(10 days / 9 nights)
DESTINATIONS
Lima, Ayacucho, Arequipa, Cusco, Machu Picchu
ITINERARY
Arrival at Lima’s international airport in the afternoon or night. Meeting with our personnel, transfer and lodging in hotel (private service, English-speaking assistant). Overnight.
Breakfast in hotel. Day dedicated to visit San Francisco Convent and its catacombs, Nazarenas Church, Church and Convent of Santo Domingo, the Cathedral and it Religious Art Museum (private service, English-speaking guide) (time to have lunch, lunch is not included). Overnight.
Santo Domingo: closes on January 1st, July 1st and December 25th
Religious Art Museum: closed Saturdays (afternoon) and Sundays
Breakfast in hotel. Transfer to the airport to take the flight to Huamanga. Upon arrival, meeting with our personnel and transfer to the hotel. Morning is at leisure. In the afternoon, visit the Regional Museum, the Huamanga’s Cathedral of baroque style and the artisan neighborhood (private service, English-speaking guide). Overnight.
Breakfast in hotel. Day dedicated to visit the Historical Center of Ayacucho founded by the Spaniards in 1540 with the name of San Juan de la Frontera de Huamanga. Place with majesty of churches that links its thirty-three colonial churches and stately mansions with Baroque, Mudejar and Churrigueresco influence, built on the bases of Andean origin, as prosper expression and center of power in the XVI, XVII, XVIII and XIX centuries. Visit its architecture, religious and civil imagery in the temples of Santo Domingo, Compañia de Jesus, San Cristobal, Santa Teresa and San Francisco de Paula, whose interiors highlights fine works of art such as the altars with gold, canvas, picture gallery, beautiful images of saints and virgins of Christianity; considered jewels of Peruvian religious and cultural heritage; in whose memories take place religious festivities of high solemnity and Christian passion, accompanied by processions artistically decorated with candles and lights, flower carpets, incense smell, as well as liturgical and cultural activities in celebrations, as the Holy week (private service, English-speaking guide). Overnight.
Breakfast in hotel. Transfer to the airport to take the flight to Arequipa, via Lima. Upon arrival, transfer and lodging in the hotel. In the afternoon, visit the Cathedral and its museum, the Santa Catalina Monastery, and the Compañia de Jesús Church and its dome (private service, English- peaking guide).
Overnight.
Cathedral’s museum: closed on Sundays Santa Catalina: closes on January 1st, Holy Thursday (from midday), Holy Friday, and December 25th
Breakfast in hotel. Morning dedicated to visit the Santa Teresa Monastery and the Recoleta Convent (private service, English-speaking guide). Afternoon is at leisure. Overnight.
Santa Teresa: closes January 1st, Holy Thursday and Friday, and December 24th and 25th Recoleta: closed on Sundays and holidays Convento Museo Recoleta: cierra los domingos y feriados
Breakfast in hotel. Transfer to the airport to take the flight to Cusco. Upon arrival, transfer and lodging in the hotel. In the afternoon, walking tour visiting the Cathedral, the Santo Domingo Convent/ Coricancha, the Compañía de Jesús Church and Merced Temple (private service, English-speaking guide). Overnight.
Cathedral: closed on Holy Thursday and Friday Santo Domingo/Coricancha: closed on Sundays in the morning
Breakfast in hotel. Transfer to Ollantaytambo’s station (almost 2-hour journey) (private service, Spanish – speaking driver) to take the train to Aguas Calientes (almost 1.30-hour journey, subject to availability).
Upon arrival, meeting your guide and take the 30-minute shuttle bus up to Machu Picchu (shared Spanish/English-speaking guide only during the visit, almost 2 hours). After the guided tour, the local guide will leave you and you will take the shuttle bus descend to Aguas Calientes town. Then, walk around 5 minutes to the train station for your train back to Ollantaytambo (almost 1.30-hour journey). Upon arrival, transfer to Cusco (almost 2-hour journey) (private service, Spanish-speaking driver). Overnight.
Breakfast in hotel. Visit to the Catholic precincts in the south of Cusco, which date from the XVII and XVIII centuries, whose baroque and renaissance artistic manifestations through architecture, painting and sculpture are perfectly combined with the warmth of its villages and customs of its inhabitants. On the itinerary, we will visit: Andahuaylillas (which is known as the Sistine Chapel, Huaro (the small town of Huaro is located at 4 Km. south of Andahuaylillas. Its white church dedicated to John the Baptist was built at the end of the 17th century. Its structure, made up of a single nave, is of classic style. Its façade is enlivened by indigenous decorations and flanked by a bell gable. Inside, the Renaissance altar is among the oldest of Peru. However, the magnificent pair of frescos made by Tadeo Escalante, situated on both sides of the entrance gate, is undoubtedly the most fascinating artwork in the church), and Canincunca (its chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Candelaria was probably built at the beginning of the 17th century for evangelizing the indigenous populations. It stands above Urcos Lake on a significant pre-Hispanic site. The cemetery that sits on the hill behind the chapel holds remains, which dates back to the Incan Empire. The inside of the chapel contains an Andean Baroque iconography such as representations of vizcachas and a representation of the Virgin of Candelaria) (private service, English-speaking guide). Afternoon is at leisure. Overnight.
Breakfast in hotel. Transfer to the airport.