Luxury Week in Peru from $2,817

Travel Team > South/Central America Vacations > Luxury Week in Peru from $2,817

Day 1 Arrive Lima

On arrival in to Lima, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure.

Duration              2 Nights

Accommodation: Westin Lima Hotel

Day 2 Lima

You will be picked up from your hotel in the morning. The city tour begins with a visit to the Plaza de Armas, which has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Plaza is lined along two sides with shops: Portal de Escribanos and Portal de Botoneros. In the centre of the Plaza is a bronze fountain dating from 1560. The plaza is also home to the Cathedral, with its splendidly carved stalls, silver-covered altars surrounded by fine woodwork, and mosaic walls bearing the coats of arms of Lima and Pizarro. Continue to the Monastery of San Francisco, famous for the Sivillian tile work and paneled ceiling in the cloisters. You will also see the old colonial streets in the centre of the city. Conclude your tour with a visit to the Larco Herrera Museum, famous for its collection of pre-Columbian art.

Tonight, enjoy dinner at Segundo Muelle, Segundo Muelle is a local establishment offering the best in Peruvian and fusion cuisine.

Meal Plan            Breakfast and Dinner

Day 3 Lima to Cusco

After breakfast you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Cusco (flight not included in the trip price). On arrival in to Cusco, you are met and transferred to your hotel before touring the Incan capital of Cusco.

This tour of the oldest continuously inhabited city in the western hemisphere includes the important landmarks of enchanting Cusco and the nearby ruins of Kenko, Puca Pucara, and the Sacsayhuaman Fortress. Once the center of the Inca civilization, modern Cusco is a delightful combination of Inca and colonial architecture. During the tour you will visit Cusco’s Cathedral, Santo Domingo Church and the Plaza de Armas.

Meal Plan            Breakfast

Duration              1 Night

Accommodation: Palacio del Inka

Day 4 Cusco to the Sacred Valley

A full day excursion to the Chincheros and Pisac Indian Markets and the Ollantaytambo Fortress in the heart of the Sacred Valley. With an early start, you drive through the fertile countryside of the Urubamba Valley to the colonial village of Chincheros. This traditional Andean town is known as ‘the birthplace of the rainbow’, and it has the full complement of photogenic attractions: Inca ruins, Andean village houses, an elaborate colonial church built on Inca foundations, and of course the lively weekly market. Please note: The main market day is Sunday. Other days the market is open but much smaller in scale.

Then continue down the valley to visit colonial village of Pisac where the Indian Market is one of the town and areas, main features. Please note: The main market days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Other days the market is open but much smaller in scale. You then visit Pisac Ruins which lie atop a hill at the entrance to the valley. It features an irrigation system, an astronomical observatory, and a solar clock and calendar (Intiwatana). Continuing down the valley and ever so slightly lower in altitude you head to the impressive archaeological complex of Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is a massive citadel located 50 kilometers from Machu Picchu. The citadel served as both a temple and a fortress and the only battle at which the Incas held off the Spanish. You will then be transferred to your hotel.

Meal Plan            Breakfast

Duration              2 Nights

Accommodation: Tambo Del Inka Sacred Valley

Day 5 Moray and Maras Salt Pools

Today you pass through unspoiled and picturesque Andean communities on our way to the Incan agricultural experimental center of Moray, famous for its sunken amphitheatre, made up of four circular terraces, which appear to fade away into the earth like an artificial crater. The site was apparently an Inca agricultural research station filled with fertile earth and watered by a complex irrigation system, designed for experimenting with crops at various altitudes.

Continue onto the impressive Maras salt pools formed by water emerging from a lake inside the mountain in the Urubamba Valley. An amazing view is offered of the evaporating ponds used for the extraction of salt. Learn about ancestral techniques, which are still used, in agricultural, irrigation and salt-recollection tasks, as well as in Andean festivals and rites.

Meal Plan            Breakfast

Day 6 Machu Picchu

Enjoy an early breakfast before you are transferred to the train station at Ollyantaytambo in the heart of the Sacred Valley where you board the Vistadome train for the ride through the Urubamba valley to Aguas Calientes and the ‘Lost City of the Incas,’ Machu Picchu.

On arrival at Aguas Calientes in the valley below the ruins you transfer to a small bus for your trip to the entrance gate of Machu Picchu.

Perched 8,200 feet above the valley, the ruins were hidden by mountains and semi-tropical jungles for 400 years until discovered by Hiram Bingham of Yale University in 1911. Archaeologists believe that the Inca ‘Virgins of the Sun’ took refuge from the Spanish Conquistadors here. With your guide you tour the ruins.

Lunch is at the Orient Express’ Sanctuary Lodge located just a few steps from the Inca citadel. Late afternoon you return by bus to Aguas Calientes to connect with your train back to the Sacred Valley.

Meal Plan            Breakfast and Lunch

Accommodation: Palacio del Inka 1 night

Day 7 Departure

After breakfast you are transferred to Cusco airport where services end.

Meal Plan            Breakfast