Experience Overview
Immerse yourself into Peru on this 9-day exploration of its diverse landscapes, vibrant culture and delicious food. Venture further in the Sacred Valley with additional time to experience as much as possible, from some 'must-see' Inca ruins like Pisaq and Ollantaytambo to other highlights like a world class ceramic studio and the chance to hike to a waterfall. Take the scenic train to Machu Picchu for an unforgettable visit and have a delicious meal at Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge to cap off this truly unforgettable adventure.
Highlights
- Explore the imposing Inca ruins of Pisaq
- Interact with the locals in the Sacred Valley
- Wander the temples and terraces of Machu Picchu with an expert guide
- Visit the salt pans of Maras and the ruins of Moray.
Trip Details
Product Code: 2859
Tour Type: Small Group
Accommodation: Moderate
Transport: Public bus, private van, train, walking.
Guide Language: English
Travel Styles: Luxury
Supplier Code: SPCG.C
Starts: Cusco, Peru
Finishes: Cusco, Peru
Duration: 9 days
Departures: Guaranteed
Physical rating: Demanding
Includes
Activities
- Your G for Good Moment: Parwa Community Restaurant the Sacred Valley, Lamay Your Welcome Moment: Welcome Moment - Meet Your CEO and Group Your Foodie Moment: Traditional Pachamanca Dinner, Yanahuara Your OMG Day: Hike to Perilnilloq Waterfall or Via Ferrata, Valle Sagrado
- Complimentary arrival transfer
- Welcome dinner
- Explore the ruins of Pisaq in the Sacred Valley with a local guide
- Visit the Maras salt pans and ruins of Moray
- Guided tour of Machu Picchu
- Lunch at Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge
- Farewell dinner
- All tips included for activities and meals, except for CEO and porterage
- All transport between destinations and to/from included activities
Accommodation
- Hotels (8nts).
- 8 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 6 dinners
Transport
- Public bus, private van, train, walking.
Group Leader
- CEO (Chief Experience Officer) throughout, local guides.
Price
Price per person: (Double Occupancy) CAD $4249 (CAD $472 /day)
Itinerary
Day 1: Cusco: The Land of the Incas
The air is a bit thinner when you step off of the plane and you can immediately sense the magic of Cusco as you make your way to the city centre along the cobblestone streets past grand buildings and ancient Inca stonework. We welcome you to Peru, a diverse land of natural beauty and traditional cultures and we invite you to open yourself to curiosity and wonder as you embark on this adventure up in the Andes.
Arrive to Cusco at any time and transfer to the hotel. Meet your fellow group members at the welcome meeting in the evening and get all the important information about the adventure ahead. Afterwards, head to a nearby restaurant for a delicious welcome dinner with new friends.
Meals included: Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - You will be met at the airport and transferred to the hotel to start your adventure.Activity - Your opportunity to meet your CEO and fellow travellers, and learn more about your tour. Join the group for a local meal afterwards. Don't forget to see the notice in the lobby (or ask reception) for the official time and place to meet up with the group.Accommodation - Novotel Cusco Hotel
Day 2: The Sacred Valley: Pisaq Ruins and Cultural Traditions
The Sacred Valley is aptly named for its importance to the people who have lived there and it is also stunningly beautiful with mountain scenery and colourful farmland along the Urubamba River. You'll see the massive ruins of Pisaq perched up above the town as you approach and you'll get to spend time with a local community on the way up to the site. Lunch is an experience unto itself at a community-run restaurant, using locally-grown ingredients for a delicious and traditional meal. Back at the hotel for dinner, feast on a traditional pachamanca meal consisting of various types of meat, potatoes and vegetables cooked for hours in the ground under hot stones.
