Peru, Sacred Valley Family Tour

Arrival at Jorge Chávez, Lima international airport. 

Welcome by our local English-speaking staff. 

Transfer to your hotel located in the residential and shopping district of Miraflores overlooking the Pacific ocean (1 hour). 

Free evening. 

Overnight at your hotel in Lima. 

Pack your sunscreen, sunglasses, towels, swimming suits, together with a change of clothes. 

Transfer to the port city of Callao, just west of Lima, one of the busiest ports in South America (50 min).

Board a cruise across the bay of Callao where you will pass the seaside resort of La Punta and El Camotal, the original port buildings of Callao that slipped into the sea after the 1746's earthquake.

Sail past San Lorenzo island (the largest in the country), Frontón island (a former penitentiary) before veering west to a marine reserve with seabird colonies.

Finally the boat will get to the Palomino Islands where seals, sea lions and many birds thrive in the waters and on land. 

The intrepid ones may venture out in the water to swim with the loud but harmless residents. Be warned though, the water of the Pacific Ocean is not as warm as you may think.

Sail back to Callao (45 min) and transfer to your hotel in Miraflores (50 min).

Free time to relax in Miraflores with its quiet green park and many seaside cafés.

Later in the afternoon,hop on a panoramic city tour of Lima to discover its historical center, passing through Plaza San Martin onto Plaza Mayor, by the giant colonial houses and the many historical and political buildings of the most ancient colonial city in South America (1 hour).

Afternoon pick up to go to the Park of the Reserve, to walk the Magic Water Circuit, a Guinness Book record for the largest fountain complex in the world, with 13 majestic fountains.

Transfer back to your hotel in Miraflores (30 min).

Overnight at your hotel in Lima.

Morning transfer to Lima Airport (1 hour).

Domestic flight to Cusco (1 hour 15 min).

Meet and greet with your local guide and driver in Cusco.

Transfer to the Urubamba Valley, known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas (1 hour 30 min).

Stop at the local Amaru community where you will be welcome with Andean music, learn about the customs, the belief systems and experience the daily life of a typical mountain community.

You will be shown how to weave Andean clothes, while your kids can play around the friendly llamas and alpagas.

Walk to the nearby archeological site of Pisac.

Visit Pisaqa, Intihuatana, Q’allaqasa, and Kinchiracay. (1 hour 30 min). All 4 places are part of an Inca site on the nearby hill at an altitude of 10,980 feet (3345 m).

The Inca shaped the hill by carving the ingenious terraces that are still used for agriculture to this day.

With military, religious, and agricultural structures, the site was an important and busy place in Inca times.

Transfer to the town of Pisac (5 min drive) with its famous Sunday market where many indigenous Quechua communities meet to sell and trade their goods.

The rest of the week, the whole place is bustling with its handicraft and souvenir market. You will have time to search for jewellery, ponchos, hats, traditional music instruments, ceramics, alpaca products and many other typical Andean crafts  (1 hour 30 min).

Transfer to your hotel in the Sacred Valley (1 hour).

Check-in and settle in your room.

Free evening. 

Overnight at your hotel in the Sacred Valley. 

Your passport is required to enter the Machu Picchu site. You have the option to get a 'Machu Picchu' stamp in your passport if you wish, the kids will love it. 

Today might be THE day you have been expecting since you landed on Peruvian soil as you will finally discover the ancient citadel of Machu Picchu.

Transfer to Ollantaytambo train station (45 min).

Board the comfortable train that will take you to Aguas Calientes, the nearest town to Machu Picchu (1 hour 30 min).

In Aguas Calientes, walk from the train to the bus station (5 min) and hop on a bus to the entrance of the archaeological site.

Enjoy the impressive 20-minute drive up the hill to the Machu Picchu site at 7,972 feet (2430 m). Rediscovered in 1911 by the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham, Macchu Picchu is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Learn about every secret this ancient Inca citadel holds and grab every opportunity to take photographs (3 to 4 hours).

Take the bus back to Aguas Calientes (20 min) and board the train back to Ollantaytambo (1 hour 30 min).

Transfer from the Ollantaytambo station to your hotel in Cusco (1 hour 30 min).

Free evening. 

Overnight at your hotel in Cusco.

After breakfast, transfer to the hills of Cusco (1 hour 30 min).

You will be provided with all equipment to set out on your mountain bike tour of the 4 surrounding archaeological sites.

