Compare Inca & Amazon Adventure Family Holiday by Exodus Travels vs 7 Day Inca Trail, Cuzco to Machu Picchu Walking Tour & Lima by Gate 1 Travel
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Trip |
5 | Excellent
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3.5 | Average
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Duration | 14 days | 7 days |
Price From | $ 4,199 | $ 3,159 |
Price Per Day | $ 300 | $ 451 |
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Trip Style | Small group tour | N/A |
Lodging Level | Standard | Standard |
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Flights & Transport | Ground transport included | Ground transport included |
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Meals Included | All breakfasts, seven lunches and six dinners are included in the tour price. Peruvian cuisine is loved for its flavours and originality; it’s well worth digging into the local delicacies. Among these are ceviche (seafood or fish marinated in lime juice), lomo saltado (a Peruvian take on a beef stir-fry), and various hearty soups including the delicious quinoa soup. Other dishes include roasted cuy (guinea pig) and alpaca steak. To drink, there’s pisco sour, the national beverage. Drinking water is provided as tap water in Peru is not safe to drink; boiled and filtered drinking water is provided on the trek and elsewhere your leader buys large water containers from which you can refill your bottle. Hotel breakfasts are normally simple buffets, usually including bread/toast and jam, cereal, sometimes eggs or a cooked dish, sometimes fruit, tea/coffee and fruit juice. We cannot guarantee that wheat-/gluten-free products are available for breakfast in all locations – if you have an intolerance you may wish to bring your own breakfast food. Where lunch and dinner are not included in Cuzco/Aguas Calientes, we visit a variety of cafes and restaurants. During the Inca Trail or Lares Trek, hearty breakfasts are served and good quality cooked lunches and dinners are provided. These usually consist of soup or a starter, a main course with meat/fish and some form of carbohydrates, followed by a dessert. Snacks are also provided. Tea/coffee is brought to your tent each morning and juice or hot drinks are provided with all meals during the trek. While in the Amazon, all meals are included at the lodge. | N/A |
Description |
The ancient Inca capital of Cuzco is brimming with Spanish churches and Inca fortresses just waiting to be explored. There’s fun to be had in the nearby Sacred Valley, with the chance to go paddleboarding on Lake Piuray or mountain biking around the salt flats of Maras. Having acclimatised, we follow in the footsteps of the Incas along the classic four-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu via the Sun Gate. In contrast to the Andes, we delve into the tropical Amazon Rainforest and spend three days exploring the jungle trails, canopy towers and riverbanks in search of wildlife. Our classic Inca Trail trip is designed to give you more time to enjoy the trail by arriving to Machu Picchu in the afternoon for iconic photos and overnight in Aguas Calientes. We return the next morning, fresh and well rested, for our in-depth tour of Machu Picchu and train back to Cuzco.Combine a trek along the classic Inca Trail with a visit to the Amazon Rainforest |
1 Lima, 2 Sacred Valley, 1 Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu), 2 Cuzco |
Day 1 Start Cuzco
Welcome to Cuzco, set high amid the altiplano! As the imperial city of the Incas, it was the centre of a vast empire which, at its peak, stretched from Colombia to Chile. After Spanish conquistadors invaded, they built on top of Inca structures, resulting in unique architecture, a fusion of the Spanish colonial and Inca styles. Take it easy on arrival in Cuzco and drink plenty of water to help your body adjust to the altitude (11,155ft/3,400m). There is a noticeboard in the hotel reception with details of where and when the group welcome briefing will be held. After, we have a walking orientation tour to preview some of the historic sites in Cuzco. Accommodation: MamaSara Hotel (or similar)
Day 2 - 3 Sightseeing and activities in Cuzco; choice of optional activities
Day 4 Classic Inca Trail: Start Inca Trail trek from Km82; walk along Vilcanota River; climb to Huayllabamba
