Peru by Bus (Northern Peru)

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival to Lima

Upon your arrival to Lima, one of our representatives will be waiting for you at the airport and will directly escort you to your hotel in Lima, for a well-deserved, overnight stay. * While in Lima, we highly recommend adding culinary activities such as cooking classes and tasting dinners in the best restaurants of Latin America, for more information check our Culinary site: taste-of-peru.com and ask our agents for more information. An extra day in Lima can be added upon request.

Day 2: Lima City Tour with Typical Peruvian Lunch & Overnight Bus to Huaraz (B, L, S)

After breakfast at your hotel in Lima, you will be met at your hotel, and taken on your city tour of Lima. Many tours tend to forget about Lima in their tours. In our opinion, the history and anthropology of Lima, with Cultures that pre-date the Incas by thousands of years, provides an excellent starting point to better understand and appreciate the Inca cultures that you will be discovering during your trip. In the City Tour, we will see the Spanish city Square, get a snapshot of the most important city sites. Sites to be visited: Main Square, The Cathedral, Government Palace, City Hall, San Francisco Monastery (including catacombs), old streets with colonial houses, and a great driving tour through beautiful San Isidro and Miraflores. Directly after your tour, you will be taken to one of Lima’s most popular restaurants for a delicious lunch. After lunch, you will be taken back to your hotel for a free afternoon and for you to prepare for your overnight bus ride to Huaraz. From the hotel, you will be taken to the Lima bus station, where you will board the bus. Bus departs at 10:30pm for your 8 hours (roughly) bus ride to the city of Huaraz. Bus arrives around 6:30am * An extra day in Huaraz can be arranged upon request. Please let us know if you would like us to add any additional activities or meals.

Day 3: Arrival to Huaraz and Afternoon City Tour with Monterrey´s Thermal Baths (B)

Upon your early arrival in Huaraz, you will be taken from the bus station in Huaraz, to your hotel, where you will have the chance to check-in immediately as we have included a night hotel for you to rest early in the morning. At this point, you will have some time to get settled, and enjoy some breakfast at your hotel. Immediately after lunch on your own, you will depart on your City Tour of Huaraz and Monterrey´s Thermal Baths. This tour will start visiting the Plaza of Weapon, Temple of the Master of the Loneliness (Boss of Huaraz’s city), Breeding-place of trouts, Jr. Jose Olaya; one of the few areas of Huaraz from before the 1970´s earthquake and also the starting point for local people on their way to La Soledad and San Francisco neighborhoods. You will also have a chance to visit the Monterrey’s Thermal baths, with 48° centigrade’s waters with component as sulfate, chloride and bicarbonate. At the conclusion of your tour, you will be taken back to your hotel. * An extra day in Huaraz can be arranged upon request. Please let us know if you would like us to add any additional activities or meals.

Day 4: Chavin de Huantar Tour (B)

After breakfast at your hotel, you will be picked up, and taken on your Chavin de Huantar Tour. Located in the Huari province, Chavin de Huantar is 110 km S/E of Huaraz, or approximately 2.5 hours (by car). Your first stop will be at the culturally important, and historic main Temple, which was built roughly (3,500 b.c.), making it one of the oldest temples built in America, in a “terrible and magnificent” region, surrounded by covered snow peaks. The temple has been described as a monument, built in a “terrible and magnificent” region, surrounded by covered with snow beaks. Continuing on the tour, we will then visit the mining villages of Queracocha’s Lagoon & Cahuish’s Tunnel. These mining villages cross the White Mountain chain, which joins Huaylas’s Alley with Conchucos’s Alley. * An extra day in Huaraz can be arranged upon request. Please let us know if you would like us to add any additional activities or meals.

Day 5: Llanganuco Lagoon with Callejon de Huaylas Tour & Overnight Bus to Trujillo (B, S)

After breakfast at your hotel, you will be taken on your Llanganuco Lagoon & Callejon de Huaylas tour trough the highway Huaraz-Caraz (75 km). On this tour, we will have the chance to visit many villages of singular beauty, such as: Marcará, Carhuaz, Mancos, Ranrahirca and finally Yungay; where we will hear the story of how a debris avalanche, caused by the 1970 Ancash earthquake, buried the whole town, killing 25,000 people. Afterwards, we will turn 27 km aside, penetrating the White Mountain chain, until arriving at Llanganuco´s unforgettable Lagoon, surrounded with beautiful landscapes. Llanganuco is found practically on the foot of Huascaran, and it’s characterized by its intense color and the sheer magnificent, turquoise color of its waters. In this place we will be between the snow-capped mountains Huascaran and Huandoy and will have direct contact with nature and the purity of her waters. We will then return to Yungay and go to Caraz city, where we will be able to savor the exquisite “manjar blanco” or “dulce de leche” and visit Tourist Playtime, all this under the excellent climate of this city. At the conclusion of your tour, you will be taken back to your hotel, in order for you to pack and get ready, before being transferred to the bus station in Huaraz, where you will depart on your next portion of your tour. You will board on overnight bus to Trujillo. Bus departs at 6:00pm and arrives to Trujillo at 6:00am * An extra day in Huaraz can be arranged upon request. Please let us know if you would like us to add any additional activities or meals.

