Duration: 12 days/11 nights
Extensions: Our Peru and Bolivia Tour combines well with many amazing extensions. This includes the Nazca Lines, Inca Trail and Rainbow Mountain hike within Peru. Extensions to San Pedro de Atacama, Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls are excellent international additions.
Our adventurous Peru and Bolivia Tour features what many consider the highlights of each country. This includes charming Cusco and enigmatic Machu Picchu, the beautiful Sacred Valley, serene Lake Titicaca, and the astounding Salar de Uyuni (Uyuni Salt Flats).
As with all our carefully-designed tours, Ayni brings inspiring local touches to the most famous spots by prioritizing people and culture, working with local communities, and featuring innovative activities.
Our itinerary can be completely personalized to match your interests, schedule, and travel preferences. Please contact us for custom itineraries, quotes and questions. We look forward to hearing from you!
Fly to historic Cusco, former center of the Inca Empire. Spend the afternoon wandering cobblestone streets, local markets, and learning about Cusco’s incredible history.
Traverse the beautiful Sacred Valley, stopping at interesting Inca ruins, an artisan market and cascading salt ponds. Enjoy a traditional lunch with a local family, for insight into local culture. After a filling breakfast, begin in the town of Maras, which you’ll pass through before arriving at the town’s still-in-use salt pans. The clusters of evaporation pools that cover the hillside are still harvested by locals using ancient techniques developed over centuries.
From there, continue to the ancient agricultural site of Moray. Experts today believe these terraced amphitheaters built into natural depressions served as a farming laboratory, with the varying temperatures and soils in different terraces providing growing environments.
After a filling traditional lunch with a local family, continue to Ollantaytambo, one of the few remaining places in the Sacred Valley that retains its original Inca layout. Walk through the maze-like streets which come complete with Inca-era canals and view the ancient houses still in use today. With your guide, climb past the agricultural terraces toward the Temple of Sun, where you can enjoy panoramic views of the valley. Overnight Sacred Valley.
After breakfast, depart with your guide up a winding dirt road. As the road ascends, enjoy gorgeous views of the Patacancha Valley and Sacred Valley below. We’ll be met by a group of locals for a truly unique experience: a llama blessing ceremony, followed by a delicious pachamanca feast. The purpose of the ceremony is to ask for the protection and health of the community’s llamas, which are gathered in a large group for the ceremony. After singing and dancing, we’ll enjoy a traditional Pachamanca lunch with community members.
Next, we’ll return to Ollanytaytambo for an incredibly scenic train ride to Aguas Calientes, the town located at he base of Machu Picchu. You’ll have the evening free to rest up and prepare for Machu Picchu early the following morning.
Today you’ll explore Machu Picchu with your private guide! Visit famous highlights, plus lesser-known spots. After an in-depth tour of the ruins, climb Huayna Picchu or visit the Inca Bridge (optional; entries are limited). You’re sure to reach for your camera to try and capture the vista, but be sure to take a moment to fully absorb this incredible site. Return to Aguas Calientes for a late lunch, before heading back by return train to Ollantaytambo. From Ollantaytambo, private transfer to your Cusco hotel.
This morning, set out across the starkly beautiful Peruvian altiplano. Along the way, enjoy stops at a breathtaking colonial church, Raqchi archeological site and Pucara, home to the charming Toros de Pucara produced by local artisans.
Travel by boat over stunningly blue Lake Titicaca to experience indigenous culture in secluded areas of the lakes famed islands. Today includes stops at a remote area of the Uros reed islands, UNESCO World Heritage site Taquile Island, and the Capachica peninsula. Please ask your consultant about optional kayaking and homestays on the lake!
After a filling breakfast, transfer to the Bolivian border. Cross into beautiful Bolivia, then continue to Copacabana for a visit to Isla del Sol (Sun Island). This fascinating island is considered one of the most important religious sites in South America. According to Inca religion, it is the birthplace of the sun god Inti. Inti was the Inca’s principal god, and founder of the Inca bloodline. Isla del Sol is home to over 80 Inca and pre-Inca ruins, some of which you’ll learn about with your private guide. After enjoying lunch in Copacabana, continue to fascinating La Paz. Early evening arrival at your cozy La Paz hotel.
Get to know Bolivia’s one-of-a-kind capital on a walking adventure that includes descending dynamic El Alto, handicraft shopping in La Paz’s intricate marketplaces, and taking in beautiful murals in the city center. After exploring the city, head to Valle de las Animas. Filled with clusters of towering stone formations and deep crevasses, “Valley of the Souls” is a fitting name for the area. From there, return to La Paz to rest and prepare for the Uyuni Salt Flats the following morning!
This morning, depart La Paz for awe-inspiring Uyuni. The largest salt flat on Earth, Salar de Uyuni affords visitors with stunning scenery unmatched anywhere else in the world. Covering 12,000 square kilometers (4,633 square miles) of Bolivian Altiplano, the vast salt flats are an awe-inspiring natural phenomenon and extremely photogenic at any time of year. In the dry season, surreal pentagons of crystalline salt form, while in rainy season the salt flats see a layer of water develop which acts as a natural mirror, reflecting the sky for a fantastic, other-worldly visual display.
Today, you’ll travel across the shimmering white salt flats to cactus-covered Incahuasi Island. In the dry season you’ll observe natural springs along the way, and can reach Incahuasi Island, famous for its giant cacti. A short walk here offers incredible views of the salt flats.
During wet season, thanks to the layer of water covering the crystalline salt, you cannot drive across the salt flats. However, its possible to enjoy the spectacular mirror-like sight and photography opportunities produced by standing water. Your exact route will be adapted to the weather conditions and season at the time of your visit. At the end of the day, take in sunset over the salt flats.
