Signature: Peru from Machu Picchu to the Amazon Jungle

Welcome to Peru. Your expedition begins in Lima, where the desert crashes into the Pacific. Upon arrival, transfer to your hotel in Miraflores, a district perched on cliffs above the ocean. The air here carries the scent of salt and the hum of the city. If you arrive early, stroll the promenade of the malecón to watch the sunset turn the cliffs gold, browse the shopping complex overlooking the sea, or sample fresh ceviche at a local restaurant before settling in for the night.

Included Experiences

• Arrival Transfer: You will be met at the airport and transferred to the hotel to start your adventure.
• Arrival Day: The adventure begins tomorrow. Feel free to explore on your own before your welcome meeting on the morning of day two. Check for the meeting time in the welcome note at the hotel.

Meet your National Geographic Expedition Leader and Expedition Expert for a welcome briefing before visiting the Museo Larco. Here, you will be led by a museum curator on a private tour of an impressive collection of pre-Colombian ceramics and art. Spanning 5,000 years of history in a beautiful 18th-century mansion, this visit offers a fascinating gateway into ancient Peru and its diverse cultures. After lunch, enjoy a scenic drive past a pre-Columbian adobe pyramid and along the cliffside to Love Park. In Bohemian Barranco, cross the Bridge of Sighs to the private home of the artist Víctor Delfín, for an intimate tour of his gallery and workshop. Cap the day at a culinary studio, where the scent of lime and chili fills the air as you learn to craft causa and pisco sours before a Peruvian feast.

Included Experiences

• Meet Your Expedition Leader and Group: Your opportunity to meet your Expedition Leader and fellow travellers, and learn more about your tour. Don't forget to see the notice in the lobby (or ask reception) for the official time and place to meet up with the group this morning.
• Museo Larco Tour Led by a Curator: Receive a private tour of the mansion-turned-museum, which showcases more than 5,000 years of Peruvian art. The museum's curators are young professionals from diverse disciplines who share a deep passion for ancient Peru and have been trained in heritage mediation and interpretation, enabling them to translate their academic knowledge into an accessible, engaging, and meaningful experience. Prepare to be inspired, moved, and an experience an authentic connection with ancient Peru. Your curator will highlight the fascinating connection the ancient Peruvians had with the forces of nature.
• Private Casa Taller Víctor Delfin Visit & Reception: Immerse yourself in the world of Peruvian artist, Víctor Delfín, with a private tour of his magical exhibition. The tour includes large-format sculptures of horses and huerequeques (a local bird). You will also see Víctor Delfín's actual working studio. His art transmits a unique personality influenced by pre-Hispanic cultures and diverse ethnic material. He uses various materials like iron, bronze, wood, scrap metal, and ceramics. Meet with the artist himself in an intimate setting.
• Cooking Demonstration Welcome Dinner: Learn to prepare your own causa ccevichada and enjoy the classic flavours of Peru during this gastronomic experience and demonstration. You will learn the secrets behind this classic Peruvian dish, as well as dine on delicious lomo saltado accompanied by a pisco sour.

Fly over the Andes to Cusco and head to the historic centre for a family-style lunch. Drive through the countryside towards the Sacred Valley and visit the Ccaccaccollo weaving cooperative. Here, meet a National Geographic Explorer and the indigenous women of the community who use traditional techniques to create their textiles. Watch as they hand-shear alpaca wool and dye it with native plants, transforming raw fiber into vibrant geometric patterns on backstrap looms. This intimate encounter connects you to the living culture of the Andes. Descend into the valley to your riverside lodge, settling in as the mountains turn purple in the twilight.

Included Experiences

• Plane: Board a short domestic flight for a comfortable and scenic journey to the next leg of your expedition.
• Women's Weaving Co-Op Textile Experience: The Ccaccaccollo Community is a small, traditional Quechua village in the Andean highlands, near the Sacred Valley. It is primarily known for the Women's Weaving Co-operative, a highly successful community-based tourism initiative. The women of Ccaccaccollo preserve and practice ancestral Incan textile traditions. Witness the entire process: from hand-shearing alpaca wool, using native plants and insects for natural dyes, to the intricate spinning and weaving on traditional backstrap looms. This project empowers the women economically, sustains their cultural heritage, and provides vital income for their families.

