Open Groups Begin in Cusco Every Sunday.

Private Trips Booked Any Day Year Round

Day 1: Welcome to Cusco! / Walking City Tour 

Adios guide and driver will be waiting at the Cusco airport to transfer to hotel for checkin followed by lunch in local restaurant and guided walking city tour. Your guide introduces you to local Peruvian culture and ancient Inca civilization with legendary stories and a visit to the main Plaza de Armas, once considered the center of the Inca Empire, and where the statue of King Pachacutec, whose brilliant vision led to the design and building of Machu Picchu, greets everyone. Continue on foot through authentic narrow Inca streets where you explore the historical city including markets and Qoricancha Temple, also known as the "Golden Temple of the Sun."  See the remarkable achievements of ancient Peruvians that include stone arches, Inca walls, cobbled streets, and many examples of exotic architecture. Observe the impact of colonial invasion and how the collision of two very different societies fused into one enchanting hub of modern Peruvian culture. Dine in local restaurants for lunch and dinner. (cost not included) About 3 hours. Hotel in Cusco. Altitude 11,000 ft / 3352 m  (Need advice getting to Cusco? Just ask! We're here to help)

Day 2: Cusco Outskirts Easy Historical Walk

08:30 AM After breakfast in hotel, your local guide arrives for pickup to begin 20 minute drive to the tranquil terraced rocks of Tambomachay ruins (meaning guest house), with aqueducts, waterfalls and canals. It is said that the Inca emperor came here to bathe and perform religious rites in the water. Begin easy hike about 7 KM mostly downhill, through local farms, to the mysterious Qenco temple ruins where sacrifices and mummification took place. Not far are the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, first built by the Killke culture beginning 1100 A.D. and expanded by the Inca. It’s considered the largest structure built and one of the most significant archaeological legacies of the Incas. Due to the complexity of the layout of the massive blocks of stone, some bigger than a car, it is said that the construction of Sacsayhuaman lasted more than 50 years and employed over 20,000 men in the construction. About 5-6 hours. Walk to hotel in Cusco. Highest Altitude 12477 ft / 3800 m

Day 3:  Sacred Valley Tour / Chinchero / Moray / Maras

08:30 AM Pickup from hotel and drive about 30-40 min to Chinchero, home to the famous colonial style church and archaeological ruins and the backdrop for Qechua women & girls who demonstrate traditional dyeing and weaving. Continue 20 KM by car to the greenhouse ruins of Moray, the Inca Greenhouse ruins built in concentric terraces. More than just terraces, this is one of the old agricultural experimental places of the Incas. We explore for 30 to 45 minutes on foot, then begin walking east on an old Incan trail that is still in use by the local people. Along the way we pass farming fields where the people grow potatoes, quinua, barley and a lot of times you will meet farmers on their way home or to the main town. The first part of the hike is an average of 6 km before you arrive at Maras (the terraced salt ponds)  Each pond is owned by an individual family who still harvest salt like the old times. There is the option to get picked up here, or continue hiking down for another 1.5 hours to the Vilcabamba River. Driver will meet you for pickup and continue by car where you finally arrive in Ollantaytambo, the oldest still-occupied town in Peru. If time permits, you explore the prominent ruins overlooking the Sacred Valley. These ruins are the last Inca stronghold when Emperor Manco defeated the Spanish in a famous battle in 1536. Drive to your hotel for checkin. Walk to local restaurant for dinner. Full Day. Hotel in Ollantaytambo. Highest Altitude 12,375 ft / 3772 m - Lowest Altitude 9160 ft / 2792 m

Day 4:  1-Day Inca Trail Hike to Machu Picchu (optional)

After early breakfast, you walk to the station with your backpack and board an early train for 1 ½ hour ride to KM 104. The train stops so you can you jump off, then cross the bridge over the Urubamba River.  You pass through the checkpoint then begin the 12 KM/7.5 m hike on one small section of one of the most famous network of trails in the world. For the next 5-6 hours you will tread in the footsteps of the ancient ones. Gradually hiking up the canyon on Inca paths and short stone steps to the ruins of Winay Wayna. Unlike Europeans, the Incas used a road system that included steep stone steps instead of lengthy zigzag switchbacks. This reduced the amount of road building needed and was an efficient way to travel on foot with llamas who were adapted to higher altitudes in the Andes mountains. This was critical to the expansion of the empire. This system was a hindrance to Europeans and armies mounted on horses as they could not negotiate the steep steps as well as switchbacks.  Pass by waterfalls and lush landscape of the cloud forest as you make your way to Inti-Punku (Sun Gate) for your first glimpse of the famous citadel of Machu Picchu. Descend another 45 minute to one hour stopping for photos before exiting the national park. Board shuttle buses that run every 10-15 minutes for 25 minute ride to the village of Aguas Calientes. Walk to hotel for checkin, then enjoy dinner in local restaurant. Box Lunch included. Hotel in Aguas Calientes.

Day 5: Machu Picchu / Ollantaytambo (optional Hike to Huayna Picchu can be added if tickets are available)

After an early breakfast, you walk to the boarding area for your shuttle bus back up to Machu Picchu where you enter with your guide for a private tour of the ruins. (earliest bus departs around 5:20 am)  Choose from 3 routes including the guard house overlooking the agricultural terraces and then enter the main gate of the city to get up close to the temples, structures and fountains. Exit ruins then take shuttle bus down to meet up in Aguas Calientes for a quick lunch. Walk to the station to board the afternoon train to Ollantaytambo. Walk to hotel in Ollantaytambo.

Day 6: Ollantaytambo / Pisac / Cusco

08:30 AM Driver and guide will pickup from hotel and begin 1 hour drive to the village of Pisac home of the famous market as well as one of the lesser known archaeological gems of the Sacred Valley.  Continue past the village and up to the parking area past sweeping agricultural terraces. The car parks and you prepare for 2-3 hour hike beginning with a short walk to the Inca cemetery where you see hundreds of holes in the mountain. Continue on the trail for another 20-30 minutes until you reach the first residential structure. Further down is the stunning temple complex constructed from exquisitely carved pink granite, featuring a sun temple, ceremonial altars, water channels and wells. After a tour of the site, you can choose to hike down many stone steps (and we mean down) to the village, or take the trail and loop back to the van, where you are driven 10 minutes to the village. Here you can enjoy refreshments in the cafe and check out the famous market. Continue 1 hour by van to your hotel in Cusco. 

Day 7:  Farewell to Cusco / Travel to Lima (or other destinations)

Pickup from hotel at least 2.5 hours prior to scheduled departure, to Cusco airport. Checkin for departure flight to Lima, where you make international connections.
The 2-day extension to Lake Titicaca can be combined with this trip. You can fly directly from Lake Titicaca to Lima after the trip.