When you arrive in Cusco, you will be met by our GOTOPERU representative and taken to your hotel. There will be a briefing and then you will have the rest of the morning to rest and acclimate. In the afternoon, you will have free time to explore Cusco, taking in the sights of the Inca capital city, as well as the indigenous and colonial heritages. At night, explore Cusco’s nightlife and sample some of the city’s cuisine at one of the city’s many traditional Peruvian

This beautiful day begins at 7:30 a.m., when your guide arrives in our private van at your Cusco hotel. Our journey to the Inca Sacred Valley takes us to Pisac. We first stop at Taray Mirador to take in the expansive view of the Urubamba valley and its traditional farming villages. You will see how agriculture in the Sacred Valley has changed little over the last 500 years. We continue on to the archeological site of Pisac, where there is an impressive Inca cemetery with over 2,000 tombs. There, we can admire the meticulously engineered farming terraces carved into the mountain, as well as explore the Inca tunnel and religious area of this significant citadel. We will spend approximately 2 hours exploring the Inca city. Then we drive down to Pisac’s colorful market, spend about 20 minutes there, and then drive to Urubamba for lunch.

Our next stop is Moray, also known as “The Greenhouse of the Incas,” a deep basin of architectural wonder. Terraces are carved into a massive bowl that the Incas meticulously engineered. The terraces have different microclimates depending on how deep they are in the bowl. Archaeologists believe the Incas used them to discover the best growing conditions for their crops and to experiment with hybridization.

As we continue our journey to the colonial town of Maras, we come across the pre-Inca salt “mines,” known as salineras in Spanish. Since before the Incas, thousands of salt pans have been passed down through many generations and used for salt extraction. A hot spring at the valley’s crest releases a small stream of heavily salted water, which is diverted into salt pans and evaporated to produce salt. This is one of the few places on the planet where naturally pink salt can be found!

Finally, we drive to Ollantaytambo, where we will take a tour of the Inca village that has remained intact since Inca times and the massive Inca Ruins. Visit the massive architecture of the Sun Temple at the top of the formidable terraces and learn about the Inca’s importance at the start of the Spanish conquest.

After dinner, we board a train to Aguas Calientes, where you will spend the night in our hotel. The train leaves Ollantaytambo at 19:04 and arrives at 20:45 in Aguas Calientes.

This is the day you’ve been looking forward to! After an early breakfast at your hotel, you’ll board one of the first buses up to Machu Picchu to catch the sunrise. It is a truly extraordinary site that you will not want to miss! Your guide will take you on the entire tour, which will last approximately two hours. You will see all of the most important parts of Machu Picchu, such as the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Condor, the Temple of Three Windows, the Sun Dial, the Quarry, and the Inca House. You’ll also learn about Machu Picchu’s three sectors: agricultural, residential, and religious.

Those who have pre-booked extra hikes up Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain will have time to enjoy the views on their own after your tour. After you’ve had your fill of the breathtaking views of Machu Picchu, take the bus back down to Aguas Calientes for lunch (not included). Depending on when your train departs, you may also have time to go shopping, sightseeing, or visit a museum or hot springs.

The train will return you to Ollantaytambo by following the beautiful Urubamba River. The canyon near Aguas Calientes is narrow, and the river has many beautiful sections of whitewater. If you look up high on the steep canyon wall, you can see Wiay Wayna from the train! When you arrive back in Ollantaytambo, your driver will meet you at the train station exit and drive you back to your Cusco hotel in our private vehicle. You should arrive at your hotel late in the afternoon.

This program will take us to one of Cusco’s newest natural attractions, “The Rainbow Mountain.” We will pick you up from your Cusco hotel between 04:00 and 04:30 am, as the tour begins early in the morning. Two hours of car travel to the south will bring us to the Cusipata – Paucarpata district, where we will have breakfast. After breakfast, we will travel one hour by car to the checkpoint (Llaqto), where the hike will begin. The trek will last approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, during which we will observe the landscape, flora, and fauna of the Andes, including llamas and alpacas. Upon reaching the viewpoint of Vinicunca or Montaa de Colores (5080 masl), our guide will provide a description of the mountain’s topography, ecosystem, and color; we will also have the opportunity to take photographs and admire the beautiful scenery. Then, we will return along the same path to the starting point of the trek (Llaqto), where our transport will be waiting to return us to Cusipata; here, we will enjoy a buffet lunch. After lunch, we will return to Cusco, where we will arrive between 4 and 5 in the afternoon. The final stop will be close to Cusco’s Plaza de Armas.

After breakfast at the hotel, you will have the remainder of the day to explore Cusco before being transferred to the airport for your flight back to Lima.