Spend the day exploring Eduardo Avaroa Reserve, home to endless blue skies, brilliantly-colored lakes, volcanoes, lunar landscapes, roaming vicuñas, flamingoes and more.
After breakfast, you’ll continue south with your private vehicle and guide, towards the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve. Today we visit Laguna Colorada which displays different hues of red. The lake is a migratory home for three types of South American flamingoes. Continue to the Sol de Mañana Geysers, with intensely active fumaroles and volcanic craters filling with boiling lava. Afterwards, head to the Chalviri Lagoon, where you have the opportunity the take a dip in the natural hot springs.
Begin the day bathing in gorgeous thermal pools. Next, continue to Laguna Blanca then the Laguna Verde which looks like a liquid emerald, varying between shades of turquoise and green. From there, we’ll bid farewell to Uyuni and head back to La Paz. Along the way you’ll stop for a box lunch, and have many opportunities to enjoy and photograph the stunning scenery. Evening arrival at your La Paz hotel.
Morning flight home, or on to your next destination!
South America is full of culture, beauty, and excitement, and no countries exemplify these characteristics quite like Peru and Bolivia. For this reason, our Peru and Bolivia Tour features famous highlights of each country, along with off the beaten path gems. Begin with Peru, visiting charming Cusco, the endlessly beautiful Sacred Valley, and the great Wonder of the Moden World, Machu Picchu. Next, continue to serene Lake Titicaca before crossing the Bolivian border to explore the incredible Uyuni Salt Flats. Along the way, Ayni Peru brings unique local touches to famous spots, prioritizing people and culture, and working with local communities to deliver innovative activities. On this unique and memorable tour, Ayni Peru will take you on a true South American adventure!
From Lima, we continue to historic Cusco, the former center of the vast and powerful Inca Empire. Everywhere you go in Cusco, you will see (and hear!) the remnants of the Incas. This not only includes fine stone constructions and fascinating archaeological sites, but also locals chatting in Quechua, the Inca language still spoken by many Peruvians today. While in Cusco, you´ll wander narrow, cobblestone streets, tour nearby ruins, explore local markets, and learn about the region´s incredible history.
Next, depart with your guide for the breathtakingly beautiful Sacred Valley. Our activities in the Sacred Valley include visits to traditional towns, admiring the stunning Maras salt mines, and exploring the incredible Inca fortress above Ollantaytambo. In keeping with Ayni´s commitment to genuine interaction with locals, we´ll break to share a delicious traditional lunch with a Sacred Valley family. We encourage you to take a break, chat with your hosts, and experience daily life in the Peruvian Andes.
From there, our next stop will be the long-awaited trip to Machu Picchu. After an incredibly scenic train ride and overnight below the ruins, Begin the day early at Machu Picchu. As you ascend the stone steps, you will catch your first glimpse of “The City in the Sky” as the early morning fog lifts and the clouds part, revealing the majestic ruins below. Your private guide will lead you around the Temple of the Three Windows, the Main Temple, the Intihuatana stone, and much more, learning about their significance all along the way. For an extra adventure, you can climb either Huayna Picchu Mountain or Machu Picchu Mountain for incredible views of the ruins, surrounding mountains, and the Urubamba River rushing below from high above the clouds (additional entry required & based on availability).
Continue to beautiful and serene Lake Titicaca, to experience the local indigenous culture on secluded areas of the lake’s famous islands. Here, you will leave the well-trod tourist path to visit a remote area of the Uros islands, the UNESCO World Heritage site Taquile, and the Capachica peninsula.
After relaxing at the lake, you will cross the border into Bolivia as you travel to La Paz, where you will experience the city’s rich artistic culture, visiting the many murals and urban art pieces spread throughout the city. You will see a meeting of the old and new worlds, as you observe the deep-rooted culture and tradition, as well as the city’s modern features, like the cable car system.
On the final leg of your journey, you will jet off to the breathtaking Uyuni salt flats. Covering 12,000 square kilometers (4,633 square miles) of the Bolivian altiplano, the salt flats are an inspiring natural phenomenon. You will spend three days exploring the surreal landscape, visiting colorful lagoons, salt water springs, a series of bizarre stone formations sculpted by the wind, and the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve, home to vicunas, flamingoes, and more.
From here, your Peru and Bolivia adventure will come to an end. Say goodbye to Bolivia and catch your international flight home, or continue to your next destination!
“Great trip to Peru and Bolivia-We booked the 12-day grand tour from Ayni Peru. This included tours in Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Titicaca Lake, La Pas and Uyuni Salt flat. Ayni did a great job from beginning to the end of our trip.”
“For the entire 12-day tour, we were greeted with exceptional tour guides who were always on time, had a day full of adventure waiting for us, and were incredibly knowledgeable about the various places that we visited throughout.”
“I cannot recommend Ayni Peru enough. Domingo, one of the owners, was our guide and emanates such passion for the country of Peru and the culture of the people . . .It is his mission to give you an experience that other tour companies don’t, and he definitely delivered that.”
“Everything was simply perfect – the tours, the transport, and the accommodations Ayni selected for us. If you want to have a great time exploring Peru, place your trust in Ayni to book everything and provide you with a unique and authentic experience!”
“We had private transportation to Lake Titicaca, which I was so happy we chose over a train trip. The scenery was beautiful, we stopped in little towns and catacombs along the way (a little scary, but also fascinating). Uyuni was probably the highlight of the trip for me, as the natural scenery was unbelivable. Pictures do not do it justice. Flamingos, huge blue skies, coloured lakes, and the amazing salt flats.”
