Saga Highlights of Peru

• VIP door-to-door travel service from anywhere on the UK mainland
• 12 nights in hotels and 2 in flight23 meals: 12 breakfasts, 6 lunches and 5 dinners
• Optional travel insurance underwritten by Great Lakes Insurance SE, UK Branch and additional cancellation rights on overseas holidays for over 50s, or a price reduction if not required (cover is subject to medical questions)
• Return flights and transfers
• Welcome dinner
• Farewell dinner
• Bottled water during excursions
• Saga tour manager
• Porterage at all hotels
• Excursions and visits

• Sacred Valley tour including visit to Pisaq Market and the Ollantaytambo ruins
• Vistadome train to Machu Picchu
• Dinner show in Cuzco
• Visit the Church of St Peter the Apostle in Andahuaylillas and the Incan remains of the Temple of Viracocha
• Lake Titicaca by boat, visiting the islands of Uros and Taquile
• Andean condor spotting in Colca Canyon
• Arequipa city tour with visit to Santa Catalina

Day 1 UK-Lima

Depart in the evening for your overnight flight to South America.

Day 2 Lima

Arrive in Lima and transfer to the locally rated 3-star-plus Jose Antonio Lima where you stay overnight. Enjoy a welcome dinner this evening.

Day 3 Lima-Cuzco-Sacred Valley

Take an onward flight to Cuzco this morning. Take an approximately two-hour transfer to the locally rated 4-star Sonesta Posada del Inca in the Sacred Valley for a two-night stay. An early check-in has been arranged. Tonight you can look forward to an included welcome dinner at the hotel.

Day 4 Sacred Valley

Look forward to an included full-day excursion to admire the union of colonial and Inca architecture in the town of Pisaq, where you can peruse the market in search of colourful textiles and ceramics. Then head to Ollantaytambo, an awe-inspiring Incan town now largely in ruins, but with many surviving structures, including lengthy walls, terraces and towers. Even the streets are intact!

Day 5 Sacred Valley-Macchu Picchu

A long day of adventure begins with a train ride through the Sacred Valley and up into the mountains, where the lofty ruins of Machu Picchu hide among the peaks. Tour this mysterious ancient site before enjoying an included lunch at a local hotel restaurant. Later you will make the short bus ride to Aguas Calientes where you will spend the night in the locally rated 3-star plus Tierra Viva Hotel.

Day 6 Macchu Picchu-Cuzco

Enjoy a day at leisure which you might opt to spend returning to the atmospheric ruins. This afternoon you will return to the valley and transfer to Cuzco, where you spend the next two nights at the locally rated 3-star Jose Antonio Cuzco with breakfasts included.

Day 7 Cuzco

Today is at leisure, giving you the chance to adapt to the increased altitude in Cuzco, which was the imperial capital of the Inca Empire. You can choose to join one of two optional tours today to see some remnants of that era, including a temple dedicated to the sun god, as well as the elegant Spanish colonial additions to the city. The tour also visits nearby ruins, including the incredible fortress of Sacsayhuaman, built using stones of mind-boggling scale, some weighing more than 120 tonnes. An alternative optional tour visits the sight and allows you to walk down from Sacsayhuaman to Cuzco´s main plaza. Tonight enjoy an included dinner show at a local restaurant.

Day 8 Cuzco-Puno

The coach journey to Puno is long but promises to be very rewarding, punctuated by a visit to Andahuaylillas to see the Church of St Peter the Apostle and its flamboyant interior. En route you’ll also visit the Incan remains of Raqchi, home to the monumental walls of the Temple of Viracocha, and enjoy an included lunch. Arrive at Puno for a two-night stay at the locally rated 4-star Jose Antonio Puno on a bed-and-breakfast basis.

Day 9 Lake Titicaca

You’re in for a treat on today’s included excursion, which promises to immerse you in the customs and traditions of authentic Latin American life. Head out onto the waters of Lake Titicaca – the highest in the world – to visit the Uros community, who make their homes on artificial floating islands made of reeds. Then visit Taquile Island, where the inhabitants have used the typical Incan terraces to cultivate crops and colourful flowers. Enjoy lunch at a local home on the island. Please note: The islands have several steps to climb.

Day 10 Puno-Colca

This morning enjoy a scenic drive to Chivay in the stunning Colca Valley, traversing the dramatic mountain pass of Patapampa en route. Look forward to making several stops en route, keep an eye out for Andean flamingos in the Lagunillas and perhaps take the chance to drink some traditional mate to help combat altitude sickness. Travel past the source of the Amazon River at Pata Pampa before an included lunch at a local restaurant. Later visit a natural hot springs where you might wish to take a relaxing dip (entrance and towels not included) before heading to spend the night at the locally rated 3-star Casa Andina Classic Colca, where dinner is included tonight.

Day 11 Colca-Arequipa

Early this morning scale the slopes of Colca Canyon to the Condor’s Cross, where you can hope to spot majestic Andean condors – the world’s largest flying bird – soaring overhead. On the way back, pass through the villages of Pinchollo, Achoma and visit the towns of Maca, at the base of the volcano Sabancaya and then Yanque, which boasts a delightful colonial church with a baroque façade. After an included lunch, transfer to Arequipa for two nights at the locally rated 4-star Casa Andina Select Arequipa.

Day 12 Arequipa

Arequipa has a lower altitude and is flanked by three volcanic peaks. An included half-day city tour also takes in Santa Catalina, a huge monastery with brightly painted walls, originally built in 1579 and enlarged in the following century to more than 20,000 square metres. Some 20 nuns still reside in the northern corner of the complex.

Day 13 Arequipa-Lima

Transfer to the airport this morning and fly to the Peruvian capital. Check in to the locally rated 3-star-plus Jose Antonio Lima for an overnight stay with breakfast included. After an afternoon at leisure to get your bearings you can look forward to a memorable farewell dinner this evening at the Huaca Pucliana Restaurant. Adjacent to the ruins of the same name – a vast pyramid built on seven levels using millions of clay bricks – is a restaurant with spectacular views of its illuminated surroundings after dark. The pre-Inca site, which is believed to be around 1,500 years old and among the oldest in the city, once served as an important ceremonial site dedicated to the God Pachacamac in the Lima Culture.

Day 14 Lima-UK

This morning, a choice of two optional tours of the city reveal its colonial elegance, from the vast cathedral to the 17th-century San Francisco Convent. One excursion participants can also visit the Larco Museum. Housed within a huge Spanish mansion and covering 3,000 years of pre-Columbian history – it also features some diverting examples of erotic ceramic art! This afternoon, transfer to the airport for your return overnight flight to the UK.

Day 15 UK

Arrive in the UK for your included door-to-door travel service home.

Please note, prices listed are guide prices only and are based on 2 people sharing and don’t include any additional supplements. Holiday prices are fluid and dynamic and may be changed at a moment’s notice, prior to booking, at which point they are confirmed. Please call the team free on 0800 707 6229 for more departure dates available and a quote.