Ecuador and Galapagos. Galapagos & Machu Picchu Adventure

Start your Ecuador vacation with a guided tour of the colonial city of Quito: visit busy plazas, ornate churches and rich museums. Stay at Casa Aliso, a charming boutique-style hotel conveniently located in the stylish “La Floresta” neighborhood. Overnight Casa Aliso .

Take a two-hour flight to the Galapagos, board one of three sister yachts, the Eric, Flamingo or Letty, and prepare for an eye-opening week cruising the islands and discovering some of the world’s most diverse flora and fauna. Highlights include kayaking along Darwin Bay, a former caldera of a collapsed volcano, to spot Masked and Red-footed boobies; visiting Fernandina Island to watch penguins dive off the rocks and Marine iguanas feed underwater; and stopping off at the Charles Darwin Station on Santa Cruz Island to learn about current research and conservation initiatives (say hello to Lonesome George, perhaps the oldest resident of the Galapagos and the last-surviving giant tortoise of his sub-species). Overnights are on the yacht.

Take a flight to Lima and then Cusco, the gateway to the Urubamba Valley, for the second leg of your journey. Join our local Cusco guide for a tour of the city: visit ancient Inca temples, ornate Spanish churches, museums, markets and some of the many surrounding ruins. Overnights are at  the Costa del Sol Ramada Airport Hotel and the Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco.

Spend a day in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, including visits to the villages of Pisac and to the Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo. Depending on the season and your interests, stop along the way to chat with farmers and artisans, visit Quechua villages where highland Indians tend their fields and sell handcrafts in outdoor markets and learn the traditional methods of growing crops and weaving textiles. Overnight in the serene Urubamba Valley at the Hotel Sol y Luna.

Catch the morning train to Aguas Calientes at the base of the mountain and take a private, guided walk amongst the Machu Picchu ruins, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. The next day, explore the ancient streets and buildings at your own pace and then hike up the towering Wayna Picchu Mountain or along the Inca Trail to Intipunku. Overnights are at the rustic Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel and Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco.

Fly from Cusco to Lima (flight not inclued) where you'll enjoy a dayroom at the Casa Andina Miraflores Park Hotel before your transfer to the airport for your evening flight home.