Learn Spanish Program in Lima

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival to Lima

Upon your arrival to Lima, one of our representatives will be waiting to meet you at the Lima airport, and take you to your hotel in Lima. * An extra day in Lima can be added upon request. Please let us know if you like us to add additional activities.

Day 2 to 6: Spanish Immersion Class (B)

After breakfast at your hotel in Lima, you will begin with a 5-day, Spanish Immersion Class in Lima. The program used is a personalized, student-centered instruction based on individual interests, needs and learning style. The program is flexible in terms of length (a ten day, 20 hour per week program is included here), content and sequence. Also, the supplementary materials are designed for each student based on their particular level. The program also includes activities outside the classroom, which stimulates interaction with the Peruvian Culture. You will develop all the languages skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) with an intensive communicative program, which is works faster and is more effective than Spanish immersion programs offered at traditional Spanish language schools. Classes are small with a maximum of 8 people. This ensures that learning objectives can be achieved. *There will be an initial evaluation to assess the student level. Afternoon outings to different places will have an additional cost. * Please note that basic and more intensive programs are available. Please let us know if you would like to change. Home stays with Peruvians is available as an opiton as some of our clients prefer to completely immerse in the Spanish Language. If this is the case, lunch will be included at the house.

Day 7: Market Visit with Fruit Festival and Mission, Ceviche Festival with Lunch & Free afternoon (B, L)

After breakfast at your hotel, you will be picked up by one of our special private, culinary guides and be taken on your Market Visit & Fruit Festival. You will start your festival with a visit to the Main market. This market is informal and a great way to experience a little bit of the Peruvian culture in its daily life. In the Main Market you can find the best variety of vegetables and fruits in the country, including exotic products from the “Andes” and the “Jungle”. In all Peruvian markets, “el regateo” is a common practice “asking for a discount and negotiating the price for the product with each vendor” people even ask for a “Yapa” something for free with your purchase, one extra lime or one extra potato. We will also have the change to taste many of the exotic fruits that Peru offers. As part of your market visit, you will also take part in a special mission: Make your own Ceviche–more than an activity, this is your secret mission: We will give you the recipe, ingredient list and money, which you will use to buy all your supplies to make your ceviche (don’t worry if you don’t speak Spanish, this is part of the fun). After this, you will continue with the preparation (short explanation of the process is optional for the beginners). Immediately following your market visit, you will head out to your Ceviche Festival at Señorio de Sulco Restaurant, where Flavio Solorzano, owner and Executive Chef of “El Señorío de Sulco” Restaurant will lead you on this journey into the famous Peruvian dish, Ceviche. Chef Solorzano, specializes in Peruvian Cuisine in which he applies modern techniques to recreate traditional recipes into special dishes. After lunch at the restaurant, you will be taken back to your hotel in Lima, where you will have the remaining of the afternoon at your leisure. **Please note that Chef Solorzano may not be available on the day of your trip and we will provide a substitute chef of the same experience level. *Please let us know if you like us to add additional activities.

Day 8: Walking City Tour of Lima with Peruvian Lunch & Larco Museum (B, L)

After breakfast at your hotel in Lima, you will be picked up and taken on your walking city tour of the City of Lima. This special City Tour will be a travel along the 500 years of history of the city of Lima, and you will discover all the history and tradition hidden at every corner of the capital of Peru. You will begin your tour at Plaza San Martin Square to see the Bolivar hotel, one of the most luxurious in the world in the early XX century. Then you will walk along the “jirones” (small narrow streets of downtown) until you reach the Osambela house, one of the best examples of colonial civil architecture were you will discover how old limenians used to live. You will continue to the popular San Francisco Catacombs and will finish your day at San Pedro church, the most impressive church in the City, full of gold and paintings. Along the road, our guide will take you to little corners and places and explain you all the histories and legends of the places you will see. This is a highly recommended City Tour if you are interested in Architecture and in getting to know popular folkloric-history.

You will enjoy a delicious at one of the best restaurants in Lima and after lunch, you will be taken on your guided tour of the Larco Museum. You will appreciate a splendid private collection of ceramics, singularly from the Mochica culture. The Treasure Room keeps gold work pieces like the unique pure gold chest decoration of a Chimu chief. We could find pieces from the pre-ceramic age (8000 – 2000 B.C.) until the imperial and conquest age (1532 A.D.), and also we will be able to appreciate Peruvians ancestors sexual behavior on its unique erotic ceramic collection. At the conclusion of you tour, you will be taken back to your hotel to rest for the day. * An extra day in Lima can be added upon request. Please let us know if you like us to add additional activities.

