Arequipa-Colca Canyon-Lake Titicaca-Cusco-Machu Picchu Tour
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This is a basic 11 day tour that includes Arequipa-Colca Canyon-Lake Titicaca-Cusco-Machu Picchu. We are pricing it with group day tours. The itinerary can be modified to use other hotels, private day tours, etc.
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Day 1. Arrival to Lima at night, transfer to Holiday Inn Hotel at the airport.
Day 2. breakfast, fly to Arequipa and transfer to your hotel. Tour of the city and of Santa Catalina Convent that has remained the same since its foundation in 1580 but was only opened to the public in 1970. Then tour the Plaza de Armas or Main Square, the Cathedral, the church of La Compañía and the Colonial district of Yanahuara.
Day 3- breakfast, then morning departure for Pampa Canahuas, passing through Yura on the way. Arrive at Pulpera and Callali villages, and stop at Sibayo to visit the new and old town. Here you will see an Incan bridge. Lunch included. Continue on to Chivay village and its thermal baths, La Calera. Accommodation. Dinner. Overnight.
Day 2. breakfast, fly to Arequipa and transfer to your hotel. Tour of the city and of Santa Catalina Convent that has remained the same since its foundation in 1580 but was only opened to the public in 1970. Then tour the Plaza de Armas or Main Square, the Cathedral, the church of La Compañía and the Colonial district of Yanahuara.
Day 3- breakfast, then morning departure for Pampa Canahuas, passing through Yura on the way. Arrive at Pulpera and Callali villages, and stop at Sibayo to visit the new and old town. Here you will see an Incan bridge. Lunch included. Continue on to Chivay village and its thermal baths, La Calera. Accommodation. Dinner. Overnight.
Day 4- Breakfast at the hotel. The early morning excursion reaches an observation point, on a wide bend, where a wooden cross called CRUZ DEL CONDOR has been erected. The view from here is breathtaking: one can see the silvery thread of the Colca River flowing below in the roar of the canyon, while majestic condors soar overhead using the warm air currents from the canyon depths to rise towards the high peaks. Here the chasm is 1,200 mts. deep, but the highest part of the canyon wall on the other side is more than 3,000 meters above the river level, and permanently snow capped. Return to Chivay. On the way visit the Colonial church of Maca and Yanque. Lunch included. Continue on to Puno by tourist bus (about 6-7 hours), with several stops along the way and transfer to your hotel.
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Day 5 - Morning visit to the Uros Islands. These islands are made of reeds, rising six meters above the lake level. They are anchored by logs and connected to each other by ropes. The main activities of the people who live here are fishing and handcrafting several items that they sell to visitors. Continue to Taquile Island which has two essential characteristics; its geography, offering a spectacular view from its hills, and its standing as a first-rate textile center. Taquileños live on their textile activities. This can easily be seen in the men walking about in rubber sandals ("ojotas" in quechua), wearing black pants, white flannel shirts and beautiful, finely woven chumpis (belts), covering their heads with finely knitted warm "chullos" (caps with ear flaps). Box lunch included.
