Inca Discovery: Lima, Cusco & Machu Picchu

The Melia Lima Hotel is located in the residential and financial district of San Isidro. It is close to the Jorge Chavez International Airport and very near the historical heart of the city. The tourist district of Miraflores is just a few minutes away and the hotel provides easy access to the most important museums, art galleries and exclusive stores, amongst other attractions.

You will visit both the colonial and modern sections of this "City of Kings". Colonial sites include the lovely Plaza de Armas with its cathedral and palace; and the exquisite Torre Tagle Palace, modern day seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In modern Lima drive through the exclusive residential areas of Miraflores and San Isidro.

Modern Pisac is a picturesque Andean Village, typical except for the huge, spreading pisonary tree that dominates the central square. The village is best known for its Sunday market, which draws hundreds of tourists each week.

In spite of its popularity the market retains much of its local charm, at least in the part where villagers from miles around gather to barter and sell their produce. In the tourist section of the market you can buy a wide variety of handicrafts.

Pisac is a good place to buy the local ceramics including a huge and varied collection of hand-painted multi-coloured beads.

Casa Andina Private Collection Sacred Valley is a mountain chalet-styled retreat with panoramic Andes views from every room and every angle; it breathes an air of tranquillity and relaxation. Unique among Sacred Valley hotels, it contains a full-service spa, a domed planetarium and observatory, and gourmet restaurant and bar. The 85 inviting, spacious rooms overlook the property and extensive gardens, and feature either private balconies or sunny sitting areas. Located between Urubamba and Ollantaytambo, the hotel is perfectly positioned for easy access to the valley's abundant attractions and Machu Picchu.

Today you pass through unspoiled and picturesque Andean communities on our way to the Incan agricultural experimental center of Moray, famous for its sunken amphitheatre, made up of four circular terraces, which appear to fade away into the earth like an artificial crater. The site was apparently an Inca agricultural research station filled with fertile earth and watered by a complex irrigation system, designed for experimenting with crops at various altitudes.

Continue onto the impressive Maras salt pools formed by water emerging from a lake inside the mountain in the Urubamba Valley. An amazing view is offered of the evaporating ponds used for the extraction of salt. Learn about ancestral techniques, which are still used, in agricultural, irrigation and salt-recollection tasks, as well as in Andean festivals and rites.

If you are looking for an adventure on your way to Machu Picchu at an unbeatable price, on a train with all the onboard comforts you could ask for, the Expedition train has just what you need.

The train cars of the Expedition train is steeped in the designs of Incan culture, making them the perfect way to start your trip to the Machu Picchu citadel. The Expedition gives you the chance to take in the unbelievable scenery and take incredible panoramic pictures of a journey unlike any other.

You will be waited on by a highly-trained staff member for the duration of your trip. Additionally, you will be able to enjoy a Food and Beverage service for sale, where you will find a wide variety of top quality products.

Departures are scheduled daily, with a variety of times throughout the day.

Free WiFi is available for the use of passengers at Poroy, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu Station.

Entrances to Machu Picchu are now regulated and allow entrance ON THE HOUR. Entrance times are:

6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11, 12, 1PM and 2PM.

When booking you must request the hour of entrance you require or allow your destination expert to suggest a time based on your itinerary and available train times.
NOTE: You can arrive any time after your booked hour but cannot stay any longer than 4 hours from your pre-booked hour. You are not allowed in earlier than your pre-booked time.

Colored stamps are used on the ticket to determine and monitor your entry and exit time. Tickets can be checked at any time when in the ruins.

The ruins close at 5:30PM so any entrance so any entrance after 2:00PM will only allow a stay of no more than 3 and half hours!

You will be met by your guide you upon disembarking from your train, at the Aguas Calientes train station. If you are already in Aguas Calientes, your guide will meet you at your hotel reception at approximately 12 midday. He/she will then escort you to the nearby bus stop where buses transport travelers from the town of Aguas Calientes to the ruins of Machu Picchu (it's about a 20-min bus ride up to the idyllic mountain top location). On arrival at the ruins, you will begin your guided tour. You must exit the ruins by 5:00PM.

After the tour, you will exit with your guide. If you have chosen to stay at the Sanctuary Lodge, located right at the entrance of Machu Picchu, your guide will assist with your check in.

If you are returning to Cusco, at the shuttle bus terminal in Aguas Calientes, your guide will be waiting to assist with boarding your train for your return to Cusco (departures range from approx. 4:00PM to 5:30PM- schedules vary and subject to change without notice).
NOTE: You need to be at the Aguas Calientes train station 30 minutes before your trains departure time.

Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo is set on 12 serene mountainside acres of natural paradise in Machu Picchu village. An intimate 85 cottage luxury hotel in sprawling Andean style village where guests follow stone pathways to their rooms, located in comfortable one or two story whitewashed casitas. Every hotel casita provides authentic Andean ambience.

