Peru: Sacred Land of the Incas

From the Andes to the Amazon

August 9 - August 25, 2025

Welcome to Peru

Peru is an irresistible blend of ancient history, vibrant art, traditional music and jaw-dropping natural beauty. Join us as we explore this fascinating country, beginning in the capital city of Lima and quickly moving on to the wonders of the Amazon Rainforest and our jungle lodge. From one natural beauty to the next we travel to the Sacred Valley before discovering Peru’s deep and fascinating Incan roots in the Andean town of Cusco. A visit to the highest navigable lake in the world, Titicaca, with its amazing floating reed islands and the coastal capital of Lima, home to the best ceviche in the world. No trip to Peru would be complete without a visit to the awe-inspiring ruins of Machu Picchu, one of the most famous and celebrated archaeological sites in the Americas. Buses, trains, boats and our own two feet take us on this fabulous journey around a country that is rich in lush landscapes, epic historical sites and a varied, colourful and welcoming culture. 

Tour Highlights

  • Experience the amazing wildlife of the Amazon rainforest
  • Take the train to the Inca city of Machu Picchu
  • Taste the traditional Andean cuisines and try your hand at cooking your own
  • Discover the ancient, colonial and contemporary styles of Cusco
  • Take a boat trip on Lake Titicaca and visit the floating Uros Islands
[worldcurrency curr="GBP" value="100"]
  • Dates & Prices

    The prices shown below include return transport from a specified UK departure point. If you are travelling from outside of the UK, please .

    August 9 - August 25, 2025 (17 days)


    Standard Blind Price: £5995 Contact us for availability

    Discounted Sighted Price: £3995 Book Now

    The prices shown below are for non-UK travellers and do not include return transport and transfers. If you are travelling from within the UK, please .

    Standard Blind Price: 5095 GBP Contact us for availability

    Discounted Sighted Price: 3095 GBP Book Now

    A Peruvian family sat on a stone wall with their backs to us, dressed in traditionally woven, brightly coloured shawls and hats
  • Two glasses conatining lime green pisco sour drinks

    What's Included

    • UK price includes return flights from London Heathrow, including hold baggage and transfers
    • All internal flights
    • 3 & 4 star accommodation
    • All breakfasts, 8 lunches and 6 dinners
    • Specified excursions
    • Services of local guides
    • Services of a Traveleyes tour manager
  • Excursions

    • Day and night trail walks in the Amazon jungle
    • Guided tour of Cusco
    • Guided visits of Pisac and Ollantaytambo
    • Train ride to Aguas Calientes
    • Guided visit of Machu Picchu ruins
    • Visit to the Inca built terraces at Maras and Moray
    • Visit to the Andean community of Ocotuan with traditional Pachamanca lunch
    • Guided tour round San Blas, try musical instruments and make your own pan pipes
    • Market visit and cooking class in Cusco
    • Full day boat tour on Lake Titicaca visiting the Uros and Taquile Islands
    • Visit to the archaeological site at Sillustani
    • Lima city tour including a tactile tour at the Larco Museum
    Four very shaggy Alpacas on the dry grass plains of Peru

Below is the itinerary for the holiday. Please click each day for more information.

Saturday 9th August 

Today we begin our journey to Peru. 

Overnight in flight.

Sunday 10th August 

Welcome to Lima, the “City of Kings”.  You will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel to meet your local guide and get a little rest after a long travel time.  This evening we will get to know each other a little better over a welcome dinner and maybe, our first pisco sour! 

Dinner included. Overnight in Lima.

Monday 11th August 

Starting early this morning, we take a short flight from Lima to Puerto Maldonado, the capital of biodiversity and the gateway to the Amazon rainforest.  Taking only what we need into the jungle, we will board our boat and head along the river to our base in the Tambopata Reserve. We’ll enjoy an Amazonian boxed lunch on board, whilst hoping to spot some of the many species that live in the area. If we’re lucky, we may get to see or hear macaws, caiman, capybara, egrets and horned screamers along the way.   

