Self-Launched Amazon Riverboat & Machu Picchu Explorer (16 Days, Lima Loop)

Land at Jorge Chávez airport and take an official taxi (about £18-22 / S/80-100) or the Airport Express Lima bus to Miraflores (about £6). Check into a hostel in Miraflores or Barranco. Do a free evening walk along the Malecón clifftop and eat a cheap menu at a local huarique. If arriving late, change a little cash at the airport (poor rates) and draw soles from a Banco de Crédito or BBVA ATM in Miraflores instead.

🚌Official airport taxi ~£20 or Airport Express bus ~£6

🛏Hostel private twin or 4-bed dorm, Miraflores/Barranco (~£12-18 pp)

• →Airport transfer to Miraflores
• →Malecón sunset walk
• →Barranco street food

Early LATAM/Sky flight to Iquitos (about £70-110 one way; book direct or on Klook/Despegar — a return Lima-Iquitos is cheaper booked as a round trip and left open on return date if possible). Iquitos is roadless, so everything arrives by river or air. Spend the afternoon on a self-guided walk of the Belén market and the riverside Boulevard, and visit the manatee rescue centre (Amazon Rescue Center, entry ~£4, reachable by mototaxi ~£2). Then transfer to your boat — most budget operators board late afternoon or the following morning, so confirm your own boat's schedule.

🚌Domestic flight ~£90; mototaxi in Iquitos ~£2-3

🛏Night 1 aboard budget Amazon boat or Iquitos guesthouse if boarding next morning (~£15-20 pp)

• →Lima-Iquitos domestic flight
• →Belén market walk
• →Amazon Rescue Center manatee visit

Cast off from Iquitos and head upriver on the Marañón and Ucayali, where the two great rivers eventually form the Amazon. Join a guided skiff (small boat) excursion along tributaries to spot river dolphins, cormorants and iguanas, and take an afternoon nature presentation from your boat's naturalist. Budget boats usually run 12-20 passengers with shared cabins and fans; if you want a private cabin it costs more, so confirm the category when booking.

🚌Amazon riverboat

🛏Aboard Amazon riverboat, shared cabin (~£40-60 pp all-in incl. meals, budget operator)

• →Riverboat departure from Iquitos
• →Skiff excursion on tributaries
• →Naturalist briefing

Early morning skiff into the Pacaya-Samiria reserve — Peru's largest protected area and a flooded forest maze of black-water channels. Look for pink river dolphins, squirrel monkeys and hoatzins. In the afternoon visit a riverside village to meet a local healer (curandero) for an ayahuasca/plant-medicine talk — book this through your boat's guide rather than turning up cold, as village visits are coordinated with the community.

🚌Amazon riverboat + skiff

🛏Aboard Amazon riverboat, shared cabin

• →Dawn skiff wildlife excursion
• →Pacaya-Samiria reserve entry
• →Village shaman/curandero visit

Morning off the boat to spend time with a local ribereño family — share a home-cooked meal of fish, plantain and rice and learn about daily river life. Most budget boat itineraries include one such community visit; if yours doesn't, ask your guide to arrange it directly and pay the family a fair contribution (about £5-10). After dark, head out by skiff with a spotlight to find caimans, night monkeys and frogs.

🚌Skiff excursions

🛏Aboard Amazon riverboat, shared cabin

• →Indigenous family visit and home-cooked lunch
• →Night wildlife boat excursion

Explore the Choroyacu area by dugout canoe through flooded mangroves, try piranha fishing with a handline and bamboo rod (your catch is usually fried up for lunch), and if conditions allow swim in a safe river channel — check with your guide first, as currents and wildlife vary. Another night excursion after dark.

🚌Dugout canoe / skiff

🛏Aboard Amazon riverboat, shared cabin

• →Piranha fishing
• →Dugout canoe through mangroves
• →Optional river swim
• →Night wildlife excursion

Downriver back toward Iquitos with stops at the Sapisapi River and the port town of Nauta. Disembark in Iquitos, settle into a guesthouse in the quieter Punchana or central area, and eat at the riverside barrio of Belén — the Amazonian fish (paiche, dorado) and juanes (rice-stuffed leaves) are the local dishes to try.

🚌Amazon riverboat

🛏Iquitos guesthouse, private room (~£15-22 pp)

• →River stops at Sapisapi and Nauta
• →Disembark in Iquitos
• →Belén riverside dinner

Morning flight back to Lima. Check into a hostel in Miraflores and use the afternoon for the Museo Larco (pre-Columbian ceramics, entry ~£9) or simply walk the coast at Parque del Amor. Book your onward Cusco flight and Sacred Valley accommodation tonight — prices are better and you avoid the peak-week scramble.

🚌Domestic flight ~£85

🛏Hostel private twin or dorm, Miraflores (~£12-18 pp)

• →Iquitos-Lima return flight
• →Museo Larco or Malecón walk

A self-launched city day: join a free walking tour of the historic centre (tip-based, ~£4-6), wander the Plaza Mayor, San Francisco convent catacombs (~£4) and the Mercado de Surquillo for fruit and ceviche. For a proper foodie hit, book a ceviche or pisco sour cooking class via GetYourGuide/Klook (~£25-40) or eat at a cheap menú del día restaurant for £3-5.

