Andean lifestyle tour

Schedule by Day

• Day 1 Lima
  • Upon your arrival, reception at the airport and transfer to your hotel.
  • Overnight at selected hotel in Lima.
• Day 2 Lima
  • Our guided visit to Lima allows you to see the Historical Center: Main Square, the Government Palace, the Archbishop's Palace, the City Hall and old streets with colonial mansions and Moorish balconies. You will also visit the historic Santo Domingo Convent , an icon of colonial architecture. The tour goes all the way to modern district of San Isidro and Miraflores, where you’ll appreciate archaeological sites of sacred Inca structures and also, you will observe the Pacific Ocean coast from the vast seafront. Finally you will visit Larco Museum, a private collection that has a collection of treasures from ancient Peru to understand and enjoy more than 5000 years of history through more than 45,000 pieces.
  • Overnight at selected hotel in Lima.
  • Included: Breakfast.
• Day 3 Lima – Cusco – Sacred Valley
  • Tranfer to the airport.
  • Flight to Cusco.
  • You will be transferred to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, passing through Pisac, which is a very scenic village where you can still see adobe houses, white walls, blue balconies and typical roofs. At your arrival to this village, you will visit a bakery to see the production of wheat bread, also you will taste the famous “empanadas”, a dough filled with different ingredients (cheese, olives, onions, etc.) which will be prepared during the explanation. This town is known for its famous Pisac Market or Pisac craft fair, one of the most colorful of the continent. It opens every day in the main square, here you can get beautiful pottery, straw hats, alpaca textiles, musical instruments, paintings, antiques, and jewelry. You will also visit a silversmith, here your guide will explain how is the production of the different pendants, chains, bracelets etc. that are delivered for sale to the different silversmiths throughout the Sacred Valley area. At the end, you will visit Ollantaytambo Fortress which was a strategic military, religious and agricultural center. Returning from Ollantaytambo, you will make a stop in Yanahuara, for the tasting of "Chicha de Maiz", the sacred inca beverage, you will also see the process of preparation of this drink.
  • Lunch will be served in a restaurant tour of the place.
  • Overnight at selected hotel in Sacred Valley.
  • Included: Breakfast, lunch.
• Day 4 Sacred Valley
  • LLAMA TREK - Departure from the Sacred Valley with destination to Patacancha, a Quechua village known for its skilled weavers and the meeting point with the llama drivers. You will get to know the animals and then head out through the valley on a trail used daily by the community inhabitants. It will take an hour and a half of walking to reach Huilloc, another community famous for its expert weavers, whose traditional outfits are called “Huayruros”. This is also the home of our llama drivers, and while in the village you will learn about the community’s way of life. Afterwards, you will continue to Pumamarca, a small Incan archeological site, mainly of terraced hillsides, where you will rest and enjoy lunch. The final leg of the trek, an hour and a half long, will take you to Ollantaytambo, but we first you must pass through the small town of Munaypata.
  • Return us to the hotel.
  • Overnight at selected hotel in Sacred Valley.
  • Included: Breakfast, lunch.
• Day 5 Sacred Valley
  • RURAL TOURISM
  • At approximately 8:00 am, you will head towards Sacaca community. Upon arrival you will be welcomed by the its inhabitants with a beautiful Andean reception: flowers, typical music and the local authorities. After the reception a group of local technicians will show you the process of conservation and sustainable use of indigenous medicinal plants.
  • Around 10:00 am you will be transferred to Paru Paru community where you will see an exhibition of the adaptation of the native potato to the climate changes. Then a visit the beautiful Kinsa Q'ocha lagoon and finally you will taste boiled native potatoes with a variety of peppers. The tour continues with a visit to the Phyto-improvement Center where you will find the great diversity of native potatoes, their uses, cultivation systems, etc.
  • Then you will be driven to the community of Pampallacta where you will visit a colorful exhibition of reproductions of pre-Hispanic textile crafts. This colorful day ends with a visit to the Chawaytire Community where you will learn about traditions, knowledge of the Andean culinary creativity, based on native potatoes, local products and wild herbs.
  • Overnight at selected hotel in Sacred Valley.
  • Included: Breakfast.
• Day 6 Sacred Valley – Machu Picchu – Cusco
  • Transfer from your hotel to Ollantaytambo train station to take the ride to Machu Picchu.
  • You will arrive to Aguas Calientes station in Machu Picchu town and then you will be transported by bus to Machu Picchu citadel, one of the most renowned examples of the Inca’s architecture, surrounded by an amazing landscape of lush forest. Lost in history, Machu Picchu was not discovered until 1911 by the American explorer Hiram Bingham, but was built in the middle of XV century. The name of the citadel comes from the Quechua language that means “Old Mountain” and apparently was the principal Inca’s Sanctuary.
  • At appropriate time you will enjoy a buffet lunch at a local restaurant in town. Train ride back to Cusco and transfer to the selected hotel.
  • Overnight at selected hotel in Cusco.
  • Included: Breakfast, lunch.
• Day 7 Cusco – City Tour
  • Get to know the city of Cusco, an UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site and possessor of a style on its own. The tour begins at the Koricancha Temple, an old Incan palace and main center for the worship of the sun god, Inti. Once the Spanish conquered Peru, the Dominican order built a lovely church over top this temple’s foundations: the church of Santo Domingo that is still there today. Your next destination is the Main Square, and then the adventure continues at the Sacsayhuaman Fortress built of enormous stone blocks expertly shaped by the Incas. It is strategically located at the top of a hill overlooking Cusco. What a view of the city! The tour continues with visits to three archeological sites: “Qenko, Puca-Pucara, and Tambomachay”, important religious and administrative centers for the Incas. Finally you will visit an art workshop named “Inkas Expression” that presents artists working on silver pieces and painting in wood. This is an ideal place for the ones who like andean art.
  • Overnight at selected hotel in Cusco.
  • Included: Breakfast.
• Day 8 Cusco
  • HUCHUY QOSQO TREK
  • You will leave Cusco toward Chinchero and then continue to Tauca, which will be the starting point of the trek. You will start hiking uphill amidst this beautiful mountain scenery with presence of llamas and alpacas until you get to the only mountain pass at 4,500. At the top you will enjoy a magnificent view of the Mountain ranges of Cusco then you will descend to reach Huchuy Qosqo, known as an Inca archaeological complex. Huchuy Qosqo which means Small Cusco has an imposing architecture that includes a large open ceremonial center, where you will enjoy a panoramic view of the Sacred Valley, the Vilcanota River and some snowcapped mountains like Pitusiray and Sawasiray. At the complex, you will receive a guided tour and then you will continue your way to Lamay located at 3,000m. This town is dedicated to agriculture and to the cattle breeding. Later in the afternoon, drive back you back to Cusco.
  • Overnight at selected hotel in Cusco.
  • Included: Breakfast.
• Day 9 Cusco - Lima
  • Transfer to the airport.
  • Flight to Lima.
  • Upon your arrival, reception at the airport and transfer to your hotel.
  • Overnight at selected hotel in Lima.
  • Included: Breakfast.
• Day 10 Lima
  • Transfer to the airport.
  • International flight back home.
  • Included: Breakfast.