Upon arrival, a welcome by the manager introduces us to our home for the next two nights and our surrounding environment.  There will be the opportunity to either relax at the lodge or take a short walk for sunset before settling in for the night with all the sounds of the jungle to lull us to sleep. 

Breakfast, lunch and dinner included. Overnight in the Tambopata Reserve. 

Tuesday 12th August 

Get ready for an incredible day delving into the jungle! Begin with a half-day walk led by local experts who will share their knowledge of the region’s flora and fauna. Discover the medicinal and practical uses of various plants that Indigenous people have relied on for thousands of years. As you walk, listen out for rainbow macaws, the distinctive calls of peccaries and the chatter of monkeys that inhabit the area. This section of the Amazon is also home to capybaras, giant otters, and jabirus, so stay alert for these fascinating animals. We’ll return to the lodge for a delicious lunch and an afternoon of relaxing downtime. As night falls, we will set out on a night walk to search for the jungle’s nocturnal creatures, including caiman and anacondas.   

 Breakfast, lunch and dinner included. Overnight in the Tambopata Reseve. 

Wednesday 13th August 

After breakfast at our lodge, we’ll transfer back to Puerto Maldonado by boat, collect our main luggage and head to the airport for our short flight to Cusco. 

Arriving in Cusco we’ll head straight to our hotel to check in and take it easy for a while, acclimatising to the new altitude of 3450m.   

Our local guide will take us on a leisurely-paced, walking tour of Cusco this afternoon, taking time to introduce us to this wonderfully characterful city. We’ll visit the main square (Plaza de Amas), San Pedro Market, the 12 Angled Stone and the most significant temple of the ancient Inca empire – Qoricancha.  Despite being covered with a Baroque facade in the 17th century by the Spanish, the original Inca masonry has been uncovered in some areas.  

Welcoming you to Cusco in style this evening we will have dinner at the, amazing, Mama Seledonia restaurant. Set up to help and support young single mothers from rural areas with a talent and passion for cooking, this restaurant has a reputation that reaches far and wide and, if we’re lucky, we may get to meet Mama Seledonia herself. 

Breakfast and dinner included. Overnight in Cusco.

Thursday 14th August 

This morning, we bid “tanto tiempo por ahora” or, “so long for now”, to Cusco as we start our journey towards the Sacred Valley, travelling through lush terraces to Ollantaytambo. 

The Sacred Valley was undoubtedly a key area of settlement for the Incas; its combination of agreeable climate and fertile plains bestow an unusual abundance for the high Andes. Here the Incas sculpted the mountain flanks with vast contour terracing and irrigation channels. 

We will visit the ruins of Pisac en route, learning about different aspects of Inca culture and marvelling at the amazing stone works.  If our visit coincides with market day, we’ll have the chance to peruse the stalls in search of hand-painted beads or warm ponchos and maybe try your hand at a little of the local language, Quechua.  

Enjoying an included lunch at a local restaurant, we’ll continue along the Urubamba River towards the town of Ollantaytambo, a magnificent example of Incan urban planning. It’s one of the few places where the Incas defeated the Spanish! 

Upon arrival we’ll check in to our hotel for the night. 

Breakfast and lunch included. Overnight in Ollantaytambo.

Friday 15th August 

Once breakfasted, we’ll walk to the local train station to start our exciting day visiting the amazing site of Machu Picchu.  The train ride to Machu Picchu is one of the most beautiful journeys that visitors can experience in Peru. After passing the Sacred Valley of the Incas, the train starts to descend gradually along the edge of the Urubamba River, till finally reaching the cloud forest. After approximately 1 hour 45 minutes we will arrive in Aguas Calientes town, where we’ll be taken by bus to the Machu Picchu ruins, riding up the steep, zigzagging road to the impressive Lost City of the Incas. 

This is one of those genuinely magical places. The site is perched high in the Andes, surrounded by verdant cloud forest, with the river Urubamba running through the gorge far below. Hidden away on a ridge, Machu Picchu is invisible from below, so it’s no surprise it remained a secret for so many years (until 1911). 

