Day 01: Arrive in Cusco / PM City tour.

Upon arrival at the Cusco airport you will be met and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the morning will be at your leisure. In the afternoon (13:00h) enjoy a half day tour of Cusco, visiting the Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas and the legendary Qoricancha, the most important religious center in the Inca time, a temple devoted to worshiping the Sun deity. Your tour includes also the visit to some nearby archaeological sites such as the impressive fortress of Sacsayhuaman; the religious site of Q’enqo; the ancient site of Puca Pucara and finally the water temple of Tambomachay.

Day 02: Sacred Valley of the Incas – Aguas Calientes.

Today you will enjoy a full day tour to explore the Sacred Valley of the Incas. This fertile river valley was home to many important sites for the Incas, both strategic and religious. The first stop is the village of Pisaq, with its famous market. In the market comes alive with locals from nearby hillside villages in traditional dress selling local fruit and vegetables as well as handicrafts. There is free time to wander the colorful market stalls before to visit the spectacular Pisaq Ruins – a hilltop Inca citadel and fortress with impressive agricultural terracing. Afterwards, you will enjoy a delicious buffet lunch in a local restaurant in Urubamba. Following, you will visit Ollantaytambo, an Incan military, religious, administrative and agricultural center located at the top of a mountain. Unlike other small towns, this one has maintained its original Incan design, featuring stone buildings and narrow streets. In the late afternoon, you will board the train to Aguas Calientes. Upon arrival in the train station, you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Day 03: Machupicchu – Cusco.

This day early in the morning you will ride up a 30-minute bus to the secluded citadel, which is surrounded by a cloud forest inhabited by orchids and hummingbirds. In Machupicchu you will enjoy a guided visit to the greatest ruin in the world, the lost city of Machu Picchu. This is one of the architectural and engineering marvels of the ancient world, in a mountain setting of staggering immensity. The Spaniards never found it; the Incas left no records about it, so Machu Picchu remains a great enigma, a city lost for centuries in the cloud forest. Afterwards the guided tour, you will have free time for the many spectacular walks including following the path to the Inca bridge, the Sun Gate or even climb to Huaynapicchu mountain. In the late afternoon, you will board the train to return to Cusco. Upon arrival in the train station, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. Important: The train considered in the program is tourist class: Expedition (Peru Rail) or Voyager (Inca Rail). If you prefer a first class train (vistadome), please make an inquiry for the additional cost.

Day 04:  Maras – Moray.

In the morning (08:00am) you will be picked up from your hotel to start a half day tour, you will head out on the road that crosses the Sacred Valley of the Incas to reach the important Moray archeological site (3176m/10419ft), where enormous circular and Pre-Incan semi-circular agricultural terraces were constructed to be used as a botanical laboratory for experimenting on plant domestication and foreign crop acclimatization. The area is so large that at least 3000 plant varieties, including potatoes and corn, could have been grown. Next, Maras is located about 4 km from Moray, and is the site of pre-Inca Salineras (salt ponds). Each terraced pond is polygonal in shape; salty water emerges from an underground spring, flows into the ponds, and evaporates with the sun. The Maras’ salt mines are still active today and maintained cooperatively by the Maras community. The white salt ponds contrast with the green hills and mountains that surround the mines and the views of the Sacred Valley from here are amazing. The tour will end in the early afternoon at your Cusco’s down town.

Day 05:  Rainbow Mountain.

Very early in the morning (approx. 4:15 am) we will pass by your hotel in our private transport, then we will leave the city of Cusco towards the south valley, after traveling approximately 2 hours we will arrive at the Cusipata sector (Paucarpata), where we will enjoy a delicious breakfast (scrambled eggs, cheese, ham, fruit salad, hot drinks etc). After breakfast we will continue for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes more until we reach the checkpoint, it is there that we will begin our walk. Previously, our guide will give us the instructions and recommendations of the route to finally begin. The walk will take approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes until you reach Vinincunca or The Rainbow Mountain (5,020 m / 16,466 ft.). On the way we will observe a large number of llamas and alpacas that are in the care of shepherds dressed in beautiful colorful costumes. Similarly along the way we can see snowy peaks that are part of the slope of the Andes Mountains, among which the Apu Ausangate (sacred mountain) stands out one of the highest mountains in southern Peru; almost upon reaching the top we will observe the change of landscape, at which point we can appreciate the mountain range of Vinincunca or Rainbow Mountain, reaching this point between 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Here our guide will explain us in detail aspects about the orography, ecosystem and color of the mountain, we will also have time for the most beautiful photos of the mountain of 7 colors, after a little free time we will take the way back to Llaqto, where our vehicle will be waiting. We will continue the return to the Cusipata sector where we will have our delicious buffet lunch. Finally, we will take the return route to the City of Cusco arriving at approximately 05:00 pm.

Day 06: Bus Cusco – Puno.

