This itinerary is subject to change.
October 8th - 18th, 2023
Evening: Flights arrive to Lima from USA
Transport to the hotel
Overnight in the Hotel Miraflores Colon
Flights from the USA typically arrive very late into Lima. The group will arrive and go directly to their hotel in the Miraflores District to get some sleep before their first busy day.
8-10am: Breakfast at hotel
10-12pm: Larco Herrera Museum
12-1pm: Lunch at the museum
1-3pm: Huaca Pucllana - a pyramid in downtown Lima
Evening: Free time
Overnight in the Hotel Miraflores Colon
After breakfast at the hotel, Dr. Koons will lead a tour of the Larco Herrera Museum, Peru's finest collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts. The museum's beautiful grounds include a gourmet restaurant where the group will have lunch. In the afternoon they'll explore the massive Huaca Pucllana complex, a set of 10th century pyramids still standing in the middle of Lima.
7-9am: Breakfast and hotel check out
9-10am: Transport to the airport
12-2pm: Flight to Cusco and transport to hotel
2-3pm: Lite lunch and rest
3-4pm: Walking tour of Inca walls
4-5pm: Lecture: Ancient Inca Civilization
Evening: Rest and acclimatize
Overnight at Hotel Ruinas
A noon flight will take the group up to Cusco at 11,500 ft asl. They'll take it slow that day and acclimatize to the altitude. A casual walking tour will show them the a few of the many remaining megalithic Inca walls. In the late afternoon Dr. Koons will present a lecture on the origins of the Inca civilization and how they grew to an empire of over 10 million people.
6-8am: Breakfast at hotel
8-12pm: Coricancha and Sascayhuaman
12-2pm: Lunch break
2-4pm: Churches of the Plaza de Armas
5-6pm: Lecture: Inca Khipu Writing
Evening: Free time
Overnight at Hotel Ruinas
The day will begin with tours of the major Inca temples still standing in Cusco. In the afternoon, they'll explore the massive cathedrals lining the Plaza de Armas.
6-7:30am: Breakfast and hotel check out
7:30-10am: Transport to Ollantaytambo
10-11am: Train to Aguas Calientes
11-2pm: Check in to Hotel Santuario Machupicchu and lunch
2-5pm: Tour of Machu Picchu
7-8pm: Dinner at Inca Wasi
Overnight at Hotel Santuario (in Aguas Calientes)
A morning bus will wind through the Sacred Valley for 2.5 hours and then a train will take the group on the final leg to the valley below Machu Picchu. After hotel check in and lunch, participants will take a bus up the mountainside to the site. Dr. Koons will give a complete tour of Machu Picchu explaining how and why it was built. That evening the group will enjoy dinner at restaurant Inca Wasi.
6-8am: Breakfast and bus up mountain
8-12pm: Climb Wayna Picchu (optional)
12-2pm: Lunch at ruinas cafeteria
2-5pm: Hike to the Sun Gate (optional)
Evening: Free time
Overnight in Hotel Santuario Machupicchu
The group will have the entire day to themselves to enjoy Machu Picchu. They can hike to the top of Wayna Picchu, the mountain that towers above the site, or to the Sun Gate, or just relax in a spot of their choosing. The day and evening is theirs to enjoy as they wish.
6-8am: Breakfast and hotel check out
9-10am: Train to Ollantaytambo
10-12pm: Tour of Ollantaytambo
1-2pm: Lunch in Urubamba
3-4pm: Awana Kancha - llamas and weaving
6pm: Return to Cusco
Overnight in Hotel Ruinas
A morning train will bring the group back into the Sacred Valley for the day. A bus will be waiting at the station to bring them to the ancient fortress of Ollantaytambo. Lunch will be a buffet at the Tunupa Restaurant along the Urubamba River. The last stop of the day before returning to Cusco will be Awana Kancha where participants can meet friendly llamas up close and learn about indigenous weaving traditions.
6-7am: Breakfast, check out, airport
9-10am: Flights back to Lima
10-12pm: Transport to Pachacamac
12-3pm: Lunch and tour at Pachacamac
3-7pm: Transport to Huacachina Oasis
Overnight at Hotel Mossone in the Huacachina Oasis
Early morning from Cusco, the group will fly back down to Lima. A bus will meet us at the airport and head south to the ancient pilgrimage site of Pachacamac. Participants will eat lunch there and tour the site's amazing pyramids. Then it's a long drive through amazing barren desert punctuated by fertile river valleys to the Huacachina Oasis to spend the night.
