Compare Peru Classic by Conde Travel vs The Moonstone Trek by Exodus Travels

Day 1: Arrival In Lima – City Tour

When you arrive to Lima, we transfer you from the airport to your hotel. Depending on the time of arrival of your flight, we take a city tour with a duration of four hours approx. We will start the tour with visiting San Martin Plaza and Jiron de la Union which is a fascinating boulevard that leads to the Plaza de Armas, the main plaza. Next is the Monastery of San Francisco, a World Heritage Site. This monastery is renowned for its Spanish Baroque architecture .The first cemetery of Lima –the Catacombs- is hidden underneath these monastery floors. Our driver will take you to your hotel where you will have the rest of the day at your leisure.

Day 2: Lima – Paracas – Ballestas Islands – Nazca

Today, after breakfast in your hotel we will start our journey toward Paracas at 3:30am. Upon arrival we will transfer you to Paracas Bay to take the tour by motorboat to the Ballestas Islands, three small islands filled with wildlife just a few minutes from the coast. On the journey to the islands, we will be able to see the “Candelabro”, a giant hieroglyph in the shape of a candleholder. When we arrive to the Ballestas Islands, we will stay on the boat while observing the frenzy of amazing animals including noisy but playful seals and sea lions, as well as a huge number of sea birds including, Humbolt penguins, pelicans, tendrils, Inca terns, Peruvian boobys, red legged cormorants and guanays. After our tour of the islands, we will have lunch and drive to Nazca where we will spend the night.

Day 3: Nazca Lines Flight – Huacachina – Lima

After breakfast, we’ll drive to the airport, where we take a 30 minute flight over the incredible Nazca Lines. During this flight over the Nazca Lines, we will be able to see the most fascinating figures such as: the monkey, hummingbird, tree, parrot, astronaut, dog, condor and others. After the flight, we drive from Nazca to Ica where we will visit the beautiful Huacachina Oasis. A magical sight in the middle of the desert. After we have lunch, you can enjoy this incredible palm trees lined, blue-green oasis, surrounded by sand dunes. In these dunes you can book a wild, unforgettable sand buggy ride and sand-boarding adventure (not included). After we enjoy the sight of a beautiful sunset in the desert, we return to Lima where you will stay in a hotel for the night.

Day 4 flight lima – cusco city tour:

After your flight from Lima to Cusco, we transfer you from the airport to your hotel. In the afternoon, our city tour of Cusco will begin, between 13:00hrs and 13:20hrs. First, we will visit the Cathedral of Cusco, located on the Plaza de Armas. Then our tour will continue to Qorikancha (The Temple of the Sun) and the Convent of Santo Domingo as well as to several of the city’s impressive archaeological ruins such as Sacsaywaman, Qenqo, Pukapukara, and Tambomachay. Our tour will finish at the main square. At this time, you might like to enjoy a tasty dinner in one of the many nearby restaurants that the city have to offer. Alternatively, we can arrange to drop you off at your hotel. Just tell your guide what you are in the mood to do.

Day 5: Sacred Valley Of The Incas

On this day an amazing tour awaits us. We will start our VIP excursion through the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Chinchero, where we will join a traditional weaving workshop. This village is mainly comprised of mud brick (adobe) houses and the locals still go about their businesses in traditional dress. The walls and roofs of this town are covered in beautiful floral and religious designs. We will be part of the most remarkable textile hand making shows and see great presentations made by locals. We continue with a guided tour to the non-traditional Moray circuit, a unique archaeological group that is one of a kind. The gigantic circular depressions in the ground surface, with their respective irrigation canals were believed to be an agriculture investigation centre of the Inca’s. Then we drive to the salt mines located 7 km from Moray, pass through a typical Spanish village called Maras. To the northwest of the town of Maras, we will find around 2000 small wells that local people still use today to provide themselves with salt. Then we go to the next stop, Urubamba, where we will enjoy a great lunch. Afterwards we continue to Ollantaytambo where we’ll take the train to Aguas Calientes where we spend the night in a hotel.

Day 6: Machu Picchu Full Day

After starting your day with a delicious breakfast at your hotel, we will take a bus up the mountain. This bus journey takes around 25 minutes and follows a winding slope with beautiful views. Upon our arrival, we will check in at the Machu Picchu entrance gate before starting your long awaited tour of the sacred Incan citadel. This tour will last around 2 hours. We will experience the mysteries and magic of the sacred Incan citadel of Machu Picchu by visiting the Main Plaza, the Circular Tower, the Sacred Sundial, the Royal Quarters, the Temple of Three Windows and various cemeteries. When the tour finishes, we will return to Aguas Calientes to have lunch. Your return to Cusco will be by train. At the train station our staff will be waiting to escort you to your hotel in Cusco.

Day 7: End Of Tour

On the last day, you have your morning free at your hotel and in accordance with your scheduled flight you will be transported to the airport.