Travel from Cusco into the Sacred Valley. Visit the Cuyo Chico community for a snack and to learn about their traditional ceramics and adobe before taking a guided tour of Pisaq archaeological site. Continue to the hotel after lunch. In the evening enjoy a pachamanca dinner.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Sit back and scan the scenery from the comfort of your private vehicle with stops along the way to Cuyo Chico, Pisaq, and Parwa.Activity - In the rural village of Cuyo Chico in the Sacred Valley, a group of families joined together to create a small business based on their traditional adobe ceramic crafts. Visit this community learn about the ceramics process and partake in an empanada making demonstration. Learn to make Peruvian-style empanadas from scratch using local ingredients. The experience typically involves a hands-on session preparing the dough and filling, cooking the empanadas in a traditional outdoor oven (horno), and enjoying the meal you helped create. This activity allows you to connect with local life and learn about the community's traditional cooking methods, directly supporting their economic well-being and preservation of Andean customs.Activity - Tour the fascinating hilltop citadel of Pisac, an Incan ruin with plunging gorges, a ceremonial centre, and winding agriculture terracing that's still in use today. Be captivated by this truly amazing site sitting amid sweeping green valleys and mountain peaks. Explore the back of the site to see a pocketed cliff across Kitamayo Gorge, which once contained hundreds of Inca tombs.Activity - Contribute to sustainable tourism in Huchuy Qosqo, a small village of 65 families in the Sacred Valley, by eating at the Parwa Community Restaurant. Learn how the resident-run restaurant was kickstarted by G Adventures and the Multilateral Investment Fund, to become a successful farm-to-table program that boosts the local economy and several spin-off microenterprises.Activity - The thousand year-old tradition of Pachamanca involves baking an assortment of meat and vegetables in an oven of hot stones, earth, and grass. Meat is usually seasoned with local spices and wrapped in a banana leaf before it’s placed on the hot stones and can include lamb, pork, chicken or guinea pig. Savour this traditional meal prepared by an experienced chef.Accommodation - Casa Andina Premium Sacred Valley
Day 3: The Sacred Valley: Your OMG Day
Sitting at a slightly lower altitude than Cusco, spending time in the Sacred Valley helps to get you used the altitude in these parts. Choose from a scenic acclimatization hike to a waterfall or get the adrenaline flowing by scaling a via ferrata network of rungs and ladders for lunch with a view.
Choice of activity in the morning, both options including lunch.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - Option 1: Start the day with an acclimatization hike to Perilnilloq waterfall. Follow a meandering trail through the mountains to the gorgeous waterfall, and to the Inca ruins of Raqaypata that lie just beyond.
Option 2: Get the adrenaline flowing and scale a via ferrata for epic views. Test your fear of heights as you climb the rungs and ladders and enjoy lunch with a view.Free_time - Enjoy free time back at the hotel this afternoon and evening before your group dinner.Accommodation - Casa Andina Premium Sacred Valley
Day 4: The Sacred Valley: Living Traditions
Beyond the natural beauty of the Sacred Valley lies a long history of cultural practices that endure throughout the region. You'll marvel at Inca stonework at Ollantaytambo and also see living traditions like ceramic-making that embody both the local spirit as well as be an expression of those that lived here in the past. You'll get the chance to appreciate the old and the new as well as eat some delicious local food along the way.
Take a morning tour of Ollantaytambo ruins before heading to Urubamba for a visit of Pablo Seminario's ceramic workshop where, if lucky, you may get the chance to meet him. Have lunch at the beautiful Hacienda Huayoccari before returning to the hotel for a free evening to relax.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - Explore this ancient site right in the heart of Ollantaytambo city. Learn about the principles of Incan architecture and get a first taste of climbing around a massive ruins site.Activity - Visit Pablo Seminario's ceramic workshop in Urubamba and learn about ceramic-making that embodies the local spirit and is a tribute to generations past.Activity - Enjoy a delicious and traditional lunch at the historic estate of Hacienda Huayroccari, surrounded by art and the breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains of the Sacred Valley.Accommodation - Casa Andina Premium Sacred Valley
Day 5: Cusco: Maras and Moray
Evidence of the Inca in these parts is astounding as ancient ruins and archaeological sites are scattered all over the landscape. Driving along the Sacred Valley you may catch a glint of white up in the mountains before you ascend, as the salt pans of Maras shine in the sunlight with Moray lying just beyond.
