A journey through
Peru is a walk through time, from the mystery
of pre-Inca civilizations through to the monumental
engineering of the Inca emperors and the elegant
architecture of the Spanish conquistadors.
The astonishing breadth and diversity of Peru
is unsurpassed. Virgin Andean peaks tower
above crystalline glacial lakes, and the majestic
heritage left by early civilizations and the
vibrant traditional culture of their modern-day
descendants provide an unparalleled travel
experience.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Incredible Machu Picchu
• Train journey through the Sacred Valley
• The delightful former Inca capital
of Cuzco
• Museums of Lima
DETAILED ITINERARY
DAY 01 Arrive LIMA
You will be met upon arrival and transferred to your hotel. This morning is at leisure to freshen up and recover from your flight. Later, you will be taken on a guided tour of the city. Founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535, Lima has a superb combination of Spanish Colonial and 19th century European architecture. The tour will include a visit to the National Museum for the Archaeology, Anthropology and History of Peru - one of the country's most important museums, with collections from prehistory, through colonial times, and up to the Republican era. This evening, enjoy a special welcome dinner.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Dinner
DAY 02 LIMA
Continue your city tour. This morning, visit Lima’s famous Gold Museum, and have lunch at Rosa Nautica, built on an old British-style pier and renowned for it seafood cuisine. You will visit the Larco Herrera Museum, known for its excellent pottery display.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 03 Fly LIMA-TRUJILLO
Transfer to the airport and fly to Trujillo. On arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. This afternoon you will have a city tour, including the Sun and Moon Temples. This major archaeological site was built at the time of the Moche culture (100 BC-650 AD), just east of the Cerro Blanco (White Mountain), and next to a small tributary of the Moche River. It occupies a central location within the extensive Moche Valley. The complex sits about three miles inland, southeast of Trujillo, and is considered by many scholars to be the former capital of the Moche State.
The complex is dominated by two huge adobe brick buildings: the Pyramid of the Sun, or Huaca del Sol, and the platform called Huaca de la Luna, or Temple of the Moon. On the quarter-mile-wide, open plain between them, researchers have found many graves, as well as evidence of large-scale manufacturing, covered by a layer of sediment up to 10 feet thick.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
DAY 04 TRUJILLO
Today you have a full day city tour, including a visit to Chan Chan and Huanchaco. Peru's oldest city, Trujillo, rejoices in the name of "City of Eternal Spring" because of its mild and temperate climate. The city was founded in 1534 - before Lima, as locals are quick to point out - and quickly grew prosperous as a result of the fertility of the surrounding countryside. The Spanish, of course, were by no means the first people to notice this. The Moche valley, in which Trujillo is situated, has been continuously inhabited for over 12,000 years, and Trujillo is far from being the first city in the area. An essential visit is to the archaeological complex just up the road at Chan Chan, the remains of what was probably the largest adobe city in the world. The Chimu people, descendents of the Moche, were the architects of this pre-Columbian city. At its peak, Chan Chan was home to 100,000 inhabitants. Chan Chan actually consists of 10 smaller self-contained areas that were created in succession by the Chimu kings. The entire compound was surrounded by 20 kilometres of profusely adorned walls standing 12 kilometres high. The Chimu made pottery from molds, and created pieces with a burnished black finish. Fishing was their main occupation, and their artwork reflects this. The appearance of monkeys on their pottery is evidence that a trade system existed with the jungle cultures of Peru. The dogs depicted on their pottery still exist in Peru today. They are black-skinned, and basically hairless, looking a bit like a piece of Chimu pottery themselves!
After all this sightseeing, you could probably do with some relaxation time, and the beaches around Trujillo are just the ticket! Huanchaco is the best known of the nearby resorts, and with good reason. The name comes from the Mochica for "beautiful lagoon of the golden fish" and it is a great fun resort - there's always lots going on, both on and off the beach. One thing to watch out for is the locals “surfing” in their "caballitos de totora" or "little horses of the sea." These totora reed canoes-cum-surfboards have been around for centuries and there are always plenty of people willing to give you lessons.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 05 Drive TRUJILLO-CHICLAYO
This morning, you will drive to Chiclayo. Another coastal town, Chiclayo is located only 315 miles from Ecuador. It is a large city with a metropolitan feel. In the Chiclayo market, however, you will find more of a village flavour. Everything from open-air meat carvers, to clothing and household goods vendors, to haircutting stations can be found at the market. Particularly interesting are the bruja (witchcraft) stalls, with their selections of pieces of animals, plant parts, potions, powders, and books advising on how to cure all ills.