Day 9 to 13: Spanish Immersion Class (B)

After breakfast at your hotel in Cusco, you will continue on the second portion of your intensive, 10-day Spanish Immersion Class in Lima. This week, you will continue with your internsive program * Please note that a basic and more intensive programs are available. Please let us know if you would like to change. Home stays with Peruvians is available as an opiton as some of our clients prefer to completely immerse in the Spanish Language. If this is the case, lunch will be included at the house.

Day 14: Flight to Cusco & Afternoon City Tour (B)

After breakfast at your hotel, we transfer back to the airport for the short, one-hour flight to Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas, located at 11,100 feet above sea level. You will be met upon arrival and transferred to your hotel of choice. You will have the remainder of the morning to rest and freshen up. It’s best to take it easy this day, to let your body adjust to the altitude. Some find enjoying a cup of hot coca tea a real help in adjusting to the high elevation and that is what the locals traditionally use coca for. Both lunch and dinner are on your own today as there are so many choices available at reasonable price either in or near your hotel. * Depending on which domestic flight you choose you will have more or less time to rest.

After lunch on your own, you will set out on grand tour of Cusco, the former capital of the once vast Incan Empire. The city’s Spanish Colonial architecture both overlays and is interlaced with the earlier Incan architecture. We walk Cusco’s impressive Plaza de Armas and visit both the Spanish cathedral and Incan temple of the sun, Qoricancha. The Spanish conquistadores destroyed significant portions of the Inca civilization while leaving their mark on Cusco. Ornate cathedrals, adobe walls, carved balconies, hidden courtyards and cobblestone streets add to the historic richness of the ancient Incan capital.

Next we set out to visit the ruins above the city that were considered an essential part of the ancient capital. We start with one of the most impressive of them all, Sacsayhuaman. This is where Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun, is held during the Summer Solstice. Some of the stones used to build the site weigh up to 70 tons yet are fitted so precisely–without the use of mortar–that one cannot slide even the thinnest object between them. Some believe that the site forms the head of puma or jaguar and that the huge triangulated walls form its teeth, or symbolize lightening. Tambomachay, the Temple of the Sacred Waters, is another site we will visit and is a marvel of hydraulic engineering. Its waters still flow today. At Q´enqo we’ll see the remains of a ceremonial site used for fertility rites and for celebrations of the solstice and equinox. * An extra day in Cusco can be added upon request. Please let us know if you like us to add additional activities.

Day 15: Sacred Valley Tour (B, L)

After breakfast, we set out into the Urubamba Valley, also known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Our first stop will be a visit to the the Pisac market. The Pisac market has a wide variety of artisan arts & crafts and you will have the chance to see the many different products that the sacred valley produces. This is a great opportunity to for you to do some unique shopping, and to purchase souvenirs for your family and friends. After the market, we head deeper into the Sacred Valley and visit the Inca town of Ollantaytambo, still inhabited by the locals in much the same way as it was during the time of the Incas. The lodging area is formed by complex structures known as “canchas” or apartments. The Inca built a temple on a terraced site above the town. The impressive, standing stones they erected, conjure up images of Atlantis. This is the site where Manco Inca and his warriors staged a temporary victory over the Spanish Conquistadors, led by Francisco Pizarro. During this victory, the Inca warriors flooded the fields, while raining down spears and arrows from above, making it difficult for the Spanish horses to maneuver, ultimately forcing a rare retreat on the part of the Conquistadors. We then return to Urubamba, where you will have a chance to break for lunch and recover energies to continue with our tour.

After lunch, we head out to the bustling market-town of Chinchero, our final visit today. The town of Chinchero is the birthplace of the Rainbow, situated at over 11,500 feet. Its extensive agricultural terraces made it, in Incan times, the breadbasket of Cusco city. The main sight to see at this location is a catholic church, with fine paintings from the Cusquenian School. Modern Chinchero has a very active community of women weavers who create textiles on backstrap looms using only natural dyes. The weavers make fine, high quality mantas, table runners, pillows, bags, belts, and scarves in soft natural colors. At the end of the day you will go back to Cusco. All of our suggested hotels are well situated, so that you can relax and enjoy more of both ancient and contemporary life this evening. * An overnight at the sacred valley can be added upon request. Please let us know if you like us to add additional activities.

