Machu Picchu "the lost city of the Incas" discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911, is reached by a fascinating train journey from Cusco. The ruins continue to enchant visitors with their exquisite stonework, perched on precipitous slopes overlooking the Urubamba Valley.

The Nazca Lines are located in the Pampa region of Peru, the desolate plain of the Peruvian coast 400 Km. South of Lima, covering an area of approximately nearly 400 square miles of desert. Etched in the surface of the desert pampa sand about 300 hundred figures are made of straight lines and geometric shapes most clearly visible from the air. They were supposedly built by an ancient civilization called the Nazca.

Visit Nasca, Arequipa and the Colca Canyon, Puno and Uros Island of Lake Titikaka, Cusco and Machu Picchu.

Inca Archaeology Student Group itinerary:

Itinerary can be customised to your group's interest and travel dates

DAY01: Arrival Lima.
Transfer in Lima to your hotel in Miraflores.
Afternoon, city tour and museums:
Entrance fee included to visit the Catedral, San Francisco, Santo Domingo, Larco Herrera Museum and Archaeological Museum.
Overnight La Castellana Hotel

DAY02: LIMA - PARACAS
Transfer to Paracas, on route visit Pachacamac Ruins.
Entrance fee included to visit Pachacamac and the site museum.

Pachacamac
The Pachacamac deity, which originated along the central coast, survived the Inca and Spanish Conquests. Inca mythology relates that the ancient deity was the god of fire and the offspring of the sun deity, the fountain of youth whose strength was linked to the earthquakes. With the arrival of Christianity, it was later bound up with the Christ of Pachacamilla, the painting known as the Lord of Miracles.

The Pachacamac shrine is today an archaeological zone in the department of Lima doted with an on-site museum and natural protected areas, such as the carob forest and lake. A tour of the site is to go back in time through the history of the Lurín River Valley and the central coast, the burial sites and temples.
Overnight Hostal El Mirador Paracas
(B)

DAY03: PARACAS - NAZCA
Morning, Ballestas Islands boat tour.
Visit museums in Paracas and Ica, then transfer to Nazca.
Entrance fee included to visit Paracas National Reserve, Julio C. Tello Museum and Regional Museum in Ica.

Paracas Reserve
The reserve’s 335.000 hectares is a refuge for fur seals, Humboldt penguins, flamingos (parihuanas), and many other birds. You can visit many different natural and archeological attractions in the reserve.

Overnight Casa Andina Nazca
(B)

DAY04: NAZCA
Morning, Nazca Lines over flight.
Afternoon, visit Chauchilla cemetery and Cantalloc Canals.
Entrance fee include to visit Chauchilla.

Nasca and the Nasca Lines
Discovered by Paul Kosok in 1929, the lines were made by a pre-Inca culture between 300 B.C. - 700 A.D. Some believe there is a direct connection between the night sky constellations and these myterious drawings.

Fly over the mysterious Nasca Lines.

Overnight Casa Andina Nazca
(B)

DAY05: NAZCA - AREQUIPA
Transfer to Arequipa includes box lunch on route.

Arequipa and the Colca Canyon
Embark on an overland expedition passing through the timeless landscape of sacred peaks and the world's deepest canyon and home to the Condors.
The ColcaValley offers unending mule roads connecting villages with fertile mountains terraced for farming.
Visit Arequipa, known as the "White City" as most of the structures are built out of brilliant white volcanic stone.

Overnight Casa de Mi Abuela
(B,BL)

DAY06: AREQUIPA - COLCA CANYON
Transfer to the Colca Canyon visiting ruins near Chivay includes box lunch.
Overnight Pozo del Cielo
(B,BL)

DAY07: COLCA CANYON - AREQUIPA -JULIACA
Morning, activities includes box lunch.
Return and transfer to the airport for flight to Juliaca.
Transfer to Puno.

Puno Lake Titicaca
Puno was the territory of the Tiahuanacos (800 A.D. – 1200 A.D.) who were the highest cultural expression of the Aymara people that established themselves in what is today Peru and Bolivia. The Incas took over these lands in the fifteenth century, and the Spanish, attracted by the mining industry developed there, left an important Colonial legacy throughout the entire area.

Overnight Suites Don Carlos Juliaca
(B,BL)

DAY08: JULIACA - LAKE TITICACA - JULIACA
Full day Uros and Taquile Islands includes lunch.

Taquille and Uros Islands
Taquile Island is an organized farmer and skillful weavers village, possesing unique terraces and ceremonial centers for propitiatory rituals.

Overnight Suites Don Carlos Juliaca
(B,L)

DAY09: JULIACA - CUSCO
Transfer to train station for train to Cusco.
Transfer in Cusco to hotel.
Overnight Midori Hotel.
(B,L)

DAY10: CUSCO - SACRED VALLEY
Full day Pisac Market and Ruins includes box lunch.

Pisac
Pisac is a picturesque town located 19.8 miles (32 Km) northeast of Cusco. It is the entrance gate to the Valley of Urubamba and famous for its colonial Church where masses in Quechua are held every Sunday and for the Pisac Indian Market.

Overnight Hanaqpaccha Retreat Center
(B,BL)

DAY11: SACRED VALLEY
Full day Willoc and Patacancha weaving villages includes box lunch.

Willoc
Cusco & Inca Sacred Valley
From the Sacred Valley of the Incas we travel the non-paved road 19 kilometers up along a narrow canyon lined with ancient agricultural terraces to the Village of Willoc, renown as home to the most skilled weavers of the region.

Overnight Hanaqpaccha Retreat Center
(B,BL)

DAY12: SACRED VALLEY - MACHU PICCHU
Morning, Ollantaytambo Fortress.
Afternoon Vistadome train service to Aguas Calientes.
Overnight Hanaqpaccha Inn
(B)

DAY13: MACHU PICCHU - CUSCO

Machu Picchu
Morning, visit to Machu Picchu Ruins and hiking Huanya Picchu, lunch.
Afternoon, return to Cusco and transfer to the hotel.
Overnight Midori Hotel
(B,L)

DAY14: CUSCO
Morning, city tour and nearby ruins.

Saqsayhuamán
Saqsayhuamán, which in Quechua means "Satisfied Hawk", is an imposing Inca structure which was built to protect the city of Cusco.

Tambomachay is known as the Inca Baths. It is considered a place to worship the water because there is a group of aqueducts, channels and small cascades on the rocks that carry water from a nearby spring.

Afternoon at leisure.
Overnight Midori Hotel
(B)

DAY15: CUSCO - LIMA
Transfer out Cusco. Flight to Lima
(B)