Drive up out of the Sacred Valley with stops to visit the salt pans of Maras and the Moray archaeological site. Continue to the town of Chinchero and explore the ruins on the way back to Cusco for a free evening to choose from one of the many great restaurants near the main plaza.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Activity - Tour the unique Inca ruins of Moray, consisting of circular terraces and a sophisticated irrigation system located at 3500m (11483 ft). Learn about the history and study of this fascinating site – speculation has it that it was an Inca agriculture experiment station. Then visit the impressive Maras Salt Mines and see thousands of individual ancient salt pools spilling over a hillside. Learn about the different varieties of salt, and try the renowned pink salt, famous worldwide.Activity - Set out on a scenic drive above the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Stop along the way to look out over small farms carved into the hills and small villages dotted along the landscape. Enjoy the views and have lunch near Maras, opt to relax, explore the surroundings.Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Activity - Chincheros is known to the Incas as the birthplace of the rainbow. This typical Andean village has Inca ruins, a colonial church, and sweeping mountain views. Explore the ruins and check out the impressive architecture of this ancient place.Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Accommodation - Novotel Cusco Hotel
Day 6: Cusco: The Ancient Capital
Cusco is an incredible city to discover on foot with its beautiful architecture, cobblestone streets and picturesque plazas. You'll explore the city with an expert guide to show you the way, passing by some of the "must-see" historical and cultural highlights as well as some hidden gems and great panoramic views.
Set off on a walking tour of Cusco before a delicious lunch at a restaurant near the main plaza. In the afternoon, enjoy free time for individual exploration, shopping or relaxing near the plaza to watch the world go by.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - Spend time on a group walking tour of the colonial areas in Cusco. Start in Cusco City and finish with a visit to the Sapantiana waterfalls before having a delicious lunch at a restaurant near the main plaza.Free_time - Spend more time getting to know this fascinating city and surrounding area. Free time is yours to explore any way you want.Accommodation - Novotel Cusco Hotel
Day 7: Aguas Calientes: Scenic Train
Watching the mountains go by from a train is the perfect build-up of what's to come, as you follow the Urubamba River along the valley. You'll feel the anticipation building as you get closer and closer to your goal and you'll see the vegetation start to get lusher as the train descends in elevation. Only one more sleep until the big day.
Drive back to the Sacred Valley and catch the train to Aguas Calientes, at the foot of Machu Picchu. Enjoy a free evening with an optional visit to the local hot springs.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Transport - Climb aboard, take a seat, and enjoy the ride.Activity - The group will arrive at Aguas Calientes with their assistant guide or CEO and they will have an orientation walk through the town of Aguas Calientes. Your CEO can then help you coordinate any optional activities you may want to try during your time here.Accommodation - Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo
Day 8: Cusco: Discover Machu Picchu
Exploring the mountaintop Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is a magical experience, no matter how many pictures you may have seen of it. The history of the ancient Inca that you've heard in the days leading up to this moment seem to all come together as you wander the site's temples and terraces. Relive the memories and take in the views as you return by train on the way back to Cusco.
Take an early bus up to Machu Picchu for a guided tour of the ruins followed by lunch at Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge. Return by train and bus to Cusco and enjoy a farewell dinner in the evening.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Climb aboard, grab a seat, and enjoy the ride.Activity - Rise and shine – the best time to see the Lost City of the Incas is in the early morning light. Follow the local guide to Machu Picchu to learn about its history at a leisurely pace. Gain local insight into the Inti Mach’ay cave, Inti Watana, the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Water, the Temple of the Condor, and the Room of the Three Windows. Take time to sit and feel the energy of this 15th-century site, now both a UNESCO World Heritage site and voted one of the new Seven Wonders of the World (in a worldwide Internet poll). Transport to and from Aguas Calientes is provided with the tour.Transport - Climb aboard, take a seat, and enjoy the ride.Transport - Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.Accommodation - Novotel Cusco Hotel
Day 9: Cusco
Your adventure comes to an end, and you can depart at any time.
Depart at any time.
Meals included: Breakfast
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - Not ready to leave? Your CEO can help with travel arrangements to extend your adventure.
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Tour Operator
G Adventures
G Adventures, founded in 1990 by Bruce Poon Tip, is a global adventure travel company specializing in small-group tours that emphasize authentic, sustainable, and culturally immersive experiences. Originally launched as GAP Adventures (“Great Adventure People”), the company pioneered the concept of community-driven travel by offering affordable trips that connect travelers with local communities while minimizing environmental impact. Today, G Adventures operates in more than 100 countries, offering a wide range of itineraries across themes such as active adventures, wildlife, wellness, family, and National Geographic–partnered tours, while maintaining a strong commitment to responsible tourism and social enterprise through its Planeterra Foundation.
In Business Since 1990
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