Great Peruvian Discoveries

AN EXCLUSIVE 19 DAY FULLY ESCORTED TOUR - PRICES START FROM £3,695

It’s been a struggle to give you the very best of Peru – there’s just too much to see. Mighty Inca monuments that have survived earthquakes compete with magnificent Spanish Colonial churches and convents - often built on Inca foundations. You take an epic train ride across the high Andes … see deserts and lakes with inexplicable giant sculptures … … temples, sundials - and observatories, ancient and modern … floating manmade islands where Indian tribes have lived for centuries.

You have close encounters with all kinds of creatures, wild and domestic. Condors and penguins... alpaca, vicuna and llama. There’s food, too. Cevice - marinated raw fish – is delicious, and Peruvians love chicken. But dare you try the guinea pig?

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

• City Sightseeing Tours of Lima Sacred Valley, Cusco, Arequipa

• Opportunity to fly over incredible Nasca Lines

• Cruise and tour of Ballestas Islands

• Lunch at Casa Hacienda Orihuela, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas

• Lost City of Machu Picchu  Culture of Cusco

• Andean Explorer Train through the Andes

• Floating Islands of Lake Titicaca, and the Uros Indians

• Opportunity to view Condors at Colca Canyon

• Farewell Dinner at Diez-Canseco Mansion

PRE-BOOKABLE HOLIDAY EXCURSIONS FROM £17 PER PERSON

Peruvian Culinary Tour

Visit a market to try local fruits. Learn how to prepare dishes like "Cebiche" - marinated raw fish. Taste Pisco the national drink before a buffet of the best traditional dishes, ending at a local Boutique, with a wide selection of cookbooks and souvenirs.

Prices from £142 per person

San Blas Walking Tour

San Blas is a typical charming quarter up the hill north of Plaza de Armas. Why not join us for a pleasant walk through this quaint district? Stroll through the many handicraft and native art galleries in the little square. Roam the ancient quarters dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. A lot of slopes and stairs here so take it easy and soak up the atmosphere.

Prices from £17 per person

Paracas, Nasca Lines

Ancient religion? Aliens from outer space? Ancient astronomers? The truth is nobody really knows. The Nasca lines, which were scratched on the surface of the ground between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500, are among archaeology's greatest enigmas because of their quantity, nature, size and continuity. Only visible and truly appreciated from the air we take flight by a high-wing light aircraft, over the desert and these mysterious Lines.

Prices from £153 per person

EXTEND YOUR HOLIDAY 4 NIGHTS FROM £765 PER PERSON

Delfin II cruise

3 Nights - Cruise

1 Night - Lima

• Return flights and transfers.

• 3 nights suite accommodation onboard Delfin II with daily breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Cruise – daily touring.

• 1 night Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores Hotel, Lima.

An amazing combination! Cruise in luxury through the Amazon rainforest. Take Jungle walks … egrets, herons, hawks, cormorants, parrots, rare scarlet macaw, hummingbirds … flooded forests, palm swamps and lakes. And at every meal you enjoy magnificent cuisine and the finest of wines.

Prices from £1,645 per person

Iquitos Ceiba Tops lodge

3 Nights - Iquitos Ceiba Tops lodge

1 Night - Lima

• Return flights and transfers.

• 3 nights accommodation Ceiba Tops Lodge with daily breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Daily activities / touring (some may be at an additional cost).

• 1 night Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores Hotel, Lima.

After your trip - an Amazon adventure! Take a motor boat down the river… explore the jungle … visit the Yagua Indians, famous for their blow-pipes … see fresh water dolphins … visit a town founded by missionaries, paddle in a dugout canoe. Amazing!

Prices from £765 per person

Day 1 Departure from London Heathrow

Enjoy complimentary drinks and snacks in the Executive lounge at Heathrow as you meet your Tour Manager and travelling companions before your LAN Airlines flight to Lima, via Madrid.

Meals: inflight

Day 2 Arrive Lima

You arrive in Lima early morning and transfer to the hotel where we have arranged an early checkin. Relax and enjoy a leisurly day. In the evening, enjoy a welcome dinner at your hotel.

Included Meals: Dinner

Hotel: Casa Andina

Day 3 Lima

This morning you tour Peru’s capital, a UNESCO World Heritage treasure which is rich in magnificently ornate buildings from the Spanish colonial era. Perhaps the most memorable of all the sights you see is Casa Aliaga, lived in since 1535 by seventeen generations of one family, with a series of rooms showing life in Lima in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

Meals: Breakfast

Hotel: Casa Andina

Day 4 Lima to Paracas

After breakfast you leave for Pisco airport. You can go straight to your hotel, or have the option to fly for 1:30 hours in a high-wing light aircraft over the amazing Nasca and Palpa Lines - only visible from the air. No one knows how these huge ancient drawings of hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, llamas, and lizards were made, or why.

Meals: Breakfast

Hotel: Libertador Paracas

Day 5 Paracas

This morning there’s a boat ride to the Ballestas Islands, home of boobies, pelicans, sea lions and Humboldt penguins. You pass by a mysterious giant drawing, "El Candelabro", scratched on the highest point of a cliff side overlooking Paracas bay. Relax for the rest of your day.

Meals: Breakfast

Hotel: Libertador Paracas

Day 6 Paracas to Sacred Valley

This morning we return to Lima in time for our flight to Cusco. Then continue our journey to the Sacred Valley.