Day 6: Arrival to Trujillo, Afternoon Trujillo City Tour & Huaca del Sol y La Luna (B)

Upon your arrival to Trujillo, you will have the chance to check inmediately as we have included a night hotel for you to check in upon arrival and have breakfast. After breakfast, you will embark on your Trujillo city tour, where you will visit the colonial and religious monuments. The visit begins with the Casa de Mayorazgo de Facalá, manor of remarkable historical tradition. This one here sheltered the realization of the first national flag, used in Trujillo at the time of the first proclamation of the independence of the Spanish yoke, in December 29, 1820; the Santo Domingo place, the Casa Urquiaga o Calonge with a neo-classic style decorated with pieces of furniture and antiquities. La Plaza Mayor and the Monument of the Liberty, La Casa del Mariscal de Orbegoso, La Merced church, Casa de la Enmacipación with neo-classic architecture present murals of Rococo style. After that, we will visit the Iturregui palace, where the big yards and the galleries testify the neo-classic influences. In La Plaza El Recreo, surrounded by ficus, we can find a marble basin previously located Plaza de Armas, and also the Caja de Agua (system of water distribution at the colonial time). We finish the visit with the Trujillo wall and el Baluarte de Herrera, which at the XVII century protected the city from the attacks of the buccaneers and the corsairs.

After having the chance to have lunch on your own, you will continue on your journey to the Temple of the Sun & Moon. This is the highest monument of adobe of America (45 meters). According to the ancient legends, it was built in only three days using from 50 to 70 million bricks of adobe. “El Templo de la Luna” leaned on the sides of a white hill. It is a monument made up of 6 superimposed ceremonial platforms made of adobe bricks which occupies a total of 36,000 square meters. The places, whose walls are decorated with beautiful polychrome low-reliefs with the illustrations from the Mochica mythology. At the conclusion of your tour, you will be taken back to your hotel, for a very well-deserved night’s rest. * An extra day in Trujillo can be added to your proposal, if that is the case, you can split up this day in two or have a free day upon arrival instead. Please let us know if you would like us to add activities. You can also take a bus instead of a flight.

Day 7: Huaca Dragon and Chan Chan Ruins Tour, Huanchaco Tour & Bus to Chiclayo (B, S)

After breakfast at your hotel, you will be picked up and taken on your Huaca Dragon & Chan Chan city tour. Your tour begins with the Arco Iris temple or Huaca del Dragón of the Chimu culture (XI-XV AD) of quadrangular form, is surrounded by a trapezoidal wall of six meters. Afterwards, we will visit the imposing archaeological complex of Chan-Chan, whose extent is roughly 18 km2. The Tschudi palace, located in the south-western part of Chan-Chan, is one of the nine better preserved buildings. The walls are decorated with shaped planks in relief, which represent animals and geometrical figures. We will see the ceremonial seats, portable furnace bridges, tanks, barns, the room of the Council of Old, the cemeteries, etc.

The visit continues with the fishermen village of Huanchaco where we will appreciate the old mochicas boats: the “Caballitos de Totora”. With them, people maintain the ancient fishing customs. This small town on the Peruvian coast is also rapidly acquiring a reputation for the quality of the surfing off its relaxed beaches. At the conclusion of your tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in order to rest prior to your evening bus ride to Chiclayo. In the evening, you will be picked up from your hotel and taken directly to the bus station, for your approximately, 3 hour bus ride to Chiclayo. (Bus departs at 8:00pm arrives at 11:00pm) Once you arrive in Chiclayo, you will be taken to your hotel in Chiclayo. * An extra day in Trujillo can be added to your proposal. Please let us know if you would like us to add activities.

Day 8: Royal Tombs of the Lord of Sipan and Tucume Tour (B)

After breakfast at your hotel in Chiclayo, you will be departing on your Royal tombs of the Lord of Sipan tour. 33 km south of Chiclayo and roughly located around 2 km of the town of Sipán, we can find Huaca Rajada, where an intact tomb of an elite personage was found (Moche 200 to 700 AD). It is considered the most important archeological discovery of the century by the elegance of its adornments and the high degree of its cultural and technological development. We will visit the museum and excavations of exploration. On the way back we will visit Pomalca, the sugar center of the North. Next, you will be taken to Tucume, where we can find an extensive archaeological complex at the foot of the Cerro el Purgatorio, where we will observe 25 pyramids. During this visit, we will discover among others, the Huaca Las Estacas, El mirador, La Huaca Larga and the site museum. At the conclusion of your tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Chiclayo. * An extra day in Chiclayo can be added to your proposal. Please let us know if you would like us to add activities or meals.

