'Chile, Bolivia and Peru'

What makes this trip special?

City life beside the Andes

City life beside the Andes

Santiago

Set against the backdrop of a long line of Andean peaks, Santiago is a colonial city, turned republican capital, turned modern metropolis. There's a lot to do, with good art galleries, unmissable museums, lovely parks, and a great range of shops, restaurants and hotels. Step outside the city and you are in some of Chile's most notable wine valleys.

Adobe in the Desert

Adobe in the Desert

San Pedro de Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama is the main base for all your activities in the Atacama region. A few years ago the little town was just a few adobe houses, but it now bustles with visitors heading into the desert.

Astrology in the Atacama

Astrology in the Atacama

Star gazing in San Pedro

The skies of Atacama are some of the clearest in Chile with very little light pollution making this the country's most popular astronomy spot. Guides will take you on a tour through the telescopes, and the already lunar surroundings of Atacama make this is a rather surreal experience.

Lunar landscapes of Atacama

Lunar landscapes of Atacama

Moon Valley & Death Valley

The moon and death valleys in Atacama are particularly impressive at sunset, when changing light and shadow plays on the stark landscapes. The otherworldly scenery has been gradually eroded over time leaving a jagged lunar surface.

Salt Flats and Lagoons

Salt Flats and Lagoons

Salar de Atacama and Altiplanic Lagoons

10km south of San Pedro de Atacama lies this 3000 km2 area of salt pans. The plains are formed by streams from the high Andes that are unable to escape and evaporate leaving just these mineral deposits. On the Salar you will find lagoons that are home to dozens of flamingos that are attracted to the colourful waters.

High desert

High desert

Siloli Desert

Road trip through high deserts. Coloured lagoons…

Silent witnesses of Bolivia's mining heyday

Silent witnesses of Bolivia's mining heyday

Uyuni's train graveyard

Uyuni was founded as a railway junction to facilitate the mining trade links between Argentina and Chile. It was a symbol of cutting-edge progress at the end of the 19th Centuary but this progress was unsustained and trains now lay decaying outside the town of Uyuni.

The largest salt lake in the world

The largest salt lake in the world

The Uyuni Salt Flats

Traverse the stark white expanse of the vast Uyuni Salt Flats, with relief from the glare provided by a stop on a cactus-filled island.

Technicolour life at 12,000 feet

Technicolour life at 12,000 feet

La Paz

The world's highest capital city, La Paz sprawls across a large bowl enclosed by snow-capped Andean peaks. It offers sublimely colourful markets and sights ranging from indigenous ladies in bowler hats to the sensory overload of contemporary Cholet architecture. In 2014 the capital's unmissable cable car mass-transport system started up.

Sacred site

Sacred site

Copacabana

Copacabana is the gateway to the Isla del Sol and Luna, the Inca sacred island and is also Bolivia's most important Catholic pilgrimage destination. The Moorish-style Basilica of Nuestra Senora de Copacabana dominates the town's main Plaza while Cerro Calvario provides the best views of the Andes and Lake Titicaca.

Artists of the floating world

Artists of the floating world

Uros community, Lake Titicaca

Afloat on Lake Titicaca. An extraordinary existence, lived on 40 or so artificial islands woven from reeds harvested from the lake shore. The Uros consider themselves the oldest people on earth, with a welcome for their less blue-blooded visitors.

Textiles on the Lake

Textiles on the Lake

Taquile Island

Taquile Island is home to a self-sufficient Quechua-speaking traditional community, world-renowned for dramatic finely woven fabrics and traditional dress.

Centre of the Incan world

Centre of the Incan world

Cusco

A hugely atmospheric city, steeped in its Incan past, with so much to explore. Fine temples of intricate stonework, narrow lanes running to wide plazas, vibrant traditional cultures, busy markets, lively arts, bustling restaurants, with the Andes on all sides. One of the world's great travel destinations.