Our guided tour of the ruins will help us learn all about these 200 or so houses and temples and the life of the people that lived there. Easily the most iconic site in Peru, our visit to Machu Picchu will be something to remember forever.  

Once we have completed our tour we will return by bus and train to Ollantaytambo and our hotel, where we can relax with a drink and recall the day’s adventure. 

N.B. Tours at Machu Picchu are strictly regulated to avoid over-tourism and erosion of the site.  All visitors follow a pre-determined route which must be followed in one direction and no separate exploration of the site is allowed. 

Breakfast and lunch included. Overnight in Ollantaytambo.

Saturday 16th August 

We’ll start our day with a visit to the ruins at Ollantaytambo. Built during the Inca’s heyday, this extraordinary site is home to the Fortress or Temple Hill – huge terraces, taller than the average man, cut into the hillside with a temple complex built at the top.  It’s not until we start to climb the steps up the terraces, we can really understand just how big they are! 

From Ollantaytambo we’ll head back to Cusco stopping en route at two more amazing terraced sites, the Maras Salt ponds – built to harvest salts from the natural springs – and Moray where the Incas built huge circular terraces to plant different crops at the optimum altitudes. 

We’ll also stop at the Andean community of Ocotuan, where you will learn more about local agricultural processes and how locals cultivate or harvest their products. The soil of the Sacred Valley is rich and fertile and the land is used to produce excellent potatoes, olluco, oca, quinoa and fava beans. Here we will taste a traditional Pachamanca, a Peruvian dish based on baking with the aid of hot stones, of potatoes, lamb, mutton, pork, chicken or guinea pig marinated with Andean ingredients. 

After our delicious lunch we will continue to Cusco and check into our hotel. 

Breakfast and lunch included. Overnight in Cusco.

Sunday 17th August 

Included in your trip is a “Boleto Turistico” or tourist ticket, which allows you entry into various places within Cusco.  Today has been left free for you to explore at your leisure using your ticket. There are various museums, churches and historical sites that you may wish to visit.  If artisan workshops, art studios and some of the best bars and restaurants might suit you a little more we would recommend a visit to the San Blas neighbourhood of Cusco a short, but quite steep, walk from the Plaza de Amas. 

Breakfast included.  Overnight in Cusco.

Monday 18th August 

Today, after breakfast, we’ll meet with a local musician who will show us around the San Blas neighbourhood, in particular we’ll learn about the significance of music and art in Peruvian culture and history. We will visit their home and have a go at playing traditional drums, string and wind instruments. You’ll also be shown how to make and play your own zampona, a traditional panpipe, which you can take home with you. 

In the afternoon, you will learn more about Peruvians (and Peruvian food!) with a cooking class that will teach you to prepare traditional recipes handed down over generations. Before you start, you’ll stop at a local market to discover some Peruvian treats, explore a huge variety of fruits, vegetables, and fiery spices, and, maybe, make a purchase or two. Next, you’ll head to the studio where a practical class will teach us how to prepare nutritious and healthy dishes using the most representative ingredients of Peruvian cooking and guided by a Peruvian professional chef. At the end of the tour, we’ll enjoy the tasty delights we have cooked! 

Breakfast and dinner included.  Overnight in Cusco.

Tuesday 19th August 

This morning, we start our journey to Puno, through the towering majesty of the Andean mountains that slowly give way to the rolling fertile plains, home to vicuña and alpaca, grazing happily. 

To break the journey, we will stop at the archaeological site of Raqchi, also known as the Temple of Wiracocha, the 17th century church of Andahuaylillas and the fascinating Museum of the Pukara culture – as well as making time for a delicious lunch! 

Arriving into Puno in the late afternoon we will check into our hotel and, once more, take some time to adjust to the change in altitude. A colourful and hospitable place, Puno is a mixture of fascinating ancient Quechuas communities such as the Uros, Pacajes and Paquinas and, at around 3800m above sea level, the city and its famous lake, Titicaca, will literally leave you breathless!

