Peru’s Southern Circuit: Nazca, Colca Canyon & Machu Picchu

Lima Airport Arrival Transfer

Explore the Historic Center of Lima

Lima's historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site filled with Spanish colonial architecture, best explored on foot in the city's breezy Pacific air. The suggested route radiates from the Plaza Mayor through the colonial downtown to the 16th-century Cathedral, which took eighty years to build in the grandiose style of the Spanish Empire. It is a suggestion for free time rather than a fixed booking — mingling with locals and eating in award-winning restaurants are part of the day's framing.

Visit Casa Aliaga

Casa Aliaga is a colonial mansion granted in 1535 by conquistador Francisco Pizarro to his captain Jerónimo de Aliaga. It is described as the only house of that era still belonging to the same family, which makes it a rare, lived-in window onto Lima's colonial center.

Visit the Larco Museum in Pueblo Libre

The Larco Museum is a privately owned museum of pre-Columbian art housed in a restored viceregal mansion built over a 7th-century pre-Columbian pyramid. Its collection holds a vast array of pre-Colonial gold and silver artifacts alongside pieces of erotic art.

Sunset at Love Park in Miraflores

In the evening, the eclectic Love Park in upscale Miraflores pairs a huge kissing statue with beautiful mosaic walls on the cliffs of Chorrillos. It is a calm place to watch the sun go down over the Pacific, with a nightcap at an open-air cafe in Miraflores as the suggested close of the day.

Lima to Paracas Transfer

Travel from the origin to the destination described in this service block using the confirmed Peru route. The transfer remains separate so timing, vehicle or service, luggage, and safety details can be confirmed independently.

Transfer from Paracas to Pisco Airport

Nazca Lines Overflight from Pisco

A 90-minute flight in a 12-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan passes over the sprawling Nazca Lines, where the figures of a hummingbird, a dog, a tree, a whale and a lizard appear among the geometric lines. The longest figures measure about 1,200 ft (370 m); they were made by removing the top layer of iron-oxide-coated pebbles to reveal the lighter clay underneath, and the stable desert environment has preserved them remarkably well.

Sandboarding the Dunes of Huacachina

After the flight, the day turns to Huacachina, the desert oasis ringed by rolling sand dunes. On a sandboard, the larger dunes give the afternoon a physical, playful counterpoint to the morning's archaeology.

Transfer from Huacachina to the Hotel in Paracas

Transfer from Paracas to Lima

Free Day in Lima: Suggested City Exploration

A free day in Lima, taken on foot in the city's breezy Pacific air. The source repeats its Day 1 suggestions — the historic center and 16th-century Cathedral, Casa Aliaga, the Larco Museum with its pre-Colonial gold and silver and its pieces of erotic art, and Love Park in Miraflores at sunset — with downtown mingling and award-winning restaurants again part of the framing.

Transfer from Hotel to Lima Airport

Flight from Lima to Arequipa

Arrival Transfer in Arequipa: Airport to Hotel

Arequipa City Tour

The afternoon city tour begins in the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, framed by the source as an escape to the past, then continues to the Baroque Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús with its colorful Cupula of Saint Ignacio. Arequipa's Main Square and its Neo-renaissance Cathedral follow, and the tour finishes in the traditional Yanahuara district, whose plaza looks out over the volcanoes Misti, Chachani and Pichu Pichu. The evening is free at the hotel.

Colca Canyon Scenic Drive and Patapampa Pass

The road leaves Arequipa after an early breakfast and climbs through landscapes of snowcapped volcanoes and quaint Andean villages toward Colca Canyon. Crossing the Reserva Nacional de Salinas y Aguada Blanca, the drive passes wild vicuñas — smaller cousins of the llama — and viscachas, small chinchilla-like rodents, before reaching Patapampa Pass at 15,300 ft (4,820 m). From the Mirador de los Andes the view takes in the volcanoes Hualca Hualca, Sabancaya and Ampato, and the descent toward Chivay runs past the pre-Inca agricultural terraces that characterize the canyon landscape.

Lunch in Chivay

Calera Hot Springs

A short ride from Chivay, the Calera Hot Springs are known for the therapeutic effects of their thermal waters. You can take a dip in the natural baths or simply sit and take in the scenery — an unhurried pause after the pass.

Transfer from Chivay to Cabanaconde

Morning at Mirador Cruz del Cóndor

Early in the morning you meet the guide and drive to Mirador Cruz del Cóndor, one of the best viewpoints over Colca Canyon and home to the condors that soar on its thermal currents. The road passes picturesque villages and pre-Inca ruins with the Ampato and Hualca glaciers visible in the distance, and from the viewpoint the canyon stretches nearly 4,000 ft below. Condors are characteristic of the viewpoint rather than guaranteed — the morning's air decides.

Chivay Market Visit

After lunch there is time to browse Chivay's local market, where the canyon's produce and crafts change hands. It is a short, human stop between the morning's viewpoint and the afternoon's long road.

Lunch in Chivay

Transfer from Chivay to Puno

The road leaves the canyon for Puno on Lake Titicaca, a drive of five to six hours with spectacular views of the Andes the whole way. Puno sits at a higher altitude than Arequipa, so the source advises an easy arrival.

Boat Excursion to the Uros Floating Islands

The full-day Lake Titicaca outing begins on the water at one of the floating Uros islands, home to people believed to be among the first ethnic groups to populate the Andean region. The islands are man-made, built from the totora reeds that grow abundantly around the lake, and the visit focuses on everyday life and traditions as they are lived today.

