Tour Details

Our Peru Hidden Treasures will give you the chance to see the most important tourist places such as:

Lima: Lima was the vice-regal capital as its splendid historic centre attests, having been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Baroque churches of great religious and artistic wealth, fine houses and promenades make colonial Lima unforgettable, not least for its cuisine, considered to be among the best in the world.

Cusco: Cusco is absolutely full of Inca architecture. The Spanish colonists built a new city on top of the one they found there. Grand tour: Main square, the neighborhood of San Blas and its artisans; the churches of La Compañia, la Merced, San Francisco and San Cristobal. The Archaeological sites on the outskirts. Cusco is a very cosmopolitan city and this can be felt especially at night, in its infinite bars, discos and restaurants.

The Sacred Valley of the Incas: The best maize in the world is grown in the Sacred Valley as it has been from time immemorial. The valley is full of villages and archaeological remains. Ollantaytambo contains a fortress and a living Inca village. An array of outdoor activities are available, such as hiking, mountain biking, horse riding and river rafting.

Machu Picchu: Between the valley and Machu Picchu the incas built a stone-paved road through the cloud forest, in which important archaeological remains can be found: Chachabamba, Wiñay Wayna, Intipunko, designed by the Incas to give a panoramic view of the city of Machu Picchu from above. The National park is a historical as well as a natural sanctuary, orchids and birds abound.

Day-by-Day Summary

Day 1: Arrive in Lima
Day 2: Lima
Day 3: Lima/ Cusco/ Sacred Valley
Day 4: Sacred Valley
Day 5: Sacred Valley/ Machu Picchu
Day 6: Machu Picchu/ Cusco
Day 7: Cusco
Day 8: Chinchero/ Pampa De Anta
Day 9: Cusco
DAY 10: Cusco/Lima

Itinerary: Peru Hidden Treasures 10 days

On your arrival in Lima, we will provide assistance at the airport and transfer you to the selected hotel.
Overnight at the selected hotel.

Visit the colonial landmarks of Lima and UNESCO World Heritage site.

You will see the Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace and the City Hall. Proceed to the Casa Aliaga, America’s best preserved colonial mansion, occupied by the same family since 1535 AD. Walk through Santo Domingo, one of the oldest convent in Lima, an architectural masterpiece. Visit the house that hosts San Marcos University, founded in 1551 AD, the first university in Americas and the alma mater of finest intellectuals and politicians. Drive to Enrico Poli’s private collection of pre-Columbian and Colonial art. Inside his colonial style home, he has amassed one of the best private collections in the world, including several pieces recovered from the Lord of Sipan tombs.

Take the morning flight to Cusco. Upon arrival, transfer to The Sacred Valley of the Incas.

You will spend two days in the valley. In the morning we can ride, go canoeing or just walk amidst the nature in the Sacred Valley. Today you will visit Maras and see the salt being extracted in the traditional way. Maras is the name of a place and of an indigenous community. The soil of Maras is rich in salt, its people have always made a living by extracting this resource using terraced salt pans. The salt pans are a magical sight, gleaming white in the sun.

After that you go to Moray, another Inca site, where different crops were planted on circular terraces built to create microclimates and for research with different species.

Lunch included at Iskay Maras Home

There are Inca remains all over the valley, such as the village of Ollantaytambo which contains a fortress built to defend it against the invading Chankas. Ollantaytambo is also an Inca village whose stone houses are still inhabited by the descendants of those ancient Peruvians. People of this area are characterized by their woolen costumes dyed in red and black. You will visit Huilloc, a small community of weavers to see the ancestral textile industry.

Today’s lunch will be unforgettable. At noon we will arrive at the Orihuela estate, located on high ground in the valley which provides a unique view of this green and fertile land. The house was built by the old Lambarri Orihuela family as a place to keep and exhibit their valuable collection of art from the pre-Columbian and vice regal periods. The Lambarri family waits with a buffet lunch based on the valley’s culinary traditions.

We pick you up at your hotel at 5:30 AM and transport to Ollantaytambo train station. Board the 6:15 AM Vistadome train that will carry you to 104 km on the Cusco – Machu Picchu railway. You will reach this point around 10:00 AM. Visit the Chachabamba archaeological complex located very close to the control point and embark on an 8 km ascending trail. After four hours the hike will take you to the archaeological complex of Winaywayna. This is an impressive complex consisting of an agricultural centre with numerous terraces, a religious sector and an urban area. On the way up you will have magnificent views of the Urubamba River valley and the Choquesuysuy archaeological complex located on the other side of the river, and also a beautiful waterfall located just a few minutes from Wiñaywayna. You will then climb to Intipunku or the Sun Gate. This will take an hour of hiking along a trail of flat stones on the edge of cliffs in highland jungle. From this splendid vantage point, you will have your first view of the sacred citadel of Machu Picchu. You’ll then descend to Machu Picchu. Accommodation and overnight at selected hotel in Machu Picchu.