En route to Chiclayo, permission pending, we will stop at the El Brujo (“The Sorcerer”) archaeological site, located approximately 35 kilometres north of Trujillo. This fascinating site consists of three huacas built by the Moche people. Huaco Cao Viejo is a stepped pyramid with a central court that was probably used primarily for religious ceremonies. Excavations at the El Brujo complex have revealed evidence of human sacrifice, most probably made to the "Decapitator" god Aia-Paec.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 06 CHICLAYO
This morning, you will depart on a half-day tour of Sipan Huaca Rajada. Your visit will include the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum.
The complex of Huaca Rajada (“Split Pyramid”) lies in the upper-middle section of the Lambayeque valley, south of the Reque River. It derives its name from a large cut made through the site by road building. This huaca consists of two large, badly- eroded pyramids to the east of the road and a smaller platform on the opposite side of the road. Recent investigations have centred on the smaller platform, often called simply "Huaca de Sipan," which belongs to the Moche culture and was used for burials of people of the highest rank within Moche society. Here, one of the most famous pre-Columbian tombs—the tomb of the Lord of Sipan - was unearthed, completely untouched.
The Lord of Sipan was a warrior priest, who died around 250 AD at 35-45 years of age. He was buried in full regalia, including pectoral shields made of shell, bone and stone, several blankets adorned with ornate, gilded, copper platelets, two necklaces of very fine metalwork, feather ornaments, headdresses and three sets of ear spools inlaid with turquoise. Also buried with him were many ceremonial utensils such as tropical seashells, silver and gold rattles, knives, golden death masks, and a sceptre-like object shaped like an inverted pyramid held in his right hand. His coffin takes up the central position in the burial chamber, which has additional burial niches on all sides. Six other individuals were buried in the tomb with him: a 9-10-year-old child placed at the head of his coffin, two robust men on the long sides but in opposite orientations, and three 15-25-year-old women at the head and foot of his coffin. Their coffins were made of cane. Some of these individuals had had a foot removed, and the robust men, possibly warriors, may even have been ritually sacrificed on the occasion of the burial of the Lord. The young women, however, appear to have been long dead by the time the tomb was built and hence most likely were reburied at the time the Lord was laid to rest. The funerary ritual included the slaughtering of a dog and two llamas and the deposition of several dozen vessels that probably contained food and drink. The llamas were placed at the bottom of the chamber and the offerings in specially constructed niches in the sides of the rectangular chamber.
This afternoon, you will visit the Chiclayo market.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 07 Fly CHICLAYO-LIMA-CUZCO
Tranfer to the airport for your flight to Lima. On arrival, connect with the flight to Cuzco. You will be met upon arrival and transferred to your hotel.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
DAY 08 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, once the capital of the extensive Inca Empire, has seen many changes since Francisco Pizarro's men took it with such apparent ease in November 1533. You will visit the huge ruins site at Sacsayhuaman, spectacularly set above the city of Cuzco.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 09 CUZCO-MACHU PICCHU
You will have an early morning wake-up for your extremely pretty 4-hour train journey to Machu Picchu, where you will have the rest of the day to explore the ruins. Late in the afternoon you will descend the mountain to your hotel at the base.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 10 MACHU PICCHU
There will be a full-day tour of the ruins, with an optional hike up the steep peak of Huayna Picchu for dramatic vistas of the ruins, the Urubamba Valley, and the Cordillera Vilcabamba. Or you may choose to take a short hike up to the Gateway of the Sun, from which hikers on the four-day Inca Trail gain their first views of Machu Picchu.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
DAY 11 MACHU PICCHU-SACRED VALLEY-CUZCO
After breakfast, you will 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 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 one can see some of the finest Inca stonework in existence. You return to Cuzco for the evening farewell dinner.
Overnight - Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
DAY 12 Fly CUZCO-LIMA-DEPART
On arrival in Lima, you will transfer to the city for shopping and free time. Rooms are provided at a hotel for refreshing. Later, transfer to the airport to connect with your flight back home.
Meals: Breakfast
FACT FILE
• Deluxe accommodations
• Daily breakfast
• Air-conditioned vehicles
• English-speaking local guides
• Entrance fees to monuments
• Trip extensions available upon request
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| Tour Itinerary |
| Day 1 |
Arrive Lima |
| Day 2 |
Lima |
| Day 3 |
Fly Lima-Trujillo |
| Day 4 |
Trujillo |
| Day 5 |
Trujillo-Chiclaya |
| Day 6 |
Chiclayo |
| Day 7 |
Fly Chiclayo-Lima-Cuzco |
| Day 8 |
Cuzco |
| Day 9 |
Cuzco-Machu Picchu |
| Day 10 |
Machu Picchu |
| Day 11 |
Machu Picchu-Sacred Valley-Cuzco |
| Day 12 |
Fly Cuzco-Lima-Depart |
| Tour Information |
| Cost: |
US$ 2995\Can $ 2995 |
| Length: |
12 days |
| Departing: |
Lima |
| Deposit: |
US $ 500\Can $ 500
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