Travel to the Cuyo Chico community and join local hosts in baking empanadas, smelling the woodsmoke from traditional outdoor ovens. Continue to the archaeological site of Pisaq, where massive Inca terraces carve patterns into the hillsides. Next, enjoy lunch at a family-run hacienda, hearing from the owners about the vital role of corn in Andean agriculture. Finish the day at the studio of ceramicist Pablo Seminario in Urubamba. Tour the workshop to see how pre-Columbian motifs inspire modern art, and meet the artists keeping this tradition alive before returning to the lodge.

Included Experiences

• Cuyo Chico Visit: In the rural village of Cuyo Chico in the Sacred Valley, a group of families joined together to create a small business based on their traditional adobe ceramic crafts. Visit this community learn about the ceramics process and partake in an empanada making demonstration. Learn to make Peruvian-style empanadas from scratch using local ingredients. The experience typically involves a hands-on session preparing the dough and filling, cooking the empanadas in a traditional outdoor oven (horno), and enjoying the meal you helped create. This activity allows you to connect with local life and learn about the community's traditional cooking methods, directly supporting their economic well-being and preservation of Andean customs.
• Pisac Ruins Guided Tour: Tour the fascinating hilltop citadel of Pisac, an Incan ruin with plunging gorges, a ceremonial centre, and winding agriculture terracing that's still in use today. Be captivated by this truly amazing site sitting amid sweeping green valleys and mountain peaks. Explore the back of the site to see a pocketed cliff across Kitamayo Gorge, which once contained hundreds of Inca tombs.
• Farm-to-Table Lunch and Corn Lecture: Enjoy a delicious farm-to-table lunch at Hacienda Sarampampa, where three generations have kept the traditions of giant white corn farming alive.
• Cerámicas Seminario: Visit Pablo Seminario's ceramic workshop in Urubamba and learn about ceramic-making that embodies the local spirit and is a tribute to generations past.

Tour the impressive archaeological site of Ollantaytambo then walk the stone streets of town, one of the last Inca settlements still laid out in its original form. After lunch, board a scenic train that winds along the Urubamba River. Watch the landscape shift from dry, rocky peaks to the lush, green canopy of the cloud forest as you approach Aguas Calientes. Settle into your lodge, where your Expedition Leader may offer an optional nature walk to spot orchids and hummingbirds. In the evening, gather for an expert talk on the history and conservation of Machu Picchu, preparing for tomorrow’s ascent.

Included Experiences

• Train: Climb aboard, take a seat, and enjoy the ride.
• Ollantaytambo Ruins Visit: Explore this ancient site right in the heart of Ollantaytambo city. Learn about the principles of Incan architecture and get a first taste of climbing around a massive ruins site.
• Transport: Settle in and scan the scenery as you journey to your next destination.
• Machu Picchu Expert-led Lecture: Learn about the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu from an expert before your adventure to gaze upon them with your own eyes tomorrow.

Rise early to catch the bus up the winding road to Machu Picchu. Enter the Lost City of the Incas as the morning mist lifts, revealing the emerald terraces and stone temples against the dramatic backdrop of Huayna Picchu and the surrounding peaks. Explore the marvels of this UNESCO World Heritage site with your guide, learning about its rediscovery by Hiram Bingham on a National Geographic-supported expedition. Return to Aguas Calientes for lunch before boarding the train back to the Sacred Valley, reflecting on the day as the river rushes by.

Included Experiences

• Train: Climb aboard, take a seat, and enjoy the ride.
• Local Bus: Climb aboard, grab a seat, and enjoy the ride.
• Machu Picchu Guided Tour: Set off with the local guide to explore Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. Learn about the history and gain insights into this massive mountaintop citadel while wandering through ancient dwellings, stone temples and along sculpted terraces. Feel the energy of this 15th-century site, now both a UNESCO World Heritage site and voted one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide internet poll.

Ascend to the Maras salt pans, a dazzling patchwork of white pools carved into the mountainside. Continue to the agricultural terraces of Moray, deep circular depressions thought to be used by the Incas to experiment with crops. After a traditional lunch, drive to Cusco. Join your Expedition Leader for an orientation walk through the historic cobblestone streets built on Inca foundations. In the evening, enjoy dinner at a local restaurant, highlighting Peru’s agricultural heritage with a tasting featuring some of the region's 4,000 native potato varieties.

