Embark on one of the greatest adventures of your life and join us for this cultural, adventure and sightseeing retreat in Peru and Bolivia, South America.
Take the chance to connect with a culture so rich in traditions dating back millennia, and to explore a uniquely imposing and diverse landscape dominated by mysterious deserts, canyons and Andean mountains.
Peru has it all.
Bold and brash, Bolivia lifts travellers to its dizzying heights with stunning scenery, legendary landmarks and a rich, indigenous heritage.
Bolivia is an energetic, enigmatic piece of South America – alive with passion, awash with colour, connected to the past but living very much in the present. Soak in thermal baths surrounded by erupting geysers and desert; marvel at ruins on Lake Titicaca’s Island of the Sun (the mythical birthplace of Inca civilization) and, of course, check out the mega salt-lick of the Salar de Uyuni – it’s like being on a snowfield…but with flamingos!
Upon your arrival, you will need to go through customs control which may take around up to 1 hour. Our Assistant will be waiting for you with a sign once through arrivals. Travel time from the airport should be around 45 minutes depending on delays and traffic.Your hotel is situated in the best part of the city with short walking distances to the parks, ocean-front and beaches, banks and currency exchange shops, supermarkets and plenty of cafes and restaurants to choose from, too!
Today you will be picked up by our driver and English speaking guide to take you on a personal tour of the city and especially the attractions of down-town Lima including the Presidents Palace and main squares of San Martin and Plaza Mayor. We then continue to the airport and take a flight to Cusco is the late afternoon (between 3.30 and 4.30pm)You then will meet one of our Cusco team and transfer 20 minutes to your hotel located a block to the main square.
The guide will come and meet you and help you to explore the most interesting places on foot. By walking, it is easy to get to most popular spots such as the Cathedral, Koricancha temple, San Pedro market, the Bohemian part of Cusco known as San Blas, and the famous pedestrianized stone street of ‘hatumrumiyoc’. Cusco historical centre is relatively concise and takes only some minutes to cross the main blocks and cobbled streets. However it is elevated at 11000ft and up and downhill on many streets so we suggest to take everything slowly. In the afternoon, you have some free time but if you would like to do any extra activities such as horse ride, cookery class, visit the nearby temples or Inca Planetarium then let us know.
We start by driving out to Chinchero – a town famous for ruins and traditional textile/weaving workshops and handicrafts. Here you can learn about traditional weaving and the different types of Andean animals that the wool comes from. We will also see the Chinchero ruins and then head to the famous pre-Inkan Salt Terraces of Maras where Salt is still being mined today. For those who want to, there is the option to hike down into the Sacred Valley and finishing at our restaurant for lunch, in order to take more photos. The hike is not difficult and all downhill and lasts about 45 minutes. The transport would take approximately the same time to get there by road. At around 12.30pm we arrive in Urubamba and the heart of the Sacred Valley where we take some lunch. Typical regional food in buffet format overlooking some pretty landscapes of garden and the river, before moving on to our final stop of the day Ollantaytambo around 2pm.
We take a train at around 8.30am and continue to Aguas Calientes /Machu Picchu village in 1 hour and 40 minutes. From here, we continue by shuttle bus (25 minutes) up to the ruins at 10.30am and enter the ruins around 11am. Your guided tour normally lasts up to 2 hours covering all the main temples and most important buildings of the Inca citadel. You will then return back down by the shuttle bus and have lunch in the town before embarking on the 3.20 or 4.20pm train back to Ollantaytambo, and transfer from there back to Cusco in time for a dinner.
Today, you have a short time in the morning to do any last minute visits or shopping then we will fly to La Paz. Upon arrival in La Paz we will have the opportunity for a dinner and typical show.
After breakfast, the guide should meet you and take you on foot around the places of the city for example a tour of San Francisco church, Witches market, Murillo Square, Executive’s and Legislative’s Palace, Metropolitan Cathedral, Belvedere point Killi Killi, and a cable car ride to admire the city. If time we will take cable-car ride within the city! Afterwards we can drive to Moon Valley names after Neil Armstrong felt it somewhat similar to landscapes on the moon. We will also offer a ride by cable car to get a over-view of the city.
