SHORT INCA TRAIL

Overnight in LIMA (Altitude: Sea Level)
Meals: Breakfast

Embark upon a guided tour that highlights Lima´s most striking sites (colonial and modern). Visit the convent of San Francisco where you will experience an interesting adventure underneath the city via the catacombs, and the Lima’s Cathedral. We tour the Lima’s National Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which comprises unparalleled collections of antiquities from Peru’s many fascinating ancient cultures. You have a free afternoon to enjoy exploring the Miraflores disctrict further, or we can book for you a cookery class.

Overnight in URUBAMBA (Altitude: 3000 m. – 10000 ft)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

A fun-packed and adventure-filled day awaits you!. You will be scorted to the airport for your short domestic flight  to Cusco. Enjoy a relaxing hot cup of coca tea in a hidden Incan Palace. En route to the lower altitudes of the Sacred Valley, visit Awanacancha, a center where alpacas, llamas, vicuñas and guanacos are bred. Learn about the ancient weaving techniques used to make fabrics from their hairy coats. Meet with locals still wearing traditional garments and learn how it difers between communities. Lunch is served in a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the valley, plus there will be the chance to visit Pisac market where a wide variety of colorful Peruvian merchandise can be bought.

Overnight in URUBAMBA (Altitude: 3000 m. – 10000 ft)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

This morning, walk up in the quaint and traditional town of Ollantaytambo and its stone terraces which date back centuries. Drive upwards to the idylic mountain community of Hatuncancha. Here you will be exposed to native villagers who still mantain a traditional lifestyle in terms of dress and cultivation. You will even be able to try some of their famous maize and Andean potatoes with a local lunch. In the afternoon you will visit a local bar to learn about ‘chicha’, an alcoholic beverage created with maize.

Overnight in AGUAS CALIENTES (Altitude: 2000 m. – 6500 ft)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Wake up early in preparation for your one day inca trail to Machu Picchu. Take the train from Ollantaytambo train station to Km 104 which is the beggining of our adventure. Disembark around 70 minutes after leaving Ollantaytambo, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. There is an initial, constant, stable climb for the first  6 km to the splendid citadel of Wiñay Wayna. Most visitors consider it the best one on the whole trail. This initial part of the hike is exposed and narrow. Continue to Intipunku or The Sun Gate for about an hour further through the exuberant vegetation of the humid cloud forest. Once you arrive to the Sun Gate you will have your first and unforgettable view of Machu Picchu.  After walking 1 km downhill, you will arrive at the site itself where you can take pictures and look around. Finally, take a bus down  to Aguas Calientes town for a relaxing evening.

Overnight in CUSCO (Altitude:3350 m. – 11380 ft)
Meals: Breakfast

This morning you will be able to take a much longer look at the Incan civilization remnants with a guided tour. A bus will transport you to the entrance of Machu Picchu for a guided tour, which will help to enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the site. Temples, stairways, palaces and gabled stone dwellings scatter the Incan site, acting as a testament to the energy and ingenuity of the Incan architects. You will quickly understand why it is one of the most revered tourist attractions in the Americas; its location alone is dramatic in the extreme. Built in the mid 15th century by Pachacuti, the city was thought to have been a major agricultural center for the Inca Empire, and its geological inaccessibility seems to have saved it from the looters of the following years, resulting in the remarkably well-preserved ruins we see today. Later in the afternoon, you will take the train back to Cusco where a representative will meet you and bring you to your hotel.

Overnight in CUSCO (Altitude: 3350 m. – 11350 ft)
Meals: Breakfast

Today you meet your guide to explore Cusco city and several Inca ruins surrounding it. In the heart of Cusco you will explore the magnificent Sun Temple, or Coricancha, whose inside stone walls were once concealed with gold leaf. We explore San Pedro Market, a hive of local trading activity, to experience the local life. A ten-minute drive will bring you to the vast sacred sanctuary of Sacsayhuaman, a huge inca complex that overlooks Cusco. It was constructed out of enormous rocks (some of them weighing about 30 tons) which all fit without mortar. Close by, you will visit Qenqo, an ancient worship site that showcases evidence of the inca’s impressive talent for carving.

Meals: Breakfast, 

You will be taken directly from your hotel to the airport in Cusco where you will fly on a short domestic flight to Lima. We know that whatever you do next you will always hold a special place in your heart for the one day inca trail and Peru travel as a whole.