Peru · Archaeology

12-Day Peru Ideal Travel Package

12 Days Round trip from Pickup service provided in Lima. Easy pace

The journey

Trip highlights
  • 01 Explore Lima’s historic center, cathedral, and Larco Museum
  • 02 Cruise to the Ballestas Islands to spot sea lions, pelicans, and Humboldt penguins
  • 03 Enjoy an overflight of the mysterious Nazca Lines
  • 04 Discover colonial Arequipa, including Santa Catalina Monastery and Yanahuara
  • 05 Visit the Uros Floating Islands and Taquile Island on Lake Titicaca
  • 06 Travel the scenic route from Puno to Cusco with cultural stops and lunch included
  • 07 Tour the Sacred Valley, including Pisac, Ollantaytambo, and Chinchero
  • 08 Experience Machu Picchu with guided touring and train travel

Discover Peru’s rich history, dramatic landscapes, and iconic archaeological sites on this 12-day journey through Lima, Paracas, Nazca, Arequipa, Puno, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu. From colonial city centers and renowned museums to Lake Titicaca and the Nazca Lines, this itinerary brings together many of the country’s most memorable highlights in one seamless package.

Explore Lima’s historic heart and the Larco Museum, cruise to the wildlife-rich Ballestas Islands, and take in an overflight of the mysterious Nazca Lines. Continue through Arequipa’s elegant colonial streets and on to Puno, where visits to the Uros Floating Islands and Taquile Island reveal life on Lake Titicaca.

The journey ends with Peru’s most celebrated treasures: Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu. Along the way, you’ll visit important Inca and colonial sites including Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Qoricancha, Sacsayhuamán, and Tambomachay, with included transfers, train travel, and selected meals adding convenience throughout.

Discover Peru’s rich history, dramatic landscapes, and iconic archaeological sites on this 12-day journey through Lima, Paracas, Nazca, Arequipa, Puno, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu.

From the itinerary

At a glance

What this trip includes

Duration 12 Days
Tour type Shared
Activity level Easy
Accommodation Included
Transport Included
Wheelchair access No
Cities Arequipa, Cusco, Nazca, Puno, Lima, Machu Picchu, Urubamba, Písac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Paracas
Languages English, Spanish

Day by day

The itinerary

1
Day 01

DAY 1 Arrival in Lima

Lima

Arrival in Lima and private transfer, with only driver, to the hotel. Overnight in Lima, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

2
Day 02

DAY 2 Lima - Paracas

Larco Museum

We will begin the tour in the wonderful Larco Museum, located in Pueblo Libre district, where you can see a complete collection of more than 5000 pieces of ceramic, as well as gold and silver, and pre-Columbian erotic art.

Casa de Aliaga

Then, we will go to the historic center to visit Casa Aliaga, a colonial mansion with beautiful rooms full of invaluable art and history.

Main Square

We continue to the Plaza de Armas, where we find the Government Palace, the Archbishop’s Palace, the Municipal Palace, and other important buildings of the colonial era, where we will visit the Cathedral built in the sixteenth century.

Arrival in Paracas

After the visit, you will be transferred to the bus station to take the touristic bus to Paracas. Arrival in Paracas and transfer to the hotel. Overnight in Paracas, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

3
Day 03

DAY 3 Paracas - Nazca

Ballestas Islands

In the morning, after breakfast, the transportation service will pick you up at your hotel to transfer you to the Paracas pier, more precisely to the Chaco station: boarding point for the boat trip to the Ballestas Islands. It is a natural reserve of beautiful geological formations, impressive fauna and lags of a pre-Incan culture, that dominated the desert to install a successful society in adverse conditions. The Ballestas Islands are inhabited by bobo birds, pelicans, sea lions and Humboldt penguins, among other species found in the archipelago. On the way you can see the still inexplicable lines drawn in the sand forming a candelabrum.

Arrival in Nazca

At the end of the tour, you will be transferred to the bus station to take the tourist bus to Nazca. Arrival in Nazca and transfer to the hotel. Overnight in Nazca, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

4
Day 04

DAY 4 Nazca - Arequipa

Overflight of the Nazca Lines

Transfer to the airport to take the Nazca Lines overflight. Upon arrival, we will first go through the corresponding procedure that takes about 45 minutes, and prepare to fly over these fantastic figures. You will see 13 figures such as the whale, trapeze, the dog, the astronaut, the monkey, the condor, the compass, the spider, the hummingbird, the parrot, the tree, the hands and alcatraz.

