Enjoy a free day at leisure to discover this ancient city on your own, or opt to do an optional activity such as:

Full day – Sacred Valley Tour (Highly recommended)

Embark on a full day excursion to the Urubamba Valley, visiting the colourful Indian market in Pisac. Appreciate the mixture of colour and tradition and have an opportunity to purchase their hand-made souvenirs. Pisac is located at the entrance of the Sacred Valley. The Valley is 31 km/19 mi from Cusco, and at an altitude of 2,970m(9,700 ft). Following Pisac is Urubamba, where we will have a delicious buffet lunch at Tunupa restaurant and then continue on to Ollantaytambo, the oldest continuously occupied town on the American continent. The narrow streets of Ollantaytambo, along with their canals, have not changed much from the time of the Inca Empire. They evoke their ancestral inheritance and give you a feeling of what it would like to be living during this time. The last visit will be the Chinchero market. Chinchero is believed to be the mythical birthplace of the rainbow. Its major claim to tourism is its colourful Sunday market which is much less tourist-orientated than the market at Pisac. At the end, we will return you to the Plaza de Armas in Cusco around 6:30pm. The night is free for you to eat in a restaurant of your choice; although we always have plenty of suggestions for you if you require them.

If you would like to do this excursion, please confirm in advance in order to secure your spot and schedule a tour guide and transport.
P.S: Tonight we will have the Inca trail briefing at 7:00pm at the hotel lobby.

Total distance to be covered: 12km or 7mi. (5 to 6 hours more or less).

We will meet and pick you up from your Hotel at 4:30am (time to be confirmed at the briefing time) and travel by bus to Piskacucho (called kilometer 82) where the trail starts. There will be a breakfast stop in Ollantaytambo (6:30-7am) to load up on energy (breakfast – not included). On arrival at kilometer 82 (approx. 8:30am), we will have time to organize ourselves (use the restrooms, put on sun cream, mosquito repellant, etc.) Once ready, it is necessary to show your entrance tickets, passports and, if paying a student rate, the student card at the trail’s 1st control point. Now, start the journey along the Incan Trail to our first camp! To start the trail (2720m/8923ft), we cross the Vilcanota River and follow its route to the right. The first day is relatively easy (a warm-up on the ‘Inca flat’ terrain) and we will have great views of the site of an Inca Fortress (‘Huillca Raccay’), the vast and incredible Inca site ‘Llactapata’ (officially called ‘Patallacta’), the Urubamba mountain range that divides the jungle and the Andes and the beautiful snow-capped peak of ‘W’akay Willca’ (5860m/19225ft), known in books as Veronica. Our first campsite (Ayapata) will be one hour and a half up the small village of Wayllabamba (3000m/9842ft) in the temperate green valley of the same name. Temperature at night is usually around 5ºC (depending on the month).

After waking up around 5:30 am and having breakfast, we will start a steep ascent towards the highest pass (Abra de Warrmihuañusca/’Dead Woman’s Pass’ – 4200m/13779ft). On this day a real sense of achievement is felt on reaching the top! After a rest here, we’ll begin the descent to the lunch stop which is located at Pacaymayu (3550m/11646 ft). On the way up to the pass we will be able to see lots of hummingbirds and other birds. Also we will have the time to appreciate an incredible variety of native plants and trees such as the ´Polylepis´ or Q’ueuña trees which grow in the astonishing cloud forest at 3650/11972m! After lunch begins 2 hours of steep climbing to Runkurakay pass (4000 m/13123ft). We will arrive at our campsite by 5 pm. Temperature at this campsite is around 4ºC during the nights.

This is the most impressive day (in our opinion!), so just keep thinking of that on the ascent on day 2! Again we wake up for breakfast early and start the day with a gentle climb to visit the archaeological site of ‘Phuyupatamarca’(meaning ‘Town in the Clouds’) and to reach the third highest point on the trail (3680m). The views from here of the mountains, canyons and surrounding area are, in short, “spectacular!”

The Inca site, ‘Phuyupatamarca’, is located a few minutes walk from the third pass. After visiting this, we continue walking (3000 steps!) through the cloud forest and the impressive agricultural Inca site of ‘Intipata’ until we arrive at our third campsite Wiñay Wayna (2680m/8792 ft). Today we have only walked about 4 to 5 hours and have arrived at camp by lunch time! A short distance from this campsite is located the Inca site of the same name ‘Wiñay Wayna’ (‘Forever Young’). Even if you are tired after your day’s trek, don’t miss out on visiting the most impressive site on the trail. Temperature during the night is around 12º C.

We depart the last campsite at about 5:30 am on the final day (breakfast 3:30-4:00 am). We’ll start early in order to get to ‘Inti Punku’ (‘Sun gate’) (2730m/8792 ft) before sunrise. This is the place from where you will have your first dramatic view of Machu Picchu (2400m/7873ft) with the sun rising over it! After some time there, we will walk down the last part of the trail to the spot where you can take the classic photo (postcard shot) of this ancient city. Finally, we will visit Machu Picchu itself!