Breakfast and lunch included.  Overnight in Puno.

Wednesday 20th August 

Today we take to the highest navigable lake in the world for a full day tour of some of the islands and communities that call Titicaca home.  Our first stop will be at the floating islands of the Uros, a small community who have lived on these reed islands for centuries.  The Uros people conceived and built the islands as a way to isolate and protect themselves from rival tribes such as the Collas and the Incas.  Harvesting the reeds in the shallows of the lake, they bundled them together tightly and built the floating platform islands, along with reed houses and canoes – thus creating their own spaces on the lake to live. 

Our next stop will be the island of Taquile.  Home to around 2200 people, Taquile is known for its friendliness, its beautiful landscapes and its weaving.  Skills passed down for generations, mean you’ll find some of the best handwoven textiles, clothing and highest quality handicrafts in Peru, here on the island. 

Taking time to also enjoy a lunch within the local community, we will return to Puno by boat in the afternoon. 

Breakfast and lunch included. Overnight in Puno.

Thursday 21st August 

After a final breakfast on the shores of Lake Titicaca we will bid Puno farewell for the final leg of our amazing Andean journey, to Lima.  On route to the airport at Juliaca we will stop on the shores of Lake Umayo and the ancient archaeological site of Sillustani.  Home to incredible “chullpas” – tombs, built above ground, in rising tower-like structures that seem to defy gravity, being wider at the top than the bottom.  We’ll spend some time here, discovering the secrets of the ancient Colla culture and their funeral rituals as well as why they consider Lake Umayo a sacred spot for their culture. 

This afternoon we fly to Lima where we will be transferred to our hotel for the final few days of our Peruvian adventure. 

Breakfast included. Overnight Lima.

Friday 22nd August 

This morning we’ll start our exploration of the Peruvian capital with a city tour. Founded in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, it was from Lima that all Spanish territories in South America were governed. Few cities at that time could rival Lima’s power, wealth and opulence, however, its glory days ended in 1746 when the city was virtually destroyed by an earthquake. Many of the colonial buildings were rebuilt and you will get a first-hand look at several of them on the tour. The striking Plaza Mayor (Plaza de Armas), flanked by some of the most important buildings in town such as the cathedral, the huge Government Palace and the Archbishop’s Palace, constitutes the heart of the city. You will pass by the San Francisco Monastery, with its catacombs containing some 70,000 human remains. Next, we will explore the central market. The market has a huge variety of fresh produce on offer including fruits, vegetables and even Guinea pigs. You will have the opportunity to try some local Peruvian fruits and street food. We finish our tour in China Town, a vibrant and bustling district of Lima. Where we’ll have lunch at a “Chifa” restaurant, a mix between the Peruvian and Chinese gastronomy, extremely popular among the Peruvians.   

The afternoon has been left free for you to explore a little more of Lima at your own pace, or perhaps, just relax over a coffee (or cocktail) with some people watching, a good book, or a dip in the hotel’s rooftop pool. 

Breakfast and lunch included. Overnight in Lima.

Saturday 23rd August 

Our final day in this wonderful country starts with a fascinating tour of the renowned Larco Museum.  Housing an impressive collection of treasures from ancient Peru, the museum provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives of Peruvians over the past 3,000 years. Guided by a specialist curator, you will explore its unique exhibits designed to offer a tactile and sensory experience. 

The rest of your day is at leisure. Perhaps enjoy lunch at the museum and some final souvenir shopping, before our final night’s dinner at the beautiful Cala restaurant.  With a stunning location overlooking the Pacific Ocean and a menu that blends modern Peruvian flavours with international flair, what better place to reflect on our two weeks  in Peru and all the wonderful experiences we’ve had? 

Breakfast and dinner included. Overnight in Lima. 

Sunday 24th August 

After breakfast at our hotel, we will make our way to the airport to start our journey home. 

Breakfast included. Overnight in flight. 

 

Monday 25th August

Arrive back home.