A temple-fortress to the Sun

A temple-fortress to the Sun

Ollyantaytambo ruins

The magnificent fortress of Ollyantaytambo stands guard at the far end of the Sacred Valley where trade routes led to the Amazon. The ruins are magnificently set and include a temple to the sun in astoundingly precise Incan stonework, with 6 pink monoliths to catch the rising sun.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Absolutely unmissable. One of the most world's evocative sites, an Incan sanctuary beautifully set among seemingly impenetrable mountains, lost for centuries. Approach it by the Inca Trail, or by rail. Truly wonderful.

Colonial Lima

Colonial Lima

Lima

The conquistadors founded Lima, and the wealth they accrued built impressive cathedrals and monasteries, and a thriving colonial centre.

Itinerary map for Chile 'Chile, Bolivia and Peru' holiday

Itinerary

  • Day      Overnight
  • 1 Santiago
  • 2 Santiago
  • 3 Santiago
  • 4 San Pedro de Atacama
  • 5 San Pedro de Atacama
  • 6 San Pedro de Atacama
  • 7 Ojo de Perdiz
  • 8 Uyuni
  • 9 Uyuni
  • 10 La Paz
  • 11 La Paz
  • 12 Puno
  • 13 Puno
  • 14 Cusco
  • 15 Cusco
  • 16 Sacred Valley
  • 17 Machu Picchu
  • 18 Cusco
  • 19 Lima
  • For the detail of each day click the ‘Day-by-day’ tab above.

Day-by-day itinerary for 'Chile, Bolivia and Peru'

DAY 1

Santiago

You are met on arrival and transferred to your hotel in the city for the next 3 nights.

DAY 2
B

An introduction to Santiago, with a morning’s guided tour. You stroll the lanes to Santa Lucia Hill, visit the Plaza de Armas, and the lively university district. You return to your hotel with the rest of the day free to visit more city sights.

DAY 3
B

After a free morning you are picked up at your hotel to visit a winery by the city’s edge for their tour to find out about growing grapes and making wine, with a tasting session at the end. Return, educated, to your hotel.

DAY 4
B

Atacama

You are taken to the airport and fly to Calama, where you are met and driven to your lodge in San Pedro for 3 nights. In the afternoon you visit the Moon Valley, Death Valley, and Kari viewpoint in time for sunset. A quick dinner at your lodge, then if the skies are right join a group to visit the SPACE astronomy centre.

DAY 5
B

A tour of the Andes, first towards the Domeyko range, the ‘Yerbas Buenas’ rock art and the village of Matancilla. Visit Rainbow Valley in muted reds, greens and purples, and the adobe village of Rio Grande. After lunch drive to Toconao, with its little church, cactus wood bell tower and market. On the Atacama salt flat flamingos feed at a lagoon, and you imbibe the sunset.

DAY 6
B

Free day. You might stay around San Pedro, explore village lanes or rent a bike to visit the Pukará de Quitor fort or other local sites. There is a good range of guided trips and hikes further afield that we can arrange in advance for you at reasonable extra cost.

DAY 7
BLD

Bolivian deserts

Acclimatised by your time in San Pedro you travel across the border into the extreme landscapes of the Bolivian deserts, a stunning drive past volcanoes and altiplanic lagoons. You stop at the Green Lagoon, the ‘Dali rocks’ and the ‘stone tree’ en route to your desert lodge at Ojo de Perdiz.

DAY 8
BL

An early start for the Sol de Mañana geysers, at their best in the cold dawn air, and continue to Laguna Colorada, then begin a road trip through some of the world’s most breathtaking landscapes. You pass below Volcano Ollague, through the Valley of Rocks, and cross the vast Gran Pampa Pelada, roamed by vicuña and ñandu with just a few scattered villages. Towards the end of the day you arrive at the mining town of Uyuni beside the immense salt flats. Once a railway junction and Bolivia’s gateway to the world, its trains stand rusting and abandoned in their graveyard, which you visit. Overnight at Uyuni or upgrade to a ‘salt hotel’.

