Inti Raymi Festival

A private transportation service with a guide will pick you up from the airport at the established time and will transfer you to your hotel. Lima is a modern metropolis full of history, which has approximately ten million inhabitants and is going through an exciting process of cultural and economic changes.

After our tasting breakfast you will be transferred to Le Cordon Bleu for your first participative culinary lesson by an accredited Chef Instructor for an introductory class of traditional Peruvian Food. After the class we will enjoy a delicious tasting menu at the restaurant of the institute.

Later we will have our private tour to Lima’s downtown. Arriving at the Main Square, where Lima was first founded as “The City of Kings,” in 1535, and then as capital of the Republic of Peru, in 1821, when the country became independent from the Spanish Crown. We will see the Presidential Palace and the Lima Cathedral, apart from the Aliaga House, an ancient viceregal house delivered by Francisco Pizarro to his captain Jerónimo de Aliaga, after the foundation of the city, and its construction started in 1535. You will then go to Saint Francis’ Church, which has an enviable collection of old books and it is possible to visit an authentic network of catacombs. When you finish the visit to the built-up area, a World Heritage listed by UNESCO, you will visit the modern Miraflores and San Isidro districts, ending the tour at the Love Park, located in front of the ocean, which shows a spectacular sight of Lima’s Bay.

Tonight we will have our welcome dinner at El Señorio de Sulco. This elegant restaurant, is located at the northern extreme of the Miraflores district, takes a thoughtful approach to traditional Peruvian cooking. The restaurant has several dining rooms, including a piano bar and an enclosed terrace that overlooks the coast. Many of the dishes come served in earthenware pots.

Early this morning you will be transferred to the market of Villa Maria. The fishing terminal of Villa Maria constitutes an ictio-gastronomic experience. Upon arrival, a full bid of all types of seafood displays before us. From the entrance, we are received by the almost controlled chaos, typical of these markets.

The “caseros” stand before their refrigerating vans offering their fish like “toyo”, “corvina”, “lenguado”, “diablos”, and many other local species. Filleting is optional and can be done in situ. The most picturesque area is in the middle of the terminal, and is the zone of seafood merchandising. One handful or bunch (eight dozens) is the standard unit of measurement for scallops and bivalves. Shells, shrimps, lobsters, can be acquired for little money. For this visit it is recommendable to wear boots, as the floor is always wet with “water” running through open channels. You will then continue to the wholesale fruit market of Surquillo, that houses the most priced treasures of the coast, highlands and jungle. You can enjoy delicious and refreshing fruit juices

After that you will head to Le Cordon Bleu for your participative cooking lessons

This evening we will enjoy our dinner at Junius Restaurant, located on the Double Tree Hotel. Here you can enjoy a folkloric show that includes new folkloric dances collected from many regions of our country, combining with an exquisite and variable Peruvian buffet with the most complete gastronomic menu.

A transportation service will pick you up from your hotel at the established time and will transfer you to the airport of Lima. Includes a representative.

Upon your arrival in Cusco, you will be greeted by your guide at the airport and transferred to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. On the way, you will stop to visit Awanakancha, a textiles exhibition center where South American camelids are found located at kilometer 23 of the road to Pisac. It is considered a living museum and you can see Andean camelids, learn about the techniques to take their wool and finally acquire finely spun garments.

SACRED VALLEY

For our lunch we selected El Huacatay, a small oasis in the town of Urubamba. The restaurant offers creative and interesting cuisine that highlights local and organic ingredients combining regional and international flavors.

After lunch we will be transported to our amazing hotel to enjoy the afternoon in this magical property.

At night we will enjoy an especial gourmet dinner where our Chef Nacho Selis, toguether with Pedro Miguel Schaffino, executive Chef of Killa Wasi and one of the 100 best in the world will express their ceativity presenting a menu wich always surprises by his freshness and for been an excellent examples od the “Cocina Cusquena”

The Hotel property is beautiful, serene and impeccable. This resort will simply take your breath away.

Today our tour will start at Pisac. The citadel is a town built in the form of partridge known for two reasons: the craft market, established between colonial buildings, and for hosting one of the most impressive complexes of terraces in the valley. The market has dozens of stalls displaying and selling products crafted by the residents of the area.

