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Lima & Cusco: 7-Day Machu Picchu Sunrise Tour

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/26

Duration7d

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Seven days connecting Lima's colonial heart to Machu Picchu at first light

You arrive in Lima, spend two days moving through colonial plazas and museums, fly to Cusco for a full day of archaeological sites around the city, explore the Sacred Valley's terraces and temples, take a train to Machu Picchu, and climb to the ruins at sunrise with a private guide before returning by train and plane. Hotels, all entry fees, transfers and bilingual guides are arranged; you book your own flights between cities and arrive in Cusco by noon.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Arrival and transfer in Lima

Arrive in Lima
Transfer to hotel
Rest and free time

Day 3 — Flight to Cusco and city tour

Transfer to airport
Fly to Cusco
Transfer to hotel
Panoramic view from St. Christopher's Square
Explore St. Peter's Market
Visit Qorikancha Temple
See St. Dominique Church
Visit San Blas district and Hatun Rumiyoc Street
Admire 12-angled stone
Visit Plaza de Armas
Tour Cusco Cathedral

Day 4 — Explore Sacsayhuaman and nearby sites

Visit Sacsayhuaman archaeological park
Tour Qenqo sacrificial altar
View Puca Pucara fortress
Walk to Tambomachay site
Return to Cusco

Day 5 — Sacred Valley and train to Machu Picchu

Visit Chinchero town and archaeological complex
See colonial church and weavers
Tour Moray agricultural terraces
Lunch in Sacred Valley
Visit Ollantaytambo ruins and temples
Train to Machu Picchu town

Day 6 — Machu Picchu sunrise and return

Bus to Machu Picchu mountain
Guided tour of Machu Picchu citadel
Bus down to Machu Picchu Pueblo
Lunch in Machu Picchu Pueblo
Train back to Cusco
Transfer to hotel

Day 7 — Departure from Cusco to Lima

Transfer to Cusco airport
Fly to Lima
End of tour

The Experience

You land in Lima and head to your hotel. The next morning starts with the Cathedral and Plaza Mayor—the Spanish conquest laid out in stone and gold leaf—then moves through Miraflores to see Victor Delfin's sculpture "The Kiss" and the Huaca Pucllana, a ceremonial center that rises from the modern city like a reminder of what was here first. By day three you're on a morning flight to Cusco (you book this separately; it needs to arrive by noon), and the afternoon tour takes you through the Qorikancha Temple, where gold once covered every wall, down the narrow streets of San Blas to find the famous 12-angled stone fitted so precisely no mortar was needed, and into the Cathedral to see what the Spanish built on top of what the Incas left behind.

Day four is Sacsayhuaman—massive stone blocks arranged without a single tool mark, surrounded by high grass and wind. Then Q'enqo, a sacrificial altar carved into rock, Tambomachay with its water channels still flowing, and back to Cusco before dark. The Sacred Valley comes next: Chinchero with its female weavers using ancestral techniques, Moray's circular terraces (an agricultural laboratory where the Incas tested different crops at different altitudes), and Ollantaytambo, a living Inca town where you climb to the Temple of the 10 Windows and look out over the valley the way the Incas did. Then a train ride to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the mountain.

The morning of day six, you board a bus at dawn for the serpentine climb to Machu Picchu. Entrance is 6:00 am—the first slot of the day—and your guide walks you through the terraces, temples and stone steps for about two and a half hours. The site is arranged in three circuits now (the operator assigns route 2 as priority, or route 3B or 1B depending on availability), each designed to spread visitors across different areas. After the tour you descend by bus, eat lunch in Machu Picchu Pueblo, and board the train back to Cusco along the Urubamba River, snow-capped mountains rising on both sides. Day seven is your transfer to the airport for the flight home (also booked separately).

The tour includes all ground transfers, hotel pickups, admission tickets to every site, the early-entry Machu Picchu ticket with a private guide, train tickets on Voyager service, and bilingual guides in Spanish or English. Accommodation is four nights in Cusco, one in Lima, one in Aguas Calientes. Flights between Lima and Cusco are not included—you arrange those yourself, but the morning arrival window is firm; arriving after noon leaves no time for the afternoon city tour. Altitude sickness is real above 11,000 feet; bring medicine or talk to your doctor before you go. The Machu Picchu entrance ticket is non-refundable and non-changeable; if you need a different date, you buy a new ticket.

What’s included

Your seven days include hotel accommodation in Lima, Cusco and Aguas Calientes (category chosen at booking), professional bilingual guides for all tours and excursions, all transfers from and to airports and hotels, admission tickets to the Cathedral of Lima, Qorikancha Temple, Sacsayhuaman, Q'enqo, Tambomachay, Ollantaytambo Ruins, Moray Agricultural Terraces, and Machu Picchu, early-entry access to Machu Picchu at 6:00 am with a private guide, train tickets on Voyager service from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu Pueblo and return to Cusco, and lunch in Machu Picchu Pueblo on day six. Domestic flights between Lima and Cusco are not included and must be booked separately.

Good to know

Easy physical level

Operated by VIPAC Travel

Is this one for you?This tour works for travelers who want the main Peru highlights—Lima's colonial core, Cusco's Inca temples, the Sacred Valley's agricultural sites, and Machu Picchu at sunrise—without arranging flights, hotels, guides or entry tickets separately. The fixed itinerary and early Machu Picchu slot mean you see the site before crowds arrive, and the bilingual guides handle the history and logistics so you don't have to.