Peruvian Amazon & Machu Picchu: 9 Days Rainforest to Lost City

Tour Overview

Itinerary Highlights

Day 1: Arrive Lima — The City of Kings

Touch down at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima. Peru is a country of staggering geographic and cultural diversity — from the Pacific desert coast through the Andes at 4,000m+ to the Amazon basin, home to 84 of the world’s 104 life zones. Transfer to your hotel in Miraflores, Lima’s upscale coastal district perched on cliffs above the Pacific. Evening: walk the Malecon clifftop path as paragliders float on the coastal updrafts. Welcome dinner at a cevicheria — Peru’s national dish of fresh fish “cooked” in citrus, served with sweet potato, choclo (giant corn), and aji (chili). Overnight in Lima.

Day 2: Lima to Puerto Maldonado — Into the Amazon

Morning flight from Lima to Puerto Maldonado (1.5 hours), the gateway to the southern Peruvian Amazon. The transition is dramatic — from coastal desert to endless green canopy in 90 minutes. From the airport, transfer by motorized canoe up the Madre de Dios River (1 hour). The river is chocolate-colored from Andean sediments, and along its banks you may spot capybaras (the world’s largest rodent, up to 65kg), caimans sunning on sandbanks, and macaws flying overhead in pairs. Arrive at your eco-lodge deep in the Tambopata National Reserve — a 274,690-hectare protected area that holds world records for biodiversity: over 600 bird species, 1,200 butterfly species, and 200 mammal species. Afternoon: introductory walk on the lodge’s trail network. The rainforest sounds are overwhelming — howler monkeys roaring in the distance (their calls carry 5km), toucans croaking, and the constant hum of insects. Evening: night walk to observe nocturnal creatures — tarantulas, tree frogs, and the glowing eyes of caiman reflected in the beam of your flashlight. Overnight in Amazon lodge.

Day 3: Sandoval Lake — Giant Otters & Black Caimans

Full day at Lake Sandoval, the crown jewel of the Tambopata Reserve. Morning: 3km walk from the Madre de Dios River through primary rainforest to the lake. The trail passes through palm swamps — watch for saddleback tamarins and squirrel monkeys in the canopy. At the lake, paddle wooden canoes across the mirror-calm water. Sandoval is famous for its resident family of giant river otters (Pteronura brasiliensis, up to 1.8m long) — these endangered predators hunt fish cooperatively and are incredibly charismatic to watch as they surface, eat, and play. The lake margins are patrolled by black caimans (up to 4m) and spectacled caimans. Hoatzins, prehistoric-looking birds with claws on their wings as chicks, clamber through the overhanging branches. Afternoon: fish for piranhas (catch and release) — the red-bellied piranha is far less dangerous than its reputation suggests. Return to the lodge at sunset. After dark: caiman spotting by flashlight — their eyes glow orange-red in the beam. Overnight in Amazon lodge.

Day 4: Canopy Walkway & Macaw Clay Lick

Pre-dawn departure (4:30 AM) to the Tambopata clay lick. This is one of the Amazon’s greatest wildlife spectacles: as the sun rises, hundreds of parrots and macaws — red-and-green macaws, scarlet macaws, blue-and-gold macaws, chestnut-fronted macaws, and various parrot species — descend on the exposed riverbank to eat clay. The clay detoxifies the seeds and fruits in their diet. The noise, color, and chaos of hundreds of large, brilliantly colored birds squabbling on a clay wall 50m wide is unforgettable. Return to the lodge for breakfast. Late morning: visit the canopy walkway — a series of suspension bridges 30m above the forest floor. The canopy is where an estimated 90% of rainforest species live. At this height, you’re in the world of toucans, howler monkeys, and three-toed sloths. Afternoon: ethnobotanical walk with a local guide, identifying medicinal plants (cat’s claw for inflammation, dragon’s blood sap for wound healing, quina for malaria). Evening: farewell dinner at the lodge. Overnight in Amazon lodge.