Entrances to Machu Picchu are now regulated and allow entrance ON THE HOUR. Entrance times are:

6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11, 12, 1PM and 2PM.

When booking you must request the hour of entrance you require or allow your destination expert to suggest a time based on your itinerary and available train times.
NOTE: You can arrive any time after your booked hour but cannot stay any longer than 4 hours from your pre-booked hour. You are not allowed in earlier than your pre-booked time.

Colored stamps are used on the ticket to determine and monitor your entry and exit time. Tickets can be checked at any time when in the ruins.

The ruins close at 5:30PM so any entrance so any entrance after 2:00PM will only allow a stay of no more than 3 and half hours!

Today you will visit Machu Picchu (entrance and round-trip shuttle bus ticket included). As this visit is NOT GUIDED, you will be required to present your first visit ticket. (Guides are available for a extra cost. Please enquire)

Please make your way to the shuttle bus station at the south end of town near the bridge that crosses the river Vilcanota. Buses begin running from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu at 5:30AM. The ruins open at 6:00AM. No reservation for the bus is required. A guide will assist with boarding your bus in Aguas Calientes and if you're departing this day, will advise you of the time you must be back in Aguas Calientes to board your train back to Cusco.
NOTE: You need to be at the Aguas Calientes train station 30 minutes before your trains departure time.

After ascending the multi-switch-back dirt road, you will be dropped off at the entrance to Machu Picchu. Enjoy Machu Picchu at your pace or partake in one of the following walks below.

Climb Huayna Picchu (the famed peak in the ruins). This must be pre-booked at the time of your Machu Picchu reservation with Goway Travel. Time spent climbing the peak would be considered part of your allowed time in the ruins.

Climb Machu Picchu Mountain. This must be pre-booked at the time of your Machu Picchu reservation with Goway Travel. Time spent climbing the peak would be considered part of your morning entrance ticket.

Walk to the Incan bridge - no costs. Approx. time 90 minute round trip. Not allowing for time at the bridge. Time spent trekking to and from would be considered part of your morning entrance ticket.

Walk to the Sun gate - no cost. Approx. time 2.5 hours round trip. Not allowing for time spent at the Sun Gate. Time spent trekking to and from would be considered part of your morning entrance ticket.

After your time in the ruins, you will exit and board the first available bus down the hill to the town of Aguas Calientes where, if you are overnighting, you will continue to your chosen accommodation. If you are returning to Cusco, at the shuttle bus terminal in Aguas Calientes, your guide will be waiting to assist with boarding your train for your return to Cusco (departs approx. 4 pm - schedules vary and subject to change without notice).

Please note that unless a SUPPLEMENT has been included you will be touring the ruins on your own today.

If you are catching a train to Cusco or Ollantaytambo, check out of your hotel or collect your bags from your hotel if you have not already.

The Vistadome is the ideal train for those who want to be in contact with the environment and appreciate the wonderful journey to Machu Picchu.

Surrounded entirely by glass and wagons with large panoramic windows offering incomparable scenic views and innumerous opportunities to capture amazing pictures, Vistadome travelers feel connected and part of the impressive landscape of Peru. Perurail provide travelers on board personalized and first level service to give them an unforgettable life experience.

The Vistadome has two stations of departure to Machu Picchu: Cusco (Poroy) and the Sacred Valley (Ollantaytambo).

The Vistadome also has air conditioning and heating, leather seats that adjust the body to provide comfort and relaxation during the entire trip.

Casa Andina Premium Collection Cusco is a beautifully renovated 18th-century manor house, just 3 blocks from Cusco's Plaza de Armas, replete with authentic colonial character. It offers the intimacy of a boutique hotel but the comforts and services of a much larger property. Several rooms in the original structure of the hotel feature surviving colonial frescoes unearthed during renovation.

Today you visit the city of Cusco, known as the Imperial City, once the Incan Capital and a declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Start the tour at the iconic San Pedro market, a local market where you can explore the colors, flavors and traditions of modern Cusco as well as sights and sounds harking back to Incan times. The tour continues to Koricancha Temple, an ancient Inca palace. Only discovered after an earthquake revealed the ruins below the Dominican church on top, the temple was the center for the worshipping of the Sun God, the central spiritual deity of the Incas. You then continue and climb out of the Cusco valley towards the Fortress of Sacsayhuaman - Sexy Woman as it is often referred to by travelers; an impressive example of Inca military architecture. Wonder at the masonry work remembering the Incas did not utilize the wheel, so these stones, some over 30 feet tall, where man handled precisely into place. Then you explore the Q'enqo archeological site, where important Inca ceremonies took place. Finally, you in the Plaza de Armas (main square) of Cusco, where you will visit the Cathedral, built on the foundations of a Inca temple and soak up the vibrant vibe, that the pulsating center of the city has on offer almost 24 /7.