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This program was designed to be ideal for those adventurous families that can bring their children to experience a fun-packed trip that could also be considered as educational one. The younger travellers will be able to bring back home things they could never have learned at school nor activities that could be experienced on a beach resort.
Staying with local families, enjoying homemade food, trying out rafting or horse-back riding, or a hiking on a local trail to some rarely visited Inka sites. Feeling like a real Indiana Jones!
In this 7-day action-packed journey we will offer you to gain an unforgettable experience that couldn’t possibly be dreamed up! Parents and children will gain the most from this with having a positive mind-set and open expectations, adapting to a change of lifestyle, moderate levels of fitness and some desire for the outdoors – although no camping is required as part of this trip!
The starting price of this tour is based on a family of 4 people program. If you are a group of 6 to 12 people, the price will go lower at the booking. Small child discounts are appilcable on some tickets but in a lot of cases chidlren over the age of 2 are considered as an adult.
Departing: Lima
Finish: Lima
First day 9:00 am departure.
Many families do not want the hassle of making arrangements when arriving to Peru once they have arrived from their international flights. Therefore we include the 1 hour 10 minute flight from Lima to Cusco but do note that if arriving to Lima later than 4-5pm there would need to be an extra night added to stay near the airport.
Once arriving to Cusco airport you would be met by a local represenative or guide and take local transport to the town of Pisac and the Sacred Valley located at 2970m/9735ft. On the way we can stop at a live museum to learn about Alpacas and Llmas – native farm animals to the Andes Mountain regions.
Once we arrive to the colorful town of Pisac we can explore on foot the colorful artisanal market and town square.
Or relax at the hotel which has full facilities including spa, sauna, pool, tennis, volley ball and soccer courts.
Note – We suggest this location first and Cusco later as your family will find the lower elevation a more comfortable start for the trip. Cusco is higher and located at 3350m/11000ft.
After breakfast in our hotel, we take a transfer up to the community in Amaru (Meaning ´snake´in the Quechua language), we are introduced to our local family and their children with a warm welcome and a demonstration by Elojodio of their traditional farming techniques and what type of agriculture they do, tools they use.
After a refreshment and hot drink, we then move on to a large nearby lake called Quimsacocha (4000m) very important for these communities. After some time navigating the lake and photos we can offer to start to another lake, Azulcocha (4100m) in 50 minutes with some uphill climbing to do. There could be the option to fish on the lake for trout at an extra cost.
There is also a third lake, Pumacocha – (possibly the most exotic, we would need to climb for 1 hour more so we leave as an option in case of stamina and altitude fatigue kicks in) – another 350 meters to a superb panoramic view of the area with Azulcocha below. We then return back down in 1 hour back to our village of Amaru where we stay for the night.
We leave after an early breakfast from Amaru at 8am. It will take us over 1 hour and 30 minutes to drive to Chinchero to either continue hiking, take the Quadbike trip, Parapente or Paddleboard.
Note: if people want to visit the Pisac ruins and hike down from the Terraces into town it will cost extra for the entry ticket ($21 USD) and they will need to leave at 7am instead of 8am.
Following this, we offer several options depending on the interests of the family
Option A – Quad bike tour with a visit the Salt terraces, afternoon Zip-lining, workshops, homestay
Option B – Paddle board, afternoon zip-lining workshops.
Option C – Hike Inka trail from Chincheros ruins into valley, hike Salt terraces, workshops, homestay.
Note – Hike on Inka trail or to Salt Terraces, and workshops are included in the tour
Paddle board, Zip-line and Quadbikes are an extra cost depending on numbers interested.
In the second half of the day (the afternoon) we go to our homestay in the community of Chichubamba. Tonight we stay with a local family who also will teach us how to roast coffee and make artisanal chocolate and make your own artisanal ceramics.
In the morning we can resume our trip and continue to Ollantaytambo a beautiful town built by the Inkas. On the way, we could offer to stop at a Chicha house – a local tavern where they make corn beer. Learning the process of the staple drink of the Peruvian AndesI
If you would like the opportunity to horse ride in the morning, then this can be arranged the evening before.
HIKING – For the hike, we would start around 1.30pm from the main square of Ollantaytambo town (total time 3-3.5 hours there and back, or you could do the hike instead of the morning activities and take longer.. Or alternatively you can just relax in town in the afternoon. Of course, if you or anyone in the family are too tired and prefer to give the hike a miss they can do so and just hang out at the lodge or in town.
After an early breakfast, we take our morning train ride (between 7 and 8am) to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu village) in 1 and a half hours. We travel through some beautiful locations and see how the diversity of the vegetation changes from Andes farmlands to sub-tropical cloud-forests.
Once arriving to the station we transfer directly to the bus departure pint and take a 25 minute bus shuttle up to the entrance of Machu Picchu sanctuary and commence the guided tour. Note that you may want to have snacks instead of spending time taking lunch in a restaurant or eat a late lunch when arriving back from the ruins.
After time to visit the most important parts of the main citadel you will then be free for either hiking back down to the village in 1 hour 15 minutes (450m descent) or take the 20 minute shuttle bus back again (not included – $12 USD per person).
Then you would ideally have some time to spend in the village either to visit the market or to get some lunch before heading back to the train station half an hour before departure time. The return train would be at some time between 2.30 and 3.30pm. After the ride back the way you came, there will be private transport awaiting you in Ollantaytambo station to bring you back to Cusco in another 1.5 hours. Once arriving to Cusco (between 6.15-7.30pm) we will ensure you transfer back to the hotel and have some information of the next day and your guide will explain everything necessary for the entire trip.
WELCOME TO CUSCO – CAPITAL CITY OF THE INKAS!
Today is a free day. People may wish to walk on foot at leisure or get some clothes washed at the laundry.
Optional tours not included: City tour, horse riding, temple of Sacsayhuaman, temple of Koricancha, Inka museum, museum of Pre-Colombian art, San Blas neighbourhood, San Pedro market. As well as many cafés, shops, restaurants and bars that offer almost any time of eating and drink.
If the family want to do activities such as a city tour or ruins by horse, we can offer this by request in the afternoon.
We leave today a ‘free’ day in case you want to either rest, or do some optional trips decided nearer the time.
In the early evening (around 5.30pm) there is an included trip to the Cusco Planetarium. Here we will learn and find out about the Inkas way of astrology and also insight to the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. The first hour will be more of a lecture and also a light projection show onto an indoor dome. This will be followed with the next hour star-gazing outside (depending on clouds).
After breakfast, you will go back to Cusco airport and take a flight to Lima depending on time agreed at time of booking, ideally to connect with your international flight home.
