Tour Itinerary

DAY 1: ARRIVAL – LIMA
Upon arrival in Lima, you will be met and assisted at the airport and accompanied to your hotel, conveniently located within the terminal for a smooth and restful start to the journey. Peru’s capital, founded in 1535 and long known as the City of Kings, is far more than a gateway. Set on the Pacific coast, Lima brings together colonial legacy, pre-Columbian depth, and one of Latin America’s most exciting culinary traditions. This first evening is intentionally simple, allowing time to rest after your international flight and prepare for the remarkable contrasts.

Overnight at Lima.

DAY 2: LIMA TO PARACAS
After breakfast, depart Lima and begin your drive south along Peru’s dramatic desert coast toward Paracas. Along the way, stop in El Carmen and Ballumbrosio, in the heart of Afro-Peruvian culture, where music, memory, and daily life preserve one of the richest living traditions on the Peruvian coast.

Continue to historic Hacienda San José, an elegant colonial estate whose architecture and history offer a more layered understanding of coastal Peru, then enjoy lunch before continuing south. By late afternoon, arrive in Paracas, where wind, desert, and sea come together with unusual beauty. The name recalls the ancient Paracas culture, whose artistic and funerary traditions helped shape the cultural foundations of the south coast. Today the region is equally known for its luminous shoreline, marine ecosystems, and the stark elegance of one of Peru’s most distinctive landscapes.

Overnight at Paracas (B, L)

DAY 3: BALLESTAS ISLANDS AND TACAMA
This morning, walk to the hotel pier and board a speedboat for the excursion to the Ballestas Islands. Crossing the bay, you will pass the Paracas National Reserve and enjoy a view of the famous Candelabro geoglyph etched into the hillside, one of the coast’s enduring mysteries.

At the islands themselves, the spectacle is one of motion, sound, and wildlife, with sea lions, pelicans, cormorants, and Humboldt penguins occupying the rocky outcrops and surrounding waters. Later continue inland to Tacama, one of the oldest vineyards in South America and a place where old hacienda architecture, agricultural tradition, and the story of Peruvian wine and Pisco come together in a particularly atmospheric setting. Lunch is enjoyed here before returning to Paracas.

Overnight at Paracas. (B, L)

DAY 4: PARACAS TO LIMA WITH OPTIONAL NASCA LINES OVERFLIGHT
Transfer to Pisco Airport for your optional overflight of the Nasca Lines, one of the great archaeological enigmas of the ancient world. This optional flight is quoted separately from the expedition price. Located on the arid plains of southern Peru, these vast geoglyphs can only truly be appreciated from the air, where their astonishing scale and precision come into focus.

The figures, among them the monkey, spider, hummingbird, and other iconic forms, are not isolated curiosities but part of a ceremonial landscape created in one of the driest environments on Earth. Their survival is tied to the extraordinary stability of the desert itself, a place where climate, open pampa, and human intention came together in a way found almost nowhere else. After the flight and lunch, return by road to Lima. The evening is at leisure.

Overnight at Lima (B, L)

DAY 5: LIMA
Today is devoted to Lima’s cultural and culinary richness. Begin at the Larco Museum, one of the finest museums in Peru and an exceptional introduction to the civilizations that flourished long before the rise of the Incas. Housed in an elegant vice-royal mansion built over a pre-Columbian pyramid, the museum presents ancient Peru through ceramics, textiles, gold, silver, and objects of daily and ceremonial life, allowing the deeper historical arc of the journey to begin taking shape.

Later, enjoy a premium culinary experience in a private setting, where modern Peru is revealed through flavor, technique, and identity. The Nikkei menu and Pisco masterclass reflect two of the country’s great strengths: its ability to absorb influences and transform them into something unmistakably Peruvian. In the evening, dinner at Huaca Pucllana offers a memorable final note to the day, with contemporary cuisine served beside one of Lima’s most evocative pre-Columbian adobe ceremonial sites.

Overnight at Lima (B, L, D)

DAY 6: LIMA TO CUSCO TO THE SACRED VALLEY
This morning, assistance is provided at Lima Airport for your flight to Cusco. Upon arrival, continue directly down into the Sacred Valley, following the time-tested sequence that allows for a gentler adjustment to altitude. The Sacred Valley, shaped by the Urubamba River and surrounded by broad Andean slopes, was one of the most fertile and strategically important regions of the Inca world, valued not only for agriculture but for its ceremonial, political, and logistical importance within the empire.

The lower elevation makes it the ideal first base in the Andes. En route, stop at Awana Kancha for a closer look at the four Andean camelids and the textile traditions so closely linked to highland life. Continue to Pisac, where market life, artisanal traditions, and the rhythm of the valley remain very much alive. Lunch is enjoyed at Hacienda Huayoccari, a gracious colonial estate set amid some of the Sacred Valley’s most beautiful scenery. Continue afterward to Tambo del Inka, an ideal retreat in which to settle into the Andes and begin the journey through the Inca heartland in comfort.

Overnight at Urubamba (B, L)

DAY 7: URUBAMBA MARKET, OLLANTAYTAMBO AND PABLO SEMINARIO
Begin the day at the Urubamba local market, where the agricultural richness of the valley reveals itself in an immediate and colorful way. Stalls filled with fruits, vegetables, seeds, grains, and herbs speak not only to daily life, but to the remarkable biodiversity of the Andes and the deep continuity between land, food, and culture in this region.

Continue to Ollantaytambo, one of the most impressive and best-preserved Inca towns in Peru. More than a fortress, it was an important administrative, agricultural, and ceremonial center, and its terraces, channels, and monumental stonework still convey the sophistication of Inca planning. The site also carries a historical charge as one of the places where the Incas mounted serious resistance against the Spanish.

