Peru with Machu Picchu - Small Group

Arrive in Lima, a capital shaped by history, culture and one of Latin America’s most influential food scenes. Home to a UNESCO-listed historic center, Lima was once the seat of Spanish rule in South America and still carries that significance today. On arrival, transfer to your hotel and settle in before meeting your Travel Director and fellow small group travelers this evening for dinner with drinks, a relaxed first introduction to the journey ahead.

• Dinner in Lima

Explore the colorful capital of Peru this morning with your Local Specialist. Discover its colonial heritage, taking in key landmarks such as the Cathedral of Lima, the Government Palace, the Archbishop’s Palace and City Hall. Visit Casa Aliaga, an impressive mansion that's been home to the Aliaga family for 17 generations. For those with an appreciation for art and history, enjoy a visit to Museo Larco, a renowned private museum nestled in the Pueblo Libre District. Rated as one of South America's top museums, it houses the world’s largest collection of Pre-Columbian art. Enjoy lunch set in an 18th-century garden at Cafe del Museo Larco, where regional Peruvian dishes draw on centuries-old traditions. Dine beneath bougainvillea-draped terraces in the grounds of a vice-royal mansion, part of one of Lima’s most storied colonial estates. Afterwards, a Local Specialist will guide you through the museum's treasured collection, offering fascinating insights into Peru’s ancient civilisations and spiritual traditions.

• Lima City Tour
• Lunch in Lima
• Museo Larco Guided Visit

Take a transfer to the airport in the morning, where you'll catch your flight to the ancient capital of Cusco. Begin your tour of the Sacred Valley, while taking in impressive views on your scenic drive along the way. After a few stunning photo stops, enjoy lunch at Altar Inca, surrounded by some of the most impressive views of the region. Enjoy a leisurely trip to your hotel for the next couple of nights, where the evening is yours to do as you please. We recommend that you rest in order to adjust to the altitude comfortably.

• Lunch at Altar Inca

Spend the day in the Sacred Valley, where ancient ingenuity, living traditions and local flavors come together. Visit the Maras Salt Mines with a Local Specialist and see the thousands of terraced pools still used to harvest salt, before continuing to Moray, where the Incas created circular terraces believed to have been used for agricultural experimentation. Later, head to Laguna Piuray for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience weaving demonstration, revealing how textiles continue to shape personal and regional identity in the Andes. Then enjoy an experience at Laguna Piuray. Sit down to a traditional lunch, cooked in the earth with hot stones and accompanied by local musicians, before learning to play the zampoña, a traditional Andean panpipe.

• Maras Salt Mine
• Visit Moray
• Lunch in the Sacred Valley
• Support Quechua Weavers in Sacred Valley
• Learn to Play the Zampoña

Begin the day in Ollantaytambo, where the surviving stone streets and terraces still reflect the layout of an Inca town. Visit the ruins with a Local Specialist, then stop at a local home in the old town to meet the family who live there and learn more about daily life in the village. Later, enjoy your travels as you board IncaRail’s The Prime train to Machu Picchu Pueblo, traveling in superior comfort with an Andean-inspired tasting and live music on board. On arrival, visit Machu Picchu with a Local Specialist, who will guide your Small Group through the 15th-century citadel and explain the significance of its architecture, engineering and mountain setting.

• Ollantaytambo Ruins Visit
• Machu Picchu Guided Visit
• Board IncaRail’s The Prime to Machu Picchu

Take in the breathtaking landscapes of Machu Picchu for a second time. Spend your morning exploring at your own pace, with your Travel Director on hand to answer any queries you may have. The remainder of your day is at your leisure. Relax back at your hotel or perhaps explore the town of Aguas Calientes on your own.

• Full day in Aguas Caliente

Board your IncaRail 360 train to Ollantaytambo after breakfast, then continue to Cusco, once the capital of the Inca Empire and still one of Peru’s most important historic cities. You’ll join a Local Specialist for a walking tour through the old center, including Plaza Mayor, the 12-Angled Stone and Koricancha, once the most important temple in the Inca Empire. Enjoy an after-hours visit to the Cusco Planetarium to see the southern sky through dome projections, Inca constellations and Andean astronomy, with telescope observation when conditions allow.

• Cusco Walking Tour
• Private, After-Hours Visit and Tour of Planetarium in Cusco

Explore the Inca sites above Cusco this morning, where ceremonial spaces, defensive outposts and monumental stonework reveal how the empire shaped its capital. Visit Tambomachay, Puka Pukara and Qenqo before continuing to Sacsayhuaman, whose vast zigzag walls still overlook the city. After lunch, explore further with your choice. Visit San Pedro Market with a Local Specialist to one of Cusco’s most traditional market halls. Here, you’ll buy local food products that will later be donated to the community. Or step inside Cusco Cathedral on Plaza de Armas to see gilded altars, carved woodwork and paintings from the Cusco School, where colonial art and Inca heritage meet.

• Sacsayhuaman Walking Tour
• Highlight Lunch in Cusco
• Visit San Pedro Market
• Cusco Cathedral

Spend the day at leisure in Cusco, with time to explore more of this historic Andean city at your own pace. You may wish to join an Optional Experience to ChocoMuseo to learn more about cacao and the chocolate-making process, or choose an Optional Experience to Rainbow Mountain for a striking high-altitude landscape beyond the city. You could also spend time around Plaza de Armas, browse the artisan shops of San Blas or visit San Pedro Market for a look at local produce and everyday life in the city. This evening, join your fellow Small Group travelers for dinner at Inka Grill and share memories of your journey through Peru and the landscapes of the Andes.

• Dinner in Cusco

It’s time to say goodbye to your fellow travelers as your trip comes to an end. Take a private transfer to Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport.

In Ica, savor the distinctive warmth of Pisco at Hacienda Caravedo, where you'll enjoy lunch and discover centuries of distilling traditions. At the Ica Regional Museum, your Local Specialist introduces the mysteries of the Nasca Lines, ancient mummies and remarkable evidence of early brain surgery. Beyond the oasis of Huacachina, climb aboard a 4×4 for a gentle ride into the desert, where great sweeps of golden sand rise and fall around you. At a secluded spot among the dunes, pause to admire the vast desert landscape before returning to Paracas.

• Pisco Distillery Tour & Tasting
• Museum of Ica
• 4×4 Adventure Through Huacachina

Return to Lima today with your small group, stopping in Chincha at Hacienda San José, a 17th-century estate in Peru’s Afro-Peruvian south coast. Its original house, baroque chapel and underground tunnels reveal the history of the estate and the role it played in Peru’s colonial-era slave economy, adding further depth to your understanding of the country’s past. Later, continue to Lima and transfer to the airport, where it’s time to say goodbye to your fellow travelers as your journey through Peru comes to an end.