Galapagos & Machu Picchu Tour STD

Welcome to Ecuador! Pick up at Quito Airport and transfer to your hotel followed by free time to settle-in and acclimatize to your new surroundings.

An early flight to the Galapagos Islands where your English-speaking guide will be waiting for you at the airport in Baltra. 

Then, a fantastic trip takes you to the Highlands of Santa Cruz – this is the best place to see the Giant Tortoise up close in the wild. They roam the lush highlands searching for food or cooling off in the muddy pools. You will wander the trails while your guide will explain some interesting facts about these gentle giants. There is also a lava tunnel that you can explore. 

After this activity, you will visit the Charles Darwin Research Station where you will receive more background information from your guide about the islands, with a focus on Darwin´s theories as well as the breeding work on various tortoise populations.

Tour duration: 4 Hours / Type: This is a privately organized tour

Today you have the opportunity to discover one of the uninhabited islands on a boat excursion. The tour includes a guided hike on the island and some time for snorkeling, with lunch on board. The exact destination depends upon daily availability, but will be one of the following options:

Bartolome: the site of the iconic Galapagos landscape of Pinnacle Rock, where you can take your perfect photo. You do have to climb 364 steps to get here, but the reward is immense. Along the way you can see lava fumaroles, and enjoy the incredible lunar style landscape. With a bit of luck, you may also see the world´s only tropical penguin here! After the land visit, you´ll have time to explore the amazing underwater wildlife while snorkeling.

North Seymour: One of the best islands for Galapagos birdlife, where you can see Frigate Birds, swallow tailed gulls and the famous Blue Footed Boobies who nest here. With red colored soil and red carpet vine growing on the island the scenery is exotic. Another interesting species found on North Seymour is the Land Iguana, a unique species from the ones seen on other islands.

South Plazas: This small but scenic island has a fantastic concentration of wildlife, from Sea Lions to Land Iguana´s and many bird species, including Frigate Birds, Lava Gulls and Red-Billed Tropicbirds. The dramatic cliffs, blue seas and spectacular natural red-carpet of algae make the scenery of this island particularly pretty.

Santa Fe: A very diverse island with a beautiful white sand beach where Sea Lions bask in the sun. The island is covered with huge cactus trees, food for the Land Iguana population that is endemic to this Santa Fe. The walk up is quite rocky buy you´ll be rewarded with stunning views at the top. Santa Fe is also considered one of the best snorkeling sites in Galapagos where sharks are often seen!

Tour duration: 7-8 Hours / Type: This is a shared tour service

Galapagos: Isabela - Today we will take the Public speedboat to Isabela Island (7:00 aprox), which lasts approximately two and a half hours.

On arrival at Isabela we will take a brief rest at the hotel and then head to the Concha de Perla lagoon where you can swim with sea lions, colorful varieties of fish, and with luck sea turtles.

Tour duration: 2 Hours / Type: This is a privately organized tour

After lunch we visit Tintoreras Islet - the name of the islet derives from the sharks that live in the waters surrounding the islet that have whittipped fins, which are known as “Tintoreras”. The islet is one of the most fascinating places on Isabela Island and in fact all of the Galapagos. In this one area we can see sea lions, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, sea turtles, pelicans, and Galapagos Penguins. As the island is one of the main breeding sites for the marine iguanas it is an excellent place to see a large community of these creatures close-up. After the hike through the islet we will get back on the boat and cool off by snorkeling in the waters nearby where with luck we may see multicolor fish, starfish, sea-urchins, and with luck manta rays, sharks, and sea lions that may swim with us close up.

Tour duration: 3 Hours / Type: This is a shared organized tour

A boat ride of about an hour and a half takes you to Tuneles; this is a fascinating landscape of huge collapsed ava tunnels. You begin on land where blue footed boobies often nest. Afterwards you will enjoy superb snorkeling at Cabo Rosa - this is one of the very best snorkel sites in Galapagos! White tipped reef sharks, green marine turtles, sting rays, sea lions, eagle rays and even sea horses are regularly seen here!

Tour duration: 5 Hours / Type: This is a shared tour service

An incredible hiking trip that is all about landscapes and volcanoes! A 45-minute bus ride will first take you to the start point of the hike. A guided 4 to 5 hours return trek takes you up to the summit of the active Sierra Negra volcano for wonderful views into one of the largest craters in the world. This approx. 12 km hike is long in terms of distance, but not very difficult as the inclines and declines are quite gradual. Sierra Negra Volcano has the second largest crater in the world, measuring approximately 6 miles in diameter and 300 feet deep.