Day 5: Amazon to Cusco — The Navel of the Incan World

Morning departure from the lodge, canoe back to Puerto Maldonado, and fly to Cusco (3,400m). The descent from Amazon heat to Andean altitude is a shock — coca tea (mate de coca) is served on arrival to help with altitude adjustment. Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire — in Quechua, Qosqo means “navel of the world.” The city is built on foundations of precisely cut Inca stonework, with Spanish colonial architecture layered on top. Afternoon: gentle orientation walk through the Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral (built 1559-1654, using stones from the Inca palace of Viracocha), and the Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun) — once covered in 700 sheets of gold, now the foundation of the Santo Domingo church. Overnight in Cusco.

Day 6: Sacred Valley — Pisac, Ollantaytambo & Moray

Full day in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, the fertile Urubamba River valley that was the breadbasket of the empire. Morning: Pisac, with its famous Sunday market and hillside Inca ruins featuring the largest known Inca cemetery (over 3,000 tombs in the cliff face). Afternoon: Moray, a mysterious Inca agricultural laboratory — concentric circular terraces descending 30m, with a temperature difference of up to 15°C between top and bottom, used to experiment with crops at different microclimates. Continue to the Maras salt mines — over 4,000 salt pans cascading down a hillside in geometric patterns, fed by a hypersaline spring that has been harvested since pre-Inca times. Overnight in the Sacred Valley (lower altitude than Cusco, better for acclimatization).

Day 7: Machu Picchu — Lost City of the Incas

Early morning train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (1.5 hours), following the Urubamba River through a narrowing gorge of cloud forest. From Aguas Calientes, a 25-minute bus ride up the switchback Hiram Bingham Highway to Machu Picchu’s entrance. Machu Picchu was built around 1450 at the height of the Inca Empire, abandoned a century later during the Spanish Conquest, and never found by the conquistadors — it was revealed to the outside world by Hiram Bingham in 1911. The site is a marvel of engineering: 200+ buildings terraced into a ridge between two peaks (Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu), with astronomical alignments, sophisticated water management, and stonework so precise that a razor blade cannot fit between the joints — all without iron tools, wheels, or mortar. Guided tour (2 hours) covering the Temple of the Sun, the Intihuatana (Hitching Post of the Sun, one of the few not destroyed by the Spanish), the Temple of the Three Windows, and the Royal Tomb. Afternoon: free time to explore independently — optional climb to the Sun Gate (Inti Punku, the Inca Trail entrance) or Huayna Picchu (booked separately). Return train to Cusco. Overnight in Cusco.

Day 8: Cusco — Sacsayhuaman & San Pedro Market

Morning visit to Sacsayhuaman, the colossal Inca fortress on the hill above Cusco — its megalithic walls contain stones weighing up to 125 tons, fitted together with the same precise joinery as Machu Picchu. The scale is mind-boggling: how the Incas transported and positioned these stones remains debated. The main rampart walls are zigzag-shaped, said to represent the teeth of a puma (Cusco was designed in the shape of a puma). Afternoon: explore the San Pedro Market — a sensory overload of Andean produce, from hundreds of potato varieties (Peru has over 4,000) to unfamiliar fruits (lucuma, cherimoya, aguaymanto). Visit the barrio of San Blas, the artisan quarter of narrow cobbled streets and workshops. Farewell dinner at a restaurant serving Novo Andino cuisine — modern interpretations of ancient Andean ingredients. Overnight in Cusco.

Day 9: Depart Cusco

Morning at leisure for last exploration — perhaps the Pre-Columbian Art Museum or the Inca Museum. Transfer to Cusco Airport for your connecting flight via Lima.

Inclusions

• 8 nights (1 Lima + 3 Amazon lodge + 3 Cusco + 1 Sacred Valley) with breakfast
• Internal flights: Lima-Puerto Maldonado-Cusco
• Tambopata Reserve 3-night all-inclusive (meals, activities, naturalist guide)
• Lake Sandoval + canopy walkway + macaw clay lick excursions
• Sacred Valley full-day tour (Pisac, Moray, Maras, Ollantaytambo)
• Machu Picchu: train, bus, entrance, 2-hour guided tour
• Sacsayhuaman + Qorikancha + Cusco city tour
• 8 dinners + all meals in Amazon
• Private vehicle + English-speaking specialist guides