From Paddington to Peru

Day 1

Transfer to hotel in Miraflores

Arrive in Lima and transfer to your hotel in Miraflores.

Stay at - El Tambo Hotel

Day 2

A unique day exploring the street life and markets of Lima

Instead of being insulated in a tour operator’s vehicle you get around by taxi and local bus. You’ll head to the Pacific-side, arty quarter of Barranco, famed for its village-like atmosphere, its innovative restaurants and dawn-defying nightlife, brimming with live shows and bars with spirited bands. Walk through the streets lined with colonial houses and view the evocative The Bridge of Sighs.

Continue to the dock in Chorrillos on the water’s edge, and visit a market laden with freshly-landed fish. In this so commercially oriented city visit a market selling a vast array of produce including exotic tropical fruits and over 50 varieties of potatoes. Afterwards you’ll sample ceviche, perhaps Peru’s most celebrated seafood dish, accompanied by Peru’s trademark cocktail – pisco sour.

Stay at - El Tambo Hotel

Day 3

Fly to Chiclayo and transfer to your hotel

Fly to Chiclayo in Northern Peru and transfer to your hotel. Afternoon at leisure

Stay at - Casa Andina Select Chiclayo

Day 4

Full day guided excursion to Sipan and the Royal Tombs Museum

The history of this little visited region of Peru is no less rich in the vestiges and ruins of pre-Columbian culture than the Cusco area further south: indeed it is perhaps more mysterious, as little is known about the people who lived there. Today you have a guided tour of some of the findings.

Sipán is an extensive burial site of the Moche culture. Several royal tombs, filled with 1,700 year-old funeral offerings were uncovered containing pieces worked in precious metals, stone, pottery and textiles.
The most startling discovery was of an entombed Moche leader, now known as the Lord of Sipán. Later an even older – by 200 years -tomb emerged. You’ll visit a museum at the site with details of the excavation work and replicas of some of the finds. Also visit the Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum, a replica of the Moche pyramid under which the tombs were found, which exhibits the original pieces.

Stay at - Casa Andina Select Chiclayo

Day 5-6

Transfer to Chaparri Eco-Lodge. Guided excursions from the lodge.

Travel to Chaparri Reserve, a conservation area in the cloud forest not far from Chiclayo. Under the protection of the local community, this habitat is regenerating naturally, allowing threatened species to recover. The Chaparri Ecolodge, where you will spend two nights, is a charming, family-friendly place to stay where adobe cottages blend in with the landscape. This is a truly back to nature experience: there are no TVs or mobile phones allowed, just a soundtrack of birdsong and the theatre of hummingbirds fluttering at dawn.

Here you have an opportunity to see spectacled bears in their sanctuary enclosure, being prepared to return to their home in the wild, along with rehabilitated foxes, deer and condors. The place is alive with exotic birds too. There’s a real cornucopia of wildlife to enjoy, a magical delight for both children and adults alike.

Stay at - Chaparri Eco Lodge

Day 7

Return to Chiclayo for one night

There’s a further opportunity to explore the trails before you return to Chiclayo for the night

Stay at - Casa Andina Select Chiclayo

Day 8

Fly to Cusco via Lima and transfer to your hotel. Visit the Choco museum in the afternoon.

Fly to Lima and then onwards to Cusco, high in the Andes, an exciting city where the well preserved traditional buildings of colonial Spain are jumbled up with the vestiges of the mighty Inca Empire, of which the city was the capital. It’s another vivacious place, but smaller and more compact than Lima, with quite a homely feel. Many ladies still wear the traditional dress of a bunch of voluminous skirts and long black plaited hair, children play in the spacious squares, and there are many cafés and restaurants from which you can watch a life go by on the pavement outside.

In the afternoon you will visit the Chocolate Museum on one of the central plazas. Here you learn all about chocolate, cocoa being a product of Peru, where the beans come from and how they are processed to make fine chocolate. Here, you’ll be able to have a go yourselves at making your own chocolate, embellished with nuts and coffee beans.

Stay at - Hotel Rumi Punku

Day 9

Walking city tour

Set off on a guided walking tour around Cusco’s atmospheric streets and alleyways. Stroll to the arty quarter of San Blas, with its narrow lanes, cosy square and handicraft shops. You’ll visit the church of San Blas and a family-run workshop.

Down one of the narrow Inca streets is the famous 12-angled stone, fitting into the wall with amazing precision. You’ll enter the Plaza de Armas (main square) and step inside the imposing cathedral. Afterwards, ogle at the magnificent Koricancha temple and move on to visit a traditional textiles museum, before heading for San Pedro foodstuffs market.

Stay at - Hotel Rumi Punku

Day 10

Explore the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Overnight there

Today you set off over the lip of the bowl in which Cusco is set to enter the Sacred Valley of the Incas, run through by the Urubamba river. Firstly you call in at the artisan craft market in the main square of Pisaq. A vast terraced complex of Inca buildings towers above, dwarfing the colonial village on the valley floor: you’ll have the chance to clamber around the ruined temples, palaces and humbler homes.

As if this weren’t exciting enough, you’ll continue to the equally spectacular temple fortress at Ollantaytambo, defended fiercely by the Incas who fought a brave but losing battle against the Spanish, (who had horses…) Climbing up impossibly steep steps, you get a view of the rustic village below, with its Inca foundations on display, while in the other direction the valley plunges down towards the Amazon jungle. Spend the night in a charming hotel in the valley nearby.

Stay at - Hotel Pakaritampu

Day 11

Walking tour around Huilloc and Pumamarca.

Today you have a guided hiking adventure which rewards you with spectacular Andean scenery, an insight into life in a traditional weaving community, and a visit to the small but well preserved Inca ruins of Pumamarca.

Later, drive to the Andean community of Huilloc and visit homes where you will observe the different traditional processes and techniques used in textile weaving. The culture and way of life here have changed little since Inca times. Afterwards, hike along the Patacancha river towards the village of Pallata to arrive at Pumamarca. Continue the hike back to Ollantaytambo along the top of Inca terraces.

Stay at - Hotel Pakaritampu

Day 12

By train to Machu Picchu, guided tour. Overnight nearby.

Today is really special: you’ll be heading down the valley by road and rail to the ancient Incan citadel of Machu Picchu. The Urubamba river enters its narrow gorge between thickly-forested granite hills: there is room only for a single railway track, which hugs the right bank and passes through hamlets that are no more than collections of shacks beside the railway. Close to the foot of the mountain lies the bustling town of Machu Picchu, dedicated to serving the many visitors, with artisan markets, bars and restaurants.

The ruined city, reclaimed from tropical cloud forest, is reached by bus up a sinuous road, or on foot up a near vertical rocky path. The American explorer Hiram Bingham “discovered” it in 1911, by which time it was completely buried beneath jungle vegetation. It is the ruins’ location, on a ridge spur amid forested peaks and above a roaring river canyon, which most stirs the imagination. Your guided tour will explain as much is as known about this mysterious place.

Stay at - Inkaterra Machu Picchu

Day 13

Optional excursions or revisit of the ruins, before returning to Cusco.

As a guest of Inkaterra, you will have the chance to take part in an included excursion into the nearby surrounds. Options usually include nature hikes and bird watching. Alternatively, you can choose to re-visit the ruins to see them in different light conditions (at additional cost and must be pre-booked).

Return to Cusco in the afternoon for your final night.

Stay at - Hotel Rumi Punku

Day 14

Transfer to the airport and fly to Lima. Connect with you international flight home