6-8am: Breakfast at the hotel
8-9am: Dune buggy rides from Huacachina
9-11am: Hotel check out and the Ica Museum
11-1pm: Lunch break in Ica
1-4pm: Transport to Parcas and Hotel Gran Palma
6-7pm: Lecture: The Nazca Lines
Overnight at Hotel Gran Palma in Paracas
Start the morning with a thrill - 10-person dune buggies will drive the group out across the hilly desert from the Oasis. Next on the schedule - the Ica Museum which holds dozens of the famous elongated skulls of the Paracas culture. That afternoon the group will arrive in Paracas, where Dr. Koons will deliver an evening lecture regarding the ancient Nazca civilization.
6-8am: Breakfast at the hotel
9 am - 1 pm: From Paracs airport, flight over Nazca Lines
Rest of the dat: Free time in Paracas
Overnight at Hotel Gran Palma in Paracas
Depending on the number of participants, we may need to book two seperate flights over the Nazca Lines, one after the other. The hotel close to the airport as well as local seaside attractions. These will be available to you while you wait for your flight and after your flight.
6-8am: Breakfast and hotel check out
Morning: Ballestas Islands Sightseeing boat ride from Paracas
9-12pm: Transport to Ica
12-2pm: Lunch at a Pisco Winery
2-7pm: Transport back to Lima
7pm: Drop off to Lima airport for late flights
End of Tour
Journey by boat from Paracas for a 2-hour trip to Peru's unspoiled Ballestas Islands, a marine sanctuary to view penguins, sea birds and other marine life. The group will make their way back to Lima, stopping at archaeological sites and a Pisco winery in Ica for lunch. Most flights back to the USA from Lima leave around midnight, so an arrival to the Lima airport around 7 pm is plenty of time to check in, have dinner and wait for the overnight flights home.
The Archaeology Channel Tours: Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines
An educational tour designed and organized by Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) and guided by Dr. Michele Koons of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
This 10-day tour will lead you through historic Peru to see the remnants of ancient Andean civilizations such as the Inca, Nazca and Paracas. You will spend the days exploring and the nights resting in four-star hotels across Peru.
The tour begins in Lima, with a visit to the Larco Herrera Museum, which holds Peru's most impressive collection of Pre-Columbian art; and to Huaca Pucllana, an adobe pyramid in the Miraflores District.
From there, you will fly up to Cusco to explore ancient Inca sites, such as Coricancha and Sascayhuaman. Dr. Koons will lecture on the Inca tradition of Khipu (Quipu) writing and record-keeping, a mystery that has stymied archaeologists for decades. From there, it's off to Machu Picchu to spend two days at the ancient citadel. You'll also tour the Sacred Valley of the Incas, including the palace of an Inca emperor and a farm where you'll learn about indigenous weaving techniques and pet some friendly llamas. Leaving the Incas behind, you'll visit the pyramids and temples at pre-Inca administrative and religious site of Pachacamac and spend the night in the Huacachina Oasis, with its lagoon surrounded by sand dunes. You'll ride dune buggies over the dunes!
Next, we drive to the coast to Paracas, from which you'll have the unique experience of flying over the famous Nazca Lines. Finally, we journey by boat from Paracas for a 2-hour trip to Peru's unspoiled Ballestas Islands, a marine sanctuary to view penguins, sea birds and other marine life. From the boat you will see the Paracas Candelabra, an ancient geoglyph on the side of a mountain, about the same age as the Nazca Lines. The tour will end with lunch at a winery and then transport us back to Lima and flights home.
Total Price: $4000-4900, depending on number of participants. Single-supplement fee: $550.
Registration fee: $1400 to ALI by registration deadline of July 8, 2023.This amount is included in the total price above. Taking reservations now!
Costs not included: Air fare to Lima, transportation between the hotel and the Lima airport, and gratuities for service providers (guides, waiters, drivers, maids, etc.)
What is included: All lodging, all meals until the last evening, private ground transportation, dune buggy ride, flight between Lima and Cusco, flight over the Nazca Lines, sightseeing boat ride, all entry fees, archaeologist tour leader (Dr. Richard Pettigrew), archaeologist tour guide (Dr. Michele Koons), evening lectures, and local guides.
Date: October 8 - 18, 2023
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