DAY 1 - DEPARTURE Overnight flight to Lima, via Madrid.
DAY 2 - ARRIVAL IN LIMA On arrival transfer to the four-star Casa Andina Select Miraflores, where you stay overnight with breakfast.
DAY 3 - ARRIVAL IN AREQUIPA Transfer on to a domestic flight to the colonial city of Arequipa where you stay two nights at the four-star Casa Andina Select Hotel, with breakfast.
DAY 4 - AREQUIPA At an altitude of 7,660ft, Arequipa is ideal to start acclimatising to the higher elevations. Your city tour includes the Yanahuara quarter with its small, cobblestone streets before heading to Arequipa’s UNESCO-listed centre and Peru’s prettiest square, the Plaza de Armas, with its 17th century baroque Jesuit Church and Cathedral.
DAY 5 - COLCA Head north to Colca, site of one of the world’s deepest canyons. As you pass through the Pampa Cañahuas Reserve you see desert landscapes and grasslands populated by vicuñas and llamas. You stay one night in Chivay (alt.11,900ft), near Colca Canyon at the three-star superior Casa Andina, Classic, with breakfast.
DAY 6 - COLCA CANYON You’ll be amazed by the magnificent panorama across the Colca Canyon, twice the depth of the Grand Canyon. This is also where you can get some amazing close-up views of one of the world’s most spectacular birds in flight, the Andean Condor. We continue to Puno on Lake Titicaca, staying two nights with breakfast at the three- star superior Sonesta Posadas del Inca. A packed lunch is included today.
DAY 7 - LAKE TITICACA Lake Titicaca’s deep blue waters stretch as far as the eye can see. Boarding a private motor launch you visit the famous floating Uros Islands, constructed using thick layers of totora reeds. You then visit the island of Taquile, further into the lake, where the Indians still adhere to their traditional culture and dress. Lunch is included in Taquile.
DAY 8 - CUSCO Heading northwards to Cusco, we drive through the altiplano, the high-altitude Andean plateau. After our included lunch, we visit the Church of the Andahuayillas, known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas, arriving in Cusco late afternoon. Our coach is specially adapted for this high-altitude journey by having oxygen-enriched air piped into the seating area. You stay two nights at the Costa del Sol Ramada, with breakfast.
DAY 9 - CUSCO Cusco is a mixture of colonial architecture interspersed with fascinating Inca remains. The main square has been the city centre since Inca times – today it’s the site of the 16th century Cathedral, so huge it took 100 years to complete. You also visit the Qorichancha, the Incas’ temple to the sun, originally covered in sheets of pure gold. Although a convent was built over the Inca temple, many of the internal walls remain. Our final Inca site is the extraordinary Sachsayhuaman with its vast megalithic walls, a thousand feet long and with the largest stone blocks found in Inca structures.
DAY 10 - MACHU PICCHU We board the Explorer train taking us on one of the world’s most spectacular rail journeys through the narrow Urubamba River gorge to the legendary Machu Picchu. Nothing can prepare you for your first sight of the ‘Lost City of the Incas’ – the only Inca settlement never discovered or destroyed by the Spanish. No one knows why it was built in such an inaccessible spot or why it
was mysteriously abandoned. We return by train to the Urumbamba Valley, the ‘Sacred Valley of the Incas’, where we stay two nights at the four-star Casa Andina Private Collection, with breakfast.
DAY 11 - PISAC & SACRED VALLEY You spend the day in the Sacred Valley, firstly visiting Pisac, famous for its colourful Indian market, with its huge range of local handicrafts – from vibrant handmade rugs and ponchos in bright reds and yellows, to local ceramics and a huge variety of llama and alpaca knit-ware. After lunch we visit the fortress of Ollantaytambo, the site of a rare Conquistador defeat.
DAY 12 - FLIGHT TO LIMA Travel back to Cusco and fly to Lima, with one night at the four-star Casa Andina Select Miraflores, with breakfast.
DAY 13 - LIMA & RETURN FLIGHT Today we’ll visit the Presidential Palace, the Plaza del Armas and the Cathedral, in the central UNESCO-listed area of the city. We will also visit the Casa Aliaga, one of Lima’s colonial mansions built by Pizarro. Lunch is included today. In the afternoon we transfer to the airport for our return flight.
DAY 14 Arrive back in the UK.
AMAZON JUNGLE LODGE EXTENSION On selected dates our tour continues into the Peruvian Amazon basin with a two-night stay at an eco-lodge in the jungle.
DAY 12 - AMAZON This morning you begin your journey into the vast Amazon rainforest with a short flight from Cusco to Puerto Madonaldo. We make our way to the Madre de Dios River where our adventure starts with a 25 minute ride by motorized canoe to the excellent Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion Lodge for two nights on full board basis. After lunch, we take a guided walk through the local nature trails, where you’ll discover the differences between primary and secondary rainforest, its complex ecosystem and the many fascinating uses of its plant life. At dusk, we’ll navigate the river by motorized
canoe, to spot nocturnal animals’ behaviour and the southern constellations above us.
DAY 13 - AMAZON Today you will understand why the Madre de Dios is called the biodiversity capital of Peru! We will use the motorized canoes to cross mirror-like oxbow lakes and visit the Tambopata National Reserve, home to the endangered giant river otter, black caiman, and one of the world’s biggest fresh water scaled fish, the paiche, as well as blue and yellow macaw and red howler monkeys. After a buffet lunch back at the lodge, we’ll enjoy a unique view of the rainforest from a canopy walkway. Ascend one of the two 98-foot towers and cross hanging bridges that connect the treetops, with the chance to see white-throated toucans, woodpeckers, squirrel monkeys and three-toed sloths.
DAY 14 - FLY TO LIMA After breakfast, you take the canoe back to Puerto Maldonado from where we fly to Lima for a one night stay at the four-star Casa Andina Select Miraflores, with breakfast.
DAY 15 - LIMA & RETURN FLIGHT Enjoy a city tour visiting the Presidential Palace, the Plaza del Armas and the Cathedral, in the central UNESCO- listed area of the city. We will also visit the Casa Aliaga, one of Lima’s colonial mansions built by Pizarro. Lunch is included today. In the afternoon we transfer to the airport for our return overnight flight.
DAY 16 - ARRIVE HOME Arrive back in the UK.
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