Cusco Peru Free Day – Cusco Walking Tour + Inca Sites – South Valley with Sacred Valley – Sacred Valley with Chinchero – Inca Trail 2D with Hotel – Rainbow Mountain
Welcome to the Imperial City of Cusco Peru! Our friendly representatives will welcome you at the Cusco Peru airport and transfer you to your accommodation in Cusco.
Please keep in mind that landing at 3,300 m.a.s.l. can have its toll on the body. Do not feel concern if upon arrival you experience some shortness of breath or a small headache. This will all go on time. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you take it easy upon arrival and let your body ease into the altitude by staying hydrated and walking around the impressive Cusco Peru Plaza de Armas.
No further tours or services will be arranged for this day.
Your day will begin with a morning pick up from your hotel in Cusco Peru, at approximately 08:00 hrs. From your hotel, we will head out to explore the famous Qosqo City (the Capital City of the Incas). We will begin with the San Blas area, the oldest neighborhoods of Cusco. Following, you will continue on visiting the 12 angle stone of the Cusco Cathedral, the Temple of the Sun or Q´oricancha. You will have the chance to visit the famous market, El Mercado San Pedro of Cusco, walk by San Francisco square and Plaza de Armas, all before lunch.
After lunch, we will continue with the afternoon portion of your tour. We will take your bus for your 25-minute car drive outside the city to visit the most important archaeological sites around Cusco Peru. You will be taken to the majestic Inca site of Sacsayhuaman, with its enigmatic 200-ton monoliths. Here, you will have a guided tour of the site and then free time to explore on your own. From Sacsayhuaman, you will take a five minute bus ride to the Q’enqo Inca site to see its fascinating Incan altars. Following, you will take another five minute drive to Puca Pucara, a small, circular Inca site. The final stop on our tour is Tambomachay, a water temple with impressive water fountains, thought to be used by the Inca for bathing. We’ll then drive back down to Cusco where the tour ends with a drop-off at your hotel in Cusco.
(Alpaca Farm – Pisac Market & Archaeological Site – Pikillacta – Andahuaylillas Church– Tipon)
From Cusco Peru, we will head to the first stop of the tour, the town of Pisac. This will be approximately a 45-minute car drive. On the way, we will stop at some of the most beautiful lookout points from where to see the Sacred Valley and at the Awanacancha Alpaca Farm. This is a weaving center and alpaca farm where you will observe the differences between llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos, as well as the different varieties of potatoes and corn – special to the Sacred Valley. Once in Pisac, we will arrive at the town´s traditional market for a brief exposure to all local artisans and their colorful merchandise. This stop will be the perfect opportunity for some souvenir shopping. Still, in Pisac, we will continue to the town´s main archaeological site, where you will be first introduced to the day’s learnings about the powerful Inca Empire.
After Pisac, the tour will continue to the South Valley – the highlight of today´s tour. Our first stop in the South Valley will be Pikillacta or “flea-city,” a pre-Inca archaeological site thought to have been a village of the Wari people. This site will impress with its geometrical design and perfectly straight streets.
From Pikillacta, we will continue to the Andahuaylillas Church. This church dates back to the 16th century and is known as the “Sistine Chapel of the Andes” due to its highly decorated and intricate frescoes.
Lastly, we will make a stop at the Tipon Inca archaeological site. Here you will explore the site´s wide agricultural terraces irrigated by complex Inca canals being fed by natural springs.
On our way back to Cusco after the tour, we will have to option to stop at a local town to try the local dish of guinea pig. This will be an option only to those interested in trying out this exotic, flavourful dish. The tour will end with a drop off at your hotel in Cusco.
(Chinchero – Maras – Moray & Ollantaytambo)
Today´s tour will begin with an early morning pick up from your hotel in Cusco, at approximately 07:00 hrs. From Cusco, we will head on a 1-hour car drive to the first stop in Chinchero. Once here, you will be shown alpaca and llama wool, handmade textiles and a demonstration on how all natural wool is weaved. Chinchero also offers some Inca ruins that were used to farm potatoes and a visit to a Catholic church, which was built on top of the Palace of the Incas.
From Chinchero, we will continue to the town of Maras. It is here where you will be mesmerized by the naturally occurring salt mines still cultivated to date. This site will be sure to impress you by the thousands of small salt-evaporating on ponds. Be sure to check the small shop offering some of the most soothing baths slats made from the extracted salt in Maras.
Continuing on, we will make our way to the next stop in Moray. Moray is an archaeological site located in the Sacred Valley and known for its unusual ruins. The site is composed of deep, circular terraces thought to have been agricultural terraces during the Inca Empire. At this site, you will have the opportunity to contemplate the grandeur of such site and will be amazed by the perfection of such construction.
To finish off, we will head to the last stop of the tour – the town of Ollantaytambo. Once here, you will explore the town´s archaeological fortress along with one of the most important Sun Temples of the region.
Your tour will end after your guided tour in Ollantaytambo. We will make sure to drop you off at your accommodation here.
Your day will begin with an early morning pick up from your accommodation in Ollantaytambo – at approximately 05:30 hrs. From here, we will head to the train station to catch the 06:10 hrs train headed to Aguas Calientes town. The train tracks follow the Urubamba River and will give you spectacular views of the nearby farmlands, snow-capped mountains and the mighty Urubamba River itself. The train ride will be approximately 45 minutes, and will take us directly to the trek´s trail head, commonly known as KM 104 located at 2,000 m.a.s.l.
