Explore Cusco and Machu Picchu: A Journey Through Incan Wonders

Arrive at Cusco Airport and enjoy a comfortable transfer to your selected hotel. A guide will accompany you, offering useful information about the city attractions and assisting you along the way. Domestic flight from Lima to Cusco must arrive not later than 10:30 am. Noon arrivals are too late. Take the opportunity to rest and recover after the flight or head out into the city for your first glimpse of life in Peru. Alternatively, you can book our optional Half-Day South Valley Tour: Tipón, Pikillaqta, and Andahuaylillas: 

Half-Day South Valley Tour: Tipón, Pikillaqta and Andahuaylillas (private basis):

Unique tour that includes visits to the most important attractions between Cusco and Puno. Being the first to explore breath-taking archeological sites Tipón and its impressive rural colonial mansion where the Incas constructed an impressive irrigation system in harmony with nature that is still perceived by the surrounding population. In Pikillacta, the best-preserved pre-Inca cities we´ll follow the remains of the Wari culture, ancestor of the Incas, and in the beautiful Church of Andahuaylillas, also called "The Sistine Chapel of America” we´ll see the Wari´s marvelous original pipe organ. Take the most advantage of our tour and enjoy a day away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Notes: Private service. Start time: 13:00 hours. Duration 4.5 hours. Includes Pick-up and Drop-off, Bilingual guide (Spanish and English), Admission to Andahuaylillas and BTC (Cusco tourist ticket).

Overnight in Cusco.

Breakfast at the hotel. At around 1 pm, your guide will be waiting in the hotel lobby to start a 4-hour guided tour of this charming city, which was the capital of the Inca Empire. The tour starts with a visit to Santo Domingo Convent, a large Renaissance-baroque complex, which was built over the Inca Coricancha temple. It was one of the most important temples dedicated to worshipping of the sun, and its foundations are still prominent at the base of the convent. Ancient chronicles say the temple was covered in gold leaf and filled with golden representations of nature. Then, visit the Cathedral, the most imposing monument of the Main Square. You will be transferred to the hills above Cusco to visit the remains of the fortress of Sacsayhuamán, whose imposing ramparts offer a stunning panoramic view of Cusco, the ruins of the temple and amphitheatre of Qenqo, where it is believed the Incas practiced agricultural rituals. Admire Qenqo and then finally visit Puka Pukara (‘Red fortress’ in Quechua) an Inca military complex located on a prominent hill. Its dwellings squares, bathrooms, aqueducts, walls, and towers can still be appreciated. Afterwards, return to your hotel at about 5.30 pm.

Overnight in Cusco.

Early Breakfast at the hotel. Pick up at the hotel at around 4.30 am. The exact pick up time will be confirmed one day before. Transfer to Ollanta train station. Your tour to Machu Picchu begins with approximately one hour and a half train ride to Aguas Calientes. This town is also known as "Machu Picchu Pueblo". Upon arrival, you will be guided to the bus that takes you to Machu Picchu. After a 25-minute bus ride, you will finally arrive at the 'lost city of the Incas'. It is believed that Machu Picchu was built for the Inca emperor Pachacútec around 1450 as a holiday residence. The citadel was abandoned just over 100 years later, probably as a result of the Spanish Conquest, although historians have never uncovered why it was abandoned or how it escaped the destruction that other Inca settlements faced. Instead, the jungle slowly engulfed its stone construction, covering it in thick vegetation that kept it hidden and protected until the ‘lost city of the Incas’ was brought to international attention in 1911. Your 2.5 hour tour will introduce you to the origins of this impressive citadel and guide you around some of its most iconic monuments. At the end of the tour, return by bus to Aguas Calientes for lunch. Finally, you will return by train to Ollanta Station and will be transferred to your hotel in Cusco in the late afternoon.

Overnight in Cusco.

After breakfast at the hotel, you will be transferred to Alejandro Velasco Astete Airport in Cusco to board your flight to Lima. Although this is the last day of your incredible journey with us in Peru, we hope that your memories of this remarkable region, bursting with culture and history, will last a lifetime.