Day 16: Machu Picchu Tour (B, S)

The day you have been waiting for! After breakfast we catch the train to the town of Aquas Calientes at the base of Machu Picchu. Continue by bus for the short ride up switch backs to the Machu Picchu citadel overhead. We enter the ruins for a breathtaking view of the city in the sky. You will enjoy a full tour of the lost city and have lunch on your own after the tour. In the afternoon we say farewell to Machu Picchu as we set out by train heading to the station at Poroy and then on to Cusco Hotel by car arriving at night. * An overnight in MachuPicchu can be added upon request. Also, we can add bus and entrance tickets for a second day at the citadel. Please let us know if you like us to add additional activities.

Day 17: Back to Lima & Back Home (B)

Your incredible journey to Peru winds to a close as we provide transfer to the airport in Cusco for the flight back to the coast. Flight time will depend on your flight time back home. * Please let us know if you like to add extra activities or a day hotel if your flight is late at night.

NOTE: Some people prefer to go directly to the Sacred Valley upon arrival to the Cusco Airport. Please let us know if you prefer that to send you an updated itinerary

Not exactly what you want?

Remember that Magical focuses on providing the best available options and can work with you on customizing your tour to better fit your interests and budget, without compromising the quality of your tour. Just contact us with your questions and preferences and we can modify this tour based on your expectations and requests.

Important Notes:

About MachuPicchu Entrance Tickets

As the popularity of MachuPicchu has increased in the last few years, and in order to preserve the ancient paths of MachuPicchu, the Peruvian Cultural Institute (INC) has restricted the number of people that could enter MachuPicchu to 2,500 people per day. This means that, once the 2,500 tickets are sold out, no further entrance tickets will available. Also, please note that to avoid a secondary market for these tickets, all tickets are issued with the name of the passenger, his/her passport number, nationality and date of birth. Therefore, tickets are non refundable and non transferable.

About Huaynapichu Tickets

Entrance tickets to Huaynapichu are not longer free, entrance tickets are now US$12.00 per person. There are two scheduled visits per day, with a limit of 200 people per visit (Total of 400 per day). If you are interested in hiking the Huaynapichu, we will need you to let us know at the same time you book your trip since the Huaynapichu tickets need to be purchased in conjunction to the MachuPicchu tickets.

Price

This tour (*) is available from:

USD$1579.90 per person – Group with Private Transfers

For single supplement and prices in a private service, please contact us!

* Based on double occupancy, 4 people, Budget Accommodations

IMPORTANT: As price depends on each passenger choices, please contact us to send you an updated price based on your specific request. Please send us the following information and we will respond within 24 hours with your updated price.

• Number of people in your party
• Level of accommodation (3, 4, 5*). Please see options
• Choosing a Private or Group Tour?
• Train choice. Please see options
• Adding options: if you like to add day tours, extra days, meals, etc
• Need domestic or international flights?
• Have a special request (e.g.: special diet, wheelchair, children, senior, etc)

What’s Included?

• All necessary materials for you immersion classes.
• Round-trip Expedition train. Upgrade to other trains: Vistadome or Hiram Bingham upon request
• Bus to Machu Picchu roundtrip.
• Expert leadership / guides & support personnel for all listed tours
• Accommodations: 13 nights in Lima, 3 nights in Cusco
• Meals as noted (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner, S = Snack). We can add any meals upon request
• Land excursions as noted including entrance fees (Lima Cathedral, San Francisco Catacombs, Larco Museum, BTG, Cusco Cathedral, Qoricancha & MachuPicchu)
• Private transportation: Lima airport/Lima Hotel, Lima Hotel/Lima Airport, Cusco Airport/Cusco, Hotel, Cusco Hotel/Poroy Train Station, Poroy Train Station/Cusco Hotel, Cusco Hotel/Cusco Airport.

What’s Not Included?

• Airport taxes: Local ($5-6) and International ($31) departure tax of payable in local currency by each passenger at Lima International Airport upon departure (if applicable)
• International and domestic airfares, usually quoted separately
• Insurance of any kind: mandatory evacuation insurance; suggested cancellation insurance, interruption, baggage loss, damage and delay
• Visas. Please be advised that some citizens other than Canadians and US may need visa to travel to Peru. Please advise us of your nationality to help you or check with the Peruvian Consulate
• Tipping & Gratuities (Guides $4 per person per day / Drivers $1 per person per day)
• Excess baggage charges
• Medical immunizations
• Items of a personal nature (clothing, sodas, liquor, snacks, laundry, etc.)

Domestic Tickets

Lima/Cusco/Lima: From US $190 per person. This is an example price. Prices depend on date and time of booking