B | L | R | D denotes included breakfasts, lunches, receptions and dinners.
A special note about air: If you have purchased only the Land/Cruise Program, please book flights that arrive on Day 2, the first day of the Land/Cruise Program. The date is listed at the top of your Reservation Confirmation.
This itinerary is subject to change due to operational conditions.
This ACTIVE program is designed for people who are in good health and can comfortably participate in a demanding daily schedule of physical activities. The itinerary may feature full days of ongoing activities. Excursions on this program require:
walking distances of up to 3–5 miles
walking on cobblestones, unpaved paths and/or uneven and slippery surfaces
getting on/off motor coaches, boats and/or trains
climbing in/out of excursion boats
walking up (sometimes steep) hills in ports where docks are not available and at sites in the Sacred Valley
tolerating varying climatic conditions, including high altitude and humidity
Depending on the excursion, more leisurely alternatives may be available.
Day 1 | Depart gateway city | Miami, Florida | Lima, Peru
Pullman Lima Miraflores
Depart for Lima, Peru. Please check your luggage from your gateway city to your arrival city. Your claim checks should have the following airport code: LIM.
Arrive at Jorge Chávez International Airport. Proceed through immigration to the baggage claim area and retrieve your luggage. After completing customs, passengers should exit the baggage claim area and proceed to the Arrivals Hall, where an AHI Travel representative will meet you. The meeting location will be provided with your final documents.
Transfer to the Pullman Lima Miraflores. Please note that if you arrive before check-in time, your room may not be immediately available.
Day 2 | Lima
Pullman Lima Miraflores
B | L | R | D
Each morning during your journey, start your day with a hearty buffet breakfast.
Highlights of Lima. Visit the Larco Museum, housed in an 18th-century viceroy mansion and enclosed by lovely gardens. It offers an engaging account of more than 5,000 years of pre-Columbian Peruvian history. The museum’s pottery storeroom is one of a select few in the world open to the public, where you can walk among the 30,000 exquisite ceramic artifacts carefully cataloged and displayed there.
Continue to the historic center of Lima, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Known as the City of Kings, Lima was the heart of Spain’s South American empire for 300 years, and its oldest section abounds with elegant, colonial-era architecture. Visit Plaza Mayor, a spacious public square surrounded by palm trees and the majestic facades of the Government Palace, Municipal Palace, Archbishop’s Palace and the Cathedral of Lima. The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro personally designated the plaza’s location when he founded Lima in 1535. Almost three centuries later, it was the stage for Peru’s declaration of independence from Spain in 1821.
Take a break for a delicious lunch at a restaurant.
Afterward, step inside the Cathedral to see its beautiful interior. Then, visit the splendid Monastery of Santo Domingo, a religious complex containing relics of important Peruvian saints and a cloister ornamented with Spanish azulejo tiles. Next, tour Casa Aliaga, a delightful gem built in 1535 and still occupied by descendants of the Aliaga family. See its grand rooms richly adorned in wood and the serene courtyard.
AHI Connects | Meet the People. This evening, gather for a private Welcome Reception and Dinner at Casa Garcia Alvarado in the Miraflores district. This stately residence was declared a National Historical Building in 2005. After enjoying hors d’oeuvres and pisco sours made with Peru’s beloved brandy, take a tour of the historic house. Then sit down to a typical Peruvian home-cooked meal in the company of one of the owners of the home.
Day 3 | Lima | Cusco | Sacred Valley
Casa Andina Premium Valle Sagrado
B | D
Check out of the hotel after breakfast and transfer to the airport for your flight to Cusco.
Once you arrive in Cusco, take a panoramic drive to the stunning Urubamba Valley, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, and check in to the Casa Andina Premium Valle Sagrado. After you’ve settled in, savor Andean specialties at dinner in the hotel tonight.
