ESSENTIAL AND CULTURAL PERU – 10 DAYS

On our second day, we’ll experience an unforgettable gastronomic adventure in the heart of Lima.

Early in the morning, we’re picked up from the hotel to go to the starting point of our tour, San Francisco Square. The tour begins with a walk through the streets of “Barranco” visiting traditional and local restaurants where we’ll taste fruits and chocolates, try the chicken chili empanada accompanied by delicious Peruvian coffee, prepared by the hands of our local hosts, while learning their secret recipes. Continuing the tasting, we’ll try Lomo Saltado and Inca Kola soda, known as the soda of the Incas. From there, we head to the Bridge of Sighs, Bajada de Baños, and visit the Jade Rivera gallery.

After this visit, we’ll taste ceviche, lima causa, pisco sour, and delicious artisanal ice creams with Peruvian flavors. Having finished our tour of delicious Peruvian gastronomy, we head back to our hotel to rest and regain strength for our next journey.

Today we’ll have a combination of adventure, culture, and pure nature. The morning starts early as we head to Paracas National Reserve, where we’ll board a boat for the tour to the Ballestas Islands. During the journey, we’ll observe the mysterious Paracas Candelabra and diverse marine fauna, including sea lions, Humboldt penguins, and seabirds.

We continue to Ica, where amid intense aromas and deep flavors, wine and pisco tasting marks a stop along the way, becoming a tribute to the art of enjoying life.

Here, we’ll visit one of the traditional vineyards in the area and learn about the wine, pisco, and liqueur production process step by step from expert hands. You’ll be the primary host to taste the wines.

On this route, we’ll have ample time to stop for lunch and savor the local cuisine. After lunch, we head to the Huacachina Oasis, an oasis carved among golden dunes, where the desert comes alive to the rhythm of the wind. Here we can engage in adventure sports like dune buggy rides through the dunes and sandboarding practice (optional).

After visiting the Huacachina Oasis, we head toward Chincha, known as the “Cradle of Afro-Peruvian culture,” to enjoy a show of Creole music and a tasting of local products. Our tour concludes with a return to our hotel in Lima; the evening arrival time will depend on the traffic in Lima.

Today, we take a flight from Lima to the city of Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire. Upon arrival, we don’t just step into a town, but enter sacred territory where every street holds millennial stories and Andean energy is felt in the air. Upon arrival at Alejandro Velasco Astete Airport, our team will be waiting to transfer you to your hotel. Once we’re settled, we prepare and have lunch to begin our City Tour in Cusco.

The Cusco city tour begins with pickup at our hotel to head to Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun, a masterful example of Inca architecture and cultural syncretism. We continue to Sacsayhuamán, the imposing ceremonial fortress with its colossal walls, and then we visit Q’enqo, a mysterious ritual center featuring carved formations. We conclude the tour by visiting Puka Pukara, the Inca military post, and Tambomachay, known as the “Inca’s Bath,” featuring notable water channels.

Finally, after visiting the different archaeological sites, we board the transportation that will take us back to our hotel.

Today, the tour begins early with a pickup from your hotel to head to the town of Chinchero. At this stop along the way, we’ll enter one of the oldest towns in the Sacred Valley. Chinchero is not only a landscape and an Inca-colonial legacy, but also invites us to know the living soul of textile art.

We’ll visit a community workshop where local women, dressed in their traditional clothing, will demonstrate the complete process of conventional Andean weaving, from spinning alpaca wool to dyeing with natural pigments, including cochineal, purple corn, and native plants, and weaving with ancestral symbolism.

An intimate experience, full of color and knowledge and respect for living culture.

After this visit, we head to the Circular Terraces of Moray, a site where agricultural experimentation was conducted with various products from the mountains, coast, and jungle. Next, we visit the Maras Salt Mines, where more than 4,800 salt pools are found, which are still exploited artisanally to this day.

We’ll arrive in Urubamba, the heart of the Sacred Valley, to experience an authentic Andean culture: tasting and preparing Pachamanca, a traditional dish of Peruvian gastronomy.

More than lunch, it’s an ancestral ritual of Inca origin where food is cooked underground with hot stones; it’s a symbolic act of connection with Pachamama. We’ll witness the process of its preparation and the oven’s opening until the revelation of Andean flavors.

After lunch, we continue to Ollantaytambo station to board our tourist train bound for Machu Picchu town. When we arrive at the station, they’ll be waiting to take us to the hotel to settle in and rest.

After breakfast at the hotel, we head to the bus station bound for the Citadel of Machu Picchu to experience something unforgettable. We’ll have a guided tour of Machu Picchu for approximately 2 hours, visiting the most essential enclosures, terraces, and viewpoints. We’ll also have free time to explore, take photographs, or explore Machu Picchu independently. After the tour, we return to Aguas Calientes for lunch, and depending on the schedule, we’ll board the return train to Ollantaytambo station. From there, transportation will take us back to our hotel in Cusco. Arrival time will depend on the train schedule.

This day begins with a morning pickup from our hotel to embark on this adventure, bound for the city of Puno. Our first stop is in Andahuaylillas, where we’ll visit the Temple of San Pedro Apóstol, known as the Sistine Chapel of America. We continue to the archaeological complex of Raqchi, where we’ll observe the majestic Temple of Wiracocha and the Inca constructions surrounding it.

Then we head to Marangani to enjoy a well-deserved buffet lunch at the “Marangani Tourist Restaurant Museum.” In addition to its Novo-Andean gastronomy and Cultural Interpretation Center. After lunch, we visit La Raya, the highest point of the route and the geographical boundary between the regions of Cusco and Puno. Subsequently, we continue to the town of Pucará, where we’ll visit the Archaeological Lithic Museum. Finally, after this last visit, we board our transportation to arrive in the city of Puno and transfer you to your hotel, where you can rest for the next day.

The tour begins with a morning pickup from your hotel in Puno to transfer us to Puno Port. Aboard a comfortable motorboat, we begin the journey to the floating islands of the Uros (built from totora reeds). During our first visit, the guide will explain the traditional way of life and how they adapt to living on the lake. After the explanation, we’ll have free time to explore the island and take photographs.

The experience continues toward Amantaní Island. Upon arrival, we’ll be received by local families, who provide us lunch. In the afternoon, the villagers invite us to take a hike (optional) to the highest point of Amantaní, the ceremonial temple of Pachatata, from where a panoramic view of Lake Titicaca at sunset can be contemplated.

At night, the families organize a cultural party (optional), in which we can dress in the typical costume of the island and participate in this Andean tradition. We spend the night on the island in a family home, feeling the energy of the place.

After breakfast, the families bid us farewell. They led us to the port to continue our navigation to Taquile Island, renowned for the skill of its weavers, which has been recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

In Taquile, we’ll take a hike to the main square, where we can observe the colorful handmade textiles, browse the craft shops, and appreciate the customs of the inhabitants. Then, we descend to the second port of the island, from where we begin our return to Puno.

The tour concludes in the afternoon with our arrival at the hotel in the city of Puno, and we have time to rest. In the evening, we’ll have a farewell dinner at a local restaurant, accompanied by traditional dances from the area, which will make for a pleasant evening. After dinner, transportation picks us up and takes us to our hotel to rest.

On our last day, we have the morning free to get ready. Transportation picks us up to transfer us to Inca Manco Cápac International Airport in Juliaca, where we board our flight to Lima and subsequently return home.