Cultural Machu Picchu

Day 1 – Arrive to Cusco airport, where our private vehicle, driver, and English speaking guide will all be waiting for you!  Beautiful, two hour drive transfer to your hotel in Ollantaytambo with unlimited photo stops along the scenic drive. Check into your hotel, relax, optional town walks with guide, or spend your time on your own if you wish

Day 2 – After breakfast of local fresh fruit, coffee, breads and eggs take a short walk through town to the spectacular Inca fortress, perhaps the Inca’s second most impressive site besides Machu Picchu. The massive, fitted stone walls will amaze the most jaded of travelers, as will the views of town and the surrounding mountains. After lunch, there are two choices:  either a short hike down to the Urubamba river and another Inca site that is rarely visited, or a more relaxing afternoon in town featuring your choice of a Peruvian cooking class, ancient weaving skills class, or one of our pioneering “visit with a local family” where you can just hang out with a local family at their farm just a short distance outside of town.

Day 3 – Today is a nice mix of seeing the huge sacred valley by car, along with a fair amount of walking around a few different Inca sites. We will drive first to the village of Chincheros, known for its colonial church, Inca stoneworks, an artisan souvenir market, and also exhibitions of the ancient skills of weaving textiles by hand on a loom. Next, you will visit the famous “Salt Mines” of Maras, a visually stunning landscape of natural salt deposits hundreds of years old that were shaped by the Incas and still produce salt today. Then, a short drive to Moray, a series of circular structures built by the Incas that you can either appreciate just from above, or spend a fair amount of time walking down and into them.

Day 4 – Pisac is one of the most well known Inca sites and is also known for their daily craft and artisan market in the center of town. After breakfast we will make the hour drive along the beautiful Sacred Valley to visit first the Inca site of Pisac, featuring some of the finest quality stonework on par with Machu Picchu itself. This is a large site that takes a couple hours to properly walk through, afterwards we’ll have lunch down in town and then check out the market. On the way back to your hotel, we have the option of stopping at a small farm that raises llamas and other Andean animals and makes a nice visit.

Day 5 – Its finally time to visit Machu Picchu, one of the 7 Wonders of the World!  By now you will be fully acclimated, and settled in to the rhythm of Peru culture, familiar with Inca stonework, and ready to fully appreciate its splendor. Because make no mistake, no matter how many pictures you have seen or how crowded you might worry that it is, a visit to Machu Picchu remains one of the most spectacular days one can spend anywhere. We never get tired of it, its amazing! Take the train through the jungle to Aguas Calinetes, and the included bus up to the site itself, visit as long as you want with your knowledgeable and licensed guide, then back down and train back to Ollantaytambo

Day 6 – Today you are going to Cusco, the former capital of the Incas, and explore this impressive city with its steep, cobblestoned streets and pretty incredible Inca palaces on many corner. You’ll have time to explore the famous site of Sacsayhuaman, the stunning foundation of an immense Inca structure, as well as a gourmet lunch in one the many excellent restaurants here. There are a variety of things to see right in the center depending on your preferences, which the guide will help facilitate as they are truly experts in Cusco as it is their home! Then another outstanding meal at dinner and there is plenty of nightlife afterward if you are interested. Stay in a beautiful Cusco hotel.

Day 7 – After breakfast, depending on the time of your departing flight we will have time for a final walk around Cusco to do some more people-watching, take photos in the impressive early morning light, or pick up some last minute souvenirs. Transfer to the airport with your guide in private transportation for your flight back to Lima, and be sure to ask for a window seat on the right hand side of the plane for amazing views of the Andes!