Once at the trailhead, we will have some time to get ready for the day´s hike. Here you will meet your trekking chef and porters and will also enjoy breakfast before starting your trek. Be sure you bring your original passport, since this is the very first checkpoint along the Inca Trail. After breakfast, you will visit the first Inca site on this trail , Chachabamba – the first ancient Incan checkpoint for entering to the Inca trail, and will have a brief guided tour to understand its importance. It is also here, where we will take a moment to take group photo for the books!
The hike will begin from KM 104 on a gently uphill trail towards the Classic Inca Trail. If the weather is clear, we will have tremendous views of Machu Picchu, the Urubamba River and other surrounding Inca Sites. There will also be waterfalls to be seen. The trail itself has some flat areas, as well as some short uphill and downhill hikes. It also has steps, arranged in sections that can be narrow in some areas, but not dangerous. After hiking for approximately 3 hours, we will reach the most beautiful Incan site on the Inca Trail, Wiñay Wayna (Forever Young) at 2,600 m.a.s.l. Here you will visit and learn about the sites impressive and water fountains, temples and agricultural terraces. The backdrop of Wiñay Wayna will also be sure to impress you, dropping off a cliff, with beautiful mountains surrounding the area.
From Wiñay Wayna, we will continue trekking to the Sun Gate, from where we will see the picturesque landscape of Machu Picchu. At this location, we will take enough time to breathe in the beauty of the surrounding sights before continuing on with our descent to Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes town. A big advantage of this hike, is that by the time we reach Machu Picchu, most of the day travelers will have returned home. This will leave the sights of Machu Picchu to be almost empty.
From Machu Picchu, we will take the bus down to Aguas Calientes and head to your hotel. For dinner, we will head as a group to Indio Feliz. This restaurant is considered to be the best restaurant in Aguas Calientes. After dinner, we recommend going to bed early to make the most of the next day.
Today will be the most important day of your tour. To get the most out of the day, we encourage every group to have an early breakfast before catching one of the first buses up to Machu Picchu (starting at 5:30 a.m.). The hotel will hold your bags for you while in Machu Picchu. This way, you will only be required to take your personal backpack with all essentials up to Machu Picchu. The bus ride from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu will take approximately 30 minutes.
Once in Machu Picchu, your guide will introduce you the beauty of Machu Picchu. You will head directly to a well-sought out location from where you will watch the sunrise and take photographs. Your guide will then guide you around the main sectors of the citadel, for a total of 2.5 hours. During this guided tour, you will learn some more about the history and culture of the Inca Empire. At the end of the tour, you will have some time to yourself or, if you arranged to hike either extra hike, Huayna Picchu Mountain* or Machu Picchu Mountain, your guide will show you where to begin this hike.
For your return from Machu Picchu, we recommend to begin heading back to Aguas Calientes town by no later than 2 hours prior to your train departure. Your guide will inform you of your train times prior to your return. The train return from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo will take approximately 2 hours. In Ollantytambo, our Alpaca Staff will be waiting for your right by the station´s exit door ready to bring you back to Cusco by car. The car ride to Cusco will be approximately 2 hours and will have you dropped off at your hotel in Cusco.
OPTIONS: *Huayna Picchu Mountain or Machu Picchu Mountain are both additional hikes available once inside Machu Picchu. Either extra hike may be hikes after your guided tour of Machu Picchu and must be arranged ahead of time. Both hikes are subject to availability and at an extra cost of USD $75 per person.
Your day´s trek will begin with an early-morning pick from your accommodation in Cusco at 04.00 hrs. From here, it will be a 3.5 car drive in our private van passing through traditional villages to the trail head. At the trail head, we will stop and enjoy a hearty breakfast, prepared by our trekking chef.
After breakfast, we will begin the hike from Chillca located at 3,700 m.a.s.l., until the famous Rainbow Mountain. This hike will be approximately 4-hours along gradually ascending terrain. Along the way, you will enjoy amazing views of the Andes, glacial peaks, red mountains, rocky hills, and traditional llamas and alpacas grazing along the valley. As you reach the summit of the mountain, you will be able to spot some Andean wildlife too. This is one of the few places in Cusco where you can see wild Vicuñas, the Andean camel. Vicuñas are in the same family as llamas, although they are smaller. Their wool is the most expensive wool in the world.
Once we arrive at the top of Rainbow Mountain, you will have enough time to absorb the majesty of the red mountains that surround this area. You will also see amazing views of the valleys and Ausangate Glacier Peak in front of you. Ausangate is the tallest mountain of the Cusco region (just under 21,000 ft elevation) and is part of the Cordillera Vilcanota Range. While taking in these magnificent views, our staff will bring you some hot drinks and share some information with you about the composition of these mountains and how they became striated in the rainbow of colours.
After taking a few amazing pictures and soaking in the views (perhaps we will even see a few condors floating on the air currents), we will begin our descent back to the trail head. This will be a 2 hour, downhill hike. We will then meet up with our trekking chef and enjoy a delicious, freshly prepared, hot lunch.
After lunch, we will start our return trip back to the Chillca village, to catch our private van back to Cusco. We will drop you off at your hotel around 7 – 8 p.m.
Depending on your departure, our representative will come to pick you up from your hotel in Cusco to transfer you to the airport or bus station.
