Day 1: Depart

En Route

Depart on your overnight flight to Lima.

Day 2: Arrive Lima

Country Club Lima Hotel

Upon arrival in Lima you are met and transferred to the elegant Country Club Lima Hotel.

Day 3: Lima

Country Club Lima Hotel

Begin with your tour of Lima, the "City of the Kings." Visit the Plaza Mayor's Government Palace, Archbishop's Palace, City Hall and Cathedral. Continue to San Francisco Monastery and Casa Aliaga, America's best preserved colonial mansion occupied by the same family since 1535. Drive through the residential areas of San Isidro and Miraflores with magnificent ocean views. After a typical Peruvian lunch, visit the private art collection of Enrico Poli, an extraordinary gathering of pre-Columbian and colonial art objects. (BL)

Lima/Nasca

Hotel las Dunas

Drive the Pan American Highway to Ica, wine capital of Peru. Take a 45-minute flight by light-wing aircraft over the mysterious Nasca Lines, best seen from the air. Though centuries old, the purpose of these huge beasts, birds and geometric formations in the desert sands of the Nasca Plain and who made them is still an enigma. (B)

Day 5: Nasca/Lima

Country Club Lima Hotel

Drive to the Paracas Peninsula, embarkation point for your boat ride to the Ballestas Islands, home to boobies, pelicans, sea lions and Humboldt penguins. The still unexplained Candelabro marking lines can be seen along the way. Return to Lima via the spectacular Pacific. (B)

Day 6: Urubamba Valley

Hotel Posada del Inca Yucay

Morning flight to the Urubamba Valley, the "Sacred Valley of the Incas." Visit Ollantaytambo, the great Inca fortress and site of the Spaniards only defeat at the hands of the Incas. Walk the quaint streets of the nearby town and visit local shops with beautiful alpaca wool fabrics and weavings with typical Andean designs. (BL)

Day 7: Urubamba Valley

Hotel Posada del Inca Yucay

Drive through the Urubamba Valley and bargain with local vendors in Pisac. Visit the Inca astronomic observatory and walk by the marvelous cultivation terraces renowned for their irrigation system. (BD)

Day 8: Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu Sanctuary Hotel

Board the train at the Ollanta Station. At km 104 visit the archaeological ruins of Chachabamba and climb towards the Winay Wayna Fortress. Picnic lunch. Continue to Intipunku "Sun Gate", for a breathtaking view of Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas." Overnight at Machu Picchu Sanctuary Hotel. (BL)
 
PLEASE NOTE: Those not interested in hiking can take the train directly to Machu Picchu and ascend to the site via the breathtaking switchback roadway.

Day 9: Machu Picchu/Cusco

El Monasterio/Libertador

Wake up early to admire Machu Picchu at sunrise, an awe-inspiring experience. Tour the citadel, stroll the extraordinary Inca remains and hike up Huayna Picchu before lunch at Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge. Return motorcoach/railcoach transportation back to Cusco. (BL)

Day 10: Cusco

El Monasterio/Libertador

Tour one of the best walking cities in the world. Visit Loreto Alley, a fine example of the old town, with its remarkable Inca stone foundations. See Santo Domingo Monastery, the legendary Koricancha. The beautiful colonial church in San Blas houses an impressive wood-carved pulpit. Marvel at the twelve-angle stone at Hatunrumiyoc Street and visit the cathedral at the Plaza de Armas (B)

Day 11: Cusco

El Monasterio/Libertador

Enjoy today either on horseback or by private vehicle (you choose!). Tour the Inca archaeological remains of Tambomachay baths, Kenko amphiteater, Puca Pucara and the impressive fortress of Sacsayhuaman, overlooking Cusco. (B)

Day 12: Cusco/Lake Titicaca

Hotel Isla Esteves

Full day train/motorcoach adventure to Puno and Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake. Cross the high mountain landscape dotted only by small villages and herds of llamas and vicunas. (B)

