Amazon and Machu Picchu Tour: Train, Jungle & Inca Ruins

A transfer takes you back to Lima's airport for the flight into Puerto Maldonado, gateway to the Peruvian Amazon. From there, the trip changes pace completely: a motorized canoe carries you up the Madre de Dios River to the lodge, and the ride itself is the first taste of the jungle. Black skimmers work the water's surface, pied lapwings pick along the sandbars, and kingfishers, swallows, and tyrant flycatchers cut along the riverbanks — wildlife you only get from being on the water, not from a bus window.

The lodge is built from native materials with low-impact techniques designed to leave a light footprint on the surrounding forest. Don't expect hot water or electricity — rooms come with mosquito nets, flush toilets, and kerosene lamps instead. It's simple by design, and most travelers find that's part of the point. The naturalist guides are multilingual and, in most cases, come from communities along this same river.

Today is given to the forest. Guided hikes with a local naturalist cover both wildlife and the plants Amazonian communities have relied on for generations — many of the "ordinary" jungle plants turn out to have a medicinal use once someone points it out.

Tambopata earns its reputation here. The reserve protects more than 1,300 bird species — 32 of them parrots, roughly 10% of every parrot species on Earth — plus 200 mammal species, 90 frog species, 1,200 butterfly species, and 10,000 species of higher plants, all under legal protection. Sightings tend to cluster around the Oxbow Lake: harpy eagles, the strange prehistoric-looking hoatzin, tapirs, peccaries, and — if the timing is right — jaguars, ocelots, or a family of river otters working the shoreline.

Puerto Maldonado itself, where the Madre de Dios and Tambopata rivers meet, is a working frontier town built on gold mining, Brazil nut collecting, and timber. Ecotourism is the newest addition to that list — and the reason this lodge exists at all.

A short flight lifts you out of the jungle and into the Andes. Stepping off the plane in Cusco, the change is immediate: thinner air, cooler temperatures, mountains instead of canopy. Our representative will meet you and handle the transfer to your hotel.

The rest of the day is yours, and it's worth treating it that way. Cusco sits above 3,400 meters, and altitude sickness is a real possibility if you push too hard on day one. Coca tea, slow walking, and an early night go a long way — save the churches and markets for the days ahead, once you've acclimated.

The Sacred Valley was the Inca Empire's breadbasket, and in many ways it still works that way. The Urubamba River — also called the Vilcanota — carves through Pisac and Ollantaytambo on its way toward the Machu Picchu sanctuary, and a good share of Cusco's produce still comes from these same fields.

The day starts at the Pisac ruins, set on a hillside above town with views over the surrounding peaks on a clear morning. Agricultural terraces step down the slope in long curved bands, and higher up sits the Intihuatana — an Inca solar observatory carved directly into the rock, the ceremonial center of the site.

Down in town, Pisac's market is worth the stop even if you don't buy anything: alpaca textiles, silverwork, and stalls selling typical Andean snacks fill the square. From there, lunch is a buffet of Andean dishes in Urubamba, known locally as the valley's capital. The afternoon continues to Ollantaytambo, a town continuously inhabited since Inca times — you can tell by how the modern streets still follow the original Inca grid. The main temple here doubled as a fortress during the Inca resistance against the Spanish, and the climb to the top gives one of the better viewpoints in the entire valley.

The route back to Cusco includes a guided stop in Chinchero before arriving at your hotel in the evening. Pack light for tomorrow: a small daypack with two days' worth of essentials is all you need for Machu Picchu — the hotel will hold the rest of your luggage in storage.

The morning starts with a drive to Ollantaytambo, where you board the train to Aguas Calientes. This is one of the more scenic rail routes in South America — it follows the Urubamba River downhill, and the landscape shifts from open Andean valley to cloud forest as the elevation drops. You'll arrive in Aguas Calientes by lunchtime, where our representative meets you and handles check-in.

The afternoon is free. Most travelers spend it one of two ways: the 35-minute walk out to the Machu Picchu Museum and its orchid garden, or a soak in the hot springs that gave the town its name — Aguas Calientes literally means "hot waters." Either is a reasonable way to spend the hours before tomorrow's early start.

An early bus ride gets you to the entrance gate right as Machu Picchu opens. From there, a two-hour guided walk through Circuit 2 — the most complete route through the citadel — covers the main temples, terraces, and viewpoints most people picture when they imagine the site.