The classic Inca Trail is a tangential branch part of a 27,960mi (45,000km) road network linking the whole empire to Cuzco. It was built in the 15th century to reach Machu Picchu but was abandoned soon after the Spanish conquest. Early this morning, we transfer (1hr 30min) from Cuzco into the Sacred Valley. Reaching the town of Ollantaytambo, we drive for one hour along the final stretch of road to the start of the Inca Trail at Piscacucho, recognized among adventurers as Km82. After greeting our trekking crew, we show our passports at the checkpoint and begin the fabled Inca Trail trek. Our route today runs alongside the Vilcanota River, beneath the snow-capped peak of Nevado Veronica, passing through cactus gardens and settlements, until we reach the terraced Inca ruins of Llactapata, where we continue up the Cusichaca Valley to camp near the village of Huayllabamba (9,186ft/2,800m). Walk profile: Approximately 7mi (11km), six to seven hours Accommodation: Huayllabamba Camp (full-service camping) Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5 Classic Inca Trail: Summit Dead Woman's Pass; descend to Pacaymayu
The morning begins, as all do on our Inca Trail trek, with a hot drink delivered to your tent. Today’s journey is both challenging and rewarding, marking the most demanding and best-known stretch of the trail. A slow and steady climb takes us through a cloud forest to the meadows of Llulluchapampa, then we summit Dead Woman’s (Warmihuañusca) Pass, the highest point on the trek at 13,829ft (4,215m). After a well-deserved round of high fives and photos at the summit, we begin our steep descent on original Inca steps to reach our campsite in the scenic valley of the Pacaymayu River (11,811ft/3,600m). Warm up in the dining tent with a hot, fresh meal followed by a well-deserved sleep under the Andean night sky. Walk profile: Approximately 6mi (10km), six to seven hours Accommodation: Pacaymayu Camp (full-service camping) Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6 Classic Inca Trail: Over Runquracay Pass to the ruins of Sayacmarca and Phuyupatamarca
After a hearty breakfast, we start the day with a climb, which takes us past the ruins of Runquracay and over the Runquracay Pass (12,894ft/3,930m), our second and final pass. From here, the Inca Trail becomes a clearly defined rolling path of flat boulders, providing access to sites only available to those on foot. One of the standout archeological sites we visit is Sayacmarca (11,893/3,625m), perched high above the green cloud forest. From here, we enjoy views of Salkantay mountain as we hike to our spectacular campsite on the ridge above the Inca site of Phuyupatamarca (12,073ft/3,680m), where we can enjoy the sunset and sunrise. Walk profile: Approximately 7.5mi (12km), five to six hours Accommodation: Phuyupatamarca Camp (full-service camping) Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7 Walk down Inca steps to Wiñay Wayna and Machu Picchu via the Sun Gate
Classic Inca Trail: Walk down Inca steps to Wiñay Wayna and Machu Picchu via the Sun Gate From Phuyupatamarca, we take the famous Inca steps: a 1.2mi (2km) stone staircase that rapidly descends into an immense panorama, with the peaks of the Vilcabamba range above and the Vilcanota River far below. Reaching Wiñay Wayna, we have plenty of time to explore these beautiful ruins and eat lunch before continuing along a relatively flat section of the trail (by Inca standards, through cloud forest and wild orchids to finally reach Inti Punku (the Sun Gate). From here, we get our first full sight of Machu Picchu, with the Huayna Picchu mountain rising behind… congratulations, you made it! Inti Punku is traditionally busy with photo-taking trekkers in the morning, so our late afternoon arrival affords us unobstructed views of the magnificent ruins. We also get a chance to snap some classic photos of Machu Picchu before we take the 30-minute bus down to the town of Aguas Calientes for a shower and comfortable bed for the night. We are reunited with those who have been on the Lares Trek or One-Day Inca Trail Option at the hotel this afternoon. Walk profile: Approximately 5.5mi (9km), six to seven hours Accommodation: Terraza de Luna (or similar) Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 8 Guided tour of Machu Picchu; return to Cuzco by train and road
