A 16-NIGHT ECO-ADVENTURE cruise TO GALAPAGOS OUTER LOOP AND MACHU PICCHU, PERU

Experience a guided tour of the capital of Ecuador. Your tour director will serve as your personal concierge before your flight to Baltra, Galapagos, where naturalist guides will be waiting to transfer you onboard the ship.

Then spend the day cruising by a satellite volcanic cone located north of Santa Cruz Island. The island is famous for the scientific investigation led by Peter and Rosemary Grant on the finches’ population, one of the most important studies in the field that supports Charles Darwin’s Theory.

Next up, you’ll visit white sandy beaches of Gardner Bay, one of the best places to relax and swim in the Galapagos. It's home to one of the most important colonies of sea lions and is a nesting site for sea turtles.

You’ll also visit Española, the oldest island in the Galapagos and home to an abundance of wildlife, including the Waved Albatross. A cliffside hike leads to a natural lava fissure that spews water like a towering geyser!

Floreana’s small brackish lagoon is often home to flamingos, stilts, and white-cheeked pintail ducks, and one of its beaches is a highly used nesting site for sea turtles. Check out the green-hued sand where you land.

Next up you’ll visit Post Office Bay—established around 1793 when pirates, buccaneers, whalers, and others would leave their mail in a barrel to be picked up by outbound ships.

The mangrove-lined shores of Moreno Point provides a chance to see marine iguanas, sea turtles, stingrays, sharks, penguins, and the flightless cormorant.

In 1954, the intrusion of magma below Urvina Bay caused part of the bay to be uplifted some 6 meters, allowing you to walk through the remains of what was once a thriving underwater reef!

Fernandina is the youngest island in the Galapagos and, as Darwin wrote, it is “covered with immense deluges of black naked lava” which hosts the largest colony of marine iguanas in the Archipelago, along with sea lions and a nesting site for flightless cormorants.

A short hike and zodiac boat ride provide ample opportunity to observe the beauty and wildlife of the northeast coast of Santa Cruz.

Excursion options include a high-intensity hike with swimming and snorkeling at the beach, high-intensity snorkeling from a zodiac followed by a short walk and a low-intensity zodiac ride along the coastline with optional dry landing for animal observation!

In Lima you’ll check in and enjoy dinner and at the beautiful Westin Lima. Spend the next morning enjoying the hotel’s renowned spa, go for a swim in the indoor pool, or explore Lima—the choice is yours! Around noon, you’ll experience a guided tour through city with a culinary twist before your early departure to Cuzco the following morning.

Fly to Cuzco and dine at Casa Hacienda Orihuela, a family of great art collectors who will be your hosts.

Next, you’ll head to the Urubamba Valley—the Sacred Valley of the Incas. There, you’ll tour the impressive ruins, featuring terraces carved into the hillside and a temple designed for worship and astronomical observation, as well as the fortress of Ollantaytambo.

After breakfast, you’ll head to Ollantaytambo rail station where you’ll board the Vistadome train on a tour of the almost perfectly preserved buildings and the mysterious passageways beneath the city. Lunch and later afternoon tea will be served at the Sanctuary Lodge in Machu Picchu.

Later, you’ll board the world-famous Belmond Hiram Bingham train for your journey to Cuzco. Enjoy welcome aperitifs, dinner, and a selection of wines as well as live local music, dancing, and Pisco sours. You’re next destination is the Belmond Palacio Nazarenas in Cuzco.

Embark on a scenic tour of the Coricancha, also known as the “Temple of the Sun,” the Sacsayhuamán fortress, and the Cathedral—one of the most splendid Spanish colonial churches housing about 400 colonial paintings from the Cuzco art school.

Close out your trip back in Lima where you’ll tour the city and its 2,000 years of history and colonial wealth. Stop at Saint Francis' Convent, a masterpiece of colonial architecture to visit its beautiful courtyards and catacombs. Then it’s time to relax back at the Westin Lima Hotel before you head home with some unforgettable memories.