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Cusco and Machu Picchu ToursCusco lies in a region of exceptionally beautiful Andean scenery at an altitude of 3400 meters above sea level and is the gateway to Machu Picchu.
Most of central streets are lined with massive stone walls built by the Incas and now form the foundations of the Colonial Cusco. There are many places to visit; the Plaza de Armas, The Cathedral, numerous colonial churches much more ornate and better preserved than in other cities, museums, workshops and numerous Inca sites. Cusco is also the starting point for many adventure tours, like treks, multipsort tours, bike tours and rafting tours.
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Sample Traditional Packages: can mix and match
or request other hotels, such as
Explora Valle Sagrado or the Skylodge
Cusco ExpressDAY 1 | CUSCO / CITY TOUR AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
On arrival in Cusco a transportation service will take you to your hotel. In the afternoon, enjoy a guided tour of the former capital of the Inca Empire. The tour starts with a visit to Santo Domingo Convent, a large Renaissance-baroque complex, which was built over the Inca Coricancha temple. It was one of the most important temples dedicated to worshiping the sun, and its foundations are still prominent at the base of the convent. Ancient chronicles say the temple was covered in gold leaf and filled with golden representations of nature. Then, visit the Cathedral, the most imposing monument of the Main Square. Head to the hills above Cusco to visit the remains of the fortress of Sacsayhuaman, whose impressive ramparts offer a stunning panoramic view of Cusco, and the ruins of the temple and amphitheater of Qenqo, where it is believed the Incas practiced agricultural rituals. Admire Qenqo and then finally visit Puka Pukara (‘Red fortress’ in Quechua) an Inca military complex located on a prominent hill. Its dwellings, squares, bathrooms, aqueducts, walls, and towers can still be appreciated. Afterwards, return to your hotel.
DAY 2 | CUSCO - MACHU PICCHU - CUSCO You will be picked up and transferred to the Ollantaytambo station to board the train to Aguas Calientes, the nearest town to Machu Picchu. Take the train to Aguas Calientes, travel observing the Andean landscapes during a journey of one hour and a half. Our guide will be waiting for you and will accompany you until the departure point of the bus. Afterwards, take a bus for the 25-minute journey up to Machu Picchu, for a guided tour of the "Lost city of the Incas". Along with the guided tour, you will have the opportunity to learn about the origins of this impressive city and explore its most outstanding monuments. After completing the tour, you will take the bus to Aguas Calientes, where you will enjoy lunch at your selected restaurant. After lunch, you can explore the charming village and, when you're ready, board the train back. The trip by train will take an hour and a half and it will take you back to Poroy, where our transportation will accompany you back to your hotel in Cusco. *Lunch time could vary depending on the entrance to the citadel. **Due to the citadel’s limited capacity we recommend that you confirm your booking as soon as possible to proceed with the ticket purchase. Tickets are subject to availability.
DAY 3 | CUSCO DEPARTURE You will be transferred to the Cusco airport to take your departure flight.
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
Price per person in US$ for 2024
Historic Sacred ValleyDAY 1 | ARRIVAL CUSCO – SACRED VALLEY
Arrive at Cusco Airport and enjoy a comfortable transfer to your selected hotel in the Sacred Valley. En route to the hotel, following the road to Pisac, you will make a stop at the Inkariy Museum where you will learn about the pre-Columbian history and traditions of Peru. Upon arrival at your hotel, check in to your room and enjoy some free time to make use of the hotel facilities or to relax and recharge your batteries ready for the trip ahead.
DAY 2 | SACRED VALLEY: CHINCHERO, OLLANTAYTAMBO & LIVING MUSEUM OF YUCAY During the morning, you are picked up from your hotel to visit the town of Chinchero, a traditional Cusco urban centre located at an elevated point with a beautiful view of the valley. The inhabitants of this area preserve the artisan traditions and the inherited knowledge of the Incas and display them in their clothes and customs. In Chinchero there are also archaeological remains and a beautiful seventeenth-century church, one of the first Catholic buildings in Peru. Then, you are transferred to the Living Museum of Yucay, an Andean tradition interpretation centre with demonstrations of the production of textile work, adobe, pottery and silverware, following the techniques used by the ancestors. Also, residents of the museum include llamas, sheep and alpacas, and they can be fed! Upon arriving in Ollantaytambo, inhabited uninterruptedly since Inca times, have a superior Andean gastronomy experience in a restaurant and feel the true spirit of the Sacred Valley, transmitted in a cosy atmosphere! Later, climb the iconic fortress, built next to a mountain. At the end of this activity, you are transferred back to your hotel. *On Sundays, also visit the local market.