Day 4 | Sacred Valley
Casa Andina Premium Valle Sagrado
B | L
Sacred Valley. Today, delve into the history of this breathtaking, open landscape of farm fields and traditional Andean villages tucked beneath towering mountain slopes. Begin at the Moray Terraces for insights into the Incas’ agricultural practices. According to anthropologists, the leading theory is that these 15th-century circular terraces were created as an experimental farm to test crops at different altitudes. Afterward, travel to the fascinating Maras Salt Mines, where thousands of small salt ponds blanket the terraced hillsides. Learn from your guide how local families maintain ownership and how they employ centuries-old methods to produce and extract the salt.
Continue to the Hacienda Huayoccari, a privately owned family estate. Before enjoying a wonderful buffet lunch, savor a pisco sour and admire the grounds, the spectacular views and an exceptional art collection spanning the pre-Columbian and colonial eras. Then, conclude your day in the Sacred Valley at a mountain village, where you’ll learn about ancient weaving methods and life in this challenging environment from its residents.
Day 5 | Sacred Valley | Machu Picchu
Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo
B | L | D
After breakfast, check out of the hotel and head to another Sacred Valley highlight, Ollantaytambo.
Ollantaytambo. Built on top of an Inca settlement, the town of Ollantaytambo is the best surviving example of Inca town planning. It rests just below the Ollantaytambo ruins, noted for its immense terraces that hug the hillside. Originally constructed for religious purposes, the structure was later employed as a fortress. Explore this remarkable site where the Inca emperor Manco Inca successfully fought off Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.
After your visit, embark on a scenic train ride through the Sacred Valley to the town of Aguas Calientes and the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo hotel, which sit at the foot of Machu Picchu. Travel up to Machu Picchu upon arrival.
Machu Picchu. Nestled in a misty cloud forest high in the Andes, the Lost City of the Inca is considered the most important archaeological site in the Americas and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. Archaeologists believe that this masterfully engineered site, surrounded by steep agricultural terraces, served as a center of worship or a royal estate for Inca emperors and nobility. At an elevation of 7,972 feet, the mountaintop complex contains more than 200 buildings, all of which testify to the Incas’ impressive design and construction skills. Wander through stone temples, grassy plazas, palaces and workshops with an expert guide. Explore the Temple of the Three Windows, the Sacristy, the Hitching Post of the Sun, the Temple of the Sun and more.
Gather with your group for dinner at the hotel this evening.
Day 6 | Machu Picchu | Cusco
Palacio del Inka
B
Check out of the hotel this morning for your return train trip through the area’s lovely mountain scenery. Then, travel by motor coach to the Palacio del Inka in Cusco.
Free Time: Make your own plans in Cusco for the remainder of the day. Your Travel Director can offer suggestions on dining options. Peru’s cuisine, featuring a tantalizing blend of eclectic styles and flavors, is regarded as among the best in the world. Perhaps you’ll try authentic dishes such as Peru’s renowned ceviche, raw fish marinated in lime juice, often served with choclo, a white Andean corn. Another enticing choice that’s almost as popular as ceviche is lomo saltado, a beef stir-fry.
Day 7 | Cusco
Palacio del Inka
B | L
Cusco, the Ancient Inca Capital. This sacred city, perched 11,152 feet above sea level, was the religious and administrative center of the Inca Empire. At this UNESCO World Heritage site, enjoy guided visits to the Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas, noted for its colonial art; and the Santo Domingo Church, a Dominican church and convent built on the foundations of the Koricancha Temple or ‘place of gold’, the Incas’ principal religious building dedicated to the worship of the sun.
Relax over lunch in town with your fellow travelers.
Sacsayhuaman. Just outside of Cusco, visit the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, constructed with massive stones (one weighs 125 tons!). You are challenged to try to slip a piece of paper between the cracks of these blocks, cut and fitted together with incredible precision without a single drop of mortar to hold them in place. The site of a fierce battle between the Spanish and Incas in 1536, this ancient fortress overlooks the red-tiled roofs of Cusco and the lush countryside.
Free Time: Enjoy the evening at leisure in Cusco.
Day 8 | Cusco | Lima | Iquitos | Embark ship
Delfin III
B | L | D
After breakfast and hotel checkout this morning, transfer to Cusco’s airport. Fly to Lima and connect to your flight to Iquitos, the gateway to the Amazon and accessible only by plane or boat.
