13-Day Peru Tour: The Classic Inca Trail & Beyond

Today’s Highlight: Arrive in Peru’s capital and settle into one of Lima’s most vibrant coastal neighborhoods.

Upon arrival at Jorge Chavez International Airport, our team greets you and transfers you to your hotel in Miraflores or Barranco. The rest of the day is yours – take a stroll along the Pacific cliffs, explore a local cafe, and ease into the rhythm of South America’s culinary capital.

Overnight in Lima

Today’s Highlight: Explore Lima’s UNESCO-listed colonial heart and discover the history layered beneath one of South America’s great capitals.

A free morning lets you explore at your own pace before an afternoon guided tour of Lima’s historic city center.

Walk the grand Plaza Mayor, visit the ornate Cathedral, and take in the baroque architecture of the old colonial quarter – a UNESCO World Heritage Site that tells five centuries of Peruvian history in a single walk. The evening is free to dine at one of Lima’s celebrated restaurants.

Overnight in Lima

Today’s Highlight: Penguins and sea lions on a Pacific island, Peru’s national spirit at a centuries-old distillery, and a desert oasis at sunset – all in one day.

Start the morning with a boat tour to the Ballestas Islands – known as the “Peru’s Galapagos” – where sea lions, Humboldt penguins, and thousands of seabirds crowd the dramatic rock formations rising from the Pacific.

From there, continue inland to one of Peru’s most ancient pisco distilleries for a guided tasting of the country’s beloved national spirit.

The day closes at Huacachina – a natural desert oasis encircled by South America’s highest sand dunes – where a dune buggy and sandboarding excursion plays out against the backdrop of a setting sun.

Lunch included

Overnight in Lima

Today’s Highlight: Fly to Cusco, meet Peru’s most iconic wildlife and ease into the Sacred Valley at lower altitude.

A morning flight brings you to Cusco before your journey continues directly into the Sacred Valley – lower in altitude and ideal for acclimatization. Along the way, a stop at an Andean Wildlife Rescue Center offers a rare encounter with Peru’s native animals – spectacled bears, pumas, and Andean condors among them. Check into your valley hotel as the mountains turn golden in the late afternoon light.

Lunch included

Overnight in Sacred Valley

Today’s Highlight: The Inca’s agricultural laboratory, a surreal salt landscape, and the best-preserved Inca town in existence – your last day before the trail.

Visit the circular terraces of Moray and the ancient Maras salt mines in the morning before continuing to Ollantaytambo – the most intact Inca town still standing, with original stone streets and a dramatic hilltop fortress. Tonight is your last in a hotel bed for four days – rest well.

Lunch included

Overnight in Sacred Valley

Today’s Highlight: Step onto the original Inca footpath and begin one of the world’s greatest treks through cloud forest and ancient ruins.

Your Classic Inca Trail begins at KM 82, where the trail enters the mountains alongside the Urubamba River. The first day is a steady warm-up through river valleys and past the first Inca ruins of the route, with camp set at altitude as the stars emerge over the Andes.

Lunch & Dinner included

Overnight on the Inca Trail

Today’s Highlight: The toughest day on the trail – and the most rewarding, with two high mountain passes and panoramic Andean views.

Day 2 is the trail’s greatest physical challenge. The ascent to Dead Woman’s Pass at 13,780 ft. is demanding and deeply satisfying – the views from the top stretch across a horizon of Andean peaks.

A second pass follows before camp, where the sense of achievement around the fire is shared by everyone who made it over.

All meals included

Overnight on the Inca Trail

Today’s Highlight: Cloud forest, orchids, and the trail’s finest Inca ruins as the path descends toward Machu Picchu.

The third day rewards with beauty after the exertion of Day 2. The trail descends through lush cloud forest – orchids, hummingbirds, and moss-covered ruins lining the path – to some of the route’s most impressive Inca sites, including Phuyupatamarca and Wiñay Wayna. Camp is set within earshot of the final stretch to the Sun Gate.

All meals included

Overnight on the Inca Trail

Today’s Highlight: Arrive at the Sun Gate at sunrise and look down on Machu Picchu exactly as the Incas intended.

An early pre-dawn start brings you to the Sun Gate – Inti Punku – as the sun rises over the mountains and Machu Picchu appears below you for the first time. The arrival after four days on the trail is one of the most powerful moments Peru offers.

A guided tour of the citadel follows before you descend to Aguas Calientes and board the train back to Cusco.

Breakfast & lunch included

Overnight in Cusco

Today’s Highlight: Recover in the morning, then explore Cusco’s extraordinary layered history in the afternoon.

You earned this. How about an optional morning spa and post-trek massage in Cusco as the perfect antidote to four days on the trail?

The afternoon shifts to culture with a guided Cusco city tour through Koricancha – the Inca Temple of the Sun – the sweeping Plaza de Armas, and the monumental ruins of Sacsayhuaman overlooking the city.

Overnight in Cusco

Today’s Highlight: One of South America’s great rail journeys across the open Altiplano to the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Board the scenic Titicaca train from Cusco and settle in for one of the continent’s most remarkable rail experiences.

The route crosses the vast open grasslands and volcanic peaks of the high Altiplano – one of the most otherworldly stretches of landscape in South America – before Lake Titicaca appears on the horizon. Arrive in Puno as the evening light falls across the water.

Note: The train is only available on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Breakfast & lunch included

Overnight in Puno

Today’s Highlight: Walk on islands built entirely from reeds, meet the families who maintain them, and climb to a hilltop view over an impossibly blue lake.

Board a boat for the Uros floating islands – entirely man-made platforms constructed from totora reeds where the Uros people have maintained their unique way of life for generations.

Continue to Taquile Island, whose weaving traditions are listed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, and hike to the hilltop plaza for panoramic lake views over a traditional lunch. For those who want to stay longer, an optional overnight on the Uros Islands is available.

Lunch included

Overnight in Puno