Day 2 - Lima / Arequipa

Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Arequipa. Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering. Arequipa City Tour and Santa Catalina Convent - Your half day sightseeing of this beautiful city includes a visit to the Spanish Colonial Monastery of Santa Catalina, called "a city within a city", which lay closed to the layman and shrouded in mystery for over 400 years. This remarkable relic of colonial times now is open to the public. (B)

Day 3 - Arequipa / Colca Canyon

Breakfast at your hotel. Colca Canyon 2 Day/1 Night - Early departure towards the highlands passing through Yura-Pampa Cañahuas and La Pulpera with good possibility of observing groups of wild vicuñas and fighting cattle. Stop en route to see petrogliphs in the Caves of Mollepunco and in the town of Callali to see natural hill formations with the appearance of enchanted castles. Drive to La Calera to enjoy the thermal baths under the stars. Return to Chivay for overnight. (B,L,D)

Day 4 - Colca Canyon / Arequipa

Breakfast at your hotel. To maximize your probability of seeing condors we depart very early towards the "Cross of the Condor" at about an altitude of 15,000 feet. Drive a little further in to the canyon to see some pre-Inca ruins and watch the way of life in this remote land. Return to Chivay for lunch and afternoon return to Arequipa. (B,L)

Day 5 - Arequipa / Cusco

Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Cusco. Upon arrival at the airport a host will meet and assist you in transferring to the hotel and help you in registering. Tour of Cusco and its Ruins - This afternoon's tour of the oldest continuously inhabited city in the western hemisphere includes important landmarks of enchanting Cusco and also the nearby ruins of Kenko, Puca-pucara, Tambomachay as well as the Sacsayhuaman fortress. Once the center of the Inca civilization, modern Cusco is a delightful combination of Inca and colonial architecture. During the tour, you will visit Cusco's Cathedral, Santo Domingo Church and the Plaza de Armas. (B)

Day 6 - Cusco / Sacred Valley / Cusco

Full Day Excursion to the Pisac Indian Market and the Ollantaytambo Fortress
Breakfast at your hotel. Morning departure for a drive through the fertile countryside of the Urubamba Valley to the colonial village of Pisac where a unique Indian Market takes place daily. The variety of products offered is overwhelming, from pottery with reproductions of archaeological pieces, to all kinds of textiles, jewelry and Peruvian handicrafts. During your visit to this bustling marketplace you will have the opportunity to bargain with the artisans and indigenous traders. Grab the items you like, you will hardly see the same one again.

Continue to the Ollantaytambo archaeological complex, the Incas built it as a fort that included a temple, agricultural terraces, and an urban area. There are two distinct sectors: The religious and worship zone, and the residential area. Ollantaytambo was an important administrative center with probable military functions if one considers the walls and towers. There are also traces of ancient roads and aqueducts. The town of Ollantaytambo is called a "Living Inca Town" since the inhabitants maintain very old practices and customs. Lunch is at a beautiful country estate on the shores of the Urubamba River. (B,L)

Day 7 - Cusco / Machu Picchu / Cusco

Breakfast at your hotel. Full Day Excursion to Machu Picchu - Early wake up for a train ride through the sacred valley of Urubamba to the "Lost City of the Incas," Machu Picchu. Perched 8,200 feet above the valley, it was hidden by mountains and semi-tropical jungles for 400 years until discovered by Hiram Bingham of Yale University in 1911. Archaeologists believe that the Inca "Virgins of the Sun" took refuge from the Spanish Conquistadors here. Guided tour of the ruins upon arrival. All transfers are included. Lunch is at the Orient Express' Sanctuary Lodge located just a few steps from the Inca citadel. Afternoon return to Cusco. (B,L)

Day 8 - Cusco / Lima / Home

Breakfast at your hotel. Transfer from hotel to the airport for your flight to Lima and then take your connecting flight to home. (B)