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Arcturus Expeditions offers sea voyages and expeditions to The Arctic, Arctic Russia, Greenland, Norway, Iceland and The Antarctic.
Peruvian Andes and the Galapagos | 16 days
This is a tour taking in the best of Peru and the fabled Galapagos Islands off Ecuador. The lost city of Machu Picchu surrounded by the vivid green of the Amazon cloud forest is a definite highlight as is the sailing tour of Darwin’s volcanic Galapagos Islands.
Day 1:Fly to Lima, Peru’s capital city
Days 2&3:Fly to Cusco and explore this ancient Inca capital while acclimatising
Day 4: Narrow-gauge train to the mountain-top citadel of Machu Picchu, perched high above the Urubamba River
Day 5:Train to Cusco
Day 6: Fly to Lima, then to Guyaquil in Ecuador
Days 7-13: Fly to Baltro and begin Galapagos cruise aboard the three-masted staysail schooner Alta
Day 14: End cruise at Baltro and fly to Quito
Days 15&16: Fly to London
contact us for guide price
Trip reports for South America
Fiona’s travel tips
FOR THE LESS ACTIVE: If you don’t want to trek the whole Inca Trail, take the train and hop off early to enjoy a wonderful day’s walk instead.
MY FAVOURITE PLACE: (Once I had got over a slight vertigo moment), sitting atop Wayna Picchu watching the cloud drift over the ruins of Machu Picchu spread out below me.
DON’T MISS: Superb camping at the edge of the Salar de Uyuni. The walk-in tents, though not en-suite, each have a built in stove and the view from the loo is to die for.
TOP TIP: See Lake Titicaca and its floating reedbed islands from the Bolivian side — it’s much less visited than from Peru.
BEST TIME TO GO:
Argentina: October to April
Bolivia: April to September
Chile: October to April
Ecuador: October to June
Galapagos: year-round
Peru: April to October
JOURNEY TIME:
Argentina: 16 hours (indirect)
Bolivia: 18 hours (indirect)
Chile: 18 hours (indirect)
Ecuador: 14½ hours indirect
Galapagos: 14½ hours indirect
Peru: 14½ hours (indirect)
Clients’ comments
“We loved exploring a part of the world that neither of us knew previously. Without your guidance we would not have known where to start and we felt we came away with a very good and broad experience”.
Mr and Mrs Charles Pybus, Argentina, Chile and Brazil“From the moment I contacted Fiona again, I knew that I was going to have a fabulous time. She always seems to make my trips holidays of a lifetime. I loved the dramatic way in which we travelled to the Napo Wildlife Centre and the MV Santa Cruz was great despite being quite a large ship. The guides were tremendous. I cannot thank you enough for all the hard work you put in”.
Charlotte Langley, Ecuador and the Galapagos