A few things worth knowing in advance: Machu Picchu's tickets are now sold by "Circuit," and each one designates a fixed route through the site. We book Circuit 2 for this tour because it covers the most ground. If you want to add Huayna Picchu or Machu Picchu Mountain, those require their own circuit and ticket — Circuit 3 (Route 3A) for Huayna Picchu, or Circuit 1 (Route 1A) for the mountain — booked separately and well in advance, since both sell out months ahead. Once your guided circuit ends, there's no re-entry for a second pass without an additional ticket, so it's worth seeing what matters to you the first time through.

In the afternoon, the train returns you to Ollantaytambo, where a driver picks you up for the transfer back to Cusco.

Rainbow Mountain — known locally as Vinicunca, or the Seven Color Mountain — sits near Ausangate, the tallest peak in this stretch of the Cordillera Vilcanota. The colors come from sedimentary mineral layers exposed by erosion, not dye or paint, which is the detail most first-time visitors don't expect until they're standing in front of it.

The full-day hike climbs above 4,400 meters (14,400 feet), following a dirt trail between green ridgelines and red rock outcrops, past small stone villages and mountain streams along the way. It's often cited as one of National Geographic's "100 places to visit in a lifetime" — and worth knowing before you go: the colors shift with the weather. Cloudy skies mute them, while full sun brings out the brighter tones, so don't be discouraged by a gray morning.

After eight structured days, today is yours. Cusco rewards travelers who wander rather than rush — among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the Americas, and still the natural hub for reaching the rest of southern Peru. Inca stone walls form the foundations of entire blocks downtown, and most of the city's major ruins sit close enough to visit without an organized tour.

Museums and colonial churches

The Qorikancha Museum sits on the site of the Incas' most important temple, while the Inca Museum and Regional Historical Museum fill in context for what you've already seen in the Sacred Valley and at Machu Picchu. The cathedral on the main square took a full century to build, starting in 1559, and now holds the city's largest collection of colonial art — along with the tomb of El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the 16th-century chronicler whose writing remains one of the few firsthand accounts bridging Inca and colonial Peru. La Compañía, La Merced, and San Francisco round out the city's other notable churches.

For the more active

Cusco also works as a base for half-day outdoor trips: whitewater rafting on the Urubamba River, horseback riding out to Sacsayhuamán, Qenqo, Tambo Machay, and Puka Pukara, or mountain biking down toward Maras, Moray, and the Salineras salt pans — with the option to stop at Inca sites along the way.

In the evening

Cusco's restaurant scene has grown well past traditional Andean fare, and the San Blas neighborhood in particular has a dense cluster of cafés and bars worth wandering through after dinner.

Your tour wraps up with a flight from Cusco back to Lima, where our service officially ends. A representative will see you off at the airport in Cusco — by this point, the altitude headache from Day 04 should feel like a distant memory.

If you'd rather stay longer, just let us know in advance. Flight dates can be adjusted, and we're glad to help arrange extra time in Lima, Cusco, or anywhere else on the route — plenty of travelers extend a few days for the coast or Lake Titicaca once they're already this far south.

Transport

• Domestic flights: Lima – Puerto Maldonado – Cusco
• All airport transfers, on arrival and departure
• Private van transport for tours and local transfers
• Motorboat transportation during the Amazon segment
• Round-trip tourist train to Machu Picchu
• Round-trip shuttle bus to Machu Picchu

Accommodation

• Three-star hotels (seven nights) and jungle lodges (two nights)

Guiding & Entrance Fees

• Welcome by a Tierras Vivas representative on arrival
• Professional, bilingual tour guides as per the itinerary
• All entrance fees per the itinerary, including Machu Picchu

Meals

• 8 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 1 buffet lunch, and 2 dinners (CONFIRMAR)

Flights & Tickets

• International flights or airport departure taxes
• Domestic flight from Cusco to Lima (your Day 10 return flight — see note below)
• Huayna Picchu Mountain ticket (book separately and in advance — see Day 07)

Accommodation & Extras

• Pre- and post-tour accommodation
• Travel insurance
• Meals not listed in the itinerary
• Tips and baggage portage (customary in Peru, though not obligatory)
• Other extras not mentioned

Good to Know

Budget for extra meals: Plan for an additional USD 100–150 for meals not included in the itinerary.

Traveling solo: If you've booked the Solo Traveler option, you get your own single room every night — including at the jungle lodge.

About your flights: Two domestic flights are included in the tour price: Lima–Puerto Maldonado and Puerto Maldonado–Cusco. We'll need your passport details at booking to issue these tickets, which are handed to you locally before each flight. The return flight from Cusco to Lima on Day 10 is booked separately, since travel dates and onward plans vary — just let us know and we're glad to help arrange it.