This easy MTB tour is ideal for families looking for a fun way to discover Cusco's stunning archeological sites at their own pace.

Unlike other tours, you will not have to ride the long road all the way to the sites. To avoid the unfriendly traffic and associated risks, you will be dropped right at the entrance of the sites from where you can ride on dedicated MTB trails.

Start with a visit of Saqsayhuaman and its impressive stone walls, from where you will get stunning views of the city's historical center.

A short drive up to the site of Qenqo, with a fun visit of rock buildings, tunnels and ceremonial chambers buried inside the hill.

The cultural part of the tour ends with the visit of the temple of Tambomachay and the military outpost of Puka Pukara.

Take your MTB off the road to the small town of Yuncaypata, with beautiful views over the old Inca capital.

After a quick safety reminder you can start riding downhill back to the city.

On the way down, stop at the Kusikallanca lake with its splendid views over Cusco and the valley climbing up to Puno.

For the last part of the descent, you have the option to ride down a large dirt track that goes to the outskirts of town or venture down a more technical route, with single tracks and jumps.

Your ride ends in the Kari Grande neighborhood where a vehicle will take you back to your hotel.

Afternoon at leisure to explore the Spanish colonial city known to the Inca as the 'belly button of the world'. 

Stroll around numerous plazas, shops selling incredible art and crafts or visit the great Pre-Columbian Museum MAP (not included). 

Free evening in Cusco. 

Early morning transfer from your hotel to the bus station (10 min) where you will board a premium tour bus to Puno (10 hours).

Drinks and snacks are included for the trip.

You will visit 4 sites along the way.

First stop to visit the incredible church of San Pedro Apostol of Andahuaylillas known as the 'Andean Sistine Chapel' (30 min).

Second stop at Raqchi, a former Inca stronghold on the edge of the Empire that served administrative, economic and military purposes and hosted the unique Temple of Wiracocha (40 min). 

Third stop at La Raya pass, the highest point on the journey at 14,222 feet (4335 m), the border between the provinces of Puno and Cusco, and the transition between the Aymara and Quechua cultures (5 to 10 min). 

Final stop at the lithic museum of Pukara, a pre-Inca civilization that left behind considerable stone statues and a distinctive pottery art. 

Late in the afternoon, arrival in Puno (12,560 ft - 3828 m), a culturally-rich town on the shores of Lake Titicaca. 

Free evening. 

Overnight at your hotel in Puno. 

Today will be spent kayaking and sailing Lake Titicaca and discovering two of its islands.

With its 214 cubic miles (893 cubic km) of water and an altitude of 12,507 feet (3812 m), Lake Titicaca is the largest lake in South America and the highest navigable lake in the world.

According to Inca mythology, Lake Titicaca is the birthplace of the sun, moon, stars and first human beings. Many myths and legends still inhabit those majestic dark-blue waters.

Transfer to the pier (10 min) from where you will get equipped for your kayaking outing to the Uros Islands.

After the security brief, you will paddle out for 45 minutes to the floating reed islands.

Gliding on the calm waters of the lake, you will see many of the birds hiding among the reeds. Greet some of the Uro residents going about their daily life as you paddle past their island.

The Uro floating islands are built from the totora reed that grows very well in the shallows of the lake.

Stop at one of the islands where you will be welcomed by a local family that will teach you about the versatility of the totora, used to build their houses, boats, crafts and as a source of food.

Leave your kayaks behind to board a boat to the island of Taquile (1 hour).

Discover Taquile island, famous for its knitting and weaving.

You will learn about the numerous traditions of the local Taquilenos who still live off the island's ressources working in their traditional clothes on the many man-made terraces.

Enjoy some free time to browse the high-quality handicrafts that are unique to the island and cannot be found anywhere else in Peru. The textile art is listed as a 'Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity' by the UNESCO.

End of the afternoon, sail back to Puno (1 hour 30 min).

Transfer from the pier to your hotel (10 min).

Free evening in Puno. 

Overnight at your hotel in Puno. 

Transfer to Sillustani burial site (50 min).

Towering over the beautiful Umayo Lagoon, lies the archeological site of Sillustani where the funeral stone towers known as 'ayawasis' or 'chullpas' were used by the Collas and later by the Incas to preserve the bodies of their deceased rulers and chiefs (1 hour).

Transfer to Juliaca airport (1 hour), flight to Lima (1 hour 30 min).

Arrival at Lima airport to pick-up your luggage.

Check-in assistance with your international flight.

Departure.