DAY 9
BL

Uyuni Salt Flats

A full day tour of the Uyuni Salt Flats, the ‘Salar de Uyuni’, the largest in the world. At the tiny hamlet of Colchani the local people bring salt dug from the salt flat–arranged in small pillars to dry, bagged for sale for cooking, or in piles of cut blocks for building. In the dry season, usually late March-late November, you drive out on the salt flats to one of the small islands with astonishing views across the whiteness. Giant cacti grow here and viscachas scamper away as you approach. At other times the salt flats flood and form a mirror that reflects the sky from horizon to horizon. Driving on the salt flat is not permitted at this time.

DAY 10
B

La Paz

Fly to La Paz this morning, and take the cable car with spectacular views of La Paz and the Cordillera Real mountain range as you descend to the city. Your local guide takes you to explore this world of magic, fresh scenes unfolding around each corner. You visit some of the key landmarks: the Church of San Francisco, the infamous ‘witches market’, past grand government buildings and the imposing cathedral, and wander narrow cobbled streets to La Paz’s best museums on Jaén Street with colourful colonial facades, and some of the more upmarket residential areas. You drive out to the extreme landscape of the Valley of the Moon, where spires of clay reach to the sky, and return to your hotel in the late afternoon.

DAY 11
B

Day free to explore La Paz, or we can arrange a guided excursion for you.

DAY 12
B

Lake Titicaca

Journey into Peru by tourist bus (there is a private option) to Puno on the shore of Lake Titicaca for 2 nights.

DAY 13
BL

A full day boat trip on Lake Titicaca. You first visit the floating reed islands of the Uros community, where you walk on the reeds and learn about their extraordinary way of life. Sailing onwards you reach the rocky island of Taquile, home to people of different descent who are masters of textiles and proudly wear colourful traditional clothes. It is a steep puff up a well paved slope to their village at the top of the island where a traditional lunch is served with a panoramic view of Lake Titicaca. Sail back to Puno.

DAY 14
BL

Cusco

You are taken to the bus station for a 200 mile journey across the altiplano to Cusco (also possible by train). Your tour bus stops at Pucara, which produces the pottery bulls that bring luck to every roof in the Andes, at Racchi for the impressive temple of Wiracocha, and a beautiful chapel at Andahuaylillas. Ending a memorable day you are taken to your hotel in Cusco for 2 nights.

DAY 15
B

Your guide meets you at your hotel for a private tour of important Incan sites around Cusco. At the great temple fortress of Saqsawaman you walk among massive Incan walls at the jaguar’s head of Incan Cusco, with wonderful views across the city and beyond. At Qenko you enter passages carved in a sacred rock to a revered divining stone. You visit Incan baths at Tambo Machay, a mountain spring cascading from a channel at just the right height for a (rather short) Inca to enjoy. At Puca-pucara you see a lovely example of a classic Inca ‘tambo’ of the kind that marked each day’s journey on roads throughout their empire. In the afternoon you stop by the church of San Cristobal for a panorama of Cusco, and visit the bustling St Peters Market–its stalls laden with Andean produce. You visit Qoricancha, the most important Incan temple, its temple walls once lined with gold. In the oldest part of Cusco you walk down a lane beside the palace of Inca Roca, a magnificent example of intricate Incan ‘pillow’ stonework, emerging at the Plaza de Armas where your guide shows you around the Cathedral.

DAY 16
BL

The Sacred Valley of the Incas

On your drive into the Sacred Valley, you stop at a weaving co-operative where wool from llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos is spun, dyed and woven into traditional textiles. You visit the Incan fortress overlooking the little town of Pisac, and browse the market before continuing to your hotel for the night.

DAY 17
BLD

This morning your guide shows you other sites around the Sacred Valley including the magnificent Incan fort of Ollantaytambo, with temples, observatories and fine stonework, Incan terrace circles at Moray high on a plateau with spectacular Andes views, and salt pans above Maras stepped into the hill. You board a late afternoon train to Machu Picchu Pueblo below the Incan citadel, and are helped from the station to your hotel.

DAY 18
B

Machu Picchu

First thing this morning, or later if you wish, you take the bus up to the ruins of Machu Picchu for your private guided tour of the ‘lost city of the Incas’. Catching a bus back down the mountain you board the train back to the Sacred Valley, where you are met and driven to your hotel in downtown Cusco.

DAY 19
B

Lima

A leisurely start in Cusco with free time before you are driven to the airport to fly to the capital Lima on the Pacific coast.

DAY 20
B

You are collected for a private tour visiting the ‘Love Park’ atop an ocean cliff, the pre-Incan adobe pyramid of Huaca Pucllana, Plaza de Armas with the government palace and city hall. You visit the cathedral and Santo Domingo convent with your guide. Later you are driven to the airport for your flight to the UK.

DAY 21

DAY 22

Guide prices for 'Chile, Bolivia and Peru'

options based on all year low season mid season high season peak season other season
Mid-range hotels, mix of shared and private services 2 people sharing £5,145
Upper range hotels, mostly private services 2 people sharing £5,995
Prices are per person and include:
  • all land transport and regional flights
  • all accommodation
  • meals as indicated (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner)
  • excursions as indicated
Prices do not include:
  • international flights
  • travel insurance
  • items of a personal nature such as drinks, tips, laundry, etc
  • any optional excursions you may buy locally
  • airport and departure taxes if these are not included in the flight ticket

Customer reviews for 'Chile, Bolivia and Peru'

Recent reviews are shown here from holidays based on this initial design. In each case the itinerary may have been modified (a little or a lot) to suit the individual traveller.

Average customer rating 100%

Seasonal information for 'Chile, Bolivia and Peru'

Along this route in January

Day Location Max °C Monthly rainfall
1 Santiago 30°C rainfall 1mm
2 Santiago 30°C rainfall 1mm
3 Santiago 30°C rainfall 1mm
4 San Pedro de Atacama 24°C rainfall 22mm
5 San Pedro de Atacama 24°C rainfall 22mm
6 San Pedro de Atacama 24°C rainfall 22mm
7 Ojo de Perdiz 15°C rainfall 25mm
8 Uyuni 21°C rainfall 47mm
9 Uyuni 21°C rainfall 47mm
10 La Paz 17°C rainfall 120mm
11 La Paz 17°C rainfall 120mm
12 Puno 15°C rainfall 160mm
13 Puno 15°C rainfall 160mm
14 Cusco 17°C rainfall 155mm
15 Cusco 17°C rainfall 155mm
16 Sacred Valley 16°C rainfall 143mm
17 Machu Picchu 22°C rainfall 187mm
18 Cusco 17°C rainfall 155mm
19 Lima 27°C rainfall 2mm

Typical weather for January

rainchart

Max °C figures are the average daily maximum temperatures for the month. Rainfall is the average precipitation for the month.

Hotels for 'Chile, Bolivia and Peru'

Days 1 - 3

NovaPark

Santiago

Attractively priced, no frills, Novapark Hotel is a functional modern hotel located in downtown Santiago near Santa Lucia hill and Santa Lucia metro station.  All of the 156 standard rooms (twin or double) are have air conditioning and heating, wifi, a hair dryer, safe and TV. There is a cafeteria, restaurant and bar.

NovaPark
Hotel Exterior
Days 5 - 6

Poblado Kimal

San Pedro de Atacama

Centrally located the Poblado Kimal is a good mid-range option. With 21 rooms (20 standard and 1 superior with Jacuzzi) made of adobe and wood these are distributed around and remind of an ancient village. Each room has en-suite facilities, mini-bar, heating and fan. The hotel also has Wi-Fi, parking and a pool. Meals are taken at the Restaurant located at the Hotel Kimal (opposite).

 

Poblado Kimal
Cabin exteriors
Day 7

Tayka del Desierto

Siloli Desert
rating

Average rating 4.1 (8 ratings)

The accommodation is basic but comfortable, and located right in the Siloli desert. From the hotel restaurant, guests can enjoy a wonderful view of the majestic desert. The hotel runs on solar energy and has a heating system based on circulating hot water. All rooms have private bathrooms with hot water.

