7-Nights Mystical Peru - Tauck Bridges Family Travel

Cuzco

The Cuzco (Cusco) region of Peru combines Inca legacy with Spanish colonial architecture in an atmosphere at once provincial and sublime. The chaotic marketplaces where campesinos barter grain or potatoes for multi-colored fabric belie the mute spirituality of the Lost Cities, where Inca stonework conveys order and balance. Such diversity enhances this inspiring nine-day adventure. The blue sky radiates with an intensity achieved only at high altitudes (the city of Cuzco lies 11,150 feet above sea level), while the landscape offers its unique pattern of exacting agricultural grids and tangled jungle masses.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is a fortress city of the ancient Incas, in a high saddle between two peaks 50 miles NW of Cuzco, Peru. The extraordinary pre-Columbian ruin consists of five sq. miles of terraced stonework link by 3,000 steps; it was virtually intact when discovered by Hiram Bibghan in 1911.

Urubamba

Urubamba is a well endowed town situated in the shadow of beautiful Chicon and Pumahuanca glaciers. The attractive Plaza de Armas is laid back and attractive, with palm trees and a couple of pines sourounded by interesting topiary. Weekends there's a large market on Jirón Palacio, which serves local villages; and at the large ceramic workshops set around a lovely garden at Avenida Berriozabal 111, new and ancient techniques are used to produce colourful, Amerindian inspired pots, household items and artistic pieces for sale on site. Urubamba makes an ideal base from which to explore mountains and lower hills around Sacred Valley, which are filled with sites. Also within walking distance, the salt pans of Salinas, still in use after more than four hundred years, are situated only a short distance from the village of Tarabamba, 6km along the road from Urubamba to Ollantaytambo.

Lima

Lima, "the City of the Kings," became the effective capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, established 1560. Today, a visit to Lima may serve as a unique Peruvian experience that offers a glimpse into the Andean world, Spanish tradition and the country's modern aspect. Visit handsome old buildings and baroque churches that testify to the city's religious background and the Plaza de Armas, shared by the realms of the Catholic church, municipality and national government. The pre-Inca ruins of Pachacamac lie a short distance south of the city. Once a ceremonial site, Pachacamac has been the most important religious center of the Andean world since before the age of Christ. Stop and admire The Temple of the Sun and the Moon, Lima's outstanding museums, and Machu Picchu - a "Jewel in the Mist."