Lima to Machu Picchu

Your Machu Picchu Vacation Package starts with an airport pickup. Our representative will meet you at Lima airport upon your arrival and will transport you to your hotel. It will be a 45-minute drive to Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel. It is located overlooking the shimmering waters of the Pacific Ocean.

After breakfast at the hotel, at 9:00 AM, we will pick you up for the entire day tour. We will begin with a drive to the historic center of Lima City. It also houses many notable buildings, including the Presidential Palace.

The Plaza de Armas, or the Main Square of Lima, is a UNESCO world heritage site. There are small shops on both sides of the arcade. In the middle of the Plaza, there is a beautiful bronze fountain that was established in 1560.

The cathedral across the street boasts fine woodwork in addition to the silver-covered altars.

After immersing in the stunning architecture of the Cathedral, we will give you a tour of the San Francisco Monastery. It is popular for the Sevillan paneled ceilings and tiled works.

Once you have an introduction to the city’s history, we will visit Larco Herrera Museum. This 18th-century colonial museum is home to the world’s largest ceramic collections. Over 55,000 pre-Columbian clay pots are housed here.

Most collections belong to the Moche Dynasty, which ruled the country’s northern coast between 200 and 700 AD.

The Moches are widely known for their “Erotic pottery.” The Larco Museum houses an erotic hall where the sexual customs of different Peruvian cultures are on display.

After this tour, we will be driving you back to your hotel.

After breakfast in the morning, we will transfer you to the airport in Lima. Here, you will be boarding an hour flight to Cusco City. Traveling to Cusco by plane is quite an experience on its own. Please keep your eyes glued to the window as the aircraft descends to Cusco to catch a glimpse of the stunning views of the Andes and highland farms.

Once you arrive in Cusco, we will drive you to an Alpaca farm where you will see how locals breed these Andean animals.

We will then visit an Andean Textile Industry where you will see how locals extract wool from Alpacas, dye them, and knit them to produce sweaters and more.

After this experience, we will drive you to a viewpoint from where you will have the opportunity to take in the beauty of the valley.

We will drive you to a local restaurant for a traditional Andean lunch. Most restaurant owners in the Sacred Valley also own farmlands. So you can expect a farm fresh meal to be served.

After lunch, we will be driving you to Pisac. It is known for the local market, where craftsmen and women from neighboring villages gather to sell their products.

After having an Andean breakfast, we will pick you up from your hotel and drive you to a renowned stone mansion. Our local expert will explain the prominence of stonework to the Incas and how it influenced the lives of those living here today.

Once you have filled out this, we will drive you to Chinchero. To the Incas, this was the birthplace of the rainbow. Chinchero is popular for Andean Textile. The local women here will demonstrate their skills in extracting wool from alpacas and lamas and dyeing and knitting them.

It is a process practiced for thousands of years.

Our next destination will be the city of Moray. Moray is home to the renowned circular farming terraces. It is a must see not just because of its alluring beauty but also because it played a significant role in the lives of the Incas.

The Incas used Moray as an agricultural laboratory. Due to several depressions, the terrace has a different temperature at each level. This helped the Incas determine the best weather conditions to grow crops.

Thanks to their advancement in farming, Peru now produces over 800 varieties of Potatoes.

We will stop at a beautiful local rustic restaurant overlooking the archaeological site for lunch.

After lunch, we will be driving back to your hotel.

After an early morning breakfast, we will drive you to the train station in Ollantaytambo. Here, you will be boarding a train to Machu Picchu. Trains on this route are operated by Inca Rail or Peru Rail.

The three-hour train ride offers staggering views of the snow-capped peaks as it snakes through the highland villages and farmlands.

As we get closer to Aguas Calientes, located in the tropical region, you will notice a change in weather.

Once in Aguas Calientes, we will transport you to your hotel in the city. After checking in, we will take a 30-minute bus ride up the hill to the entrance of Machu Picchu Citadel.

Before entering the citadel, we will serve you a buffet lunch at one of the restaurants in Machu Picchu.

After lunch, we will enter the citadel for a detailed tour of the Inca sites.

We will begin with a brief introduction of the prominence of the citadel to the Incas. We will then visit the prime sites of Machu Picchu, like the remains of the central plaza, farmlands, Inca temples, and more.

After the tour, you will have time to relax and take in the views of the Inca citadel.

After enjoying the views, we will take the bus back to Machu Picchu town and transfer you back to your hotel for the night.

If desired, you can revisit Machu Picchu early in the morning.

We recommend visiting early in the morning to witness the golden rays of the rising sun beaming on the Inca walls as the blanket of clouds unveil the Inca citadel.

You can also hike to Machu Picchu Mountain or Huayna Picchu Peak for a panoramic citadel view. Please note that the hike up to Huayna Picchu is quite challenging.

Also, just like hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, you will need a permit to hike to Huayna Picchu, which sells out months in advance. So please let us know when you book the tour if you wish to hike Huayna Picchu.

Alternatively, you can hike to the Sun Gate. This is the entrance point for those walking the renowned Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. You will get a panoramic view of the citadel from the Sun gate.

Once you have explored the Inca citadel, we will take the bus back to Machu Picchu town. We will be serving lunch at one of the restaurants in Aguas Calientes.

After lunch, you will have free time to explore the cobble-stoned streets of Aguas Calientes. You can also visit the hot springs here.

You will have the evening free to yourself. We will meet for dinner at an agreed upon time.

After breakfast at your hotel, you will board the train back to Ollantaytambo. We will meet you at the train station and will give you a tour of the archaeological complex of Ollantaytambo.

This is the former administrative capital of the Incas. The town is nestled amidst two peaks, each one home to the remains of Inca fortresses. We will be touring the main fortress, which also houses the remains of an Inca temple.

This site was sacred to the Incas. When the Spanish conquistadors intended to invade the town in 1537, this holy place turned into a deadly battleground.

We will stop at a local restaurant for lunch on our drive to Cusco City. You will have a fresh meal on the farm here.

We will briefly stop in Sacsayhuaman, a notable Inca site on a hilltop overlooking Cusco. The fortress has walls perfectly cut to join them without using types of cement.

You will stay at a hotel right in the city’s center for the night.

Cusco was the capital and most important city of the expansive and powerful Inca empire, with an infinitely rich history and culture to discover.

After breakfast, we will pick you up from your hotel to tour this historic Inca city. We will begin with a visit to the home of a local artist. He is popular for inheriting his family’s legacy of building intricate wooden altars inside the Cathedral of Cusco.

We will walk along the cobblestone streets of this striking city to visit the “Sun Temple,” better known today as the Qoricancha. This Inca temple of the sun was demolished during the Spanish conquest, and the church of Santo Domingo was built on its remains.

We will then walk to the city’s main square, Plaza de Armas. Here we will visit the Cathedral of Cusco. Arguably, this is the most impressive cathedral in South America.

The collection of Cusquenian religious art will give you a new perspective on the complex religious beliefs of Peruvians. This afternoon, you will have time to relax or explore the bustling city streets.

In the evening, you will meet our expert on Inca architecture, who will answer any questions you might have about what you have seen during your time in Peru with us. Later, we will head to our farewell dinner in the Imperial city of the Incas.

You will stay at a hotel right in the city’s center for the night.

After breakfast at the hotel, we will transport you to Cusco Airport for your flight back to Lima.