Lunch at a Local Restaurant on Taquile Island

Taquile Island Visit

Taquile remained mostly isolated from the outside world until the 1950s, and the Taquileños follow a distinctly communal way of life: decisions are made together, there are no cars and very little electricity. The island is famous for its weavings — men traditionally spin the thread while women design and weave each piece — and the visit spends time learning about those lives and traditions, with wide views of Lake Titicaca from the shores.

Boat Return from Taquile to Puno

Transfer from Puno to Juliaca Airport

Flight from Juliaca to Cusco

Arrival Transfer in Cusco: Airport to Hotel

Suggested Exploration of Cusco: Cathedral, Puca Pucara and San Blas

Cusco was designed as a walking city, and the suggested afternoon runs through its narrow stone alleyways and the Plaza de Armas, where the Cathedral — the most imposing monument on the square and a repository of colonial art — took almost 100 years to build (1560–1654). Farther out, Puca Pucara is an architectural complex of alleged military use, with plazas, baths, aqueducts, walls and towers, believed to have housed the Inca emperor's entourage while he stayed at the elaborate estate and baths of Tambomachay nearby. Back in town, the old bohemian quarter of San Blas pairs white walls and blue doors with its creative artisan community, and the evening closes at a local Peruvian table — crackling pork, pickled vegetables, earthen-oven bread, roasted vegetables and sweet donuts are the source's suggestions.

Cusco City Tour: San Pedro Market, Qoricancha and Sacsayhuamán

The day begins indoors at the San Pedro Market, where locals shop daily for produce and groceries among many food stalls and vendors — the endless selection of fresh fruit smoothies is the treat worth finding. From there the route reaches Qoricancha, the most important temple of the Inca Empire, the Sun Temple, whose detailed, intact architecture holds smaller temples dedicated to the moon, the rainbow, the stars, lightning and thunder. The tour then walks to Sacsayhuamán, an important religious site of immense stones that the Spanish considered a military fortress because of its location and construction, before returning to the hotel to rest.

Scenic Drive from Cusco to Pisac

The road leaves Cusco and drops into the Sacred Valley toward Pisac, with photo stops along the way at terraces, irrigation canals and viewpoints over the mountains. The drive is part of the day's pleasure, not just the link between stops.

Pisac Market and Inca Fortress

Pisac is a village known for its traditional market and for the immense Inca fortress watching over it from the hillside. The visit gives time for both — the market in the village below and the fortress and terraces above — before the road continues deeper into the valley.

Transfer from Pisac to Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo Ruins and Inca Town

Ollantaytambo holds some of the best-preserved Inca architecture in the entire Sacred Valley. The visit roams the town's winding alleys and vast plazas and takes in the marvelous llama-shaped ruin above the rooftops.

Scenic Drive from Ollantaytambo to Moray

The morning drive from Ollantaytambo to Moray passes snow-capped Andean peaks, lush yellow fields of wheat and small villages strung along the road. It is a short crossing of the valley's upper reaches, with the scenery doing half the work.

Moray Inca Agricultural Terraces

Moray is a set of three famous amphitheater-like terraces carved deep into the earth in the shape of a bowl. The Incas are believed to have used them as agricultural laboratories, working out the optimal conditions for growing crops. The site invites a slow look rather than a quick photo.

Salinas de Maras Salt Pools

About two miles from Moray, the salt mines of Maras spill down the mountainside in more than 3,000 salt pools, filled daily by a stream of water. The village was a salt-producing center thought to date back to pre-Incan times, and the site is a genuine change of scenery after the ruins.

Chinchero Textile Traditions

Chinchero, believed by the Inca to be the birthplace of the rainbow, pairs extensive Inca terraces and several small colonial-era churches with a living textile tradition. The visit tours a weaver's studio, follows the cleaning and production of the wool, and browses the vibrant textiles that make the village's handmade gifts. It is culture carried by hands, not by displays.

Return Transfer from Chinchero to Ollantaytambo

Train from Ollantaytambo to Km 104

Short Inca Trail Hike from Km 104 to Intipunku

The short Inca Trail starts at Km 104 with a challenging uphill path to Chachabamba, a site very well preserved thanks to its valley location and likely used for religious purposes and as a gatekeeping point for this entrance to Machu Picchu. From there the trail climbs for about three hours to Wiñay Wayna at 2,732 m (8,964 ft), an ancient rest area for travelers on the Inca Trail, then eases through semi-tropical cloud forest to Intipunku, the Sun Gate, where the first panoramic views of Machu Picchu appear. A half-hour descent reaches the citadel for a short break and photos; the ruins themselves are left unexplored for the full visit the next day.

Boxed Lunch at Wiñay Wayna

Bus from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes

Bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu Guided Excursion

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel at 7,970 ft (2,430 m), a masterpiece of engineering built as a sanctuary and seasonal retreat for the emperor Pachacutec and his royal court — the name means 'Old Mountain'. It was rarely home to more than 800 people, with about 100 servants maintaining the grounds during the royals' absence, and it was abandoned about 100 years after construction, remaining largely hidden until the early 20th century. With the guide you move through the buildings and curious corners of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, where roughly one-third of the site has been reconstructed into its original structure.

Lunch in Aguas Calientes

Train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo to Cusco Return Transfer

Travel from the origin to the destination described in this service block using the confirmed Peru route. The transfer remains separate so timing, vehicle or service, luggage, and safety details can be confirmed independently.

Departure Transfer: Cusco Hotel to Cusco Airport