Day 9: Trip to Cajamarca & Free Day (B, S)

After breakfast at your hotel in Chiclayo, you will be taken to the Chiclayo bus station, where you will catch your 6 hour (approx) bus ride to Cajamarca. The Bus departs at 7:30am arrives Cajamarca around 1:30am Once you arrive in Cajamarca, you will be picked up at the bus station and taken to your hotel in Cajamarca, where you will have the remainder of the day to rest and relax at your hotel. * Please let us know if you would like us to add additional activities or meals.

Day 10: Baños del Inca and Ventanas de Otuzco (B)

After breakast at your hotel, you will be picked up and taken on your “Banos del Inca” Tour. This is an important legacy of the legendary Incas, Pultumarca or “Inca’s baths”, is the place in which a set of thermal baths is concentrated that was used by Atahualpa. With the temperature of the waters exceeding 70′C, to which medicinal and therapeutic qualities are attributed, (especially for the lightening of those evils to the bones and to the nervous system).

After the Inca bath’s, you will continue on to your “Ventanillas de Otuzco” Tour. Just 8 km from the city, in the district of Los Baños del Inca, the “Ventanillas de Otuzco” stand out amidst the countryside. The site is a pre-Inca cemetery which pre-dates the Cajamarca culture, probably influenced by the Wari Empire. Hundreds of galleries and individual niches resembling windows were hewn into the volcanic stone. The niches are 8-10 meters deep, 50-60 cm high and are rectangular or quadrangular shaped. The niches probably were originally sealed with gravestones carved with figures in haut-relief, judging by fragments found nearby. At the conclusion of your tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Cajamarca. * An extra day in Cajamarca can be added to your proposal. Please let us know if you would like us to add activities or meals.

Day 11: Cumbemayo & Porcon Farm Tour (B)

After breakfast at your hotel, you will be picked up and taken on your Cumbemayo Tour. This imposing archaeological complex is in the middle of a fantastic stone forest that surrounds a set formed by three groups of constructions, known as the “Frailones de Cumbemayo”, numerous geologic formations that urge the imagination because they seems to represent silhouettes of friars in procession. The aqueduct is an impressive sample of the dominion of hydraulic engineering that corresponds to the initial period of the Cajamarca culture (1.000 BC.); the sanctuary is a species of great rock with aspect of a gigantic human head; and the caves or shelters are an interesting sample of Imagineering of our ancestors then, in their walls we can appreciate diversity of engraves.

Afterwards, you will continue on to Porcon, located in the northern highland department of Cajamarca. The inhabitants of the Granja Porcón farm offer an agro-tourist program. Visitors can take part in a series of farming activities such as planting and milking cows by hand, live side-by-side with members of the community, giving you a window into their lifestyle, traditions and daily activities. The stay will also enable visitors to take part in festivals and rituals in addition to daily farm chores. It is a unique chance to swap living experiences in a balanced relationship with nature

At the conclusion of your tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Cajamarca. * An extra day in Cajamarca can be added to your proposal. Please let us know if you would like us to add activities or meals.

Day 12: Flight back to Lima (B)

After breakfast at your hotel in Cajamarca, you will be taken to the Cajamarca airport, where you will catch your flight back to the capital, before connecting to your flight back home. * Please let us know if you like to add extra activities or a day hotel if your flight is late at night.

Not exactly what you want?

Remember, that Magical focuses on providing the best available options, and can work with you in fully 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$ 1129.90 per person – All Group tours, except Cajamarca portion that is in private. All 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 (ie: special diet, wheelchair, children, senior, etc)

What’s Included?

• Bus Tickets (Lima to Huaraz, Huaraz to Trujillo, Trujillo to Chiclayo & Chiclayo to Cajamarca)
• Expert leadership / guides & support personnel for all listed tours
• Accommodations: 1 night in Lima, 2 nights in Huaraz, 2 nights in Trujillo, 2 nights in Chiclayo and 3 nights in Cajamarca.
• 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, Temple of the master of the loneliness, Monterrey´s thermal Baths, Chavin de Huantar Complex, Yungay, Templo del Sol y la Luna, Huaca Dragón, Chan Chan ruins, Sipan Site & museum, Tucume Pyramids, Baños del Inca, Ventanas de Otuzco, Cumbemayo and Porcon Farm).
• Private transportation: Lima Airport/Lima Hotel, Lima Hotel/Lima Bus Station, Huaraz Bus Station/Huaraz Hotel, Huaraz Hotel/Huaraz Bus Station, Trujillo Bus Station/Trujillo Hotel, Trujillo Hotel/Trujillo Bus Station, Chiclayo Bus Station/Chiclayo Hotel, Chiclayo Hotel/Chiclayo Bus station, Cajamarca Bus Station/Cajamarca Hotel, Cajamarca Hotel/Cajamarca 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

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