10 Days Quito, Galapagos Islands, Lima – Cuzco, Machu Picchu
Day 1 - Arrive Quito
Arrive in Quito. You are welcomed at the airport and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure.
Day 2 - Quito / Baltra – Galapagos Islands Cruise (Monday-Thursday)
You will be assisted and transfered to the airport for your flight to Baltra. Upon arrival, transfer to the pier to board the cruise. (BD)
Enjoy a 4-days/3 nights cruise on board M/V Galapagos Legend. ITINERARY: Subject to change due to climatic conditions or National Park regulations
Day 3 - Dragon Hill – Venice, Santa Cruz Island / Cormorant Point, Floreana Island (BLD)
Day 4 - Suárez Point, Española Island / Breeding Center or La Galapaguera, San Cristóbal Island (BLD)
Day 5 - North Seymour Island / Baltra airport
The Galapagos Islands /Quito (Thursday)
Arrive in Baltra this morning. Transfer to the airport for your flight back to mainland Ecuador. Upon arrival in Quito, transfer to your hotel. This afternoon tour offers the best of Quito, with its rich cultural legacy, ornate façades and dazzling gilt altars. Visit Independence Square, the Archbishop’s Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral as well as other very representative samples of colonial art and architecture. Continue to visit and relive the history of Ecuador’s most ancient cultures in one of the finest archaeological and gold artifact collections in the Americas. There are over 1,800 pieces, beautifully arranged in chronological corridors with explanatory panels and dioramas. This afternoon, drive a few miles north of town and visit the famous Equatorial Monument, marked by geographers as latitude 000’00”. You will have the opportunity to straddle the two hemispheres at the same time. (BLD)
Day 6 - Quito (Friday)- Lima- City tour: Colonial and contemporary tour
Morning transfer to the airport for your flight into Lima, Peru. You are welcomed and transferred to the hotel. Afternoon, embark on your tour of Lima. Your local expert focuses on the city’s colonial heritage during a walking tour. Start at the Plaza de Armas to see the Government Palace and visit the Cathedral, where the skeleton of Francisco Pizarro is sealed in a wooden coffin. From there, stroll to the venerable San Francisco Monastery, with its splendid 17th-century cloister murals. Next, stop at Lima’s famous Herrera Museum. This evening, enjoy a welcome dinner at a La Rosa Nautica Restaurant. (BD)
Day 7 - Lima / Cuzco / Sacsayhuaman
Fly to the oldest inhabited city in the Western Hemisphere: Cuzco. Today, visit several ruins, including Kenko and Tambomachay. Journey to the “Valley of the Incas” to the Sacsayhuaman Fortress. Later, see the hillside fort and Puca Pucara, which most likely served as a lookout post and stopping point between Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. (B)
Day 8 - Sacred Valley / Machu Picchu
Travel aboard the Vistadome train from Cuzco to the archeological wonder of Machu Picchu, built in the late 14th century. Machu Picchu was obviously a well-planned and carefully built city, made up of two clearly different sectors, one agricultural and the other urban. With mountains to one side and a river roaring far below, this solemn fortress is a fascinating remnant of a once-bustling city that was mysteriously abandoned after the middle of the 16th century. Secreted amidst dense jungle vegetation and steep hills, Machu Picchu remained undiscovered by the modern world until 1911. Learn about the many legends and strange truths of these ancient ruins from your local guide. (B)
Day 9 - Machu Picchu / Cuzco
As the sunrises over the mountains, watch the morning mist disappear once again to reveal the awe-inspiring city of Machu Picchu, probably the most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire. Return to Cuzco aboard the “Inca Train.” Sip a cup of tea and enjoy panoramic views as the beautiful greenery of the Urubamba Valley rolls by. (BL)
Day 10 - Cuzco / Lima / Home
Fly back to Lima this afternoon and connect to your flight for back home. (B)