DAY 3 | SACRED VALLEY – MACHU PICCHU – AGUAS CALIENTES You will be picked up and transferred to the Ollantaytambo Station to board the train to Aguas Calientes, the nearest town to Machu Picchu. Take the train to Aguas Calientes, travel observing the Andean landscapes during a journey of one hour and a half. Our guide will be waiting for you and will accompany you until the departure point of the bus. Afterwards, take a bus for the 25-minute journey up to Machu Picchu for a tour of the "Lost city of the Incas". After completing the tour, you will take the bus to Aguas Calientes, where you will enjoy lunch at your selected restaurant. *Lunch time could vary depending on the entrance to the citadel. **Due to the citadel’s limited capacity we recommend that you confirm your booking as soon as possible to proceed with the ticket purchase. Tickets are subject to availability.
DAY 4 | AGUAS CALIENTES – CUSCO Today, you can optionally return to Machu Picchu. You may discover the views from Huayna Picchu, which is about 360 metres above Machu Picchu with an underground temple complex; and from Inti Punku, which offers even better views from about 390 metres above the citadel. Another option is the Inca Bridge, a secret military trail, which controls access to the citadel. In the afternoon, transfer to the Aguas Calientes station and take the train back to Ollantaytambo station. From here you will be transferred to your hotel in Cusco. **Kindly remind to purchase your tickets before your trip due to the limited capacity of the citadel. Entrances are subject to availability.
DAY 5 | CUSCO: CITY TOUR & NEARBY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES Enjoy a guided tour of the former capital of the Inca Empire. The tour starts with a visit to Santo Domingo Convent, a large Renaissance-baroque complex, which was built over the Inca Coricancha temple. It was one of the most important temples dedicated to worshiping the sun, and its foundations are still prominent at the base of the convent. Ancient chronicles say the temple was covered in gold leaf and filled with golden representations of nature. Then, visit the Cathedral, the most imposing monument of the Main Square. Head to the hills above Cusco to visit the remains of the fortress of Sacsayhuaman, whose impressive ramparts offer a stunning panoramic view of Cusco, and the ruins of the temple and amphitheater of Qenqo, where it is believed the Incas practiced agricultural rituals. Admire Qenqo and then finally visit Puka Pukara (‘Red fortress’ in Quechua) an Inca military complex located on a prominent hill. Its dwellings, squares, bathrooms, aqueducts, walls, and towers can still be appreciated. Afterwards, return to your hotel.
DAY 6 | CUSCO DEPARTURE After finishing your breakfast at the hotel, you will be transferred to Cusco’s airport to take your departure flight.
Sample 2024 rates per person in US$:
INCLUDED
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Other Interesting sites:
Moray - Inca Sophistication Challenges Nature. To the south of the Urubamba River, between Chincheros and Ollantaytambo, lies the plain of Maras, some 3500 meters above sea level. Here, just 6 Km from the village of Maras, and 33 Km from Cusco, one finds a group of earthworks built on different levels, which together resemble an amphitheater. Each of these circular structures has a diameter of 150 meters, and is built from concentric agricultural terraces which diminish in size from each level to the one below. The largest structure at Moray is 150 meters deep, and is formed by seven of the above-mentioned concentric rings. These are help in place by retaining walls linked by stone steps. Irrigation channels cross the site at different levels. Moray was a center for agricultural experimentation and control for the Incas who built it. Recent scientific experiments have shown that Moray's terraces are organized into sectors, each representing a characteristic microclimate. Investigations have confirmed that widely differing temperatures are found on each platform. The difference of average annual temperature between the top and the bottom reaches about 15C. (59F) in the main depression that is about 30 m. (100 feet) deep. Due climate conditions and many other characteristics, Moray was an important center of domestication, acclimatization and hybridization of wild vegetable species that were modified or adapted for human consumption. It is clear that Moray was used as a sort of experimental research station to study the performance of different crops planed in different microclimates, enabling the Incas to develop new strains to improve crop yield. Maras The Maras "salt works" to which some people call "salt mines" are constituted by about 3000 small pools with an average area of 5 square meters, constructed in a slope of the Qaqawiñay mountain. People fill up or irrigate the pools during the dry season every 3 days, with salty water emanating from the natural spring located on the top of the complex, so that when water evaporates the salt contained in it will slowly solidify. That process will be carried out approximately during one month, until a considerable volume of solid salt is obtained, about 10 cms. (4 inches) high from the floor. That solid salt is beaten thus granulated, then packed is plastic sacks and send to the region's markets; today that salt began being treated with iodine, thus, its consumption is not harmful. |
Cusco at First SightDAY 1 | ARRIVAL IN CUSCO
Arrive at Cusco airport and enjoy a comfortable transfer to your selected hotel.