Arrive and journey through the streets of Iquitos on a panoramic transfer. Take in the rickshaws, colorful tuk-tuks and 19th-century mansions financed by the rubber boom that reflect the town’s unique character.
Travel to Nauta, a small riverside town on the Marañon River. Along the way, see the vibrant “terra firma” (non-flooded forest) and various aspects of daily jungle life. Once you arrive in Nauta, embark the Delfin III at a private port along the shores of the Marañon River.
As the Delfin III begins its initial navigation later, soak up the views from the elegantly outfitted observation area on the third deck, and sip a cocktail made with regional fruits and pisco.
Your naturalist guide will provide an overview of your cruise schedule and activities, the wildlife and vegetation that you are likely to see, geographical and historical information and other useful details. Delight in your first lovely sunset in the Amazon rain forest as you sail by the confluence of three rivers, known as “Union de los Rios.”
Day 9 | Cruising the Amazon Basin
Delfin III
B | L | D
Set out aboard skiff boats, anticipating each day’s astounding and unexpected wildlife encounters! The region in which you are cruising, Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, is one of Peru’s largest wildlife preserves, boasting more than five million acres of rich biodiversity.
Skim along rivers and cruise through creeks, peeking into lagoons and other waterways, where an abundance of wildlife hides in the deep rain forest, such as blue and yellow macaws, toucans, umbrella birds, capybaras and more. Zoom in on exotic spiders, dragonflies, butterflies and tarantulas. You may perhaps even catch glimpses of the endangered charapa turtle, spider monkey, giant river otter or red macaw.
Marvel at the pink dolphins swimming nearby, known as boto. These intelligent and agile creatures, the largest freshwater dolphins in the world, are grey at birth and grow pinker with age. Their unfused neck vertebrae allow them to turn their heads up to 180 degrees, enabling them to maneuver among the underwater tree trunks of the rain forest.
Also, below you in the waters of the Amazon Basin are more than 25 different species of piranhas, including black-, white-, and red-bellied ones. During the rainy season, the river floods the forest with more than three feet of water. This attracts piranhas and other fish that come to feed on the low-hanging flowers, fruits and bark of flooded trees. You’ll have the chance to fish for them during your cruise!
Day 10 | Cruising the Amazon Basin
Delfin III
B | L | R | D
Never does nature seem more bountiful than in the tropics and rising early is always rewarding since wildlife is most abundant and active at daybreak. With your expert guide, hike into the rain forest to observe the fantastic flora and fauna. Sharp eyes may spot squirrel and red howler monkeys, iguanas lazing in the sun and sloths hanging in the upper canopy. You’ll also likely see brilliant parrots, hawks, hummingbirds and “laughing” falcons. In fact, more than 1,300 species of birds are found in the Amazon!
Enrichment: Contemporary Peru. Learn from a local expert how modern Peru has been shaped by the events of its past.
Celebrate your Peruvian adventure with your fellow travelers at a Farewell Reception on the ship this evening.
Day 11 | Disembark ship | Iquitos | Lima | Depart for Miami, Florida
B | L
After breakfast, bid farewell to the Amazon and disembark the ship in Nauta. Depart by motor coach for the Iquitos airport.
Amazonian Fish & Stingless Bees. On your route, explore local conservation efforts at two education and research centers. The Aquarium of the Amazon is part of the Amazon Research Center of Ornamental Fishes. It is home to more than 60 species of native fish and pursues its conservation mission through education, promoting sustainable aquaculture and working with local fishers. During your visit, you can learn about the Amazonian biosphere and the role of fish in this special ecosystem. Continue to the Meliponas Stingless Bees Center. Native to the Amazon region, these stingless bees are crucial pollinators and produce honey that has both culinary and medicinal uses. Discover the contributions of the stingless bee to sustainable agriculture as well as the local culture.
Enjoy lunch on the way to the airport. Fly to Lima and connect in Lima to your international flight to Miami, Florida.
Day 12 | In Transit
Arrive home in your gateway city.