Arrival in Arequipa

At the end, you will be transferred to the bus station to take the bus to Arequipa. Arrival in Arequipa in the night, and transfer to the hotel. Overnight in Arequipa, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

5
Day 05

DAY 5 Arequipa

San Lazaro

Free morning for rest or personal activities. In the afternoon, the journey begins with the transfer from the hotel to the center of Arequipa city, in the colonial district of San Lazaro, place where the city has been founded.

Main Square

Then, we will visit the Main Square, one of the most beautiful in Peru, and neighbor of the imposing Arequipa cathedral built in the seventeenth century and completely rebuilt after several earthquakes. We will see the Cathedral and the Church Compañía de Jesús (1590), considered a classic example of the local baroque architecture that keeps inside a sample exceptional paintings and murals.

Santa Catalina Monastery

From there we will go to Santa Catalina Monastery, an authentic medieval cloister built in 1579 and is still in use to this day.

Yanahuara District

Then, we will visit Yanahuara and Carmen Alto districts to have a Panoramic view of the countryside, without a doubt a fantastic image. Return to the hotel. Overnight in Arequipa, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

6
Day 06

DAY 6 Arequipa - Puno

Depart to Puno

Transfer to the bus station to take the touristic bus to Puno (6:30 hours). Arrival in Puno and transfer to the hotel. Free afternoon. Overnight in Puno, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

7
Day 07

DAY 7 Puno

Uros Floating Islands

You will be transferred to the lake port of Puno, where a regular boat will take you to the floating islands of the Uros. The Uros are an ancestral society that populate a series of artificial islands built on the basis of the totora plant, which grows in the same lake. The islands are constructed by weaving the totora in the places where it grows thicker and forming a natural layer. On top of it they built their houses, also of totora, and cook outdoors to prevent possible fires.

Taquile Island

After Uros visit and, an hour and a half boat trip, you will continue your journey to the island of Taquile. This is Quechua, unlike the other Aymara speaking islands on the lake. It was part of the Inca empire and vestiges of this culture can still be seen in its constructions. Once there you will be given a brief explanation of the island and witness a cultural activity. After lunch, you will return to the port of Puno, where our transport will be waiting to take you to your hotel. Overnight in Puno, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

8
Day 08

DAY 8 Puno - Cusco

Sun Route

Transfer to the bus station to take the tourist bus to Cusco (8 hours). During the way, you will do 3 visits to Raqchi, Andahuaylillas and Puca Pucará. A buffet lunch is included at local restaurant. Arrival in Cusco, and transfer with only driver to the hotel. Overnight in Cusco, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

9
Day 09

DAY 9 Cusco - Sacred Valley - Aguas Calientes

Pisac

We will pick you up from the hotel in Cusco, to start a 30 Km. journey until Pisac. This fantastic place has an amazing market, and archaeological temples of stone buildings, with incredible views to the valley and the magnificent Inca platforms.

Urubamba

Then, we will continue until Urubamba to enjoy a delicious buffet lunch, and later we will reach Ollantaytambo.

Ollantaytambo & Chinchero

Its temple was the headquarter of Inca’s army, as well as a religious and agricultural place. It has stunning views, and more than a hundred Inca platforms with an advanced irrigation canal for that period. We will visit Chinchero, and its typical and colorful Inca market, full of traditional craft as ceramics and Andean looms.

Aguas Calientes

After the visit, you will be transferred to the train station in Ollantaytambo, and board the Train Expedition to Aguas Calientes. Upon arrival you will be transferred to your hotel, and you will have a short briefing with the guide before the tour to Machu Picchu, scheduled for the next day. Overnight in Aguas Calientes, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

10
Day 10

DAY 10 Machu Picchu - Cusco

Machu Picchu

Transfer to Ollantaytambo’s train station to board the Train Expedition to Machu Picchu. Arrival at Aguas Calientes, and we will board the bus until the wonderful Machu Picchu Citadel, well-known as The Lost City of the Inca. The guided tour along 2 hours, will let you explore this awesome archeological site with incredible landscapes. Machu Picchu, a World Heritage Site, was the main place of Inca’s farming, and the most important urban place from Incan Empire. Enjoy your free time in Machu Picchu, take pictures or if you are brave you can climb Huayna Picchu (optional), and admire the entire citadel around. Also, you have the option to go back to Aguas Calientes and have lunch (optional).

