Peru
Cusco and the Sacred Valley
13 days
People arrive at Machu Picchu in a rush and leave feeling they never quite saw it. This does it the other way round: the Sacred Valley first, to acclimatise and to understand the engineering, then two days at the citadel with one early entry, and only then Cusco, which at three thousand four hundred metres is far better enjoyed once your body has caught up.
Day by day
Day 01 · Spain / Lima
Direct flight.
Day 02 · Lima
The colonial centre, Barranco and the Larco Museum. Lunch at the Surquillo market, where the city’s cooks buy.
Day 03 · Sacred Valley
Flight to Cusco and straight down into the valley, six hundred metres lower, which avoids altitude sickness on day one.
Day 04 · Moray and Maras
The circular terraces at Moray are an agricultural laboratory with fifteen degrees between the top level and the bottom. The Maras salt pans have worked since before the Incas.
Day 05 · Ollantaytambo
The only place where the Incas beat the Spanish in battle, and the town keeps its original street plan with the water channels still running.
Day 06 · Machu Picchu
Train through the Urubamba canyon and up. An afternoon entry, which is quieter, and a night in Aguas Calientes.
Day 07 · Machu Picchu
A second entry as it opens, with mist rising from the valley, and the climb up Huayna Picchu or the Mountain for anyone who wants it.
Day 08 · Cusco
Back by train. The afternoon in San Blas and at the Qorikancha, where the convent is built on top of the Inca wall.
Day 09 · Cusco / Puno
The sun route by road, stopping at Andahuaylillas and crossing La Raya at four thousand three hundred metres.
Day 10 · Lake Titicaca
Out to the islands: the Uros, floating on totora reed, and Taquile, where the men weave and the practice is listed as intangible heritage.
Day 11 · Arequipa
Flight or road. The city is built of white volcanic sillar and the Santa Catalina monastery is a town inside the town.
Day 12 · Arequipa / Lima / Spain
Connection and flight home.
Day 13 · Spain
Arrival.
Usually includes
- International flights and internal flights
- Trains to Machu Picchu in panoramic service
- Two Machu Picchu entries with the circuit and time slot booked, which sell out months ahead
- English- or Spanish-speaking guides at every archaeological site
- Selected hotels, with two nights in the Sacred Valley
- A travel document with every detail and a direct phone number
This trip, your way
Length
13 days
Route
Lima · Cusco · Sacred Valley · Machu Picchu · Lake Titicaca · Arequipa
Format
Private and tailor-made, on your dates
Let us make this trip yours.
Change the dates, add days where you want them, or simply tell us how you like to travel. We reply within 24 hours.
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