Free evening.
SALAR DE UYUNI SALT FLATS TOUR DAY TOUR
The magical Salt Flats of Uyuni is one of Bolivias top attractions and it really feel’s like you could be on the surface of another planet.
At 10am we commence the tour.
We will first visit the train cemetery where you can see the old rusting trains from decades ago. After this we proceed to Colchani and witness how the salt is processed before we arrive to the salt flats themselves and see the "Ojos de Sal" where water bubbles up through the salt plains. We will see where the salt has been placed in mounds ready to be transported, the original salt hotel (no longer used for guests) and visit the Inca Huasi island to see the giant cacti and have great views of the salt flats all around. There will be plenty of time for taking amazing photos and catching a sunset before we return to the hotel.
Land cruisers to take you across the salt flats.
With its unique setting, you are easily able to make super-imposed photos
After breakfast, we will leave to the airport at 7.30am. The drive takes around 10 minutes. Flight departs at 9.15am and arrives to La Paz one-hour later.
We will then leave to return to Lake Titicaca in around 4 hours, on the way we have a boat transfer across to the peninsula at Tiquina . This only takes a few minutes. Usually one ferry is for the bus and the other for the passengers. The ideal option for today is to being snacks as there is little options for lunch and we need to consider the time to cover the road-distance in order to get to Copacabana in day-light hours.
We then continue on to the small town of Copacabana on the shores of Bolivias Lake Titicaca by around 4pm.
After breakfast we make the trip out on Lake Titicaca to the biggest Island “Isla De Sol”.
On the Island there are light trails for walking and some old ruins, time for lunch included as part of the tour.
After we come back to Copacabana, we must make the return to Peru with a 30 minute transfer to the
border at Kasani. Once we are stamped out/in. We continue by road another 2.5 hours to the Luquina
peninsula.
Here we will meet the familes of the community for a lovely overnight stay in a pretty setting. Likely you will meet the local family of Guido and Sara and their 3 daughters and their neighbours. They have built a lovely place with the help of all the community. Hopefully we will get a lovely sunset too! They will then serve us a delicious typical dinner (some of their own produce).
After a hearty local breakfast (there is an option to take some Kayaks around the shores of the lake BEFORE breakfast) then we can take a motorised boat to Uros Floating Islands located near to the city of Puno. We will go with the guide who will explain about the lifestyle of the Aymara people.
At around mid-day we should arrive to Puno port. We can either take a quick lunch or if short of time buy snacks for the journey to Colca Canyon
At around 1pm, we have to transfer 5 and a half hours by private van to Colca Canyon (Including tome for short breakfs on the way)
We should then arrive at our hotel around 6.30pm in the town of Chivay.
After an hour to rest, we can enjoy a local show and dinner typical of the region in the nearby town of Chivay.
After some time for breakfast, we then go to a view point where we can see Condors fly. There is a light trek involved, along the side of the Canyon which travels between several different viewpoints. Total time to walk on this well paved section is around 30-45 minutes. Welcome to the worlds second deepest Canyon!
Our view point to see the fabulous Condors in flight.
Afterwards, we tour back from some of the famous towns along the Canyon and to Chivay finishing around 11am we return back for a buffet lunch (included) before taking the journey to Arequipa by road (4 hours).
We climb up to a high pass and a panoramic viewpoint to 7 volcanoes which can be seen on a clear day as well as hopefully spotting the native Vicuna’s, a wild specie of the Camelid family - related to Alpacas and Llamas…
Your guide can meet you after breakfast and then take you on a walking tour of the city. Afterwards, you could also go to visit the Santa Catalina Monestary, or visit the Mummy musuem – at an additional cost and you will need to allow at least 1 hour for both.
After breakfast, you will transfer to the airport for a flight arriving late afternoon. You will then be picked up and transferred to Miraflores and same hotel as the beginning of the trip.
It's time to say "good bye" to an incredible journey. Transfer to airport in time with your international flight home. You will need to leave the hotel 3.5 or 4 hours before the flight departs, depending on time of the day and traffic.
