Over 50s Machu Picchu & Titicaca holiday
| country: | Peru |
| location: | Machu Picchu |
| price: | From £1999 (16 days) including flights from the UK, from £1249 excluding flights |
| offers: | If you organise a group of 6 – 9 people onto one of our adventures we will give you £50 off per person. If you organise a group of 10 or more people onto one of our adventures one person will go FREE. Offer can not be combined with any other promotion. The booking must comprise of a minimum of 6 people, with 1 lead passenger who all the booking correspondence will be sent to. Adult prices must be more than £900 per passenger. Valid on all trips departing before 30 Sept 2009. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Arequipa is a lovely colonial city built from distinct white ‘silar’ volcanic rock. As you leave the city you thread your way through these volcanoes to reach the remote Colca Canyon. Deeper than the Grand Canyon, Colca is home to typical mountain villages, some fantastic examples of mountain terracing and the majestic Andean Condor. Travelling across the altiplano you reach Lake Titicaca, the legendary birthplace of the Inca and home to the Uros, a tribe that have lived on the lake’s floating islands since Inca times. Following the path of Manco Capac, the first Inca, you arrive in Cusco with its lovely mix of colonial and indigenous architecture before exploring the Sacred Valley and the spectacular ruins of Machu Picchu.
Undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous treks is the spectacular Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We appreciate that many of our travellers will be keen to complete the breathtaking hike along the fabled Inca Trail. Several of our departures have an altered itinerary to include the trek.
Your accommodation consists of 12 nights in hotels and 1 night in a hostel. In the towns you’ll stay in centrally-located hotels, often in converted colonial buildings giving you a real sense of atmosphere. In Colca you’ll stay in a hacienda-like property allowing you freedom to explore the valley floor. In Aguas Calientes, the town below Machu Picchu, the Peruvian owned hostel is centrally located and overlooking the Vilcanota River.
Trip price includes 13 breakfasts. Typically the breakfasts provided in the hotels will be continental style. For lunches and dinners there is a great choice of food, from pizza to guinea pig! Stuffed peppers or ‘rocoto relleno’ are a specialty here, as is ‘Cebiche’, raw white fish marinated in lime and chilli. For the majority of the trip, you’ll use a comfortable private bus. You will also use a motor launch to visit the Uros Islands. The train to Machu Picchu is a great way to admire the fertile scenery of the Sacred Valley as it winds its way towards the Lost City.
Undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous treks is the spectacular Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We appreciate that many of our travellers will be keen to complete the breathtaking hike along the fabled Inca Trail. Several of our departures have an altered itinerary to include the trek.
Your accommodation consists of 12 nights in hotels and 1 night in a hostel. In the towns you’ll stay in centrally-located hotels, often in converted colonial buildings giving you a real sense of atmosphere. In Colca you’ll stay in a hacienda-like property allowing you freedom to explore the valley floor. In Aguas Calientes, the town below Machu Picchu, the Peruvian owned hostel is centrally located and overlooking the Vilcanota River.
Trip price includes 13 breakfasts. Typically the breakfasts provided in the hotels will be continental style. For lunches and dinners there is a great choice of food, from pizza to guinea pig! Stuffed peppers or ‘rocoto relleno’ are a specialty here, as is ‘Cebiche’, raw white fish marinated in lime and chilli. For the majority of the trip, you’ll use a comfortable private bus. You will also use a motor launch to visit the Uros Islands. The train to Machu Picchu is a great way to admire the fertile scenery of the Sacred Valley as it winds its way towards the Lost City.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Lima |
| Day 2-3: | Fly to Arequipa; city tour & Santa Catalina Convent |
| Day 4-5: | Drive to Colca; Cruz del Condor; visit local villages |
| Day 6-7: | Drive to Puno; Sillustani ruins; Uros Islands |
| Day 8-9: | Drive to Cusco; city tour; visit local ruins |
| Day 10: | Sacred Valley; Pisac market & Ollantaytambo ruins |
| Day 11: | Train to Machu Picchu |
| Day 12-13: | Visit ruins; train back to Cusco |
| Day 14-16: | Fly to Lima & on to London |
over 50s holidays
This trip has been specially designed for, and is exclusive to, travellers over 50. On these trips, the typical group size is just 12, and we never exceed 16. This means better service for you, the chance to use smaller hotels, more freedom to reach out of the way places and more of a sense of camaraderie and fun. Over half of our travellers book independently and we do not charge an additional single supplement. Most travellers are aged between 50 and 70 and there is no upper age limit. It’s attitude and a love of travel that counts!how this holiday makes a difference
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We work in partnership with Plan International. Plan works with some of the world’s poorest communities where three out of four children die before the age of five. For each person travelling on this trip we will donate $5 to Plan international to help them with their community based projects to support under-privileged children in Peru.
Clients who travel with us will automatically receive a copy of our Responsible Travel leaflet. This contains details and advice on how you can make a positive difference when you travel. We also support Friends of Conservation – an international charity committed to working with local people to develop a balance between their needs and the wildlife with which they share the natural habitat and ecosystems. Global warming is a real issue and is a direct result of your travel. We have teamed up with Climate Care to give you the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions from your flight. You’ll be asked upon booking if you want to donate – with set amounts from £5. As a company we offset the carbon emissions from all staff travel in full. We’ve highlighted a few of the ways in which we offer our support, financially or otherwise, and now you can, too. We have set up our own foundation, which will administer funds donated by you. A small donation of £1 per person will be taken when booking a holiday and that money will be put to good use by one of our carefully selected projects. If you don’t want to make the donation, just tell us when you call. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |