Tour Inti Raymi 4D/3N

Description Inti Raymi Sun Festival Tour

With the “Inti Raymi Festival of the Sun Tour”, you can get to know closely the most important festival of Cusco, ideal for those looking to live the festivities of this city that will be filled with music and historical representations with more than 500 actors and dancers; but above all come to be reborn and start the Andean New Year with us.

The Inti Raymi was the most important of the four festivals celebrated in Cusco, according to the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. It indicated the beginning of the year, as well as the mythical origin of the Inca. It lasted nine days during which dances and sacrifices were performed. The last Inti Raymi that counted with the presence of the Inca emperor took place in 1535.

On the night of the eve, all the fires in Tahuantinsuyo were extinguished. In the great Huacaypata square (today Plaza de Armas of Cusco) all the characters of the empire were concentrated. In the shadows, the crowd waited with great respect for the appearance of the god Inti (sun).

Generals, princes and all the nobility waited in deep silence, many of them disguised as wild beasts and other animals of the Andean mythology. They expressed their recognition and worshipped him as the supreme, sole and universal god, who with his light and virtue created and sustained all things on earth. Likewise, they thanked him for the harvests received during the year.

The Inca, with the help of the priests, “induced” the god Inti (sun) to return with the favor of his rays to fertilize the earth and ensure the welfare of the children of the great empire of Tahuantinsuyo. The sacred fire was renewed with a concave gold bracelet that was placed against the sunlight, whose reflections were projected on a piece of cotton very carmenado that caught fire in a short space. The sacred fire was taken to the Qoricancha, where it would be kept by the acllas.

During the ceremony, the sacrifice of a flame was also performed to foretell the coming year. Then a great military march would follow and at the end everyone would retire and burst into unrestrained merriment for several days.

Enjoy the Inti Raymi Sun Festival and Machupicchu Tour.

MAIN POINTS OF VISIT

• Cusco (3,399 masl)
• Sacsayhuamán (3,700 masl)
• Aguas Calientes (2,040 masl)
• Machupicchu (2,430 masl)

Day 1: City Tour in Cusco

Arrival to Cusco – Free Morning – City Tour.

• Arrival Flight Lima/Cusco. Transfer from the airport to the hotel of your choice.
• 12.50 – 13.10 hrs, Pick up at your hotel. If your hotel is outside the historic center, we will meet you in our office at 13.00 hrs, the City Tour begins in Cusco, visiting the Cathedral of Cusco and its more than 600 paintings of the Cusco school (40 min).
• 14.10 hrs We will go to Qoricancha on foot seeing beautiful Inca streets (10 min).
• 14.20 hrs We will enter the Qoricancha or House of the Sun, main temple in Inca times where we will learn about Inca religiosity and architecture (40 min).
• 15.00 hrs We will take our transportation and go to Sacsayhuaman (15 min) we will have a guided tour through the huge walls of this Inca temple built for the god Illapa or lightning (45 min).
• We will take the bus again to Qenqo (5 min) where we will have a tour to this other ancient Inca temple. Then in our mobility we will move forward (10 min) and go to Puka Pucara and Tambomachay water temple. We will finish our tour at 18.00 hrs.
• We will leave you in the center of the city so you can have dinner or stroll through the main square of Cusco.

Hotel – PRINCIPE III/MAYU WASI

Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner- Passenger

Day 2: Inti Raymi Tour

Cusco – Sacsayhuaman – Inti Raymi. 

EL QORICANCHA (Public Stage):

• 7.40 hrs We will pick you up at your hotel to start the tour we will go to the first station of this staging, which will be in the Qoricancha. It is necessary to leave early to be located in front of the Qoricancha, there are no established places because it is an event for the general public and not only for tourists.
• Looking up we will be able to see the Inca performing an invocation to the Sun.
• 08.00 hrs We will meet at the Qoricancha where we will sit on some benches to appreciate the departure of the Inca and his retinue. We will wait a little while for the ceremony to begin, normally from 09.00 to 09.30 am, looking up we will be able to see the Inca on the stage making an invocation to the Sun God.

PLAZA DE ARMAS (Public Stage):

• 10.00 hrs We will walk up to the Plaza de Armas where we will settle in one of the corners to appreciate the passage of the Inca retinue. Then we will take our mobility in the rejoicing square to go to Sacsayhuamán 20min approx.

SACSAYHUAMAN – INTI RAYMI (Private Stage):

• 12.00 hrs Sacsayhuaman (voice that derives from the Quechua terms “saqsay” and “waman” which translated to Spanish means “falcon”: This impressive archaeological center is located at 3,555 meters above sea level, one kilometer from the Inca quarter of Qolqanpata.
• The procession moves immediately. This one enters the stage carrying the Inca in his litter by groups that represent the inhabitants of the four suyos. Afterwards, an alpaca is sacrificed and the Inca invokes his father the Sun. Services and accommodations in the place.
• 13.00 hrs we will have our box lunch. And the ceremony will begin.
  We will be accommodated in the orange VIP grandstand of the stage to have the best view of the show. This is the only stage where we will be comfortable appreciating this magnificent staging of the Inti Raymi.
• 15.30 hrs approx. end of the staging, we will meet and go to the mobility and leave them in their respective hotels (this day there will be a lot of traffic congestion some people that their hotels are near the square choose to walk down to the Plaza de Armas approx. 15 min down).

NOTE: We want to take you to all the scenarios where this impressive festival is staged, the places suitable for all audiences will be the Qoricancha and the Plaza de Armas and properly the INTI RAYMI will be presented in Sacsayhuaman, feel at ease in each place and enjoy with us the 3 seasons of Inti Raymi.

Hotel – PRINCIPE III/MAYU WASI

Desayuno – Hotel / Box Lunch – Agencia / Cena – Pasajero

Day 3: Machu Picchu Tour

Ollantaytambo – Aguas Calientes – Machupicchu.

• 03.40 hrs Transfer from hotel to Ollantaytambo, travel time 1h 40 min.
• 06.10 hrs We will board the Ollantaytambo/Machupicchu tourist train (1h 30 min).
• 07.45 hrs Arrival to Aguas Calientes town – we go to the bus station, to get to Machupicchu citadel (35 min.)
• 08.30 hrs Our guide will be waiting for us at the door of the Sanctuary of Machupicchu.
• 09.00 hrs We present the income of Machupicchu and we will enter to start the guided tour of 2h 30 min. Booking this tour to Machupicchu you will be able to know the most important archaeological center of South America and all its different tourist attractions.
• At the end of the tour, we will be able to continue visiting the beautiful Machupicchu on our own, then we will board the buses that will take us back to the town of Aguas Calientes.
• 12.45 hrs We will go to the Apuinti Restaurant to enjoy a delicious lunch.
• Time to visit the Machupicchu Handicraft Market or relax in the Aguas Calientes Hot Springs (AT PASSENGER’S EXPENSE).
• 14.30 – 19.00 hrs We will board the Tourist Train at any of the schedules, according to availability with arrival in Ollantaytambo (1h 30 min) Depending on availability.
• REMEMBER, that in high tourism season the train schedules may vary.
• 15.56 – 20.41 hrs We arrive at the train station in Ollantaytambo, our transfer will be attentive to the arrival to transfer us to the hotel in Cusco. Travel time 1h 40 min.)
• 18.00 – 22.00 hrs Arrival to the hotel in Cusco.

Hotel – HUMANTAY

Breakfast – Hotel / Lunch – Agency / Dinner – Passenger

Day 4: Airport Transfer

• Transfer from Hotel to Airport