Well-rested and refreshed, we return to Machu Picchu this morning for our guided tour. Machu Picchu is an architectural and engineering marvel, the staggering mountain backdrop making it even more dramatic. The Spaniards never found it, the Incas left no records of it, and so Machu Picchu remained an enigma, a city lost for centuries in the jungle until it was rediscovered in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Your guided tour highlights the history, culture, architecture and mysteries that Machu Picchu still holds today. This afternoon, we catch the train back to Ollantaytambo (1hr 30min) and continue by private bus to Cuzco (1hr 30min). Accommodation: MamaSara Hotel (or similar)
Day 9 Free day in Cuzco for shopping or activities
Today has been left free to relax after the trek or explore Cuzco further. Your leader can help to arrange optional excursions and activities – please see the Optional Activities section of the Trip Notes for more details. Accommodation: MamaSara Hotel (or similar)
Day 10 Fly to Puerto Maldonado; boat transfer to Amazon lodge in the Tambopata Reserve
We leave Cuzco early today as we take a short flight to Puerto Maldonado (due to poor flight availability, on some departures, this flight connects through Lima and is considerably longer), a small town in the rainforest. On arrival, we transfer to the dock for a boat trip (approximately 45 minutes) to our lodge in the Tambopata Reserve. On the way, we may see river turtles and a wide variety of birdlife. The order of activities in the rainforest may change depending on the weather and other factors. However, there is a briefing upon arrival at the lodge followed by the chance to learn about the traditional use of bow and arrows – and even have a go! After dinner, we travel by boat in search of river alligators, using torches (flashlights) to look for the red reflections of their eyes on the riverbank, as well as looking for other nocturnal animals. Accommodation: Nape Lodge (or similar)
Day 11 - 12 Discover the rainforest and wildlife on foot, by boat and via a canopy tower
The next two days are spent exploring the forest, rivers and lakes surrounding the lodge, on foot and by boat. Although a lot of the wildlife tends to hide in the dense foliage, we can expect to see a wide variety of birds, including herons and egrets, jacanas, macaws and the prehistoric-looking hoatzin, as well as several species of monkey, reptiles and insects, and (with luck) the giant otters that live in the rivers of the Amazon Basin. We visit Tres Chimbadas Lake, where we hope to see a great variety of wild fauna such as monkeys, macaws, black alligators, flying parrots and, if we are lucky, river otters. We also visit a parrot clay lick where, at dawn, different types of parrots and other bird species meet. We go on a night walk in search of insects, amphibians, tarantulas, bats, nocturnal birds and large nocturnal mammals. Accommodation: Nape Lodge (or similar)
Day 13 Fly to Lima and overnight
A dawn start is required for the boat transfer back to Puerto Maldonado, giving memorable views of sunrise over the river. Look out for the early morning wildlife, which is particularly active at this time. Howler monkeys are frequently heard as they stake out their territories. The adventure ends at Puerto Maldonado airport, where we say goodbye to our leader and take a short flight to Lima. A local representative transfers us to our hotel for the night. Accommodation: Hotel El Tambo 1 (or similar)
Day 14 End Lima
Our adventure ends after breakfast this morning. If you’d like more time to explore, speak to your sales representative about extending your stay.
This itinerary requires a high level of physical fitness with up to 7 hours of walking per day. The route and activities are subject to change. Please see the "Is This Trip Right for You?" section and the Trip Preparation tab for more information.
DAY 1, Friday - Depart for Peru
DAY 2, Saturday - Lima City Tour, Flight to Cuzco, Drive to Sacred Valley
DAY 3, Sunday - Sacred Valley: Pisac Ruins & Village, Moray & Maras Salt Mines
DAY 4, Monday - Inca Trail Hike to Machu Picchu
DAY 5, Tuesday - Machu Picchu Mountain and Discover Machu Picchu Citadel
DAY 6, Wednesday - Saqsaywaman Inca Fortress, Explore San Blas
DAY 7, Thursday - Morning at Leisure in Cuzco ▲ Due to the high elevation, travel in the Peruvian highlands may cause some passengers to experience the temporary effects of altitude sickness. If you have any concerns about traveling to higher than your accustomed elevation, please consult your healthcare provider. |