Meals: Breakfast

Hotel: Casa Andina

Day 7 Sacred Valley

Your day’s tour begins with a visit to Awanakancha, where they breed llama, alpaca and vicuna. Learn how their unbelievably soft fibres are woven using ancient weaving techniques. Learn how to spot the natural colours for shopping … then visit Pisac, home of an old Inca observatory and an impressive network of cultivated terraces. Then you visit the colourful market in Pisac (have a haggle!).

You lunch (very well!) at the wonderful Casa Hacienda Orihuela – hosted by the Orihuelas family. They are great collectors of ceramics, paintings, weapons, photography, ceremonial vessels and the ceramic bulls of Pucara. The environs include forest of eucalyptus and other native species, and the famous giant white corn is cultivated for export.

Next you see the Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo built just as the Spaniards arrived. You can still see the extraordinary skill with which the Incas built using massive stones fitted together without mortar.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Hotel: Casa Andina

Day 8 Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu

Now comes – literally – the high point of your journey when your vistadome train takes you up to the clouds – the 'Lost City' of Machu Picchu. This ancient stronghold is in the most dramatic location you can imagine. You are guided through the Main Square, the Royal Quarters, Temple of the Three Windows, Circular Towers, Sacred Sun Dial and the Burial Grounds. The staggering views will stay with you forever. Lunch is at Sanctuary Lodge, with dinner at your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Hotel: Inkaterra

Day 9 Machu Picchu to Cusco

Don’t miss your chance to revisit the citadel as there’s so much to see, before you go by rail again, through deep wooded canyons and hillside terraces to take the coach to Cusco. In this ancient Inca capital Spanish colonial splendour was built on massive Inca foundations.

Meals: Breakfast

Hotel: Libertador

Day 10 Cusco

This morning you tour the city, starting with the Santo Domingo Convent Monastery, originally the Koricancha temple, devoted to worship of the sun – when it was covered in gold leaf . Also on the tour are the magnificent Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral, before you go to the countryside to see one of the remarkable recently discovered ruins: Sacsayhuaman. You cannot fail to be impressed by the massive ramparts, and monumental scale of this fortress – generally attributed to the time of Inca Pachacuti who founded the Inca empire. In the afternoon, look round the city which is a joy – with excellent shopping.

Meals: Breakfast

Hotel: Libertador

Day 11 Cusco

Enjoy a free day to explore Cusco. There are some good restaurants (excellent trout) and your hotel is perfect if you want to just lie around. If you’re feeling more energetic you could take an optional tour. A walk through the San Blas quarters takes you back to the 16th and 17th centuries. The splendid colonial church has an impressive pulpit, and a filigree woodcarving of the fruits of the region dedicated to the Virgin of the Blessed Event. There are handicraft and native art galleries with an exclusive visit to a famous artist’s house.

Meals: Breakfast

Hotel: Libertador

Day 12 Cusco to Puno

After breakfast, a real adventure – the spectacular train ride over the high Andes via La Raya Pass, just over 14,000 feet high. This is where Inca civilisation was born, and you pass small villages and herds of llamas and alpacas, eventually reaching Puno.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Hotel: Libertador

Day 13 Puno

Lake Titicaca, with its floating islands is utterly unique. You take a motor boat to some of the islands where the Uros Indians live. They were here before the Inca – and outlasted them. The islands are man-made out of Totora reeds. Walking on them is strange – rather like being on a giant, leaking waterbed. You’ll have a lot to reflect on for the rest of your day.

Meals: Breakfast

Hotel: Libertador

Day 14 Puno to Colca Canyon

We’re off on an adventure to see another astonishing natural wonder. The Colca Valley, home of the Andean condor, with spectacular views of lagoons and snow - covered mountains. The valley is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in Colorado. The local people still maintain ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Hotel: El Refugio

Day 15 Colca Canyon to Arequipa

Another memorable experience for you, go to "Condor's Cross" observation point where you can see these great Andean birds with their 10 foot wingspans. Look down the vast Canyon and marvel (3000 mts/9800 ft). Travel to Arequipa, where you will have a packed lunch en-route.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Hotel: Libertador

Day 16 Arequipa

This morning, explore Arequipa, called the "White City" because of the white volcanic rock, sillar used in its buildings. The beautiful Santa Catalina convent (1580) is like a selfsustaining village with houses for the nuns and their servants, cloisters, plazas and narrow streets, kitchens, refectory and laundry. The facade of the Jesuit Church is a superb example of the mestizo baroque style, its vestry covered in murals that recall the jungle. The ancient Jesuit seminary is famous for its beautiful principal cloister. You enjoy magnificent views of Arequipa's countryside and the Misti volcano. The mummified female “Juanita” in the Santa Maria Museum in the Catholic University dates back to the time of the Incas. Your afternoon is at leisure.

Meals: Breakfast

Hotel: Libertador

Day 17 Arequipa to Lima

We fly back to Lima, where tonight there’s an exclusive farewell dinner in the exquisite dining room of the Diez- Canseco mansion. This mansion has the character of a traditional Peruvian country house, strongly influenced by Spanish tastes but with important local elements of art and architecture.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Hotel: Casa Andina

Day 18 Lima

Enjoy a day at leisure where you will have time to freshen up before your flight back to London Heathrow via Madrid.

Meals: Breakfast,

Inflight Day 19 Arrive into London Heathrow

You arrive at Heathrow ... with new friends made and wonderful memories to carry home.

Meals: Inflight

Destination introduction

Peru? Maybe you think of Machu Picchu, Incas and conquistadors. But there is so much more to this astounding country. Floating islands where people have lived for centuries. Towering peaks, mighty ravines, arid deserts. Condors and llamas, penguins and sea-lions. And some of the best cuisine in South America.

Did you know? The potato, tomato and avocado are all from Peru