Peru Express
Lima – Cusco (6 days / 5 nights)
Day 1: Lima
Assistance and transfer to the selected hotel. Overnight.
Meals: None
Day 2: Lima – City
In the morning, guided sightseeing tour to the most attractive and important sites in Lima. The tour starts with a panoramic visit to the Huaca Pucllana, archaeological precinct built in the IV century A.D. It was a ceremonial and administrative centre which was considered by the Incas as a sacred site. The tour continues passing through the Historical Centre, with its colonial mansions and its Moorish style balconies, San Martin Square and the Main Square with their different buildings: Government Palace, Archbishop’s Palace, Cathedral Basilica and the Town hall.
A visit to the Banco Central de Reserva Museum (*) is included. It has a fine selection of objects made in gold, ceramic and textiles of different pre-columbine cultures. Then we visit the San Francisco Convent, which displays the largest collection of religious colonial art in America, and where we can appreciate the great Patio decorated with Seville tiles from the XVI century, Moorish arches and underground catacombs.
The tour finishes in Larcomar, an entertainment center and a privileged spot to have a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean.
(*) Banco Central de Reserva Museum closed to the public on Saturdays and Sundays afternoon and Mondays all day.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 3: Lima – Cusco – City
Transfer to the airport for your flight to Cusco. Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel. Free time to rest and get used to the altitude. In the afternoon city tour, passing by the Main Square and the Cathedral, with its valuable paintings of the Colonial Cusco School, the famous Temple of the Sun or Koricancha, an ancient Inca temple over which the Santo Domingo Convent was built. Then we pass by the impressive ruins of Sacsayhuaman Fortress, Qenko, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay. Overnight.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 4: Cusco – Sacred Valley
Pick up from your hotel for the full day excursion to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, where the best corn in the world is produced because of the richness of its land. We visit the town of Pisac, where we can enjoy the large variety of handicrafts (textiles and pottery) at the Indian Market held at the Main Square.
We continue through the towns of Ccoya, Lamay, Calca and Urubamba. After lunch, we visit the Inca Fortress and Citadel of Ollantaytambo, a large agricultural, administrative, social, religious and military complex in the times of Tahuantinsuyo. Return to Cusco. Overnight.
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Day 5: Cusco – Machu Picchu
Early in the morning, transfer to the train station for the trip to Machu Picchu Pueblo. The train journey passes by the Andes, parallel to the Urubamba River with the magnificent view of the High Jungle. From there we will ascend to the archaeological complex of the ‘Lost City of the Incas’, Machu Picchu, located on a high mountain covered by exuberant Amazon vegetation, with its rich fauna and flora. In the Historic Machu Picchu Sanctuary we can appreciate the mix of the impressive precision of its stone structures, which reveal the deep knowledge and the technological advance of the Inca Culture, with the mystical aspect of one of the most important archaeological sites of the world. After lunch, return to Cusco and transfer to the hotel. Overnight.
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Day 6: Cusco – Lima
At agreed time, transfer to the airport for your fight to Lima.
Meals: Breakfast
