Cathedral of Lima: This morning, explore Peru's buzzing capital with your Local Expert, including the Cathedral of Lima, the Government Palace, the Archbishop’s Palace and City Hall.
Sacred Valley: The Maras Salt Mine will inspire the mind of any curious traveler. Learn how salt once harvested by Incas at this site is now exported to the entire world. Discover how the Incas found a water stream with high salt content and learned - in Pre-Incan times - how to build terraces to extract salt. You’ll be amazed at how, to this day, it is not known where the water actually comes from and has only been measured in the last 20 years during which the flow and intensity has not changed.
Sacred Valley: Peru’s Incan history and archaeology will inspire the mind of any curious traveler. At the Moray Incan laboratory northwest of Cusco, learn how the Incas determined the ideal altitude to grow crops in the Sacred Valley. You’ll be fascinated by how this ancient culture learned how to build these terraced circular depressions on a high plateau at an altitude of about 11,500 feet and experimented with different kinds of soils and temperatures to grow their crops.
Machu Picchu: Transfer to the station for your 360° IncaRail train ride. This train ride offers an unforgettable experience journeying through the Andes Mountains in style with large panoramic views allowing guests to enjoy the amazing scenery of the lush mountains and the Urubamba River en route to Machu Piccu Pueblo.
Sacred Valley: On the way, visit the Ollantaytambo ruins, consisting of a large fortress built in the 1400s, a stepped terrace, and an area known as the Princess Baths, where ceremonial bathing took place. Later, stop by a a local house in the village and meet the family living there.