Peru with Machu Picchu, a Women-Only Tour (Small Group, Nazca Lines)

Highlights

• 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.
• Visit Museo Larco in Lima’s Pueblo Libre District, the highest-rated museum in South America housing the largest collection of Pre-Columbian art. Meet a Local Expert who will lead you through the museum and share its private collection with you. You’ll also delve into Peruvian culture, its ancient history and religious beliefs and the role of women in ancient Peru.
• Lima: Visit Casa Aliaga, an impressive mansion the Aliaga family has called home for 17 generations. Meet Wilma Ehni de Aliaga, who’ll show you around her family's impressive mansion and share personal stories. Learn how the colonial home dates to the founding of Lima in 1535 and is the oldest dwelling in the Americas that has been in the same family for generations. Discover how the home was rebuilt and reshaped after earthquakes and architectural trends and represents both the Colonial and Republican history of Lima.
• Sacred Valley: The UNESCO World Heritage 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.
• Aguas Calientes: Peru’s Incan history and archaeology will inspire the mind of any curious traveler. With a full day, you have the option to return to Machu Picchu for a different circuit. Or, take advantage of a day at leisure in Aguas Caliente – the town of Machu Picchu of 3,400 residents - to stroll along the river, go shopping for that perfect local souvenir or grab a coffee all midst the cloud forest.
• Cusco: Once you arrive, head on a walking tour of Cusco with a Local Expert. Explore what's known as the "historic capital" of Peru as you discover its ancestral magic through visits to the cathedral and the Qorikancha temple.
• Founded more than 20 years ago with the aim of sheltering and helping teenage mothers and their children, Mantay store not only offers a safe place, but also provides women with health services, education and job training. The women at Mantay apprentice at a leather workshop as part of their vocational training, learning how to make beautiful hand-sewn leather goods. Once the women reach the age of 18, they transition out of the home with their children but can continue to work full-time in the workshop, providing them with the opportunity for long-term stabilised income. To commemorate your visit, you’ll receive a small present supporting the Mantay project.
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What's this trip about?

Travel with a small group as you feast on Peruvian delicacies in Lima, tour the ancient Korikancha temple in Cusco and adventure through the Ollantaytambo ruins of Machu Picchu on this 13-Day women-only exploration of Peru. Embark on a Private Planetarium Tour in Cusco and uncover the influence of astronomy on Andean culture. In Lima, visit Casa Aliaga, an impressive mansion the Aliaga family has called home for 17 generations and tour and dine in Museo Larco guided by an archeologist who shares her insights. Join a Local Expert in Machu Picchu for a guided tour through the ancient ruins—set high in the Andes against breathtaking backdrops. Visit the salt pans of Maras in the Sacred Valley where the Incas used to harvest minerals and visit with a local Quechua Weaver to learn their ancient weaving techniques in a private presentation. In Paracus, be sure to pause at the Pisco distillery to sample this tasty local aperitif.

Accommodation