Descending further you can visit Volcan Chico, to witness the incredible landscape of smouldering cones and craters formed by various past eruptions; it literally feels like you're walking on the moon!

If you decide to only visit the first viewpoint of Sierra Negra and not continue to Volcan Chico, this trip takes just 2-3 hours. 

Tour duration: 5 Hours / Type: This is a shared organized tour service

An early morning inter-island speedboat will take you back to Puerto Ayora where our driver will meet you and immediate transfer you to Baltra Airport in time for your flight back to the mainland of Ecuador. 

On arrival to Guayaquil our driver will meet you at the airport for a transfer to your hotel. The rest of your afternoon is free.

This 3-hour highlights tour starts at the City Hall and the Government building, where the Fragua de Vulcano is located. This place is where our independence was conceived, back in October 9th, 1820 - one of the most heroic moments of our history. A few steps away, you will see the imposing Malecon 2000, which has a length of 2.5 km and with many places where you can learn more about history. At the Malecon you will see the city’s public clock, known as ‘Torre Morisca’, with a unique gothic style. Walking a bit further you can admire the most important monument of the city, ‘The interview between Bolivar and San Martin’. At the end of the city tour, you will see the Santa Ana port of Las Peñas neighborhood, where the beautiful city was founded.

Tour duration: 3-4 hours / Type: this is a privately organized tour service

In the afternoon, transfer out to the airport in time for your international flight out to Lima.

Upon arrival you will go by yourself to the hotel which is located inside the airport. where you stay at a hotel close to the airport in preparation for an early start tomorrow.

At proper time go by yourself to the airport (walking distance) to take your flight with destination Cusco.

An early morning flight brings you to the Inca capital of Cusco. Upon arrival, proceed to the hotel to have a welcome coca tea. This should help you to relieve altitude sickness. The remaining of the morning is free to relax, and slowly acclimatize.

In the afternoon, your comprehensive city tour includes the beautiful Koricancha or Sun Temple, the Cathedral as well as the Fortress of Sacsayhuaman, a most remarkable Inca building, the amphitheater of Kenko. This is followed by a visit to Puca Pucara, a strategically located 'red fortress' that dominates the entire area before visiting Tambomachay, with its two distinctive aqueducts that to this day continue to provide clean water to the area.

This morning you will be picked up from your hotel for your tour to the Sacred Valley. We make a stop in ’Awana Kancha (weaver's palace in Quechua)’, a breeding center of South American camels (guanacos, llamas, alpacas and vicunas). Artisans will demonstrate weaving and dyeing ancient Andean techniques from 12 communities still in use today.

Continue with the visit of the Pisaq market. Originally a place where people from remote communities used to barter their products, Pisaq has evolved to one of South America's most famous souvenir markets. Make sure to sample some 'empanadas' baked in traditional clay ovens.

En route you will also visit the ruins of Pisaq, a site set high above a valley by patterned fields and rimmed by vast terracing. The stonework and panoramas at Pisaq's Inca citadel are magnificent. In the main ruins you will find temples of the sun, moon, rain, rainbow, and stars, as well as a few Inca crosses rising from the ground. The cross represents the different levels of existence: The lower level signifies the underworld, and snake god; the higher level, human existence, represented by the jaguar or puma god; and the highest level, the celestial plane, represented by the condor.

Afternoon visit to the fortress of Ollantaytambo where the Temple of the Sun (formed of six gigantic monoliths, whose total weight exceeds 50 tons) and the Terrace of the Ten Niches stand out.

At proper time, transfer from your hotel in the Sacred Valley to Ollanta train station (only transportation)

The train ride takes you through the Sacred Valley of the Incas up to Machu Picchu (unescorted)

Upon arrival a small coach takes you up the steep roads to the entrance of the citadel. For centuries Machu Picchu remained undiscovered by the Spaniards and has only been found in 1911 by the American explorer Hiram Bingham. During a guided tour you will experience the uniqueness of the location and the genius that went into its construction, making this Inca site one of the seven new wonders of the world.

Morning at leisure. 

In the afternoon, return by train from Aguas Calientes to the station of Poroy (or Ollanta) (unescorted).

Arrival to Cusco and transfer to your hotel.

In the morning transfer to the airport in Cusco, or you may wish to stay extra time in Cusco to explore the city more.