Included Experiences

• Cusco Orientation Walk: Set off on foot from the hotel with your Expedition Leader to get your bearings of Cusco. Head to the main plaza for essential things like ATMs and money changers, marvelling at the surrounding colonial architecture and Inca stonework. Pass by the many shops, restaurants and cafes and start to feel the energy of this incredible city.
• Nuna Raymi Potato Experience Dinner: The Nuna Raymi Potato Experience in Cusco is a ceremonial tasting highlighting Peru's remarkable agricultural heritage, featuring over 4,000 native potato varieties. The restaurant sources rare, ancient tubers directly from local "seed guardian" farmers, presenting you with a rustic board of different native potatoes, whose varieties change seasonally. The presentation often involves a ceremonial element, such as lighting palo santo and grating salt, honoring the food’s cultural significance. The potatoes are served with traditional Peruvian dips like Andean Chimichurri. This experience supports Nuna Raymi's commitment to ethical tourism and crop preservation.
• Maras Salt Mines and Moray Visit: Tour the unique Inca ruins of Moray, consisting of circular terraces and a sophisticated irrigation system located at 3500m (11483 ft). Learn about the history and study of this fascinating site – speculation has it that it was an Inca agriculture experiment station. Then visit the impressive Maras Salt Mines and see thousands of individual ancient salt pools spilling over a hillside. Learn about the different varieties of salt, and try the renowned pink salt, famous worldwide.

Explore Cusco’s layers of history, visiting the Cathedral, the sun temple of Koricancha, and the massive stone walls of Sacsaywaman that loom over the city. Pause for a gourmet picnic lunch at an exclusive tented campsite near the Temple of the Moon, soaking in views of the red-tiled roofs below. Spend the afternoon at leisure before an evening visit to the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. Conclude your expedition with a private cocktail reception in the museum’s courtyard followed by a farewell dinner, celebrating the flavors and stories of Peru.

Included Experiences

• Expert-Led Cusco City Tour and Picnic: This morning takes you to all of the must-see highlights in and around Cusco, guided by experts to explain the history of each location. Begin at the Plaza de Armas, Cusco's 16th century cathedral, Qorikancha, and the Temple of the Sun before transferring to Sacsayhuaman. The tour ends at Templo de la Luna, or the Temple of the Moon, where a private gourmet picnic will be waiting for you.
• Free Time: Spend a few hours exploring Cusco on your own before dinner with the group this evening.

Leave the high Andes behind and fly to the Amazon basin, landing in the heat of Puerto Maldonado. Board a motorized canoe for a journey along the Tambopata River, watching the vegetation thicken into an impenetrable wall of green as you approach your lodge. In the afternoon, walk through the rainforest to ascend the 40-metre (131 ft) canopy tower. From this vantage point above the treetops, scan the horizon for the vibrant flash of toucans and macaws, or the silhouette of a rare harpy eagle soaring on thermals. After a delicious dinner, join researchers for a night lecture, then venture to a light trap in the forest to observe diverse insects — highlighting the incredible biodiversity of the Tambopata Reserve.

Included Experiences

• Plane: Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... yup, it is a plane, actually.
• Motorized Canoe: Climb in and move swiftly through the water to the next stop.
• Canopy Observation Tower: Take a short walk to the secure, 40-meter-high Observation Tower. The climb offers stunning panoramic views over the Tambopata National Reserve's dense canopy, and is excellent for spotting vibrant toucans, macaws, and raptors as they fly across the treetops, providing a memorable view of the forest's upper layer.
• Wired Amazon Night Talk: Wired Amazon researchers will share insights into ongoing projects and the crucial role of citizen science in rainforest conservation.
• Amazon Citizen Science Experience: Take part in a real research project, assisting scientists in the process of discovering different species. In front of our light trap—a brightly illuminated sheet that attracts dozens of insects—you’ll witness a fascinating spectacle: from delicate moths to creatures you may have never heard of before now. Learn more about what is involved in the research and discovery process of different species in the jungle.

Rise in the pre-dawn darkness to witness the jungle at its most active. Travel to a clay lick to watch a dazzling spectacle as scarlet, blue-and-gold, and green-winged macaws — along with smaller parrots — descend to consume the mineral-rich earth. In the afternoon, step into the role of a citizen scientist with the AmazonCam program. Assist researchers in setting up camera traps designed to monitor elusive wildlife like tapirs and jaguars. Later, connect with local traditions at a local farm, tasting exotic fruits and learning how indigenous communities cultivate from the forest. Conclude the day with dinner and a lecture on the data you helped collect, deepening your understanding of rainforest conservation.