🚌Walking + local bus/Metropolitano ~£2-4

🛏Hostel private twin or dorm, Miraflores (~£12-18 pp)

• →Free walking tour of Lima centro
• →San Francisco convent catacombs
• →Surquillo market
• →Optional ceviche cooking class

Early flight to Cusco (collective taxi from Cusco airport to the Sacred Valley is about £15-25 shared, or take a colectivo via Urubamba for ~£4-6). Go gently — you're at 2,800-3,600m. Visit the Pisac ruins above the town (entry via the Boleto Turístico, ~£30 for 16 sites incl. Ollantaytambo, Moray, Chinchero) and drop into the Ccaccaccollo women's weaving co-op, a community textile project you can visit directly and support by buying weavings. Stay in Urubamba or Ollantaytambo rather than Cusco to acclimatise lower.

🚌Flight ~£60-90; shared taxi Cusco-Urubamba ~£5

🛏Family-run guesthouse, Urubamba or Ollantaytambo (~£15-22 pp)

• →Lima-Cusco flight
• →Pisac ruins
• →Ccaccaccollo women's weaving co-op
• →Boleto Turístico purchase

Hire a local driver for the day (~£25-35 shared between 3-4 people, or take colectivos and walk the last stretch) to see the Maras salt pans (entry ~£2.50), the Inca agricultural terraces at Moray (~£4, covered by Boleto Turístico), and the fortress-town of Ollantaytambo with its still-inhabited Inca streets. For a Pachamanca (earth-oven) meal, many Urubamba guesthouses will arrange one for £8-12 per person if asked a day ahead — this is the local equivalent of the operator's included dinner.

🚌Hired car/colectivos ~£8-12 pp

🛏Family-run guesthouse, Urubamba or Ollantaytambo (~£15-22 pp)

• →Las Salineras salt pans
• →Moray terraces
• →Ollantaytambo ruins
• →Pachamanca lunch or dinner

Take the scenic PeruRail or Inca Rail Vistadome/Expedition train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (about £50-70 one way; book early on perurail.com or incarail.com — cheapest seats sell out). Spend the afternoon at the hot springs (~£4), the Mariposario butterfly house (~£4) and the Mandor Gardens trail. Buy your Machu Picchu entry ticket online in advance at machupicchu.gob.pe (about £35-40) — tickets are strictly timed and sell out.

🚌PeruRail/Inca Rail train ~£55

🛏Guesthouse in Aguas Calientes (~£20-30 pp)

• →Scenic train to Aguas Calientes
• →Hot springs
• →Butterfly house or Mandor Gardens
• →Machu Picchu ticket purchase

Take the first Consettur bus up (~£10 return) or walk the 1,600 steps up from Aguas Calientes if you're fit and acclimatised. Enter with an early timed ticket, do a self-paced circuit of the citadel, the Inti Punku (Sun Gate) if you have the 4-6 hour route, or add Huayna Picchu (~£18 extra, limited permits, book with your entry). You can also walk to the Inca Bridge for free on most circuits. A licensed guide at the gate costs about £35-50 to split between a few people — worth it for context.

🚌Consettur bus ~£10; return train ~£55

🛏Return by afternoon/evening train to Ollantaytambo or Cusco (~£55)

• →Machu Picchu entry and circuit
• →Optional Huayna Picchu climb
• →Inca Bridge walk
• →Optional shared local guide

Travel by colectivo or shared van back to Cusco (~£3-5). Settle into a hostel in San Blas. Explore the Qorikancha and Santo Domingo convent (~£4, included in Boleto Turístico), Cusco cathedral (~£6), and the San Pedro market for cheap locro soup and fresh juice. A coca-leaf tea evening on a San Blas balcony is free and helps with altitude.

🚌Colectivo Ollantaytambo-Cusco ~£4

🛏Hostel, San Blas (~£10-16 pp)

• →Qorikancha
• →Cusco cathedral
• →San Pedro market
• →San Blas wander

Choose your day: a group day trip to Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca) booked via GetYourGuide or G Adventures' local competitors from about £25-40 including transport, entry and breakfast — leave at 3am and be prepared for 5,000m; or a gentler half-day to Sacsayhuamán, Q'enqo and Tambomachay (Boleto Turístico). Evening: last pisco sours and alpaca steak or a cheap menú in San Blas.

🚌Tour van ~£30 or local combi ~£2

🛏Hostel, San Blas (~£10-16 pp)

• →Optional Rainbow Mountain day trip
• →Or Sacsayhuamán and Inca sites
• →San Blas evening

Morning flight Cusco-Lima (~£50-80) with enough buffer before an international connection — never book the same-day tight connection, as Andean weather delays flights. Store bags at the airport, and if you have hours to spare take a taxi to the Museo de Arte de Lima or simply eat a final ceviche in Callao/Miraflores before heading to departures.

🚌Domestic flight ~£65; airport taxi ~£20

🛏None (departure day)

• →Cusco-Lima flight
• →Optional Lima museum or lunch
• →International departure