Peru: Inca Trail & The Amazon - Inca Trail

You will be met at the airport and transferred to the hotel to start your adventure.

Your opportunity to meet your CEO and fellow travellers, and learn more about your tour. Join the group for a local meal afterwards. Don't forget to see the notice in the lobby (or ask reception) for the official time and place to meet up with the group.

Sit back and scan the scenery from the comfort of your private vehicle with stops along the way to Cuyo Chico, Pisaq, and Parwa.

In the rural village of Cuyo Chico in the Sacred Valley, a group of families joined together to create a small business based on their traditional adobe ceramic crafts. Visit this community learn about the ceramics process and partake in an empanada making demonstration. Learn to make Peruvian-style empanadas from scratch using local ingredients. The experience typically involves a hands-on session preparing the dough and filling, cooking the empanadas in a traditional outdoor oven (horno), and enjoying the meal you helped create. This activity allows you to connect with local life and learn about the community's traditional cooking methods, directly supporting their economic well-being and preservation of Andean customs.

Tour the fascinating hilltop citadel of Pisac, an Incan ruin with plunging gorges, a ceremonial centre, and winding agriculture terracing that's still in use today. Be captivated by this truly amazing site sitting amid sweeping green valleys and mountain peaks. Explore the back of the site to see a pocketed cliff across Kitamayo Gorge, which once contained hundreds of Inca tombs.

Contribute to sustainable tourism in Huchuy Qosqo, a small village of 65 families in the Sacred Valley, by eating at the Parwa Community Restaurant. Learn how the resident-run restaurant was kickstarted by G Adventures and the Multilateral Investment Fund, to become a successful farm-to-table program that boosts the local economy and several spin-off microenterprises.

The thousand year-old tradition of Pachamanca involves baking an assortment of meat and vegetables in an oven of hot stones, earth, and grass. Meat is usually seasoned with local spices and wrapped in a banana leaf before it's placed on the hot stones and can include lamb, pork, chicken or guinea pig. Savour this traditional meal prepared by an experienced chef.

Option 1: Start the day with an acclimatization hike to Perilnilloq waterfall. Follow a meandering trail through the mountains to the gorgeous waterfall, and to the Inca ruins of Raqaypata that lie just beyond. Option 2: Get the adrenaline flowing and scale a via ferrata for epic views. Test your fear of heights as you climb the rungs and ladders and enjoy lunch with a view.

Enjoy free time back at the hotel this afternoon and evening before your group dinner.

Get your blood pumping on this first day of hiking the Inca trail. The trekking is fairly easy and serves as good training for the next few days. Pass rambling rivers and a small village, and enjoy scenic mountain views; it's just a taste of what's to come. Trek Distance: 9km Trek Duration: 5 hours Trek Elevation: 2700m - 2800m

Enjoy G Adventures-supported handmade biodegradable soap products, for use on our treks. This G Adventures for Good project empowered local Cusquena women to start their own business in order to reduce the environmental impact of treks in the region. Planeterra provided $10,000 of seed funding for two young entrepreneurs to register their biodegradable products in order to sell them to the tourism industry. "Esencia Andina" is now a successful business that produces biodegradable soaps, detergents, and natural products for travellers, guides, porters, and cooks on our treks.

Trek over progressively spectacular and steeper terrain on your way up the first portion of Warmiwanusca (aka Dead Woman's Pass). Be prepared to face strong Andean weather (blazing sun or cold winds) around the pass. Take the hike slow, and drink lots of water along the way - amazing views are waiting as a reward. Enjoy some ample time to rest and relax after reaching the camp; most campers arrive around early afternoon. Trek Distance: 10km Trek Duration: 6 hours Trek Elevation: 2800m - 3800m

Cross two passes and more ruins along the Inca Trail. Conquer Dead Woman's Pass, the highest point of the trek at 4,198m (13,769ft) then traverse Runquraway at 3,950m (13,113 ft). Spot the gorgeous Cordillera Vilcabamba and the Urubamba Valley in the distance on a clear day. In the evening relax at Phuyupatamarca Camp. Trek Distance: 14km Trek Duration: 9 hours Trek Elevation: 3800m - 3700m

After a leisurely morning at Phuyupatamarca, descend through the cloud forest arriving to the Sun Gate in the afternoon and see Machu Picchu for the first time. Wander down through the ruins with a bit more space as the site is generally less busy in the afternoon. Continue down to Aguas Calientes by bus for the evening. Trek Distance: 10km Trek Duration: 6 hours Trek Elevation: 2700m - 2400m

Climb aboard, grab a seat, and enjoy the ride.

Enjoy a free evening in Aguas Calientes before an included group dinner.

Climb aboard, grab a seat, and enjoy the ride.

Rise and shine - the best time to see the Lost City of the Incas is in the early morning light. Follow the local guide to Machu Picchu to learn about its history at a leisurely pace. Gain local insight into the Inti Mach'ay cave, Inti Watana, the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Water, the Temple of the Condor, and the Room of the Three Windows. Take time to sit and feel the energy of this 15th-century site, now both a UNESCO World Heritage site and voted one of the new Seven Wonders of the World (in a worldwide Internet poll). Transport to and from Aguas Calientes is provided with the tour.

Climb aboard, take a seat, and enjoy the ride.

Settle in and scan the scenery from the convenience of a private vehicle.

Enjoy a full free day in Cusco for optional activities in the area like the Rainbow Mountain hike or exploration on your own to the city's landmarks and museums, Opt to relax in cafes, shop, or people watch in the main square.

Option 1: Begin the day with a hike to Templo de la Luna and Inkilltambo Ruins with a picnic lunch. The hike is around 14km (9 miles) and typically takes 3.5 hours to complete. There will be around 632m of elevation gain on this hike. This Inca site with a quechua name has tombs, irrigation channels, ceremonial places, and Andean terraces used for both ceremonies and architecture. Option 2: Visit Koricancha in the heart of Cusco and learn about it's importance to the Inca Empire. From this landmark you will visit the San Pedro market to select ingredients for the cooking class which will take place before an included lunch of your creations.

Enjoy a free afternoon and evening in Cusco. Spend time exploring before getting dinner on your own at one of the many great restaurants in the city.

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... yup, it is a plane, actually.

Climb in and move swiftly through the water to the next stop.

Take advantage of free time this afternoon to relax and settle in to your lodge in the Amazon. Dinner will be served this evening in the cozy eating area.

Head out after dark by motorized canoe to search for caimans on the river banks. Enjoy a lesson on caimans from the expert guide. Take advantage of the keen eyes of the expert naturalist guides - they are truly spectacular at spotting these elusive smaller cousins of alligators hiding on the muddy banks.

Enjoy visits to oxbow lakes to learn about the jungle and its inhabitants. Be introduced to the area's rich flora and fauna by expert naturalist guides, who can teach extensive uses for medicinal and other forest plant resources through traditional techniques. Be prepared to go early morning or evening to avoid the heat of midday. Enjoy a leisurely pace - the trip requires some walking, but nothing too strenuous.

Spend time around the lodge or go further afield. Free time can be used to explore any way you want.

Climb in and move swiftly through the water to the next stop.

Take a van from the pier to pick up stored luggage before heading to the Puerto Maldonado airport. A private vehicle will be waiting to take the group to the Lima hotel.

Enjoy a delicious Peruvian meal next to an ancient adobe pyramid in the heart of Miraflores.

Not ready to leave? Your CEO can help with travel arrangements to extend your adventure.