Peru and Chile are
blessed with some of the finest historical,
cultural and scenic sights in all of South
America, and this program includes some of
the best the region has to offer.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Chile's Lake District
• Lima famous Gold Museum
• Cuzco, ancient capital of the Incas
• Ruins of Machu Picchu
• Wineries of Santiago
ITINERARY IN DETAIL:
DAY 01 Arrive LIMA
On arrival in Lima, you will be met and transferred to your hotel in Miraflores, a suburb of the city. Located close to the ocean, it has excellent restaurants, a wonderful park and good shops. This is one of the social centres of Lima.
Overnight - Hotel
DAY 02 LIMA
This morning you will be taken on a guided tour of parts of the city. Founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535, Lima has a superb combination of Spanish colonial and 19th century European architecture. There will also be a chance to visit one of Lima's excellent gold museums.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
DAY 03 Fly LIMA-CUZCO
This morning, you’ll be transferred to the airport for your flight to Cuzco. On arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel for a few hours of rest, essential to initiate successful acclimatization. Cuzco sits at an altitude of 3,416 metres (11, 207 feet). Its name means “navel” in Quechua, and it was considered the centre of the Inca world and was the hub from which the famous Inca road network radiated.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
DAY 04 CUZCO
This morning, you will take an easy walking tour of the city. Every alleyway you enter or corner you turn brings another surprise or enigma in the form of the superbly constructed Inca walls or the more architecturally extravagant colonial churches and palaces. The city has seen many changes since Francisco Pizarro's men took it with apparent ease in November 1533, and you will be able to identify the juxtaposition of three cultures from different time periods: the Quechua Indians, the Spanish conquistadors and the modern mixed, or Cholos. You'll also visit the ruins at Sacsayhuaman, spectacularly set above the city.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 05 CUZCO-MACHU PICCHU
Early this morning, board the tourist train for the scenic 4-hour journey to Machu Picchu, the “lost city of the Incas.” Walk its terraces, learn about its construction techniques and visualize the lives of the craftsmen who inhabited it. After your first look at the ruins, you will be transferred to your hotel, located in Aguas Calientes.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
DAY 06 MACHU PICCHU
Machu Picchu, built almost 700 years ago by Incan ruler Pachacuti Yupanqui, is one of the most extraordinary places in the world. Situated 8,000 feet above sea level, these pre-Columbian ruins comprise 18 square kilometers of terraced stonework linked by 3,000 steps. About 1,200 people lived in and around this lofty complex of 200 buildings constructed from granite blocks cut with bronze or stone tools, and smoothed with sand. The blocks fit together perfectly without mortar, with joints so tight that even the thinnest of knife blades can't be forced between the stones. Machu Picchu was never found by the Spanish conquistadors when they invaded in the 16th century; thus it was virtually intact when discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911.
You will awaken early to experience the early morning light over Machu Picchu and explore the ruins before the train arrives with day visitors. The afternoon is at leisure. An optional hike up the steep peak of Huayna Picchu is available, with dramatic vistas of the ruins, the Urubamba Valley, and the Cordillera Vilcabamba.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
DAY 07 MACHU PICCHU-SACRED VALLEY-CUZCO
After breakfast, you’ll depart from your hotel to catch the train for a visit to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Your first stop is Ollantaytambo where you will visit a massive fortress. Here you will see Inca canchas, enclosures of multi-family living quarters that share just one exit to the street, ingenious stonework, cobbled streets, and an extensive communal water system that survives to this day. At Pisac, you will visit the largest fortress-city complex of the Incas and one of the largest in ancient America. Located high up on a ridge overlooking the valley, its ruins extend from a fortress to a temple complex where you can see some of the finest Inca stonework in existence. You’ll have a late evening return to Cuzco.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 08 Fly CUZCO-LIMA-SANTIAGO
This morning, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Lima in time to connect with your flight to Santiago. Santiago is the capital of Chile, with three of South America’s top universities. It has one of the most beautiful settings of South American cities, with snow-capped Andes in full view. Founded in 1541, it has skyscrapers, but also parks and colonial architecture. An afternoon city tour will include the Plaza de Armas and the cathedral, the Presidential Palace and perhaps sweeping views from San Cristobal Hill, via cable-car.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 09 SANTIAGO
Today’s excursion will take you to visit the coast at Viña del Mar. Viña del Mar is one of Chile's most fashionable beach resorts. The town was founded in 1874 as a weekend retreat and garden residence for the wealthy elite from Valparaíso and Santiago, and it has remained a top beach destination with its attractive homes, manicured lawns, and golden beaches dotted with colourful surfboards.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 10 SANTIAGO
Visit the historic and civil centre (Sector Club Hípico, Moneda Palace, and Plaza de Armas) where you will see one of the most important museums of its kind in Latin America, the museum of pre-Colombian art. After lunch, you will visit San Cristobal Hill, with its Saint Christopher Statue overlooking the city of Santiago. Afterwards, you will visit one of the local artisan centres. Dinner will be at a local restaurant.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
DAY 11 Fly SANTIAGO-PUERTO MONTT-Drive PUERTO VARAS
This morning you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Puerto Montt. On arrival, you will continue to Puerto Varas, a beautiful spot in the Chilean Lake district.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
DAY 12-13 VARAS
Over the next two days, you will visit some of the most spectacular sights in the lake district of Chile. Some of the highlights will include: Petrohue on Lago Todos; Los Santos, located right at the base of Orsono; and Frutillar, a lakeside resort with an interesting colonial museum-village. German settlers, whose descendants still live there, colonized this area.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 14 Fly PUERTO MONTT-SANTIAGO-DEPART
This afternoon you’ll be transferred to the airport for your flight to Santiago in time to connect with your flight back to North America.
Meals: Breakfast
FACT FILE
• Meals as specified
• First Class accommodations
• Air-conditioned transport
• English-speaking guides
• Entrance fees to monuments
• Internal flights Lima-Cuzco-Lima-Santiago-Puerto
Montt-Santiago
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click map for larger image |
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| Tour Itinerary |
| Day 1 |
Arrive Lima |
| Day 2 |
Lima |
| Day 3 |
Lima-Cuzco |
| Day 4 |
Cuzco |
| Day 5 |
Cuzco-Machu Pichu |
| Day 6 |
Machu Pichu |
| Day 7 |
Machu Pichu-Sacred Valley-Cuzco |
| Day 8 |
Cuzco-Lima-Santiago |
| Day 9 |
Santiago |
| Day 10 |
Santiago |
| Day 11 |
Santiago-Puerto Montt-Puerto Varas |
| Day 12 |
Puerto Varas |
| Day 13 |
Puerto Varas |
| Day 14 |
Puerto Varas-Santiago-Depart |
| Tour Information |
| Cost: |
US$ 3995\C$ 3995 |
| Length: |
14 days |
| Limit: |
16 |
| Departing: |
Lima |
| Deposit: |
US $ 500\Can $ 500 |
| Note: |
Please Note:
We try our utmost to confirm the hotels as listed in this itinerary, however they may be subject to change. If a change is necessary, a hotel of similar quality will be substituted.
This trip itinerary represents the most current information available, however the price and itinerary are subject to change without prior notice.
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