The Ultimate 10-Day Peru Adventure Tour: From Desert Buggies to Inca Mountain Trails

Today’s Highlight: Touch down in Peru and settle into one of Lima’s most vibrant neighborhoods.

Welcome to Peru. Upon arrival, our team will greet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel in Miraflores or Barranco. The rest of the day is yours to settle in, take a first walk along the Pacific cliffs, and soak up the energy of South America’s culinary capital.

Overnight in Lima

Optional: Add our Lima half-day city tour and explore the city’s beautiful neighborhoods, local markets and more.

Today’s Highlight: Sandboard down towering dunes at sunset and cruise past sea lions, penguins, and seabirds on Peru’s wild Pacific coast.

An early start takes you south to the Ballestas Islands, often called the “Poor Man’s Galápagos”, where boats weave past massive colonies of sea lions, Humboldt penguins, and thousands of seabirds on dramatic coastal rock formations.

In the afternoon, the landscape shifts entirely: welcome to Huacachina, a tiny oasis village ringed by some of the tallest sand dunes in South America. Ride a dune buggy to the crests and sandboard down as the desert turns gold at sunset.

Breakfast & Lunch included.

Overnight in Lima

Today’s Highlight: Trade the desert coast for the Andean highlands and ease into altitude with a first stop in the Sacred Valley.

An early flight brings you to Cusco (11,150 ft.). Rather than heading into the city straight away, we transfer you directly to the Sacred Valley, lower in altitude and the perfect place to acclimatize before the adventure days ahead. Stop at the colorful Pisac market and ruins for your first taste of Inca culture, then settle into your valley hotel and rest up.

Breakfast & Lunch included.

Overnight in Sacred Valley

Today’s Highlight: Tear through the Andean highlands by ATV and arrive at two of the Sacred Valley’s most remarkable landscapes.

Gear up for an off-road ATV ride across the highlands to Moray, the Inca’s fascinating circular agricultural terraces, designed as an open-air laboratory using altitude to create different micro-climates.

Continue to the Maras salt mines, where thousands of terraced pools cascade down the hillside, harvesting mineral-rich spring water the same way they have since pre-Inca times. Prefer a slower pace? This day can also be done on horseback.

Breakfast & Lunch included.

Overnight in Sacred Valley

Today’s Highlight: Climb a vertical cliff face above the Sacred Valley, then soar back down on a zipline with the whole valley beneath you.

Today is pure adrenaline. Strap into your harness and tackle the Via Ferrata, a guided climb up a sheer rock wall above Ollantaytambo using fixed iron rungs, with safety equipment and experienced guides every step of the way.

At the top, the reward is immediate: a zipline descent with sweeping panoramic views over the patchwork of fields, rivers, and mountains that make up the Sacred Valley. No prior climbing experience required.

Breakfast & Lunch included.

Overnight in Sacred Valley

Today’s Highlight: Explore the Inca’s most complete surviving town and share a feast cooked underground in the Andean tradition.

Start with a guided visit to Ollantaytambo, the most intact example of Inca urban planning still standing, where dramatic fortress terraces rise above original stone streets still in daily use. Then sit down to a traditional Pachamanca: marinated meats and vegetables slow-cooked in an earth oven with hot volcanic stones, just as Andean communities have done for over 1,000 years. Overnight in Ollantaytambo, steps from the trailhead and ready for tomorrow.

Breakfast & Lunch included.

Overnight in Sacred Valley

Today’s Highlight: Trek one of the world’s most iconic paths through cloud forest, ancient ruins, and mountain passes, arriving at the Sun Gate as the light fades.

An early start onto the legendary Inca Trail. Today’s route covers approximately 12km through some of the most dramatic scenery in the Andes, cloud forest, high mountain passes, and a string of ancient Inca ruins that hint at what awaits at the end.

Your expert local guide shares history and natural detail throughout. At the trail’s end, reach the Sun Gate for your first view of Machu Picchu below, before descending to Aguas Calientes for a well-earned rest.

Breakfast & Box Lunch included.

Overnight in Aguas Calientes

Today’s Highlight: Step inside Machu Picchu before the crowds arrive, then return to Cusco with one of the world’s great ancient sites behind you.

Rise early for the first entry into Machu Picchu, morning mist, golden light, and the citadel nearly to yourself. Your licensed guide brings the site to life: the architecture, the astronomy, the agricultural terraces, and the story of how this entire city was built without mortar or the wheel.

After time to explore independently, descend to Aguas Calientes and board the train back to Cusco for the night.

Breakfast & Lunch included.

Overnight in Cusco

Today’s Highlight: Hike to one of Peru’s most extraordinary natural wonders a mountain streaked with vivid bands of color at over 5,000 meters above sea level.

Rise before dawn for the drive to the trailhead. Depending on conditions, weather, and your preference, choose between two spectacular options: Vinicunca, the famous Rainbow Mountain, with its iconic multicolored mineral slopes or Pallay Punchu, a lesser-visited alternative that offers equally dramatic scenery with far fewer crowds.

Either way, the high-altitude landscape of grazing alpacas, snow-capped peaks, and sweeping Andean views makes this one of the most memorable days of the entire trip.

Breakfast & Lunch included.

Overnight in Cusco