11+ Days
Lima or Quito
Custom
This itinerary brings together two of South America's most remarkable places. You'll start in the Andes, exploring Inca history through the Sacred Valley and Cusco, building toward an early visit to Machu Picchu.
Then you'll trade the mountains for the sea, flying to the Galápagos for an expedition cruise — walking among giant tortoises and snorkeling alongside sea lions and rays. It's a real immersion in nature and history, at a pace that's yours.
A sample 11+ day route through the Inca heartland and the Galápagos. Yours will be shaped around your dates, pace, and interests.
You'll land in Lima and be met at the airport for the ride to your hotel. The city runs right along the Pacific, and it's become one of the best places to eat anywhere in South America. If your flight gets in at a reasonable hour, go find ceviche your first night. It's worth it.
A short morning flight brings you up to Cusco. Instead of staying up at that elevation your first day, you'll head straight down into the Sacred Valley, which sits lower and gives your body an easier start. Lunch is at a hacienda on the valley floor, the kind of long Peruvian meal you settle into, with the mountains standing over you the whole time.
Advisor Note
We ease you into the altitude by starting in the Sacred Valley, which sits lower than Cusco. A gentler first couple of days here helps your body adjust before you spend time at Cusco's higher elevation, so you feel your best for the rest of the trip.
You'll start at Moray, where the Inca dug huge circular terraces into a natural depression, each ring holding a slightly different climate. From there it's on to the salt pans at Maras, thousands of shallow white pools that local families have worked by hand since long before the Spanish turned up. The day ends at Ollantaytambo, a town people have lived in continuously since Inca times, with a hillside fortress that actually held against the conquistadors.
The Vistadome train follows the Urubamba River down out of the mountains, the walls of the gorge closing in and the landscape going green as you reach the edge of the cloud forest. You'll have lunch, then meet your private guide and go up. Machu Picchu was built around 1450, lived in for less than a hundred years, and the Spanish never located it, which is why so much of it is still intact. However many photos you've seen, the first view over the ridge tends to stop people in their tracks. You'll catch the afternoon train back to Cusco.
Advisor Note
We time your Machu Picchu visit for later in the day, once the morning rush has eased. You get a calmer site, softer light for photos, and more space to take it in at your own pace.
Advisor Note
A typical private tour of Machu Picchu runs about two to two-and-a-half hours, which covers the main circuit well. If you'd like more, a second day opens up a different circuit or one of the classic hikes — Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu Montaña, or Huchuy Picchu — with permits we arrange in advance. Just ask if you'd like to build it in.
Cusco was the capital of the Inca world, and when the Spanish arrived they built their churches straight onto the Inca stonework instead of clearing it. You'll visit the Coricancha, the sun temple whose walls were once covered in sheets of gold, and climb to Sacsayhuamán above the city, where some of the stones weigh more than a hundred tons and still lock together without any mortar. The afternoon is free to poke around San Blas, the old artisan neighborhood full of studios and small cafés.
Today's a travel day. You'll fly from Cusco up to Quito, connecting through Lima along the way. Someone will meet you when you land in Ecuador and take you to your hotel, and the rest of the evening is yours to rest up before the islands.
Quito has the largest and best-kept colonial center in the Americas, block after block of it, with churches inside so thick with gold leaf they're almost overwhelming. You'll take in the city from the Panecillo hill, step into La Compañía, then drive out to the actual equator to stand with one foot on each side of the line.
Then you fly out to the Galápagos and board your cruise. What everyone remembers afterward is how close you get to everything. Nothing out here ever learned to be afraid of people, so a sea lion will come spinning up to your mask while you snorkel, and a blue-footed booby will keep right on with its nesting a couple of feet off the trail. One morning you're in the water, the next you're crossing a lava field, and every island has animals the last one didn't. Cruises begin at four days, and we can stretch the journey to five, six, or longer to reach the islands further out.
Where You Could Stay
LimaYour first night is at the Wyndham Grand, connected right to the Lima airport terminal by a covered walkway. It's brand new and genuinely comfortable, which makes the late arrival and early Cusco flight the next morning painless. This one's about convenience, and it does that job better than anywhere in the city.
Sacred ValleyDown on the valley floor in Yucay, the Sonesta sits in old colonial grounds with gardens and the mountains right there. The lower elevation is the point on your first night out of Lima, and it's an easy, comfortable place to start adjusting.
CuscoUp on San Cristóbal hill, this boutique hotel is built on the foundations of Manco Capac's own palace, with original Inca stonework still in the gardens. The reason to stay here is the view: it looks straight down over the red roofs of Cusco and the Plaza de Armas, with the mountains behind. It's a walk down into the center and a taxi back up, but the setting is hard to beat.
QuitoA new design hotel up in Quito's modern district, near La Carolina park and the city's best restaurants and shops. The rooftop looks out over the city to the Andes. It's a short drive from the colonial old town you'll tour, and a comfortable, contemporary base for the night before the islands.
GalápagosTwo first-class sister yachts that sail the islands together, one carrying 36 guests and the other 20. Cruising in tandem means the intimacy of a small boat with the range of a bigger operation, and the guide-to-guest ratio is one of the better ones out there, usually a naturalist for every ten or twelve people. That ratio is what you actually feel day to day: more time with the guide, fewer people at each landing.
This is a sample of the properties we work with. Want to go higher? Options like Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba, Palacio del Inka, and the Infinity yacht are available. Every trip is built around your taste and budget.
Compare expedition vessels by class, capacity, and onboard style to understand what best fits your travel priorities.
Every trip is custom, so your final price depends on your travel dates, accommodations, and which Galápagos cruise you choose.
Starting from
$6,195
per person, based on double occupancy
Most journeys range $6,000 to $8,000+, custom-built to your dates, hotels, and choice of Galápagos vessel.
Includes your regional flights within Peru and Ecuador, guided experiences, and hand-picked accommodations.
That's the real, all-in number. Many operators advertise a lower starting price, then add local flights on top.
We'll walk you through the options plainly and recommend what actually makes sense for your trip, not the most expensive version of it.
A portion of every trip supports the communities and ecosystems you'll visit, including the Sacred Valley Project and the Sarara Foundation.
Get the full sample itinerary as a PDF: the day-by-day flow, a sample of the hotels and cruise we'd suggest at this price, and what's included. A starting point we'll shape around you, no obligation.
Because we design every trip from scratch, we can adjust the timing or add extensions around what you're most excited about. Common options include:
Looking for something slightly different? These itineraries offer alternative perspectives on Peru and the Galápagos.
"Booked a Machu Picchu & Galapagos trip for me and my family and it was wonderful. At each and every point, someone met us as scheduled for transfers and private tours."
— Stephen Massey · Verified Review
"We had a memorable experience in the Amazon, Galapagos and Machu Picchu. Thanks to Max for his meticulous planning, all went like clockwork. We saw remarkable places, met interesting people, and have fond memories of the trip."
— Greg Epstein · Verified Review
"My family and I worked with Max Levitt of Mindful Travel to arrange our trip to Peru. Max planned a wonderful week to Cusco and Machu Picchu. The whole experience was delightful, and I would use Mindful Travel again for future trips."
— Lynn Stevens · Verified Review
Every Mindful Travel trip is planned personally by Max. Read our story →
Ready to plan Peru and the Galápagos? Send us a few details and we'll start shaping this trip around your dates and travel style. We reply personally, usually within 24 hours — no obligation, and no deposit to get a proposal.
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