Early in the morning you will be collected from your hotel and transferred to the bus station to enjoy a trip to Puno. The service is provided in buses equipped purely for a touristic trip, looking for the best way to travel from Cusco to Puno, so you can enjoy different locations that hold magical charm and an ancestral history, such as, the Andahuaylillas Church, building during the 17th century and it is also known as “The Sistine Chapel of America” because of the beauty and profusion of its murals, the ornaments in gold leaf and paintings from the “Escuela Cusqueña de Arte”, you will continue to the Archaeological site of Raqchi, also known as the Temple of WIRACOCHA, named after Wiracocha, a supreme deity in the Inca civilization. In this location we will find the biggest number of barns (Colcas) and we will see magnificent constructions in stone and sun-dried bricks. Afterwards, you will enjoy a delicious buffet lunch in a local restaurant in Sicuani. Following, you will visit La Raya Pass; it is the border between the departments of Cusco and Puno, at a height of over 4.335 meters above the sea level. From that place you will be able to see the famous Chimboya Glacier where the Amazon River is born. There, you will be able to take pictures of the landscape. Finally, you will visit the Lithic Museum of Pukara. The Pukara culture was developed between the years 1600 B.C. and 400 A.D., on a high plateau located 106 kilometers north-east of the city of Puno. In this museum we can find pottery and sculptures representing zoomorphic figures, amongst which we can see the famous sculpture of the HATUNÑAQAC, meaning in our language “The Supreme Executioner”. Upon arrival in Puno bus station, you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Day 07: Uros & Taquile Island (Lake Titicaca)

Travelling by semi-speed vessel, today’s tour begins in the morning by visiting the floating reed islands of Uros, where the locals continue to practice their traditional way of life, living by fishing. Situated four kilometers from Puno, the original inhabitants of these floating islands are said to descend from one of the most ancient peoples of the Americas. The Uros islands, as well as the houses on them and the boats used by their inhabitants, are all made from the Totora reeds that grow in Lake Titicaca. After spending an hour at the Island of Uros, you will proceed to the Island of Taquile, a place where time appears to have stood still. Around 350 Quechua-speaking families live here, operating a collective agricultural system dating from the 14th century and renowned for their textiles - beautifully woven chumpis (belts), chullos (caps) and ojotas (sandals). After typical lunch, the boat will take you back to Puno.

Day 08: Puno – Arequipa.

In the morning you will be collected from your hotel and transferred to the bus station for your trip to Arequipa. Upon arrival at the Arequipa bus station you will be met and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the afternoon will be at your leisure.

Day 09: City Tour Arequipa.

In the afternoon pick up from your hotel to start the city tour in Arequipa. We will enjoy a magnificent view of the city from the viewpoints of Carmen Alto and Yanahuara. (Mirador e Iglesia), after that we will continue to the historic center and visit the monastery of Santa Catalina, which is a sample of four centuries of Arequipa architecture, intrusive cells, small streets and cloisters full of colorful flowers and walls painted in dyes fresh. Narrow alleys lead to the various parts of the convent that run through picturesque sites and living and sleeping places with the original furniture. Then we will visit the main square, one of the most beautiful in Peru, the Jesuit Church of the Company, which on its beautiful facade announces the so-called mestizo architecture, its cloisters and dome, we will also visit the house Tristán del Pozo, emblematic heritage of the White City.

Day 10:  Arequipa – Chivay (Colca Canyon)

This morning you will leave Arequipa and cross the snow-capped Misti, Chachani and the Ampato Volcanoes to arrive at the Colca Valley. You will travel towards the Pampa Cañahuas National Reserve, home to many wild vicuñas, alpacas & llamas. You will continue your journey, passing the villages of Torja and Patapampa with their Colonial churches and Inca terracing to arrive in Chivay in the afternoon. Chivay lies at an altitude of 3,600m above sea level. There is an optional visit to the 40ºC thermal-medicinal baths in La Calera. (Entrance fee to the pools is not included and is US$ 7.00 per person approximately – subject to change) Note: The optional visit to La Calera Hot Springs is for clients staying in Chivay town only.

Day 11: Colca Canyon – Arequipa.

Following breakfast, you will travel to the ‘Cruz del Condor’, a spot considered to be the best viewpoint to watch the majestic Andean condors ascending from the valley. The Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River and one of the deepest canyons in the world. It is home to the Andean condors that can be seen at close range as they fly past the canyon walls, rising on the thermals. At the 'Cruz del Condor' viewpoint, the canyon floor is 3,960 feet (1,200 m) below the rim of the canyon. After this amazing spectacle, you will continue your journey back to the town of Chivay, taking in the beautiful Andean scenery and fascinating pre-Inca, Inca and Colonial history of the area. The road passes through several small villages founded in Spanish colonial times and still inhabited by people of the Collagua and the Cabana cultures. The local people maintain their traditional way of life and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces. Many of the women wear traditional dress with colorful embroidered blouses and flower-patterned hats. In the afternoon, after the lunch return to Arequipa city.

Day 12: Arequipa – Lima.

You will be collected from your hotel and transferred to Arequipa’s main bus station (Terrapuerto) to board your bus to return to Lima or your next destination.