Leave your hotel early to explore Machu Pichu and enjoy a complete guided tour of the Inca citadel that will last around two to three hours. You’ll then have free time to walk around, climb Huayna Picchu, where you will de astounded by a spectacular view of all Machu Picchu, and the valleys and mountains that surround it.

Alternativly, visit the Temple of the Moon and the impressive Inca Bridge. In the afternoon, meet back in the town of Aguas Calientes where you will have the chance to buy some handicrafts and explore the town. From here, you’ll take the train back to Cusco, where you will arrive after nightfall.

Lunch at Sanctuary Lodge.

Dinner at Incanto Restaurant. Located a few meters off the Main Square of the fascinating city of Cusco in an old Inca palace, the new Incanto is definitely worth a visit. Welcoming and contemporary, its varied menu contains more than 80 dishes. The restaurant offers Italian food, pasta and various specialities from the grill cooked with an original touch and using Peruvian ingredients. There is also a wide selection of wines from all over the world and delicious desserts.

Cusco, which in quechua means Navel of the World, was the capital of the Inca empire and the centre of the four-way expansion of that culture, known as the four suyos. The city is filled with Inca buildings designed for religious, administrative, military and domestic purposes. After the conquest, Spanish built a new city on top of the one they found, such that visitors can see something unique in history: a culture superimposed upon another, older one, for the purpose of domination. The Spanish colonial monuments in Cusco are among the richest and most luxurious in the Andes. In the morning you will visit some of them, and also stop at Koricancha, which was the most important Inca temple as it was dedicated to the worship of the sun. Spanish built a church and Dominican monastery on top of this temple, which reveals the two cultures existing together. Today we will also visit the recently inaugurated Museum of Pre-Columbian Art in a marvelous colonial mansion, the Casa Cabrera, on the Plazuela de Las Nazarenas.

In the afternoon you will stop at the Inca complex of Tipon, a splendid testimony of that culture, built by a cult that venerated water. Then, we leave for the village of Huasao, south of Cusco, an ancient settlement of faith healers and shamans who continue to make contact with invisible worlds today as they have since before the Spanish conquest.

Today we will go where few conventional tourists venture. We start to the north of the city of Cusco and our first destination is the ancient Inca and Spanish village of Chinchero, with its beautiful church full of murals and frescoes and its traditional handicrafts market where bartering was the rule until just a few years ago. Then, you carry on to Anta, crossing an immense plain covered with different traditional Andean crops. We will stop at the village of Limatambo to see the colonial hacienda of Sondor, still inhabited by the descendants of the original landowners. Near Sondor is the Inca temple of Tarabamba, little visited but an architectural jewel. On this route we can see how the Incas were masters in the construction terraces, winning cultivable land from the mountains; some of them here are more than one hundred meters long.

Today you are free to walk around this marvelous city. We recommend the Main Square, the district of San Blas and its artisans; the churches of La Compañia, La Merced, San Francisco and San Cristobal, the Palacio del Almirante Museum of Archaeology, the old district of Santa Ana and the surrounding archaeological remains of Sacsayhuaman, Quenqo, Tambomachay and Puka Pukara. Nevertheless, the most enjoyable way to spend the day can simply be to walk around the city and enjoy its immense vitality. Cusco is a very cosmopolitan city and this is evident by day, but especially at night, in its infinite number of bars, discos and restaurants.

In the morning you take flight to Lima to connect with your international flight, or you could continue your adventure in Peru and discover more hidden treasures.

Included

Superior (four star) accommodation on twin sharing basis
Airport transfers and transportation in Cusco
Visa fee and travel insurance
Services with private English speaking local guide
Cusco tourist tax and entrance fees to touristic sites
Orient Express train: Ollanta/ Machu Picchu/ Cusco
Meals included in the itinerary

Not Included

International flights
Return flight from Lima to Cusco
Expenses of personal nature such as beverages, laundry, tips
Any item including meals which has not been covered in the itinerary
All optional tours or activities during free time
Transfers outside of the tour program
Early check-in and late check-out
New year and Christmas surcharge. Pl check with us if you want to travel during this period

Quick facts

Machu Picchu
Sacred valley of Incas
Explore the archeological marvels of Incas
City of Lima

Post-trip Extensions

Amazon Rainforest Add-on Tour (from Cuzco)

The Amazon Basin covers two-fifths of South America, meaning that no visit to this amazing continent is complete without exploring the most bio-diverse environment in the world. Flying from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado you’ll then head by motorised canoe into the heart of the jungle to your lodge. A stay in the Amazon is like being in another world; for many people the most vivid memories are falling asleep to sounds of the jungle. By day you’ll hopefully see turtles, monkeys and macaws as well as stunning flora.

Itinerary

Day +1 Fly to Puerto Maldonado; head by motorised canoe to your jungle lodge.

Day +2/3 Jungle activities; from your base you explore the jungle both on foot and through the many waterways by canoe, try your hand at fishing for piranha and spot caiman by torchlight at night.

Day +4 Fly to home via Lima.