Nearby, a visit to a local home offers a more intimate sense of continuity in the valley, where customs and ways of life have endured across generations. Lunch at Wayra unfolds in a beautiful garden setting, complemented by a Peruvian Paso horse presentation. On the return, visit Pablo Seminario’s workshop, where ancient Andean ceramic traditions have been reinterpreted with notable artistry and cultural intelligence.

Overnight at Urubamba (B, L, D)

DAY 8: MORAY, MARAS AND TAMBOCANCHA COMMUNITY
This morning, visit Moray, one of the most intriguing sites in the Sacred Valley. Its circular terraces descend in concentric rings, creating distinct microclimates and making the site one of the most compelling examples of Inca agricultural experimentation. It is both visually striking and intellectually fascinating, a place that reveals how deeply the Incas observed their environment and adapted cultivation to altitude, exposure, and temperature.

Continue to Maras, where thousands of salt pans cascade down the hillside in one of the Andes’ most unforgettable man-made landscapes. Fed by a natural saline spring and still worked by hand, the pans shimmer in changing tones of white, cream, and earth, and offer a powerful contrast to the surrounding mountains.

Later, visit the local community of Tambocancha, where highland traditions, agriculture, and ancestral knowledge remain part of daily life. This encounter adds an essential human dimension to the Sacred Valley, reminding us that this is not only a region of ruins and grand history, but a Living cultural landscape.

Overnight at Urubamba (B, L)

DAY 9: SACRED VALLEY TO MACHU PICCHU
At the appropriate time, transfer to Ollantaytambo station and board the Inca Rail First Class service to Aguas Calientes. As the train leaves the Sacred Valley behind and gradually descends toward the cloud forest, the landscape changes noticeably, with the drier, open highlands giving way to greener slopes and a more humid mountain landscape. This scenic transition is an important part of the Machu Picchu experience, revealing how dramatically the setting changes on the way to the sanctuary.

Upon arrival, continue by shuttle up to Machu Picchu and begin your first guided exploration of the citadel. Few places in the world combine setting and achievement as powerfully as this. Built in the 15th century on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba River, Machu Picchu is at once a royal estate, a ceremonial center, and a supreme example of Inca architecture shaped in harmony with the landscape. Spending the night beside the sanctuary is a privilege that changes the rhythm of the experience completely, allowing a quieter and more meaningful encounter with the site.

Overnight at Machu Picchu (B, L, D)

DAY 10: EL CALAFATE TO USHUAIA
You’ll wake up beside Machu Picchu itself, an extraordinary privilege that allows us to re-enter the site early, before the bulk of visitors arrive. Under current regulations, Machu Picchu can only be explored through specific, limited-access sectors, and it is no longer possible to experience the citadel in full with a single entry. For this reason, a second visit is essential to complete the experience.

Accompanied by your guide and leader, we aim to access the Citadel as early as possible and enter a different sector, allowing us to deepen our understanding of this remarkable site while enjoying the quietest moment of the day and the best light for photography. Coffee and light refreshments are available before our visit.

After our exploration, we return to the Sanctuary Lodge to freshen up. Check-out time is 1:00 p.m., followed by lunch at the lodge. Later, we spend time with your leader and guide exploring the hotel’s gardens, known for their diversity of orchids and hummingbirds, including several endemic species unique to this region. In the mid-afternoon, we enjoy a cocktail before descending to Machu Picchu Pueblo for VIP check-in to board the legendary Hiram Bingham Train to Cusco. Long regarded as one of the world’s great train journeys, the Hiram Bingham evokes the golden age of rail travel with polished wood interiors, brass details, fine fabrics, antiques, and a distinctly Peruvian character.

Live music accompanies the journey, a three-course gourmet dinner is served on board, and cocktails are enjoyed in the observation bar as the train winds through spectacular Andean scenery. After approximately four unforgettable hours, we arrive at the Poroy station, where a private transfer takes us into Cusco. We check in at the Belmond Palacio Nazarenas, widely regarded as the finest hotel in the city and one of the most exceptional properties in Peru.

Overnight at Cusco (B, L, D)

DAY 11: CUSCO
Today is devoted to Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire and one of the most layered and compelling cities in the Americas. Set high in the Andes, Cusco preserves an extraordinary overlap of worlds, where Inca foundations, colonial churches, narrow stone streets, and vibrant contemporary life remain in close conversation. Begin with a visit to Sacsayhuaman, whose immense zigzag walls stand among the finest achievements of Inca stonework. Continue to Coricancha, once the Temple of the Sun and the empire’s most sacred religious site, where the precision of Inca construction survives beneath later colonial transformation.

Later, visit the Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas, where art, architecture, and religious history reveal another chapter in the making of the city. Lunch is enjoyed in the historic center, followed by time to pause, explore at leisure, or enjoy the comfort of your hotel. In the evening, dinner at MAP Café provides one of the most elegant culinary experiences in Cusco. Set within the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art, it offers a refined tasting experience that feels entirely suited to a city where history, aesthetics, and identity remain so deeply intertwined.

Overnight at Cusco (B, L, D)

DAY 12: CUSCO TO LIMA, DEPARTURE

After breakfast, visit San Pedro Market, one of Cusco’s most vivid and authentic public spaces. Here, among stalls of fruit, flowers, herbs, cheeses, breads, spices, and everyday goods, the city reveals itself in a more immediate and human way. It is an excellent final encounter with Andean daily life, full of color, energy, and the textures of a living city beyond its monuments.

Afterwards, enjoy lunch before transferring to the airport for your flight to Lima. Upon arrival, assistance is provided for your onward international connection. This brings to a close a beautifully varied journey through Peru’s coast, desert, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and Cusco, shaped not only by iconic places, but by the continuity of culture, landscape, and history that makes Peru so rewarding to explore.

Overnight at Cusco (B, L)