Machu Picchu Express, Sightseeing Trip - Peru

Upon arrival into Lima International Airport, you will be met by our representative and private driver and will be transferred to your hotel. Our representative will assist you with check-in procedures and provide you with a detailed itinerary, vouchers covering all the services included in your tour and additional information on the organization of your Peru trip. You will also receive a contact information sheet with all the hotel details as well as our offices contact information for each city and a 24-hour emergency number. Meals Included: None

Get ready for a busy morning, starting with a guided sightseeing tour to the most attractive and important sites in Lima, the “City of Kings”. The tour includes Lima’s Historical Center, passing by Plaza San Martin, Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, the City Hall, the Cathedral and its Religious Art Museum (closed on Sunday and Saturday pm, Santo Domingo Convent is provided instead on these days) as well as San Francisco Monastery and its famous underground crypts known as the Catacombs. Finally, visit the residential Districts of San Isidro and Miraflores, passing by the Huaca Pucllana, a Ceremonial and Administrative Center of the Lima Culture built in the II Century A.C. that the Incas considered as “Ñaupallaqta” or Sacred Town. Also visit El Olive Grove Park with olive trees brought from Spain in the XV Century, the Central Park of Miraflores and El Parque del Amor, or Peruvian Love Park. The Love Park, located on the cliffs of Miraflores overlooking the Pacific Ocean, is a beautiful natural lookout, where you can see the waves of the Pacific rolling in towards the coast below and the Morro Solar in Chorrillos at a distance, with the coast extending further along the bay until the port of Callao. This is also the perfect spot for a romantic view of the setting sun in the late afternoon, right in front of you. Meals Included: Breakfast

Your local tour guide will meet you at the hotel lobby at a pre-determined time and transfer you to the Lima Airport to board your flight to Cusco. Our representative will assist you with check -in procedures and all departure formalities. Flight Lima – Cusco: Many tout this flight path as one of the most spectacular scenic flights to be experienced anywhere in the world. During the course of the flight the major glaciated peaks of the Cordillera Vilcabamba and Vilcanota ranges can be seen, surrounded by an agricultural patchwork quilt of tranquil Andean fields and small hamlets (some of which we will explore in the coming days). The approach to Cusco Airport is unique in that it requires the pilot to make a sweeping 180-degree turn to enter the valley, providing a staggering panorama of the Inca city center. Half Day Arqueological Cusco City Tour This afternoon you’ll enjoy a guided sightseeing tour of Cusco, with your guide to the first ruin site (Tambomachay). As you walk to and visit each archaeological site, your guide will explain the hist ory, architecture, and local traditions. The four sites are Tambomachay, Puca Pucara, Q’enko, and Sacsayhuaman. After exploring the last ruin site you will walk down to the Plaza de Armas in Cusco City. With examples of Inca history and architecture. Visit the city’s most important historical monuments that reveal the influence of different cultures: The Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral dating from Spanish vice-royalty times, built with great slabs of red granite renaissance style in contrast with the baroque style silver work of its interior and, the Santo Domingo church built upon the foundations of the Inca temple Qorikancha, dedicated to worship the Sun God. Meals Included: Breakfast

Morning transfer to the train station for an amazing train journey to the famous Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu, the great mountain-top city abandoned by the Inca Empire, reclaimed by the jungle and lost to humanity until its rediscovery in 1911. Along the way you will enjoy the changing landscape as you travel from Andean highlands to the beginnings of the jungle (“eyebrow of the jungle”), before finally arriving at the town of Aguas Calientes. From here, board the bus that will take you on a 30 minute ride up to the citadel of Machu Picchu, or Lost City of the Incas, which sits upon the summit bearing the same name, and is one of the most representative and recognized examples of Incan architecture. A guided tour of the Citadel includes the Main Plaza, the Circular Tower, the Sa cred Sun Dial, the Royal Quarters, the Temple of the Three Windows and various burial grounds. The legendary ‘Lost City’ is without a doubt one of the world’s most impressive archaeological sites. Built by the Incas on the summit of “Machu Picchu” (old peak), overlooking the deep canyon of the Urubamba river in a semi-tropical area 120 Kms (75 miles) from the city of Cusco. It sits on a mountain site of extraordinary beauty, in the middle of a tropical mountain forest; Machu Picchu was probably the most ama zing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its height, with its giant walls, terraces and ramps, which appear as though they have been cut naturally in the continuous rock escarpments. Machu Picchu is also one of the Inca’s best kept secrets, since they did not leave written records and Spanish chronicles make no mention of the citadel, it remains a mystery. After the tour, we will stop at a local restaurant for lunch. Afterwards you will have a little time to explore the town of Aguas Calientes before boarding your train back to Cusco. Upon your arrival at the train Station, a transport service will be waiting to take you back to your hotel in the city. Meals Included: Breakfast, Buffet Lunch

After enjoying breakfast at your hotel. At the scheduled time you will be shuttled from the hotel to the airport to board your flight back to Lima. Our representative will assist you with check -in procedures and then to your connecting flight back home. We hope that you have enjoyed you stay with us and the fond memories of Peru. Meals Included: Breakfast