Day 1 Start Cuzco; free time to explore the Inca capital

In the altiplano hills, Cuzco, the imperial city of the Incas, was the geographic, cultural and political centre of a vast empire which, at its peak, stretched from present-day Quito in Ecuador to Santiago, Chile. After Spanish conquistadores invaded the city, they built on top of Inca structures, resulting in unique architecture, a fusion of the Inca and Spanish colonial styles. There may be time for a short orientation tour of the city or free time to wander the cobbled streets, admiring the old houses, visiting interesting museums, churches and pre-Columbian buildings, or to sit in a cafe and sample a coca tea. Take it easy upon arrival into Cuzco and drink plenty of water to allow your body to acclimatise to the altitude (11,155ft/3,400m). There is a welcome briefing in the hotel lobby this afternoon/evening. Accommodation: MamaSara Hotel (or similar)

Day 2 Free day; optional Sacred Valley excursion

Day 3 Start the Moonstone Trek; walk past ruins and hamlets to the village of Chillipawa

We have an early start as it’s a very busy day! We take a private minibus to the trailhead, stopping first to explore the nearby ruins that the trek was named after. This is a large site with several distinct Inca remnants, clearly of religious importance. As with the rest of the trek, we are most likely to have the site completely to ourselves. The Moonstone itself is a large carving on an enormous boulder and its significance is not yet understood. The trailhead is in a quiet, dusty valley and we soon climb high enough from the floor to enjoy great views. Around lunchtime, we stop to explore the imposing pre‐Inca fortress of Wata, which straddles the trail. The ruin has not yet been accurately dated and pottery can often still be found lying on the ground. The path then traverses along a green side valley as we head above a few tiny villages before entering the village of Chillipawa, where we camp. Accommodation: Full‐service camping:  Chillipawa Camp

Day 4 Up the Accoccosa Pass and onto the high pampas

A long, steady climb with plenty of rest stops to aid acclimatisation takes us above the villages and into the high pampas – rugged meadows of long grass. We normally stop for lunch shortly before the crest of the Accoccosa Pass (where the very rare Andean flicker is sometimes seen, and often heard). The last leg of the pass is on loose red scree, but the view from the top makes it all worthwhile: a broad, hidden valley surrounded by snowy peaks, the Huayanay range on the left, the Urubamba range straight ahead and beautiful, triangular Mount Veronica (19,030ft/5,800m) to the right. We have time to explore this plateau and experience walking in the altiplano before returning to our camp for a well‐deserved hot dinner. The isolation of the camp, well away from any settlements, results in spectacular night skies when clear. Accommodation: Full‐service camping:  High Pass Camp

Day 5 Continue along a narrow canyon and Inca aqueduct before crossing over to the Inca quarry of Cachicata

We start after breakfast by following the stream into a narrow canyon. Rare polylepis trees grow here and we pass through a small grove as we leave the canyon. Our path then turns north and traverses very high above a deep, steep valley separating us from the Huayanay mountains. This is probably the most spectacular section of the trek and we roughly follow a (now-defunct) Inca aqueduct spectacularly carved out of the cliffs to take water from the hidden valley of our campsite to the Sacred Valley several miles away. At the end of the traverse, we have a short but steep climb up to our lunch spot: a flat, ridgetop meadow facing straight across the Sacred Valley to the snowy Urubamba range. After lunch, we walk down to Huayrapunku. Meaning Gate of the Wind, this is a ridgetop Inca shrine oriented to Mount Veronica, of which it has an incredible view. A short walk brings us to our final campsite, among the granite stones of the Cachicata Quarry. It was here that huge blocks were cut from the rose‐coloured granite before being dragged down the mountainside and across the river to the Sun Temple at Ollantaytambo. Accommodation: Full‐service camping:  Cachicata Camp

Day 6 Descend to Ollantaytambo where the trek ends

Wake before dawn to watch the sun rise over the Sacred Valley from our campsite high above it, the sun’s first rays catching the glaciers of Mount Veronica. This is our last day on trek and we descend from the pampas into the lush valley floor along the enormous stone ramps on which the Incas dragged the stones. We cross the river and explore the huge Sun Temple complex to see where the stones ended and what use they were put to. Accommodation: Tunupa Lodge (or similar)

Day 7 Day walk along Inca Trail via Wiñay Wayna ruins

We wake early for a scenic train journey through the Urubamba River valley (approximately 1hr 20min) to Km104 where we disembark, cross the river, and start our full-day Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu. Our uphill efforts are rewarded with spectacular views and access to the attractive ruins of Wiñay Wayna (Forever Young), where we enjoy our box lunch. From here, a relatively flat trail takes us past wild orchids to Inti Punku (the Sun Gate), where we get our first full sight of Machu Picchu, one of the New Wonders of the World. Our afternoon arrival usually yields great photo opportunities as we descend into the ruins complex. With our full tour tomorrow, we exit the site and board the bus to Aguas Calientes to enjoy a well-earned meal, shower and a comfortable bed for the night in preparation for our early return to Machu Picchu. Accommodation: Inti Punku Machu Picchu (or similar)

Day 8 Guided tour of Machu Picchu; return to Cuzco by train and road

We start early to beat the day-trippers from Cuzco and reach the ruins as early as possible; buses return us up the winding road to the Machu Picchu entrance. During high season (May to October), there may be a bit of a wait. Machu Picchu is one of the architectural and engineering marvels of the ancient world and what makes it all the more dramatic is the staggering mountain backdrop. The Spaniards never found it, the Incas left no records of it, and so Machu Picchu remained an enigma, a city lost for centuries in the jungle until it was rediscovered in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Your guided tour highlights the history, culture, architecture and mysteries that Machu Picchu still holds to this day. This afternoon, we catch the train back to Ollantaytambo (1hr 30min) and continue by private bus to Cuzco (1hr 30min). Accommodation: MamaSara Hotel (or similar)

Day 9 End Cuzco

The adventure ends in Cuzco and we begin our return journeys home after breakfast. However, if you’re not ready for the adventure to end, you can always book onto our Lake Titicaca extension, where you explore the sky-high waters by boat, visit an indigenous community and explore the pre‐Inca site of Sillustani. Alternatively, journey into the wilds on our Amazon Rainforest extension and explore lakes, rivers and jungle trails in search of the abundant wildlife that lives there.