Tours begin the day after arrival. This tour includes 2 nights hotel in Lima – the day you arrive and Day-1 of the tour.
Proposed Itinerary
DAY 1: CUSCO CITY TOUR
DAY 1: LIMA CITY TOUR This tour includes the most important highlights of Peru's Capital City. We will visit the Circuito de Playas where we can walk around and enjoy the view and sound of the waves. From there, we'll visit Larcomar, one of Lima's commercial hot spots.
Apart from being the newest and most fashionable shopping center, Larcomar offers the best view of the Miraflores Bay. Next, we'll tour the Museo de Oro, and from there we'll enjoy a traditional lunch in Lima's Plaza Mayor, and then visit Lima's Cathedral. As we exit the Cathedral, we'll spend a little time strolling through the Plaza Mayor, and take a walk around Jiron de la Union for great examples of colonial architecture. Finally, we'll visit the Church of San Francisco, which is considered to be one of the greatest architectural complexes of its kind in Latin America. The convent, the cloisters, and gatehouse are decorated with tiles from Seville, Spain, and in the basement, there are underground galleries and catacombs that, during the Viceroyalty, served as a cemetery for the city.
The day you arrive in Lima and the night of Day-1, we'll check you into a beautiful, historic hotel in Lima.
DAY 2: CUSCO CITY TOUR
On Day-2, we'll wake up early and after enjoying a light breakfast at the hotel, we'll be transferred to the Lima Airport for our early morning flight to Cusco. When we arrive in Cusco, we'll have the morning to get settled into our hotel, and then we'll begin our tour of the ancient city of Cusco.
This excursion includes the best highlights of Cusco – "the navel of the world" and the center of the ancient Inca Empire. We will visit Q'oricancha, the Inca Temple of the Sun and then tour Cusco's Cathedral, a 16th century church filled with original artwork and an amazing main altar made of silver. After that we'll tour the four primary ruins surrounding Cusco, including Sacsaywaman, Q'enko, Tambomachay and Puka Pukara. As part of the tour you will receive the "Tourist Ticket" which can be used in your free time to visit a number of museums and other attractions in and around Cusco.
DAY 3: SACRED VALLEY & OVERNIGHT IN MACHUPICCHU
We'll take a beautiful tour of the ancient agricultural center of the Incas. We'll travel by bus from Cusco down into the lush, green Sacred Valley. Along the way, we'll stop at a traditional Peruvian arts center and private zoo where we'll see firsthand Peru's ancient weaving traditions and be able to feed and pet highland animals like alpaca and vicuña up-close. We'll then travel down to the village of Pisac where we'll take a tour of the ancient archeological complex, followed by the famous Pisac market. We'll continue our journey through the Valley, stopping for lunch in the city of Urubamba – known as the 'Pearl of the Vilcanota.' Finally, we'll drive right to the end of the Valley to the tiny village of Ollantaytambo, and take brief tour of the ruins in this little fortress town; and then make our way to the Ollantaytambo train station for our train ride to Aguas Calientes – the village is right on the edge of the Ama¬zon Rainforest and literally at the foot of the mystical Machupicchu Mountain.
We'll arrive in Aguas Calientes – at the foot of Machupicchu – around 4:30pm, check into our hotel and have the evening to walk around the village, enjoy dinner in one of the many restaurants, and take a soak in the local hot springs.
DAY 4: MACHUPICCHU
On Day-4, we'll wake up early and enjoy breakfast at the hotel. Then we'll take the 20-minute bus ride up to the sanctuary-city of Macupicchu. We'll begin our tour at the Inca Guard House to watch the sunrise over Machupicchu. We'll then enjoy a 2-hour guided visit of the ancient ruins. At the end of the tour, there'll be time for adventure seekers who want to climb to the top of Huayna Picchu – the pointy mountain overlooking Machupicchu; or you can hike to Inti Punktu ('Sun Gate') which is the last point on the Inca Trail; there's also a hike to the Temple of the Moon; or you can go back down to Aguas Calients to do some shopping and relax in the hot springs.
We'll take the train back to Cusco around 3:30pm and arrive in Cusco at 7:30pm.
Dates and Price
Price:
US$1,093.00 ONLY for Global Crossroad Volunteer
Dates:
To be determined by In-country coordinator (most likely at the end or middle of participant's respective volunteer program)
Included
- Transfer Lima Airport to Lima hotel
- Round-trip airfare Lima-Cusco
- Transfer Cusco Airport to Cusco hotel
- Transfer Cusco hotel to Cusco train station
- Round-trip train to Machupicchu
- Round-trip bus to/from Machupicchu and Aguas Calientes
- All entrance fees
- English speaking guide
- Hotel in Lima, Cusco, and Machupicchu
Not Included
- Meals
- Gratuities
- Items for personal consumption (i.e. water, snacks, etc.)
- Hotel after returning from Machupicchu (Night-5)
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Water and snacks
- Video or photo camera
- Sun block, hat, and sunglasses
- Mosquito repellent
- Swimsuit and towel