DAY 2 | CUSCO / CITY TOUR AND NEARBY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES As in Cusco Express Tour
DAY 3 | CUSCO - SACRED VALLEY / CHINCHERO, LIVING MUSEUM OF YUCAY AND OLLANTAYTAMBO During the morning, you are picked up from your hotel to visit the town of Chinchero, a traditional Cusco urban center located at an elevated point with a beautiful view of the valley. The inhabitants of this area preserve the artisan traditions and the inherited knowledge of the Incas and display them in their clothes and customs. In Chinchero there are also archaeological remains and a beautiful seventeenth-century church, one of the first Catholic buildings in Peru. Then, you are transferred to the Living Museum of Yucay, an Andean traditions interpretation center with demonstrations of the production of textile work, adobe, pottery and silverware, following the techniques used by the ancestors. Also, residents of the museum include llamas, sheep and alpacas, and they can be fed! Upon arriving in Ollantaytambo, inhabited uninterruptedly since Inca times, have a superior Andean gastronomy experience in a restaurant and feel the true spirit of the Sacred Valley, transmitted in a cozy atmosphere! Later, climb the iconic fortress, built next to a mountain. At the end of this activity, you are transferred back to your hotel. *On Sundays, also visit the local market
DAY 4 | SACRED VALLEY - MACHU PICCHU - CUSCO As on Day 2 of Cusco Express tour *Lunch time could vary depending on the entrance to the citadel. **Due to the citadel’s limited capacity we recommend that you confirm your booking as soon as possible to proceed with the ticket purchase. Tickets are subject to availability.
DAY 5 | CUSCO DEPARTURE You will be transferred to the Cusco airport to take your departure flight.
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
Price per person in US$ for 2024:
Cusco, Sacred Valley |
| Hotels | single | double | triple |
| Comfort | $1406 | $794 | $781 |
| Standard | $1482 | $827 | $810 |
| Superior | $1595 | $876 | $850 |
| First Class | $1664 | $924 | $894 |
| Luxury | $2325 | $1285 | $1359 |
| Supp. for private services | $227 | $226 | $76 |
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
- Operated with a guide in Spanish and English
- Two nights of accommodation in Cusco, one night of accommodation in the Sacred Valley and one night of accommodation in Aguas Calientes( Machu Picchu Town)
- Daily breakfast in the hotel from day 2
- Lunch on day 2 in the Sacred Valley and on day 4 in Aguas Calientes( Machu Picchu Town)
- Box lunch on day 3 in the Inca Trail .
- Private transfers from/to the airport with a representative in Cusco.
- Shared transfers from and to the train and bus stations.
- Return bus ticket to Machu Picchu
- Train to Machu Picchu regular service (Voyager or Expedition). For luxury category, the superior train service (Vistadome or 360)
- All the visits mentioned in the above itinerary: Coricancha, Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Tambomachay and Puka Pukara in Cusco, Ollantaytambo and Living Museum of Yucay in Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu on day 4. Cusco Tourist Ticket (BTC ticket) included.
- Briefing before the Inca Trail
- First Aid Kit
- Oxygen
NOT INCLUDED
- Expenses of a personal nature, beverages and meals not stated in the program
- Tips for driver and guide
- Additional optional visits
- Mandatory supplementary for special dates like Easter Holidays, Inti Raymi, National Holidays, Christmas and New Year´s mentioned separately.
- International flights to Peru
- Domestic flights (we advise booking the first flights in the morning)
Combine your trip in the south and Machu Picchu with a trip to Kuelap - the "Machu Picchu of the North" and the 3rd highest waterfall in the world. The northern part of these itineraries can start in either Jaen, Chiclayo or Tarapoto and can end in either of those cities.
