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Eleven days climbing from the Pacific into the high Andes. Lima on foot, the Sacred Valley by ATV, Machu Picchu on the mountain trail, and a tented finale in a canyon most itineraries never touch.
This journey starts at sea level and keeps climbing. It opens in Lima's Barranco district, settles into the Sacred Valley for three nights of ATVs, salt mines, and Peruvian Paso horses, then rides the Vistadome train into cloud forest for a full day inside the citadel. Cusco brings one night in a 16th century manor house. From there, pushes on to PUQIO, a tented camp deep in the Colca Valley, for condors, geysers, and two nights in a part of Peru few travelers ever find. Private guides and transfers throughout.
A restored 1914 Belle Époque mansion two blocks from the Pacific, in Lima's bohemian quarter. The day covers the UNESCO-listed historic center and the Larco Museum, home to 45,000 pre-Columbian pieces spanning 3,000 years. Dinner lands at Awicha or Central. One night to find your legs before the mountains.
This is where the trip opens up. A full-day ATV run crosses the valley to the Moray terraces and the Maras salt mines, picnic at Huaypo Lagoon en route. No van, no stop-and-go, no crowds. Just open trail, thin air, and the valley to yourselves. The next day trades engines for Peruvian Paso horses around Hacienda Huayoccari. Home base is a 100-acre hacienda where quinoa and giant corn are still farmed by hand and oxen.
The hotel sits in its own 12-acre reserve of waterfalls, orchids, and stone pathways at the foot of the ruins. Day 6 is the main event: a full day inside Machu Picchu on Circuit 1, then the climb up Apu Machu Picchu Mountain for the view the postcards miss. Lunch at the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge.
A 16th-century manor house built on the training grounds of an elite Inca army, with stone fireplaces and heated floors. The afternoon circles Sacsayhuaman, Qenko, Tambomachay, and the Koricancha, the Inca temple of the sun stripped of its gold by the Spanish. Dinner at Morena or KION.
The wild card. Three hours beyond Arequipa, PUQIO tented camp sits alone among fuming volcanoes and pre-Inca terraces still farmed today. It is the only camp of its kind in Peru. Days bring condors riding thermals over the Pinchollo geysers, horseback rides through ancient terraces, and the master weavers of Chivay. Nights bring a wood stove, an outdoor tub, and canvas walls in the high desert. A corner of Peru most travelers never learn exists.
Down from the canyon and back to the coast. A walkway connects the terminal to the front door. Dawn departure for home. End of UNCHARTED arrangements.
“Land stays wild when the people living beside it are better off with the wildlife than without it.”
Families
This boat’s interior, inspired by the Amazon river’s mystical black waters, blends together neo-noir and colonial-meets-contemporary design elements, creating a striking contrast of darkness and color.
Centered on traditional Aymara culture, and ideally situated on a secluded section of shorefront, this five-star hideaway is your home for as long as time allows.
Located in between Machu Picchu and Cusco, within the Sacred Valley of the Incas lies Hacienda Urubamba. The location is perfect for exploring the Sacred Valley as well as immersing yourself in the fertile farmland that surrounds it.
Jagged canyons, fantastical grasslands, and a river that is said to flow directly into the Milky Way—this is Valle Colca.
Tell us who is coming and when. A travel designer will come back with ideas, options and the logistics for Peru, From the Sacred Valley to the Colca Canyon.
Co-founder · Since 1991
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One of us will write back today.
