Highlights of Peru

Itinerary

Day 1 - Lima

Arrival into Lima

Upon arrival, on the first day of your trip to Peru, you will be welcomed by a Best at Travel representative at Lima airport and transferred to the selected hotel. After check in you will have a briefing in which you will be handed your “Travel kit” which includes all your travel documents such as itinerary, flight, train and bus tickets, and hotel information.

INCLUDES : Breakfast

Day 2 - Lima

Colonial City Tour Lima, Casa Aliaga & Larco Museum

Your tour of Lima’s UNESCO World Heritage listed Old Town starts in the Main Square, taking in the cathedral which took 80 years to build. Carry on Casa Aliaga, a colonial mansion from the 1500s and the Larco Musuem housed in a beautifully restored vice-regal mansion in the traditional Pueblo Libre district; the museum houses the most complete collection of pre-Hispanic gold and silver artefacts. You’ll end the day at the ‘Love Park’ in the upscale coastal district of Miraflores where you can admire the cliffs and spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

INCLUDES : Breakfast, Lunch

Day 3 - Lima to Arequipa

Arequipa City Tour, Santa Catalina & Andean Sanctuaries Museum

This morning after breakfast, you will be transferred to Lima Airport in time for your flight to Arequipa. Upon arrival, you will be picked up and taken to your hotel before setting off to explore this most beautiful city. Get a birds-eye view of the city from Yanahuara Viewpoint before taking a tour around the Cathedral, Andean Sanctuaries Museum and the cultural hearts of San Francisco and Santo Domingo heartlands.

INCLUDES : Breakfast

Day 4 - Arequipa to Colca

Journey Arequipa - Colca (Private Tour - 5 hours)

This morning you will be start your journey along the famed road which links Arequipa to Cusco, via Juliaca and Puno. Stop enroute via natural reserves, Misti and Pichu Pichu Hot Springs before you end up at Colca Lodge Spa & Hot Springs with its Eco Thermal treatment centre.

INCLUDES : Breakfast

Day 5 - Colca Canyon

Colca Canyon - Cruz del Condor

A lovely day to spend the morning exploring the stunning views which you get across the Colca Canyon and seeing 'Cruz del Condor', the flight of the Condors. In the afternoon, spend at leisure or we can arrange exciting optional tours which include a visit to an Alpaca farm, trekking through the Uyo Uyo Ruins or exploring the active Sabancaya Volcano.

INCLUDES : Breakfast

Day 6 - Colca to Puno

Travel from Colca to Puno

Today you will enjoy an exciting journey by road from Colca to Lake Titicaca via a petrified forest, blue lakes with flamingos and some altitudes of nearly 4,000m above sea level!

INCLUDES : Breakfast

Day 7 - Lake Titicaca

Uros & Taquile Island Tour

Transfer to the shore of Lake Titicaca after breakfast to enjoy a motor boat cruise, alighting at a number of the islands in the lake. The first stop is at the unique Uros Islands. There are more than 40 of these floating islets, which are made entirely from totora reeds plucked from the lake. Meet the Aymara-speaking islanders, learn all about the making of the islands, their lifespan and upkeep while exploring these marvels of engineering made using only primitive materials and methods. Board the boat again to continue the voyage of discovery at timeless Taquile island, where the Quechua-speaking residents have maintained their ancient social system and earned a reputation for their fine hand-weaving technique. The island’s history is also as fascinating as its people, having been a penal colony during Spanish colonial times.

INCLUDES : Breakfast, Lunch

Puno - Cusco

Bus to Cusco

This morning, a tourist bus will take you from Lake Titicaca to Cusco, making numerous tops in various places. First you will visit Pukara where you will discover the Lithic Museum before continuing onto La Raya, the highest point on route (4,338m altitude). Next head to the amazing Temple of Wiracocha before being transferred to Raqchi to enjoy a delicious Andean buffet at a local restaurant. Continue onto the districts of Andahuaylillas and Huaro with its beautiful baroque churches before pulling into the stunning city of Cusco and being transferred to your hotel.

INCLUDES : Breakfast, Lunch

Day 9 - Cusco

Cusco City Tour

Morning to rest and relax in Cusco. In the afternoon, enjoy a guided tour of the charming city of Cusco. The tour starts with a visit to Santo Domingo Convent, a large Renaissance-baroque complex, which was built over the Inca Qoricancha temple. It was one of the most important temples dedicated to the worship of the sun and its foundations are still prominent at the base of the convent. Continue to the Plaza de Armas to visit the cathedral. It features an elaborate Renaissance façade and, like other important monuments in the city, was built over a demolished Inca temple. Head to the hills above Cusco to visit the remains of the fortress of Sacsayhuaman, whose imposing ramparts offer a stunning panoramic view of Cusco, the ruins of temple and amphitheatre of Qenqo, where it is believed the Incas practiced agricultural rituals. Finally, visit Puka Pukara (‘Red fortress’ in Quechua) an Inca military complex located on a prominent hill.

INCLUDES : Breakfast

Day 10 - Sacred Valley

Awanakancha farm, Pisac ruins & Ollantaytambo

Pick-up after breakfast and transfer to the Sacred Valley via some very exciting and amazing sites. First, stop at Awanakancha, a farm of South American camelids and showroom of textiles, where local families show the entire traditional process of weaving. Continue onto the Urubamba River Valley and Pisac; an archaeological site itself but also it offers a great opportunity to wander through its market. Lunch in a local restaurant, before continuing to Ollantaytambo fortress. The site is a huge archaeological complex which, although it is known as a ‘fortress’, was actually a tambo, a leisure city used to accommodate delegations that travelled long distances.

INCLUDES : Breakfast, Lunch

Day 11 - Sacred Valley

Chinchero Weaving Workshop, Moray & Maras Salt Flat

Today you will visit Chinchero, a small traditional village located on the way to Urubamba from Cusco. At Chinchero you will visit a traditional weaving workshop were you will be given a very interesting presentation on how the local artisans use natural products such as various plants, minerals and even insects, to obtain the varied selection of colours used to dye their textiles.

Additionally, only on Sundays, there will be some time to visit Chinchero Market.

Later you will have the opportunity to visit Moray and the Maras Salt Mines which are built into the mountainous surrounds.

INCLUDES : Breakfast, Lunch

Day 12 - Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu Tour

Enjoy breakfast before heading to Ollantaytambo Station to board the train to Aguas Calientes. Following a scenic two hour journey through dramatic Andean landscapes, arrive at the station in Aguas Calientes. Here you board a coach for a 20-minute ride to Machu Picchu itself. The ‘Lost City of the Incas’ had lain abandoned in the heavens for four centuries until American explorer Hiram Bingham happened upon it in 1911. Machu Picchu is believed to have been built in the 1450s by Inca Emperor Pachacuti as a retreat. A guided tour explains the origins behind this awe-inspiring citadel and the most prominent landmarks among the 200 or so buildings such as the monumental Main Square, the Royal Quarters, the Temple of the Three Windows, the Circular Towers, the Sacred Sun Dial and the Burial Grounds. Return back to Aguas Calientes in time to catch the train back to Cusco overnight.

INCLUDES : Breakfast

Day 13 - Cusco

Day at Leisure

Today, enjoy a day at leisure in Cusco, exploring the glorious back streets, feasting on some of Peru's culinary delights or getting off the beaten track exploring some of the nearby archaeological sites.

INCLUDES : Breakfast