Lima – Trujillo – Chiclayo – Cusco – Puno (Inca Trail 2D) 14D/13N

Trip highlights:

• Arrive in one of the most unique and varied countries of South America – Peru.
• Visit the world-famous archaeological sites of important pre-Incan civilizations in northern Peru.
• Explore the enchanting Sacred Valley and experience the ancient culture of the Andes.
• Feel the Andean energy as you wind your way along the ancient path of the Incas all the way to the citadel of Machu Picchu.
• Immerse yourself in the magic and mystery of Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, accompanied by first-rate guides.
• Visit Cusco and its off-the-beaten-path hidden treasures.
• Fly from Cusco to Puno, admiring the magnificent views of the high plains.
• Be part of a magical experience visiting Lake Titicaca’s Uros and Taquile islands.
• Leave your trip planning in the hands of the luxury travel experts of South America.

Trip Description

Experience the unique history of Peru’s ancient civilizations, finding wonder and luxury in each place you visit. Start in the north of Peru, visiting the world-famous pre-Incan archaeological sites in Trujillo and Chiclayo as well as gorgeous Pacific beaches. Then travel to the imperial city of Cusco, explore the enchanted Sacred Valley of the Incas, and hike the Royal Inca Trail all the way to Machu Picchu. Finally, head to Lake Titicaca, the lake on top of the world, and its beautiful city of Puno. History, wonder, relaxation—this is a trip where you can realize all your desires.

Upon your arrival, our representative will be waiting to welcome you and take you to your hotel, where we will provide all the information about your trip.

In the afternoon you will have free time to rest and relax.

Today we will begin the city tour of Lima, getting to know the colonial part of the city by visiting the most important places in the historic center, with its colonial balconies and attractions including Plaza San Martin, Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, the Cathedral, the Archbishop’s Palace, City Hall and the Church of Santo Domingo. We’ll continue with the Convent and Church of San Francisco and the Larco Museum with its impressive collections, including a room dedicated to erotic figurines. This museum has an exceptional display of ancient pre-Columbian cultures, textiles from various cultures along the coast, pottery, and metalwork rich in gold and silver.

For dinner, we will visit one of Lima’s foremost restaurants to sample delicious traditional Peruvian dishes. Later we will return you to your hotel.

Breakfast/Lunch

After breakfast, our transport will you take to the airport of Lima, to take the flight to Trujillo, the city of eternal summer.

Upon your arrival, our representative will pick you up and give you a quick rundown of the activities over the next few days.

Right after that, you will start your tour of the city, where you will get your first taste of the architectural richness of colonial Trujillo as you admire the magnificent Plaza de Armas (Main Square), considered one of the largest and most beautiful squares in the country. Surrounding the square are the Cathedral and various Colonial and Republican mansions, notable for their wrought-iron windows and beautifully decorated porticoes.

The center of the square is dominated by the Monumento a La Libertad (Freedom Monument). Your tour will continue with a stroll down calle Pizarro (Pizarro Street), until you reach La Casa de la Emancipación (House of the Emancipation), a Republican Neoclassical architectural treasure. In the afternoon, enjoy your free time relaxing or exploring on your own.

Breakfast/Lunch

Today you will begin your tour of the region by visiting the remaining traces of the ancient Mochica, an important pre-Incan culture that achieved unmatched levels of sophistication in the Americas. You will visit the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna (Sun and Moon Pyramids), considered the most important Mochica ceremonial center in the region. Explore the interior of the Moon Pyramid and admire its amazing reliefs of the many Mochica anthropomorphic deities, expertly carved into the walls by the pyramid’s builders.

Upon visiting the site’s museum, you will bear witness to the Moche people’s great artistic sensibility, reflected in their textile, ceramic, metal, and wooden creations.

After visiting the pyramids, you will move on to the workshop of a local artisan. Here, you will have a chance to observe the thousand-year-old techniques once used by the ancient inhabitants of the valley to produce works of ceramics, leather, and wood.

You will continue your journey through northern Peru’s pre-Columbian history as you visit Chan Chan (meaning ‘Sun-Sun’), the social and administrative center of the Chimú civilization. Built on an area of roughly eight square miles (20 sq. km), Chan Chan came to be home to a population of around 100,000 people.

After finishing this tour, you will make your way to Trujillo’s best-known seaside resort, Huanchaco. Here, since pre-Hispanic times, intrepid fishermen have braved the ocean’s waves in crude vessels made from totora reeds (an aquatic reed native to the Americas), which were named «seahorses» by the Spanish upon their arrival. Nowadays, Huanchaco is a well-known destination for surfing enthusiasts and lovers of good seafood. You will stop to eat at a local restaurant. You will have the rest of the afternoon free.

Breakfast/Lunch

Early in the morning, you will take private transportation to the city of Chiclayo. On the way, you will make a slight detour near the Magdalena de Cao District so that you may visit the Complejo Arqueológico el Brujo (Brujo Archeological Complex), considered one of the most important religious and political centers of Moche culture. The complex is formed by two large pyramids “Huaca el Brujo” and “Huaca Cao” that rise up just yards from ocean. Huaca Cao is the better known of the two pyramids, due to the discovery of the tomb of the Señora de Cao (Lady of Cao), a young ruler who was around 25 when she died. In the on-site museum, you will be able to see her mummy, with its skin completely covered in snake and spider tattoos. After finishing your tour of the museum, you will resume your trip to Chiclayo, a land of contrasts near the sea, also known as the Capital of Friendship.

We will have lunch at a local restaurant in Chiclayo.