Then have lunch at Casa Hacienda Orihuela, where the Orihuelas, a family of great collectors, will be your hosts. The house has a varied collection of popular and colonial art ceramics, paintings, weapons, photography, ceremonial vessels and the ceramic bulls of Pucara. The environs include a forest of eucalyptus trees and other native species and here the famous giant white corn is cultivated for export.

OLLANTAYTAMBO FORTRESS

After lunch, you will drive to Pablo Seminario workshop to appreciate the creativity expressed of different kind of ceramics with a unique touch.

Then continue to the village of Ollantaytambo, a typical example of urban planning of the Incas still inhabited like in the past. Pachacutec (1438 – 1572) conquered the town, destroyed it and built a new one absorbing it as part of his empire. The fortress of Ollantaytambo is a major archaeological site that although it was called a “fortress” it was a “tambo” town for rest and lodging of long distance travelers. It is without doubt one of the most monumental works of the empire.

After the tour, you will be transferred to the Ollantaytambo train station and board the afternoon Vistadome train for a ride to Aguas Calientes in approximately two hours’ time. This town is also known as “Machu Picchu pueblo” and the last stop before entering the remains of the most important archaeological site in Peru.

This morning, after a short transfer by bus you will reach Machu Picchu, a masterpiece of engineering and architecture that served as a sanctuary and retreat for the Inca Pachacutec (1438 – 1572). Machu Picchu, which means “Old Mountain”, is considered a World Heritage by The UNESCO and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

MACHU PICCHU

Visit the Intipunku, which in Castilian means “Sun Gate” and is the last stop before entering Machu Picchu if you follow the Inca trail from Ollantaytambo. It was kind of a checkpoint control and the sun rises every day through this door if viewed from the most important buildings of the citadel.

You may climb the Wayna Picchu (subject to space availability), which means “Young Mountain” as opposed to Machu Picchu. This ascent takes about an hour and its main attraction is the “Temple of the Moon”, a complex of underground constructions likely to have been used by the elite. Finally you will be able to know the Inca Bridge, an incredible stone building that served as entrance or exit of the citadel and halfway has a gap of several meters, above which were two large wooden tables. Thus the Incas could isolate the city by simply withdrawing them and remain protected.

In the afternoon head to the train station of Aguas Calientes and from there take the train back to the Ollantaytambo train station. A transportation service with a guide will pick you up from the Ollantaytambo train station, at the established time, and will transfer you to your hotel in Cusco City.

The guide will assist you with your check-in.

The Inti Raymi festival, which worships the Sun, is reenacted on June 24 of each year, during the winter solstice. You tour will start at the Coricancha, where the Inca and his imperial entourage will salute the Sun.

From there you will start your trip to Sacsayhuamán where the ritual will be reenacted, including the simulated sacrifice of a llama amidst a mise-en-scène that has been rarely seen.

This includes the participation of hundreds of Cusco residents who wear typical attires and accessories manufactured for the reenactment of the ritual.

Inti Raymi Celebration and Farewell Dinner:

You will be transferred to your hotel at the end of the festival.

A transportation service will pick you up to your hotel and will transfer you to the Pre-Columbian Art Museum (MAP), which houses an important collection of artifacts from different cultures that lived in Peru. From the coast to the highlands, the MAP exhibits works in wood, shell, bone, silver and gold, rescuing the beauty and ability of the anonymous pre-Columbian craftspeople.

Our special farewell dinner will be at one of the best restaurants of Cusco at the museum’s and your will be subsequently transferred to your hotel.

You will start your tour with a visit to the Coricancha, also known as the “Temple of the Sun” (or “Premises of the Gilded One”), the construction of which was ordered by Inca Pachacutec (1438-1471) and was used as base for the construction of the Santo Domingo Convent upon the arrival of the Spaniards.

This is when the Sun (Inti, in Quechua) was worshipped during the Inca Empire and at the time of the Incas, its walls were fully covered with gold sheets and its courtyards were planted with golden corn and life-size llamas. You will then go to the Cathedral, the most important building on the Main Square and one of the most splendid Spanish colonial churches in America, which is shaped as a Latin Cross and houses about 400 colonial paintings from the Cusco art school, and impressive goldsmith, silversmith and precious stones works. Its construction lasted almost a century; it started in 1560 and ended in 1654. The Ecclesiastical Chapter ordered to extract and transport hundreds of stones from the Sacsayhuaman fortress for this purpose.

After the tour you will be transferred to the airport.

Upon your arrival in Lima, we will assist you between your connecting flights.

End of our services.