Peru with Machu Picchu & the Nazca Lines a Women

Arrive in Lima for the first day of your journey. Dubbed “City of the Kings,” the historic center of Lima was founded by Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro in January 1535 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After you’re met at the airport and transferred to your hotel, unwind before celebrating your first night with your Travel Director and fellow travelers this evening over dinner and drinks.

Explore the coastal, colorful capital of Peru with your Local Expert and fellow female travelers. Delve into its colonial past and see key attractions, including the Cathedral of Lima, the Government Palace, the Archbishop’s Palace and City Hall. Visit Casa Aliaga, an impressive mansion that has been home to the Aliaga family for generations, for a tour with Wilma Ehni de Aliaga. Art lovers will enjoy experience at the Museo Larco where an archaeologist will share her knowledge of the museum as you indulge in lunch against a backdrop of an 18th-century garden. After lunch, meet a Local Expert who will show you Museo Larco, highlighting women’s impact and the museum’s private collection. End your day by delving into Peruvian culture and ancient history.

This morning, catch your flight to the ancient capital of Cusco. Begin your tour of the Sacred Valley while taking in impressive views on your scenic drive along the way. Indulge your curiosity learning how its lower elevation and fertile land for growing crops, including corn, potatoes and quinoa, made it a revered location for the Incas. After a few stunning photo stops, enjoy lunch at Altar Inca, perched above a valley surrounded by some of the most impressive views of the region. Enjoy a leisurely trip to your hotel for the next couple of nights, the luxurious Aranwa Sacred Valley Hotel, where the evening is yours to do as you please. We recommend that you rest to adjust to the altitude comfortably.

With curiosity and confidence, visit the Maras salt pans where the Incas harvested their salt. Learn how today the salt from Maras is exported to the entire world. Then move on to an Incan laboratory in Moray, an archaeological site close to Cusco, to find out more about the ideal altitude to grow crops in the Sacred Valley. Join a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience visiting a local traditional Quechua weaver in the Sacred Valley to learn about the importance these textiles have in shaping personal and regional identities. Afterward, make your way to Laguna Piuray where you’ll enjoy a Pachamanca, a traditional Peruvian feast, for your lunch. In the evening, transfer to Hacienda Huayoccari to discover this gem of the Sacred Valley while exploring its grounds and small museum. Conclude the day by sitting down to a Farm-to-Table Peruvian dinner.

Embark on a grand adventure beginning with an IncaRail train ride. Sit back and relax as you enjoy the scenic journey to Machu Picchu Pueblo, the gateway village to Machu Picchu. On the way, visit the Ollantaytambo ruins – a town and archaeological site that was both a fortress and a temple – followed by a stop at a local house in the village’s cobblestoned old town and a visit with a local family. In the afternoon, visit Machu Picchu where you’ll meet your Local Experts for a guided visit in small groups with like-minded travelers. Explore the iconic ruins as you learn about their historical and archaeological significance as well as the importance of their location. Set high in the Andes Mountains, the ruins offer spectacular scenery and history dating back to the 15th century. End your day with a relaxing dinner and drinks at your hotel.

Your in-depth journey of Peru continues as you take in the breathtaking landscapes discovering Machu Picchu on your own. Spend the morning exploring at your own pace, with your Travel Director on-hand to answer any queries you may have. The afternoon is yours at leisure. Relax back at your hotel or perhaps explore the town of Aguas Calientes. Named for the hot springs north of the town, Aguas Calientes is also home to a handicraft market and the Allcamayo waterfall surrounded by exotic trees, butterflies and orchids. Spend the evening as you please before sitting down to dinner with your fellow travelers.

More sights and insights await returning by train to Ollantaytambo where you will transfer to the ancient city of Cusco. Once the capital of the Inca Empire, Cusco showcases a mix of Spanish colonial architecture, ancient remains and a lively cosmopolitan scene. Join a walking tour with a Local Expert to see its cathedral and the Qorikancha temple, the most important temple in the Inca Empire. Enhance your day by visiting the hand-picked Mantay store, one of four stores in Cusco that support the Mantay project of underaged, often abused, mothers and their young children by providing a home and education. With an evening free to explore, consider asking your Travel Director for recommendations to discover more about this ancient city.

Peru’s Incan history and archaeology will inspire the mind of any curious traveler. Start your day with a walking tour of Sacsayhuaman, a citadel built during the reign of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, the ninth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco. Deepen your discoveries with Insight Choice. Opt to join a Local Expert on a guided hike of the Inca ruins at Puca Pucara. Alternatively, explore the artisan bohemian neighborhood of San Blas and visit the prestigious art galleries. After lunch at Pachapapa, visit San Blas Church and the surrounding streets before making your way to San Pedro Market to delight your senses with an array of local produce. At the city’s planetarium, discover the insights of astronomy, cosmology and its influence on Andean culture on a private, after-hours tour. Conclude a memorable day delighting your taste buds as you try local delicacies paired with hot wine.

No visit to Peru is complete without sampling local chocolate. Join an optional visit to the ChocoMuseo where you’ll learn more about the chocolate-making process and the cacao bean, the seed of the cacao tree used to make chocolate. Or, perhaps relax and enjoy the facilities at your hotel. Set in a beautiful 16th-century building, make the most of this boutique hotel’s signature spa and Andean-inspired healing treatments, massages, facials and custom spa packages. In the evening, join your fellow female travelers for a memorable dinner at the Inka Grill restaurant where you will toast to your adventures and lifelong friendships formed.

Embark on the next leg of your journey with a flight from Cusco to Lima. Arriving in Peru’s capital city, head out on a leisurely coastal drive to town of Paracas. This beach town where the desert meets the Pacific Ocean is the ideal jumping off point for the Ballestas Islands as well as Paracas National Reserve. Indulge your curiosity learning how this protected desert peninsula is known for its abundant wildlife and as an important archaeological area once home to a prehistoric civilization from 800 BCE and 200 BCE.

Peru’s Incan history and beautiful landscapes will inspire the mind of any curious traveler. Uncover insights into Paracas’ local culture meeting fishermen and women who share their daily lives and routines in this charming coastal town. Deepen your discovery of the area and treat yourself to incredible views with a flight over the mysterious Nazca Lines. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a collection of giant geoglyphs drawn in the desert sand by the Nazca people. Look out from your aircraft for representations of plants and animals including a spider, hummingbird, cactus plant, monkey, whale, llama, duck, flower and tree measuring up to 1,200 feet (370 meters) long. Conclude another grand day over a sea-to-table meal at your luxurious resort by the bay.

Home to blue footed boobies, Humboldt penguins, Peruvian pelicans, fur seals and sea lions, the Ballestas Islands are famous for their abundant marine life as well as striking rock formations. Soak it all in on this morning’s scenic cruise with your Local Expert. Experience another side of the area in the nearby city of Chinca at a pisco distillery for a tasting. Sip and savor the national drink in Peru in this region known for growing grapes and producing the best pisco. Enhance your cultural discoveries at one of Peru’s finest small museums housing mummies, skulls, fossils, ceramics, textiles and artifacts from the Inca and other significant civilizations of the region.

Lands so rich with history they will leave you spellbound. Embark on your return to Lima, stopping at Hacienda San José in Chincha. On your insightful tour, learn how this former slave plantation portrays a dark chapter of Peruvian history. Tour the original building and baroque chapel, viewing frescoes, agricultural equipment, a web of catacombs and underground tunnels which were used to bring the slaves from the coast to the Hacienda. After immersing yourself in Peru’s history, your tour concludes with a drop-off at the Lima airport.