Travel by train to Machu Picchu, one of South America’s most iconic sites.

Visit this remarkable site with a private guide and enjoy lunch at the famous Sanctuary Lodge before returning to your hotel in Aguas Calientes.

Return to Machu Picchu in the early morning to explore and discover the citadel on your own. You’ll also have the chance to hike to the top of Huayna Picchu, the mountain that towers above Machu Picchu. There is a lot to see in and around Machu Picchu.

After visiting the ruins, catch the afternoon train back to Cusco, where you’ll be dropped off at your hotel.

Get to know Cusco with your knowledgeable private guide, visiting the historical highlights of this fascinating city. Visit Sacsahuaman, the massive Incan fortress on the hills above the city, where you can enjoy views out over Cusco and the entire surrounding area. Afterward enjoy the afternoon to explore more of the city on your own.

Cusco is one of the highlights of a trip to Peru, an intriguing place built on the foundations of the former Incan capital. You can observe massive Incan walls along many of the streets of the city. The city has a vibrant atmosphere and many excellent restaurants.

Take a scenic drive to one of the premier wildlife viewing reserves in South America and one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Leaving Cusco in the morning, travel through traditional Quechua communities and the spectacular eastern ranges of the Andes to the village of Paucartambo, passing snow-peaks and small Andean farmsteads. Take some time to look around this picturesque village before beginning the ascent to the last pass overlooking the Amazon Basin.

Leaving Paucartambo, begin the breathtaking descent to the Manu Cloud Forest, passing cascading waterfalls and multicolored birds along the way. In the late afternoon you will arrive to your lodge, which is basic but very comfortable, a top option in the area and a great base for seeing the local wildlife, including the extremely rare Cock of the Rock bird.

Observe the strange and beautiful Cock-of-the-Rock birds in their mating display this morning at dawn. The bright red-orange males dance and sing to attract the burgundy-colored females. Return to the lodge for breakfast before setting off for the Madre de Dios River, where you board a motorized dugout and begin your journey down the river.

Pass settlements and native communities as you travel, including the native community of Diamante, the largest settlement of Amerindians in the area. Entering the clay-laden waters of the Manu River, stop at the park ranger station at Limonal to visit an overgrown oxbow lake where flocks of parrots and macaws come to roost. From there, continue along the river to the Manu Wildlife Centre Lodge, arriving in time for lunch. Spend the afternoon relaxing to the sounds of nature or exploring a trail through the forest to a lookout point over the river, where you can watch passing flights of parrots and macaws as the sun sets.

Explore the Manu biosphere and search out the incredible variety of wildlife it contains. Set out in the early morning for the Macaw Clay Lick, where hundreds of colorful parrots and macaws congregate to eat the mineral-rich clay that is essential to their digestion. Relax in a comfortable blind to get close to the birds and observe them as your own breakfast is served. When the action at the lick slows down midmorning, head back to the lodge for lunch and some time to relax. In the afternoon, those who wish can ascend the canopy tower for spectacular views out over the Cloud Forest. On the ground, you can explore quiet trails to look for primates, such as Emperor and Saddleback Tamarins. The rare Goeldi’s Monkey is also sometimes spotted in this area.

Explore the forest and trails around the lodge. Be on the lookout for Monk Saki, a rare monkey that is occasionally seen here. Discover an area where groups of Manakins, unique neotropical birds, perform their strange mating dances, and canoe around Cocha Blanco, an old ox-bow lake, in search of the giant otters that live there.

After a leisurely lunch at the lodge you can explore other trails and walk to a large mammal lick, where guans and forest parakeets and parrotlets come for clay. Black spider monkeys also visit on occasion for clay to help their digestion. Those who wish will return with the guide to the lodge in the late afternoon; however, there is an opportunity to stay at the lick after dark to see what nocturnal creatures come out. Tapirs, the largest South American land mammal, are frequent visitors. Observe them from the comfort of mosquito nets and mattresses within a specially-constructed blind.

Set out for your river journey back to the confluence of the Manu River and the Madre de Dios. Stop in the town of Boca Colorado, a frontier gold-mining town, from which a comfortable vehicle will take you to the jungle city of Puerto Maldonado to catch an early afternoon flight to Cusco. From there you will head to Lima, where you can connect with your international flight home or to your next destination.