Journey from Buenos Aires to Lima September 06 - 26, 2020 B Y R A I L S O U T H A M E R I C A DAY BY DAY ITINERARY (B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner) Considering the character of our trips, we may be making ongoing improvements to this itinerary. Below you find the day-by-day itinerary for the tour "Journey from Buenos Aires to Lima." We do our maximum to comply with the scheduled tour program, but due to the travel style and regions we visit, we may deviate the journey slightly to take full advantage of encounters with the destination and its people, and culture. V:29/8/19 1 st Day, Sunday: Arrival in Buenos Aires Welcome to Buenos Aires. Our driver welcomes you at Ezeiza International Airport and drives you to the 4* Hotel in Buenos Aires. After the check-in procedure, we meet for a short coordination meeting to revise the latest updates of our tour program. For the rest of the day, you have free time. 2 nd Day, Monday: City Tour in Buenos Aires Discover the most important neighborhoods and landmarks in Buenos Aires during a half-day city tour. Admire the Obelisk, the symbol of Buenos Aires, and the many open squares of Spanish colonial descent. Enjoy our drive on the widest street in the world containing 22 lanes. The visit to La Boca neighborhood and a walk on the “Caminito Street” are other highlights of the tour. In the evening, we celebrate our welcome dinner at the Tango show of “El Querandi.” You’ll then spend the night at our hotel in Buenos Aires. (B/D) 3 rd Day, Tuesday: River Cruise El Tigre We board the boat at Puerto Madero and head to El Tigre. The cruise goes along the Costanera Navigation Canal, parallel to the Buenos Aires shoreline, passing the River Plate Stadium and the University of Buenos Aires. Then, we cruise through the canals of the Rio de la Plata Delta, one of the largest in the world. Puerto de Frutos is a lively and favorite spot where you’ll have some time to take photos and walk around. We have lunch in a local restaurant accessible only by boat. Finally, we head to the Tigre train station, where we’ll take a train back to the city of Buenos Aires. (B/L) 4 th Day, Wednesday: Buenos Aires - Tucuman - Cafayate Transfer to the airport in Buenos Aires and flight to Tucuman in Northwestern Argentina. After a short panoramic city tour in Tucuman, we continue the journey through the Calaqui Valley to Colalao del Valle. Lastly, we check into our hotel in Cafayate where we stay overnight. (B/L) 5 th Day, Thursday: Cafayate Valley We do a walk inside a viñard under the guidance of a local wine specialist. Discover the famous Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tannat grapes. Enjoy beautiful views of the valley when walking in the wiñard. We have a wine degustation in one of the best-known wineries of the valley. We have lunch in a typical house in the middle of a viñard, within walking distance of our hotel. The rest of the afternoon you have free time. Overnight we stay at our Hotel in Cafayate. (B/L) 6 th Day, Friday: Cafayate - Salta W e leave Cafayate in the morning following the breathtaking "Rio de las Conchas Valley" towards Salta. During the journey, we do several photo-stops at scenic places. We check into our hotel in Salta after lunch. In the afternoon, we will visit the main attractions of the city of Salta. We visit the “Plaza 9 de Julio”, the cathedral, the municipality, the Convent of San Francisco, and the San Bernardo Hill. We stay overnight in Salta. (B/L) 7 th Day, Saturday: Tren a las Nubes Departure with our vehicle from Salta to the small village of Alfarcito. Then the journey continues through the “Quebrada de las Cuevas” to San Antonio de los Cobres where we embark on the “Tren a las Nubes” and travel to the Polvorilla Viaduct. The journey takes an hour to the viaduct, at 4,200 meters (13’780 ft) above sea level. The train stops for 30 minutes at the viaduct. During that time, you can take photos and buy souvenirs for your family and friends at home. We have lunch in San Antonio de los Cobres before we return to Salta where we arrive in the evening. You stay overnight in Salta. (B/L) V:29/8/19 8 th Day, Sunday: Salta – Quebrada Humahuaca North of Salta lies the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a UNESCO listed valley. Steep rock faces characterize the valley, changing their color depending on the hour of the day and from where you look at them. Ancient