Day 6 . transfer to station for bus to Cusco. The bus makes several stops along the way to see:
Andahuaylillas: "Sistine Chapel of America": The church is of simple construction, made of thick adobe mud-brick walls, common in colonial buildings, and features a relatively modest structure: a single nave with a bell tower and a façade with two solid stone columns that stand out against the others around the main entrance. While the exterior of the church looks rather humble, it is the interior, that makes this one of the most valuable jewels of the colonial art in Peru, sometimes called the "Capilla Sixtina" or "Sistine Chapel" of America. Raqchi: "Temple of Wiracocha" The most prominent structure is the Temple of Wiracocha, an enormous rectangular two-story roofed structure that measures 92 metres (300 ft) by 25.5 metres (84 ft). This structure consists of a central adobe wall some 18 to 20 meters in height with an andesite base. Windows and doors allow passage. It is flanked on each side by a row of eleven columns. Raya Pass: This is La Raya pass Mountain views, 4310m - 14172 ft above sea level, here we have the chance to get out and breathe the air and take some photographs of grazing llamas and alpacas extend to the broad Altiplano horizon. This point is the conjunction of the cordillera and the origin of the Vilcanota knot. Pukara: "Museum of Pukara" Located 106 kms from the city of Puno. People of potters, which retains the name of the first civilization of southern Peru, which dates back to 1600 years BC and archaeological remains of which, besides its lithic and ceramic pieces are exhibited in the Museum site. Pucara Puno, Has its origin in the Late Formative Period (200 BC – 200 AD) around Titicaca Lake in the Collao Plateau, was one of an Aymara speaking cultures that flourished in that region. Guide and lunch included.Transfer to your hotel. Day 7. Visit the Cathedral built from 1560 to 1654 at the site of the Viracocha Inca palace. It is the best example of the European art done by natives of Cusco, has the high altar plated with silver and contains masterpieces of woodcarvings and painting. See the Koricancha, which displays the best Inca stonework in Cusco. Explore the ancient Indian sanctuary of Sacsayhuaman with magnificent Inca walls of massive rocks weighing up to 130 tons fitted together with absolute perfection. The amphitheatre of Qenqo, the fortress of Pukapukara and the spring shrine of Tambomachay where water still flows by a hidden channel out of the masonry wall are also visited.
Day 8. Breakfast and lunch. Full day visit to the Sacred Valley. The Pisac Market is a colorful morning market where you can purchase Peruvian weavings, jewelry, and pottery, and see its traditional Indian market where goods are traded. Visits to Pisac are on Sundays and Thursdays. After lunch we visit Ollantaytambo, the Inca town on which the present day town is based is clearly seen as a fine example of the traditional Inca City planning of Canchas or blocks, which are almost entirely intact and still occupied. The tour includes visits the village, terraces, temples, irrigation systems, granaries, the fortress and the temple of the Sun built by Pachacuty Inca, using Colla Indians from Lake Titicaca.. Day 9. Breakfast and Lunch. Machu Picchu, the lost city, is a complete city, set on a high mountain with terraced slopes falling away to the Urubamba River. For centuries it was buried in jungle, until Hiram Bingham stumbled upon it in 1911. Professional tour guides will explain about the history of the site and lead you through; staircases, terraces, temples, palaces, towers, and fountains. Afternoon transfer back to Cusco and transfer to hotel. Day 10. Breakfast. Transfer to Airport for flight to Lima or elsewhere. (we can add on an extension to the Amazon or other places). Note: If you prefer not to ride the tourist bus from Chivay to Puno, we can quote with a private transfer or you can transfer to Arequipa for overnight and then fly to Juliaca the next day. and transfer to Puno |
Price per person, in US$ for 2021: Hotels (Arequipa + Colca + Puno + Cusco) With Casa Andina Premium + Aranwa + Casa Andina Premium + Aranwa = $3224 in single, $2209 in double With Meliana + Colca Inn + Hacienda Plaza + Abittare = $2217 in single, $1736 in double Can quote with other hotels or hotel combinations or with private day tours. Subtract $52 per person if you prefer slow boat on lake tour.
Prices include airport transfers, hotels with breakfasts, group tours mentioned, tourist bus transfers to and from Puno as mentioned, entrance fees, 6 lunches. Prices do not include flights 
"Probably the best overall vacation yet! The bus to Puno was great - we had a really interesting, totally enthusiastic tiny little guide to get us from one point to the next. For some reason Jeff & Cheri misunderstood that we would be getting off at several stops and were very pleasantly surprised. The Andean Explorer passed by as we were eating lunch - no wonder they had no spots - they only had 2 passenger cars!! Oh, well, the bus was great and we certainly spent that money elsewhere! Lake Titicaca was fascinating and Taquile Island was just beautiful - the fresh trout & quinoa soup lunch was the best ever. Oh - and we’re happy we had time to visit the funeral towers - also fascinating. The only real thing that impressed us about the cities of Puno and Juliaca was the traffic - insane - it closely rivaled what we feel India would be like. We had perfect weather the entire time and even “got” to experience the tremors from a 5.4 Valparaiso earthquake yesterday during the layover in Santiago. Thanks again for all the help - next task is to sort through about 950 photos!! " Susan |
