Santiago To La Paz – This unique 15-day trip is truly an Andean adventure. The journey from the Chilean city of Santiago, through wonderful Bolivia, ends at the majestic Machu Picchu in Peru – one of the new seven wonders of the world.
Upon arrival, your local guide will meet you and transfer you to your hotel. Enjoy today at leisure.
Santiago To La Paz
After breakfast, your guide will take you on a half-day city tour of Santiago, visiting the main attractions of this charming capital. Starting at the Government Palace, proceed to the main square, Plaza de Armas, known as the heart and soul of Santiago and the center of the city’s grid pattern. Next is a walk around Santa Lucia Hill, a scenic park where Charles Darwin once declared in 1833 that the view from here was “absolutely most impressive”. End your tour with a visit to the unique residential areas of Vitacura and Las Condes, then return to your hotel for some rest and relaxation.
Santiago Recibe La Luz De La Paz De Belén
This morning you will be transferred to Santiago airport for your flight to Calama, a city in the north of Chile’s Atacama desert. Considered the archaeological capital of Chile as well as the center of the Atacama culture, the people of San Pedro once roamed this vast desert believed to be the driest place on planet Earth.
An early start takes you to Tatio Geysers, located in the highest geothermal field, 4,300 meters above sea level in the Andes. Rings of volcanoes More than 80 geysers spew fumaroles of steam 50 meters high in vivid colours. Admire a wonderful view to see a variety of animals, such as the vicuña, the smallest of the six species of camels that have adapted to survive in the harsh and harsh climate of the Andes. In the evening, your group will travel to Valle de la Luna to watch the sunset from this exquisite vantage point.
After breakfast, you will begin your journey to Bolivia’s salt flats via 4×4 jeeps for a full day tour of this incredible landscape. The first stop will be at the emerald green lagoon of the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve, whose color is due to changing sediments containing copper minerals. Then continue to the hot springs of Polques, where you can bathe before heading to the Sol de Manana geysers and marveling at the bubbling mud pools that emit pressurized steam.
After checking out from the hotel after breakfast, the tour will continue to a chain of beautiful wetlands that are home to three species of flamingos whose pink feet and feathers are the result of active red algae reacting to the sun’s rays. Lunch is served outdoors on the shores of the lagoon, before continuing your journey through the salt flats and your unique accommodation for the night – a hotel made entirely of salt blocks!
Príncipe De La Paz (2018)
Travel this morning to Isla Incahuasi, one of the main destinations in the Uyuni Salt Flats. Once upon a time, before the prehistoric lakes dried up, it was a true island, leaving a hilly outpost covered with hundreds of towering cacti growing haphazardly from the rugged surface. Reach the top of the island and find your camera to capture a panoramic 360-degree view of this spectacular sight. From here you will see the salt pyramids piled on the ground by the salt miners who harvest the area for its lucrative minerals.
Today, after breakfast, leave the salt flats and transfer to Uyuni airport for the flight to La Paz, located 3,600 meters above sea level and known as “the city that touches the sky”. Discover this bewildering city on a half-day tour, visiting the main square, Plaza Murillo, the historic center of La Paz and home to the Cathedral and the Presidential Palace. Then continue to the 16th-century San Francisco Cathedral, whose baroque facade features carvings of masks, dragons and tropical birds. Climb the stone tunnel stairs to the roof and see the city skyline, then visit the charming colonial street Calle Jaen. Finally, the tour reaches the Valle de la Luna – a dramatic change of scenery where erosion has created rock formations that resemble the moon.
Today you will transfer to Desaguadro to cross the border between Bolivia and Peru and reach Lake Titicaca, believed to be the birthplace of the sun and known as the highest navigable lake in the world. On a motorboat tour you can visit the floating islands of Uros, made entirely of floating reeds that grow abundantly in the lake below. Meet the Uros women in their colorful pleated skirts who are happy to sell you their charming handicrafts. Continue to Puno where you will spend the night.
This morning you will travel by coach from Puno to Cusco, enjoying the stunning views of the surrounding valleys along the way. The tour includes a stop at the La Raya Pass at 4,300 meters above sea level, from where you can enjoy stunning views of the snow-capped Andes. You will also stop at the ruins of Raqchi, known as the Temple of God Wiracocha, and the village of Andahuaylillas, where there is a beautiful church from the 17th century. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before arriving in Cusco and transfer to your hotel.
South America Backpacking Itinerary: 4 6 Weeks In Peru, Bolivia, And Chile — Nutrition Traveller
This morning tour of Cusco will introduce you to this amazing colonial city built on the foundations of the Inca palaces. Visit the Temple of the Sun, where you can see incredible Inca masonry, the Plaza de Armas and the cathedral with carved woodwork, altars and paintings. Later, you will visit the Inca citadel at Sacsayhuaman, whose strange granite stone slabs of up to six meters fit perfectly on top of each other. Enjoy an afternoon at leisure to explore the rest of Cusco.
Wake up early and take the train to Aguas Calientes, then continue on your way to one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the awe-inspiring ruins of Machu Picchu. First rediscovered in 1911 by explorer Hiram Bingham, this 500-year-old citadel is one of the most extraordinary examples of landscape architecture in the world. Perched on a mountain saddle, overlooking the deep valley of the Urubamba River and in an area of lush tropical forest, it served as a place of worship, a place for stargazing and a private garden for the Inca Pachacotec family.
After breakfast, your guide will transfer you from your hotel to Cusco airport for your flight to Lima. Today’s tour, known as the “City of Kings”, combines the historic culture of downtown Lima with the modern district of Miraflores. To see the cathedral, government palace and town hall, you will first visit the main square. Next, visit one of the best-preserved monasteries in Lima, the beautiful Convent of Santo Domingo, and then on to Miraflores, a bustling shopping district with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. Retreat to your hotel for the final night of your journey through Latin America.
Transfer to Lima airport for the return flight to the UK via Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Chile Bolivia And Peru
The hotels listed below are for guidance only, and final confirmation of your stay will be sent to you approx. 10 days before departure.
We cannot praise your tour agents enough, they were fantastic. A special thanks to Paula who joined us in San Pedro de Atacama, she was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Thanks to the tour guide in Bolivia as well as the four 4×4 jeep drivers. We spent a truly remarkable time in the Ionian salt flats. Tour guide Maggie who joined us at Calama airport until we left Cusco for Lima was exceptional. He was very enthusiastic about every detail, he went above and beyond and nothing was too much trouble, he would do anything to help anyone. He is an inspiration and a credit to Mercury Holiday, we wish him well in the future. A truly memorable holiday.
The Palacio de la Sal in Uyuni was amazing. Each hotel matched its location perfectly. The day in Uyuni was absolutely spectacular. Having lunch under the gazebo with 360 degrees reflecting the view of the lake was completely unexpected and completely magical. The drivers went out of their way to make sure we got great photos, they even set up props for perspective and filmed a YouTube quality video for us all.
Magaly was our best guide. I am well traveled but Magsy was the most incredible agent I have ever met. He showed love, care and support to me and the rest of the tour group.
File:2017 Santiago De Chile
All the hotels were in great locations and generally of good quality, although we found the hotel in Cusco quite “spartan”. This is an observation, not a complaint.
Having traveled all over the world, Melka is one of the best guides I have