Day 13: Lake Titicaca

Hotel Isla Esteves

Two-hour motorboat excursion on Lake Titicaca to visit the unique Uros floating islands. Continue to the "Chullpas" of Sillustani where the ancient Aymaras buried high priests in cylinder-shaped tombs. (B)

Day 14: Lake Titicacaa/La Paz

Hotel Presidente

Skirt the edge of Lake Titicaca as you drive to the Bolivian port of Copacabana, passing the Peruvian villages of Ilave, Juli and Pomata. Visit the sanctuary of the "Dark Virgin". Take the catamaran across Lake Titicaca past the Moon Island and the Strait of Tiquina to Huatajata. Continue to La Paz. (BL)

Day 15: La Paz

Hotel Presidente

Visit San Francisco Church and the Witch Market. See Moon Valley's strange geological formations and the archaeological remains of Tiahuanaco (300-900 AD) including the Kalasasaya Temple, the Akapana Pyramid, Keri-Kala (the underground "templete"), the aqueducts and the remarkable Sun Gate engraved with symmetrical figures. (B)

Day 16: La Paz/Lima/Depart

En Route

Morning flight to Lima connecting with your return flight to the USA. Welcome Home! (B)

PUERTO MALDONADO & THE AMAZON RAINFOREST EXTENSION

Day 12: Cusco/Ese'eja

Posada Amazonas Lodge

Morning flight to Puerto Maldonado. Upon arrival take a two-hour motorboat trip up the Tambopata River to the Ese'eja native community. Enjoy bird viewing along the way. Afternoon nature hike on the nearby trails before dinner. (BLD)

Day 13: Ese'eja/Tambopata

Research Center

Begin today with a short boat trip followed by a half-hour walk to the Tres Chimbadas Oxbow Lake. Canoe along the banks admiring the fauna, especially giant otters, turtles and hoatzin birds. Explore the surroundings or swim in the pristine lake. Continue upstream to the Tambopata Research Center. Hike along the 1.5-mile bamboo trail to observe native bird species. Night walk in search of nocturnal wildlife. Overnight Tambopata Research Center. (BLD)

Day 14: Tambopata

Tambopata Research Center

Depart at dawn across the river and visit the Collpa, a red clay hillside where hundreds of parrots and larger macaws (up to twelve species) arrive to eat the salty clay essential for their digestion. Hike along the 1.5-mile ocelot trail to admire the rainforest ecology. After lunch, two-mile hike to the palm swamp, a nesting colony for several species of macaws. (BLD)

Day 15: Ese'eja

Posada Amazonas Lodge

Second dawn visit to observe the macaw clay lick from blinds atop the clay-side. Return to the Posada Amazonas Lodge. Visit a native slash and burn farm to learn how this agriculture system thought to be wasteful can be sustainable over the long term. (BLD)

Day 14: Lake Titicacaa/La Paz

Hotel Presidente

Skirt the edge of Lake Titicaca as you drive to the Bolivian port of Copacabana, passing the Peruvian villages of Ilave, Juli and Pomata. Visit the sanctuary of the "Dark Virgin". Take the catamaran across Lake Titicaca past the Moon Island the Strait of Tiquina to Huatajata. Continue to La Paz. (BL)

Day 16: Ese'eja/Cusco

El Monasterio/Libertador

Return flight to Cusco. Transfer to your hotel. (B) 

 
... then continuing... Days 17-21 are the same as Days 12-16 in the Peru/Bolivia program above.

INCLUDED IN YOUR PROGRAM

• Accommodations as detailed in itinerary.
• All sightseeing as mentioned above including entrance fees.
• Meals: B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner.
• Private licensed guides throughout.
• All transfers by air-conditioned vehicles.
• Meet & Greet services for arrivals and departures.
• Luggage handling.

SORRY, NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR PROGRAM

• Departures taxes.
• Items of a personal nature such as laundry, telephone calls, faxes, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, incidental expense, etc.
• Tips for guides and drivers.