12 Days / 10 Nights
Day 1: Arrive Quito
Arrive in Quito. You are welcomed at the airport and
transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is at
leisure.
Day 2: Quito / Baltra - Galapagos Islands Cruise
(Monday-Thursday)
You will be assisted and transfered to the airport
for your flight to Baltra. Upon arrival, transfer to
the pier to board the MV GALAPAGOS LEGEND.
Enjoy a 4-days/3 nights cruise on board M/V
Galapagos Legend. REFERENTIAL ITINERARY: (subject
to change due to climatic conditions or National
Park regulations
MONDAY: Arrival to Baltra / Chinese Hat
TUESDAY: Dragon Hill - Venice, Santa Cruz
Island / Cormorant Point, Floreana Island
WEDNESDAY: Suárez Point, Española Island /
Breeding Center or La Galapaguera, San Cristóbal
Island
THURSDAY: North Seymour Island / Baltra
airport
Day 05: The Galapagos Islands /Quito (Thursday)
Arrive in Baltra this morning. Transfer to the
airport for your flight back to mainland Ecuador.
Upon arrival in Quito, transfer to your hotel. This
afternoon tour offers the best of Quito, with its
rich cultural legacy, ornate façades and dazzling
gilt altars. Visit Independence Square, the
Archbishop's Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral as
well as other very representative samples of
colonial art and architecture. Continue to visit and
relive the history of Ecuador's most ancient
cultures in one of the finest archaeological and
gold artifact collections in the Americas. There are
over 1,800 pieces, beautifully arranged in
chronological corridors with explanatory panels and
dioramas. This afternoon, drive a few miles north of
town and visit the famous Equatorial Monument,
marked by geographers as latitude 000'00". You will
have the opportunity to straddle the two hemispheres
at the same tim
Day 06: Quito (Friday)- Lima- City tour: Colonial
and contemporary tour
Morning transfer to the airport for your flight
into Lima, Peru. You are welcomed and transferred to
the hotel.
Afternoon, embark on your tour of Lima. Your local
expert focuses on the city's colonial heritage
during a walking tour. Start at the Plaza de Armas
to see the Government Palace and visit the
Cathedral, where the skeleton of Francisco Pizarro
is sealed in a wooden coffin. From there, stroll to
the venerable San Francisco Monastery, with its
splendid 17th-century cloister murals. Next, stop at
Lima's famous Herrera Museum. This evening, enjoy a
welcome dinner at a La Rosa Nautica Restaurant. (BD)
Day 7: Lima / Cuzco / Sacsayhuaman
Fly to the oldest inhabited city in the Western
Hemisphere: Cuzco. Today, visit several ruins,
including Kenko and Tambomachay. Journey to the
"Valley of the Incas" to the Sacsayhuaman Fortress.
Later, see the hillside fort and Puca Pucara, which
most likely served as a lookout post and stopping
point between Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. (B)
Day 8: Sacred Valley / Machu Picchu
Travel aboard the Vistadome train from Cuzco to
the archeological wonder of Machu Picchu, built in
the late 14th century. Machu Picchu was obviously a
well-planned and carefully built city, made up of
two clearly different sectors, one agricultural and
the other urban. With mountains to one side and a
river roaring far below, this solemn fortress is a
fascinating remnant of a once-bustling city that was
mysteriously abandoned after the middle of the 16th
century. Secreted amidst dense jungle vegetation and
steep hills, Machu Picchu remained undiscovered by
the modern world until 1911. Learn about the many
legends and strange truths of these ancient ruins
from your local guide. (B)
Day 9: Machu Picchu / Cuzco
As the sunrises over the mountains, watch the
morning mist disappear once again to reveal the
awe-inspiring city of Machu Picchu, probably the
most amazing urban creation of the Inca Empire.
Return to Cuzco aboard the "Inca Train." Sip a cup
of tea and enjoy panoramic views as the beautiful
greenery of the Urubamba Valley rolls by. (BL)
Day 10: Cuzco / Lima / Home
Fly back to Lima this afternoon and connect to
your flight for back home. (B)
Day 11: Arrive North America