Included Experiences

• Macaw Clay Lick: This essential wildlife spectacle takes place at sunrise. Dozens of large macaws (including scarlet, blue-and-yellow, and green-winged) and hundreds of smaller parrots gather on the riverbank. Discretely observe them as they descend to ingest mineral-rich clay, which is vital for their diet. It is one of the most colorful and unforgettable moments of Amazonian fauna viewing.
• Free Time: After a sunrise macaw viewing, spend the morning relaxing at the lodge.
• AmazonCam Research Project: The Tambopata region of the Amazon rainforest has a remarkable biodiversity and is a fantastic place to spot and study wildlife. Today, you will collaborate with scientists to collect data from camera traps and perhaps set up a few of your own to capture shy jungle wildlife like peccaries, birds, rodents, and even big cats like Jaguars. Study the captured footage and discover what rare, fascinating animals the cameras captured.
• Local Amazonian Farm Visit: At a jungle farm, find out how your favorite tropical foods are grown — and discover new ones like Copuazu, “Fish-eye” Chilis, and Cocona. Farmers will teach you about agricultural life in the Amazon, connecting their practices to age-old traditions in the region. Local communities are made up of the Ese Eja, an indigenous people native to Tambopata, along with folks who migrated here from the Peruvian highlands several decades ago. Farming is an integral part of life here, and you’ll end the visit with a greater understanding of local culture and traditions.
• AmazonCam Night Lecture: After a day spent exploring the Amazon jungle’s incredible beauty, we do something a little different during the evening. As you relax at the lodge, our guides give you a taste of our rainforest initiatives. These Night Lectures enrich your experience and immerse you in fun, engaging stories and experiences. At Refugio Amazonas Lodge, they focus on Citizen Science, connecting everyone with rainforest research.

Stand in awe beneath the towering canopy of a brazil nut forest, gazing up at the ancient giants of the Amazon. Visit a seasonal harvesting camp to learn how local families collect and process these sustainably sourced nuts, a vital economic lifeline for the region. In the afternoon, choose your path of discovery: join the Aerobotany experience to fly drones over the canopy and Oxbow Lake for a bird’s-eye view of forest ecology, or continue with AmazonCam and explore a medicinal plant trail to uncover traditional remedies. As night falls, gather for a farewell dinner and a final lecture on rainforest research, celebrating the sights and sounds of your time in the wild.

Included Experiences

• Brazil Nut Sustainability Trail: The Brazil Nut trees are heroes of the rainforest, providing a sustainable and eco-friendly living to many jungle dwellers. On the Brazil Nut Sustainability Trail, your guide leads you through a spectacular, old-growth patch of Brazil Nut forest. For decades — perhaps centuries — locals have harvested the trees’ plentiful Brazil Nuts. Two months a year, the nut-gatherers set up camp here, and you’ll visit the camp’s remains as well. Then, you will learn about the entire process, from the nut’s collection through transportation, drying, and its transformation into familiar products.
• Aerobotany Immersive Experience: Step into the future of ecotourism with the Aerobotany Immersive Experience—a breathtaking, immersive journey above the Amazon Rainforest. Imagine soaring like a scarlet macaw over lush treetops, exploring the forest from angles no human has ever reached... all without leaving the ground. It’s a front-row seat to the hidden layers of the rainforest, powered by cutting-edge drone technology and virtual reality goggles. Developed by ecologist Dr. Varun Swamy and his expert Aerobotany team, this activity invites you to witness the Amazon from a whole new perspective—and help science along the way.
• Night Lecture in the Amazon: Listen to an expert lecture at the lodge.

Board a motorized canoe for the return journey to Puerto Maldonado, listening to the call of the jungle one last time as the river carries you back to civilization. Fly to Lima, trading the humidity of the rainforest for the coastal breeze. For those with late international departures, a day-use room is available to relax and refresh as you prepare for your onward travels.

Included Experiences

• Motorized Canoe: Climb in and move swiftly through the water to the next stop.
• Transport: Settle in and scan the scenery as you journey to your next destination.
• Plane: Sit back and enjoy the views from above on a flight between Puerto Maldonado and Lima.