Every tour includes a guide or representative who knows the destinations well beyond the standard script — beyond logistics, they're also a reliable source for where to eat and what's worth the detour. Guides bring real depth on Inca history, regional culture, and local customs, and we bring in specialist local guides for moments where that extra expertise matters, like at the Amazon lodge.

Beyond the guide on the ground, a Tierras Vivas representative stays reachable by WhatsApp for your entire trip — download the app before you travel, since it's our main channel for anything from a schedule change to an actual emergency. They also stay in direct contact with our local operators throughout the trip, so if something needs adjusting, it gets handled without you having to chase it down.

1. Lima

Hotel Ferré Miraflores

• Address: Calle Diego Ferré 235, Miraflores, Lima, Perú
• Phone: +51 1 446-7276
  
  

2. Puerto Maldonado

Monte Amazónico Lodge

• Address: Av. León Velarde 119 Puerto Maldonado - Perú
• Phone: +51 982 272 488
  
  

3. Cusco

Illa Hotel

• Dirección: Calle Carmen Alto 166, Barrio San Blas, Cusco, Perú
• Phone: +51 84 262328
  
  

4. Machu Picchu

Hatun Inti Classic - Aguas Calientes

• Address: Av. Pachacutec 606, Aguas Calientes, Peru
• Phone: +51 960 130 323

Tierras Vivas works with LATAM and Sky Airline for both legs of this route, and your tour price includes two domestic tickets.

Lima to Puerto Maldonado
Two departures run most days — one in the morning, one around midday. Each ticket includes 12 kg of checked baggage plus one small handbag.

Puerto Maldonado to Cusco
One flight a day covers this leg, with the same 12 kg checked baggage allowance plus a carry-on bag.

What you pack depends on where you're headed and when — coastal Lima, the high Andes, and the Amazon each call for a different kit. As a general rule: pack light. You'll be carrying your own bag for most of this tour, though the walking distances are short, nothing past 30 minutes, so aim to keep total luggage under 10 kg (22 lb).

A soft-sided bag or backpack works better than a hard suitcase — wheeled luggage doesn't hold up well on cobblestones or jungle paths. Whatever you bring, pack a small daypack separately for water, your camera, snacks, and anything else you want within reach during the day.

What to Wear in Peru: Coast, Andes, and Amazon

Sunscreen and sunglasses are worth packing no matter where you're headed — what changes is everything else.

Lima and the northern coast: Light clothing — shorts, T-shirts, dresses — plus sandals or flip-flops, a hat for sun protection, and a swimsuit if you're near the beach.

The Andes and Altiplano: Layer for both ends of the day. Hiking pants, T-shirts, and trekking shoes work for daytime; bring a fleece, warm jacket, hat, and scarf for cold nights. Pack light rain gear too — a poncho or waterproof jacket — since mountain weather shifts fast and rain can arrive with little warning. For trekking-specific gear, see our Inca Trail packing guide.

The Amazon (Manu, Puerto Maldonado, Iquitos): Mosquito repellent with at least 20% DEET matters more than anything else on this list. Pair it with long sleeves and long pants for added protection, plus closed-toe shoes, long socks, a hat, and waterproof clothing if you're traveling during the rainy season.

Documents & Money

• Passport (original, plus a photocopy)
• Travel insurance policy, plus a copy in case the original is lost
• Flight tickets
• Cash in USD or a credit card
• Your Tierras Vivas service voucher (sent to you before the trip)
• Entry visa and proof of vaccination, if either applies to your nationality

Clothing & Footwear

• A daypack for carrying personal items during daily excursions
• Rain gear: a rain jacket, waterproof pants, or a poncho — all available to buy in Cusco if you'd rather not pack them
• Sturdy, water-resistant trekking shoes
• Sandals, for comfort around the lodge or campsite
• Warm layers: a jacket and fleece, plus thermal clothing for cold nights
• A hat or cap for sun, rain, and cold
• A swimsuit, for the hot springs in Aguas Calientes

Health & Comfort

• Sunscreen
• After-sun or hydrating cream for face and body
• Insect repellent with at least 20% DEET — Tambopata and Puerto Maldonado sit within a malaria-risk area according to the CDC, so repellent and covering exposed skin matter here more than elsewhere on the route. Talk to a travel doctor before your trip about whether antimalarial medication is right for you.
• Camera with charger and spare batteries (cold drains batteries faster than you'd expect)
• Flashlight or headlamp, plus extra batteries

Practical Extras

• Tissues and toilet paper
• A small towel and basic toiletries
• Extra underwear
• Bottled water
• Snacks, if you have a specific favorite — meals on this tour are full and frequent, so this is optional rather than essential