traders used this trade route through the valley 10,000 years ago already. We do an easy hike inside colored rocks in Purmamarca. In the afternoon, you have time to discover the picturesque village of Purmamarca on your own. We stay overnight in Purmamarca. (B/L/D) 9 th Day, Monday: Border crossing to Bolivia and Wara Wara Express to Uyuni Early morning, we continue our journey traveling on the Route no 9 to the north. You can observe authentic dusty indigenous villages spread along the route north. We reach the Bolivian border before midday. In case of time permits, we do a short tour of Villazon before we board the "Wara Wara Express" to Uyuni. From the train, you’ll observe fascinating landscapes, especially before we reach the railway station of Tupiza. The train reaches Uyuni early morning. A local guide welcomes us at the railway station and brings us to the Hotel Palacio de Sal, where we spend the rest of the night. (B/L/D) 10 th Day, Tuesday: Uyuni You visit the train cemetery in Uyuni. Explore various oxidized steam engines and wagons on this spectacular site surrounded by an extraordinary salt desert scenery. In Colchani, we visit an artisanal salt processing plant and witness traditional salt extraction methods. At the Incahuasi Island in the middle of the world’s largest salt flat, you see terrific giant cactus. Good and fit walkers can hike to the highest point of the island from where you have fantastic views over the salt flat and the surrounding mountains. Lunch is a picnic in the middle of the salt flat. Overnight we stay at the Hotel Palacio de Sal. (B/L/D) 11 th Day, Wednesday: Uyuni - La Paz In the morning, we drive to a place where you can watch the salt excavation. You can also observe how locals produce salt bricks for construction. We visit a viewpoint above Coquesa Village from where you have fantastic views over the salt flat. Lunch is a Picnic on the central square in Coquesa. We drive over the salt flat to the small city of Uyuni where we have an early dinner. We take the evening flight to La Paz where we stay overnight. (B/L/D) 12 th Day, Thursday: City Tour in La Paz We do a city tour of this fascinating city. Discover the indigenous cosmovision and their mystical rituals at the Witches Market. The San Francisco Church, the historic district around the “Plaza Murillo” with the legislative and the Government Palace are other sights of interest that we visit. Enjoy breathtaking views of La Paz from the Killi Killi viewpoint. In La Paz are cable cars (Telefericos) the primary public transport system; therefore, we do an extensive cable car tour in the afternoon. You have breathtaking views of the city and the surrounding mountains from the cable cars. We return to the hotel in the afternoon. (B/L) 13 th Day, Friday: Day at leisure in La Paz You have a free day. We stay overnight in La Paz. (B) 14 th Day, Saturday: La Paz - Copacabana - Sun Island We travel from La Paz to Copacabana, a small town on the Bolivian side of the Lake Titicaca. We board a boat in Copacabana and cruise over to the nearby Sun Island where we have an “Aptapi”, a typical lunch with a V:29/8/19 variety of potatoes. We cruise after lunch along the Sun Island visiting the ruins of the Pilkokaina Inca temple before we return to Copacabana. We stay overnight in Copacabana at the Hotel Rosario del Lago. (B/L) 15 th Day, Sunday: Copacabana - Puno In the morning you have free time in Copacabana. For those who want can participate in a tour with our guide where we visit the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Copacabana. This virgin is one of the most important religious figures in South America. In Rio de Janeiro was named the most famous beach after her. Pilgrims from all over South America come to the Bolivian side of the Lake Titicaca prising this virgin. We have lunch at the hotel. In the afternoon, we cross the border to Peru and reach after about 2 hours the city of Puno. The rest of the day you have free time. We stay overnight in a hotel on the outskirts of Puno. (B/L) 16 th Day, Monday: “Titicaca Train” to Cusco Early morning, we head to the Puno Railway station and board the “Perurail Titicaca Train” that brings us to Cusco. This fascinating journey goes through a dramatic high Andean scenery. The train travels the 390 km (242 Mi) to Cusco in about 11 hours. In La Raya, the train reaches its highest point at 4.321 meters (15177 ft.) above sea level.