Breakfast/Lunch

Today you will start a wonderful day. The first destination will be the Complejo Arqueológico Huaca Rajada (Cracked Pyramid Archeological Complex), a funerary complex located 22 miles (35 km) from the city of Chiclayo, where the tomb of one of the Moche ruling elite, the Señor de Sipán (Lord of Sipán), was found. Next, you will visit the Museo Tumbas Reales (Royal Tombs Museum), which was built specifically to house the greatest archeological discovery of recent times: the tomb of the Lord of Sipán. Its amazing pieces of unsurpassed beauty made of gold, silver, and precious stones, as well as the exquisitely produced ceramics, will make your visit here difficult to soon forget.

After enjoying the excellent cuisine at a local restaurant, you will continue your tour by visiting the Pirámides de Túcume (Túcume Pyramids), a magnificent complex of 26 adobe pyramids that once formed part of an extensive urban center, perhaps at one time the capital of the realm of Sicán. You will visit the Museo de Sitio (on-site museum), move on to the Huaca Larga (Long Pyramid), the most important of the complex, and then climb until you reach the lookout point on Cerro La Raya (Stingray Hill), where you will enjoy a spectacular view of the entire valley. Afterwards, we will return you to your hotel.

At the scheduled departure time, you will be met by the transport service and escorted to the airport to board the flight back to Lima. You will spend the night at hotel near the airport in order fly to Cusco early in the morning.

Breakfast/Lunch

After breakfast, we will pick you up from your hotel and take you to the airport for your flight to Cusco. When you arrive in Cusco, we will be waiting for you at the airport to bring you to the Sacred Valley, which is located at a lower altitude than Cusco, so you will have an easier time acclimating to the altitude. On route to your hotel in the Sacred Valley, we will stop at the Inkarri Museum, to immerse you in the history of the many pre-Incan cultures that influenced the Inca civilization as it expanded to become a great empire. You will then arrive at your hotel to rest in luxury for the night.

Breakfast/Lunch

In the early morning we will pick you up from your hotel to start the tour of the magical Sacred Valley of the Incas, visiting first the archaeological site of Pisac—a place where the history and knowledge of the Incas is in full display, and where you can appreciate the beautiful terraces and the impressive construction of the urban center. We will then visit the local handicraft market town of Pisac, where you will find extraordinary handmade textiles, silverware, pottery, and more.

Later we will head to Urubamba, where we will have a delicious lunch right in the heart of the Sacred Valley.

We will continue the tour by visiting the town and archaeological site of Ollantaytambo, where you can appreciate the beautiful and complex architectural design of the place, built as a military and administrative base, while also serving as a final resting place.

After visiting these stunning and beautiful sites, we return you to your hotel.

Breakfast/Lunch

Very early in the morning, our transport will take us to the train station, where we will board the train and travel until km. 104, where the Royal Inca Trail to Machu Picchu begins.

We will start our hike by visiting the ruins at Chachabamba, and then start walking up to Wiñahuayna, another famous archaeological site in the middle of the hike. Along the way, we will pass by beautiful waterfalls and amazing landscapes.
We will have lunch close to Wiñaywayna campsite, the last campsite that is used for the four-day trek; there you will be able to witness the kind of long distance trekking and organization that the longer Inca Trail hike requires.

Later we will continue directly to the Intipunku, or Sun Gate, where we will see for first time the magical city of Machu Picchu. From this point, we will descend to the citadel to enjoy it for some minutes more. Afterwards we will go down to the hotel to rest and gather energy for visiting Machu Picchu the next day.

Breakfast/Box Lunch/Dinner

Today early in the morning after breakfast we will visit the citadel of Machu Picchu, with a two-hour guided tour, visiting the main plaza, the temple of the three windows, the four royal rooms, and the famous Intihuatana and the circular tower. After visiting the citadel, you have the opportunity to climb Huayna Picchu, a famous peak from where you will have the most beautiful views of Machu Picchu sanctuary and its surroundings.

Later, we will take the train back to Poroy, located 30 minutes away from Cusco city. From this point our transport will take us to our Hotel in Cusco.

Breakfast/Lunch

After a good breakfast, we will begin the tour of Cusco with its temples and monuments such as the Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral, and the convent of Santo Domingo, which was built on top of the Temple of the Sun or Qoricancha, where you can see the impressive Inca constructions. There is also the archaeological complex of Sacsayhuaman, a masterpiece of Inca architecture, and where each year, on June 24, the famous Festival of the Sun or Inti Raymi is celebrated. Continuing the tour, we will visit Quenqo, with its monolithic altar, representing a puma, and then arrive at Puca Pucara, a beautiful spring-fed mountain that forms a series of pools. All of these sites are famous Inca monuments of great religious importance.

After enjoying a great lunch, one of our directors will share with you a unique experience created exclusively for Royal Luxury clients as a way to thank you for traveling with us. It will be a gift coming from our hearts.

Breakfast/Lunch

After breakfast, in the morning we will go to Cusco’s airport for your flight to Juliaca, where your guide will meet you at the airport to take you to the Sillustani burial towers. Afterwards, we will leave you at your hotel.

Breakfast/Box Lunch

In the early morning you will board a boat for a tour of Lake Titicaca and visit the floating Uros Islands, with their enigmatic customs and reed boats (the reed is a local aquatic plant). We continue the journey to the island Taquile, with its great scenic and environmental value as well as its friendly inhabitants with their authentic traditional costumes, people famous for their craftsmanship and textiles. In the afternoon, we return to Puno, crossing the highest navigable lake in the world, gazing at its breathtaking scenery.

Breakfast/Lunch

After breakfast, our transport will take you to the airport in Juliaca for your flight to Lima. We will take you to the district of Barranco to explore this bohemian and artisan neighborhood with the assistance of a guide and private car at your disposal. Based on your international flight information, we will bring you back to the airport to help you check in.

Breakfast