Cusco city

At the arrange time, you will return by train to Ollantaytambo and will be taken to the city of Cusco to drop you off at the hotel. Overnight.

11
Day 11

DAY 11 Cusco

Qoricancha

In the afternoon, we will start the tour visiting the Temple of the Sun well-known as Koricancha. This symbolic place has a clear example of the fusion between Incan and Hispanic cultures, and its base was used to build Santo Domingo’s Church and its famous convent.

Cathedral of Cusco

Then, we’re going to visit the Cathedral located in the Main Square, to appreciate a beautiful religious paintings of the Cusco School.

Sacsayhuaman

The Cusco City Tour continues in Sacsayhuaman, an amazing archaeological complex with huge carved stones which fit each other in a perfect way, and it is said that it was built by more than 20 thousand men, and took over 70 years to finish it.

Qenqo

Then we will visit Qenqo religious temple, place where the Incas worshiped their Gods like the Sun, the Moon and the Earth. You will have an incredible experience exploring through its underground galleries, and admire a semicircular amphitheater.

Puca Pucara

We will continue this entertaining excursion in the military compound of Puca Pucara, which means “Red Fortress” for its reddish infrastructure.

Tambomachay

Then we will go the water’s worship center of Tambomachay, with aqueducts and waterfalls provided from nearby springs. At the end, we will drop you off at El Regocijo Square. Overnight in Cusco, standard room, 3* or 4* hotels, according to your choice. 

12
Day 12

DAY 12 Departure from Cusco

Cusco Airport

Transfer with only driver to the Cusco airport to take your flight to Lima.

Lima Airport

Arrival in Lima, and international flight connection.

The route

Where you'll travel

Tour route map
Round trip from Pickup service provided in Lima. 11 cities · 12 Days

The fine print

Trip details

What's Included

  • Breakfast
  • Lunch at Uros and Taquile islands tour in Puno, lunch on the way from Puno to Cusco, lunch at the Sacred Valley Pisac and Ollantaytambo.
  • Round trip transfers with only driver in Lima, Cusco and Puno
  • Round trip transfers with bilingual assistance in Paracas, Nasca and Arequipa.
  • Touristic bus from Puno to Cusco, with 3 visits, lunch and shared guide in Spanish/English.
  • Standard boat for the tour of Uros and Taquile.
  • Train Expedition to Machu Picchu.

What's Not Included

  • Local flights Lima / Arequipa and Cusco / Lima
  • Entrance to Huayna Picchu (extra cost)
  • Assistance in the airport of Lima on the last day
  • Port fee in Ballestas Island: cash payment USD 6.00 per person
  • Overflight of Nazca Lines: airport fees. Cash payment USD 10.00 per person
  • Touristic bus Lima / Paracas, Paracas / Nasca, Nasca / Arequipa

Know before you go

  • INFANTS MUST SIT ON LAPS
  • PASSPORT REQUIRED
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Not stroller accessible
  • Not suitable for pets
  • No public transportation nearby
  • Infant seats unavailable
  • Rates are not valid for Peruvians, residents and foreigners staying more than 60 days in Peru.
  • Rates are not valid for special dates such as Easter, Long weekends, National Holidays, Christmas and New Year.
  • Tourist bus tickets for Lima / Paracas, Paracas / Nasca, Nasca / Arequipa can be quoted after booking, and will have an additional cost. Rates vary by seasons and holidays.
  • Pick up from the airport of Lima until centrally located Miraflores, San Isidro or downtown Lima hotels.

Logistics

Meeting & route

Meeting point
Pickup service provided in Lima.
Tour start
Pickup service provided in Lima.
Tour ends at the same location as the start point.
End of the journey

Your 12 days finish where they began, in Pickup service provided in Lima..

Watch the tourHQ film Watch the film

Create your own adventure

Can't find the perfect tour? Tailor your dream trip.

  • Tell us your destination, dates and group size.
  • Our travel experts and local guides design a tailored itinerary, just for you.
  • Enjoy your trip with peace of mind, knowing everything is taken care of.
Plan my holiday

Say goodbye to travel stress.