Enjoy a walking tour (approx. 2 hours) given by your guide and after this you can explore the mysterious city by yourself. You will meet your guide in Aguas Calientes for lunch and be given your train tickets back to Cusco. Leave Aguas calientes town in the afternoon, and once in Ollantaytambo, you will have a bus waiting for you to bring you back to your hotel in Cusco. The train is included in the tour until Ollantaytambo and then from here we take a bus to Cusco. Your train will leave Aguas calientes town in the afternoon and you need to be in the train station 30 min before it leaves. (The exact time will be given to you by your tour guide) Once in Ollantaytambo town you will have a bus waiting for you to take you back to your hotel in Cusco. Allocations or Itinerary are subject to change depending on the availability on time of booking.

Welcome to Quito! The largest, best-preserved colonial city of America – declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. The city is considered the Cultural Capital of South America and is located on the equator in a valley at the foothills of the Pichincha volcano. Depending on your arrival time, you can spend your day exploring the old town of Quito and the surrounding area. We can help you to organize a day trip (please request in advance). In the evening, one of our trip leaders will meet you at the hotel’s lobby for a welcome briefing at 18:00 hours. At this time we will discuss the details and questions you may have regarding the adventure. Our first day is an acclimation and information day.

Today we get ready to explore the most amazing archipelago in the Pacific coast and the place where Charles Darwin based his theory on the evolution of species. We will board a morning flight from Quito to the island of Baltra. Once we arrive, we head to the town of Puerto Ayora, the largest town in the Galapagos. From here we will take a quick boat to the largest island in the archipelago and where most of the volcanic activity in the Galapagos is reported. The island was formed by six shield volcanoes, Alcedo, Cerra Azul, Darwin, Ecuador, Sierra Negra and Wolf; five of them are still active which makes the island one of the most volcanically active places on earth.

The Galapagos Islands is located 600 miles (965.6 km) from the coast of Ecuador, it is really important to understand that you will have to take air, road and sea transportation to get there.

Explore the amazing formations of lava created by the last eruptions of the volcanic island along the seashore. This magical place has historically been filmed by BBC and National Geographic for their documentaries. It is a labyrinth of lava arches made of crystal clear water full of sea turtles, eagle rays, sea lions, sharks and more. The turtles navigate their own highway from the mangroves to the open sea through “Los Túneles”. Here, we will have the best snorkelling opportunity with all these beautiful animals, including the curious Galapagos penguins playing around. In the afternoon, we will return to Puerto Villamil to go kayaking in Tintoreras to observe sea lions, penguins, turtles and marine iguanas.

This will be the best snorkelling opportunity with all these beautiful animals, including the curious Galapagos penguin playing around. Before or after the trip, you can enjoy some optional activities such as snorkelling at “Concha de Perla”, biking or just relaxing on the exotic white-sand beaches of Isabela Island. We recommend you to take some time to visit the giant tortoise breeding centre located walking distance from the hotel.

After driving up from Puerto Villamil to the trail head, we will prepare our backpacks for the hike into a young forest ecosystem, a world of recent geological history. Our destination is the rim of Sierra Negra Crater, an active volcano which last erupted in June 2018. Upon arrival, we take in breathtaking views and explore the circumference of the massive, lava-filled crater, a caldera that is over six miles across at its widest point. If we feel energetic enough, we can continue our hike to Volcan Chico, a secondary crater that has a wild landscape of puffing fumaroles and colourful lava formations; great examples of the dramatic geological events that have formed the Galapagos Islands over millennia. In the afternoon we will visit Tintoreras Islet by kayak, located at a short distance from Puerto Villamil and home to a great variety of wildlife. Its turquoise, crystalline waters are inhabited by white-tipped reef sharks, Galapagos Penguins, marine turtles and sea lions. One of its beaches, surrounded by mangroves, is one of the few sites where marine iguanas can reproduce successfully.

In the morning, traverse from Isabela to Santa Cruz Island to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station. Once we arrive, we will check in at the hotel. We will then visit the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn more about many of the endemic species seen in the wild, as well as the ongoing conservation and management efforts on the Galapagos Islands. In the afternoon, we will head to the ‘El Chato’ reserve in the highlands of Santa Cruz, home to the famous Galapagos tortoises. Hiking through El Chato’s beautiful landscape with these lumbering giants is an unforgettable experience! We will also see other highland wildlife such as pintail ducks, egrets, flycatchers, finches and frigatebirds, which gather to wash the salt off their feathers at a freshwater lake. Afterwards, return to Puerto Ayora to spend the evening in Galapagos’ most populous town.

After our final breakfast on the Galapagos Island and the last photos taken of sea lions, we have a transfer to Baltra’s airport in time to catch the flight back to the mainland.

Today our trip will end and you will have your International departures. Take with you your memories and photos and leave a piece of your heart, as you will want to return to Ecuador soon to experience more of this enchanted land. We wish you a “Buen viaje”!