Tayka del Desierto
Dining area
Days 8 - 9

Tambo Aymara

Uyuni town
rating

Average rating 4.5 (2 ratings)

Tambo Aymara
Courtyard
Days 10 - 11

Hostal Naira

La Paz
rating

Average rating 4.7 (7 ratings)

Located in a colorful, colonial-style building in the heart of La Paz. Near to the Basilica of San Francisco and a 5-minute walk from El Mercado de las Brujas, ('Witches' market').

Hostal La Naira contains 32 rooms, all including free wifi and cable TV. Room service is available.

Other aminities: international restaurant/café, pub, warm TV lounge and charm and delightful courtyard.

 

Hostal Naira
Courtyard
Days 12 - 13

Xima Hotel (formerly Eco Inn)

Puno
rating

Average rating 4.7 (3 ratings)

Located on the outskirts of the town of Puno, the Eco Inn looks over the magnificent Lake Titicaca. All 61 rooms at the hotel have Cable TV, telephones, safety deposit boxes, Wi-Fi access and hairdryers, and some rooms have views over the lake. The Araya restaurant is located on site and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner should you not wish to take a taxi the short distance into town.

Xima Hotel (formerly Eco Inn)
Hotel exterior
Days 14 - 15

Tierra Viva Saphi Hotel

Cusco

Located about an 8 minute walk away from the main square in Cusco's historical centre, Tierra Viva Saphi hotel is a comfortable mid-range option.

All 20 rooms have private bathrooms, cable TV, complimentary internet access, telephone, heating, hair dryer and safety deposit boxes.

 

Tierra Viva Saphi Hotel
Outside of the hotel
Day 16

Pakaritampu

Sacred Valley
rating

Average rating 4.6 (7 ratings)

Hotel Pakaritampu has a great location just 5 minutes walk from the train station in Ollantaytambo. This characterful mid-range small hotel has 37 en suite rooms and 1 suite spread across blocks around the hotel grounds. It has a lovely garden filled with native plants and flowers which attract hummingbirds. There are llamas grazing on the lawn and a telescope for star gazing at night. There is a bar and restaurant serving Peruvian and international cuisine, and the town of Ollantaytambo is a short distance away.

Pakaritampu
Hotel gardens
Day 17

El Mapi

Machu Picchu Pueblo
rating

Average rating 4.8 (9 ratings)

El Mapi is Inkaterra's new, 48-room, functional,  contemporary style hotel located in the centre of Machu Picchu Pueblo - the village at the base of Machu Picchu's mountain. Bedrooms are small but well appointed each with blackout curtains, 100% cotton sheets, down duvets, hypoallergenic pillows, cotton bath robes, natural herbal amenities, 32" flat screen TVs and tight-focus reading lights. There is a cafeteria offering organic salads, fresh sandwiches, homemade soups and pastries which is open until 11pm and a bar with free Wi-Fi. Oxygen is available upon request.

El Mapi
Superior room
Day 18

Tierra Viva Saphi Hotel

Cusco

Located about an 8 minute walk away from the main square in Cusco's historical centre, Tierra Viva Saphi hotel is a comfortable mid-range option.

All 20 rooms have private bathrooms, cable TV, complimentary internet access, telephone, heating, hair dryer and safety deposit boxes.

 

Tierra Viva Saphi Hotel
Outside of the hotel
Day 19

Casa Andina Select, Miraflores

Lima
rating

Average rating 4.3 (3 ratings)

A basic, but comfortable business style hotel, conveniently located in the fashionable district of Miraflores, close to numerous shops, restaurants and cafes.  All 145 rooms at the Casa Andina Select come equipped with Tv's, writing desks, soundproof windows, blackout curtains and private bathrooms. Other facilities in the hotel include a bar & restaurant, Spa, Gym & Sun terrace with jacuzzi and a business centre with computers for guests use.  Wi-Fi is also available in the hotel.

Casa Andina Select, Miraflores
Hotel exterior