impressively designed fortress built of huge stone blocks, Qenqo ceremonial and ritual center, the amphitheater where sacrifices were held and the old PucPucara tambo, one of the lookouts built all along the Inca roads.

Breakfast in the Hotel. We will take you to the railway station to catch the train to Machu Picchu. On arrival at Aguas Calientes there is a 25 minute bus journey to "the Lost City of the Incas", discovered by american explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911. The ancient and marvelous city of Machu Picchu is located on the left bank of the river Vilcanota and its name in Quechua means "Old Mountain". Machu Picchu may have been one of the residences of Pachacutec, the first Inca emperor, from 1438 to 1470. Nevertheless, some of the best buildings and the evident ceremonial character of the main access to the city show that it was a religious sanctuary. Machu Picchu is also considered a masterpiece of architecture and engineering because of its singular building techniques and surroundings. Among its most important and unusual features are the Main Square, the royal apartments, the temple of the three windows, the circular towers, the sacred solar clock and the ceremonial areas. Your guide will explain all about this splendid citadel, which provides a really astonishing experience. Lunch can be included optionally. After the guided tour enjoy some free time and go wherever you want. At the end of the visit take the train back to the Sacred Valley of the Incas and from there you will be taken back to your hotel.

Breakfast in the Hotel. Transport from your hotel to the airport. End of our services.