lima - sacred valley
OUR CULINARY VACATIONS
Highlights | Brief Itinerary | Full Itinerary | Cost Scheme
2008 Trip Dates:
May 22 - 30
Jun 19 - 27 SOLD OUT
Sep 11 - 19
Oct 23 - 31
2009 Trip Dates:
Mar 12 - 20
Apr 16 - 24
May 21 - 29
Jun 25 - Jul 3
Aug 27 - Sep 4
Oct 1 - 9
Trip Length
9 days / 8 nights
Group Size
max 12 people
Full Itinerary
DAY 1: Lima (D)
In the evening, we will meet up as a group in the lobby of your hotel: Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores (www.casa-andina.com). We will transfer to the almost century-old Museo Larco. With a pisco sour in hand, we will tour the 18th-century mansion cum museum, learning, through pottery, weaving, and gold displays, of the pre-Hispanic cultures that inhabited Peru. A novoandino cocktail at the Café del Museo will follow.
DAY 2: Lima (B, L, D)
From its Spanish colonial churches to its oceanside shopping malls, Lima is a city that blends old and new. After a leisurely breakfast in the elegant Casa Andina dining room, our morning city tour begins in the modern Miraflores neighborhood. Then, we will transfer downtown for a tour of Lima's colonial center. Passing between the centuries-old churches, mansions, and Plaza de Armas, we will perceive the culture that first gave Peruvian cuisine its gourmet touch. A stop at the classic cafe Antigua Taberna Quierolo will allow us taste the Italian-influenced tradition of sandwiches and try several varieties of pisco, the national white brandy liquor. After an afternoon rest, we will head out again to visit the pre-Colombian ruin of the Huaca Pucllana. There pisco sours will whet our appetites for dinner at Gaston Acurio’s acclaimed Peruvian fusion restaurant Astrid y Gaston.
DAY 3: Lima (B, L, D)
In the late 19th century, Chinese and Japanese migrant workers made their way to Peru. Quickly they adapted Peruvian ingredients to fit their preferences for salty sauces and stir-fries. In recent years, Lima’s modern culinary creativity has taken the Asian-Peruvian fusion to a whole new level of inventive sushis, sashimis, etc. Chefs like the US-based Nobu are the result of this creativity. Today, a visit to the market of Magdelena will show us the products available to local chefs. Then we head to the famous Chez Wong to watch Wong himself filete fish for our lunch of ceviche and steaming stir-fries. After a siesta, we will meet again to walk through the neighborhood of Barranco, stopping at art galleries and understanding Lima’s creativity. Then, the elegant Osaka will open its doors for our flavorful dinner of Peruvian-Japanese fusion.
DAY 4: Lima/Sacred Valley (B, L, D)
We will hop a morning flight to the mountain town of Cusco. A transfer will be waiting to shuttle us through the Sacred Valley. We'll stop at the colorful Pisac market, have a picnic lunch prepared by Cusco's acclaimed Ciccolina restaurant, and finally head on to Yanahuara and our hotel, Casa Andina Private Collection Sacred Valley (www.casa-andina.com). Renewed by a quick rest, we'll head to the neighboring town of Urubamba to meet local Chef Pío Vasquez, the owner of the well-known El Huacatay restaurant. Chef Vasquez will lead us in our first interactive Peruvian cooking class featuring appetizers made of native potatoes. At the finish of class, we will sit together for a shared meal. Finally, a transport will return us to our hotel.
DAY 5: Sacred Valley (B, L, D)
After a varied breakfast at the hotel, we will head to El Huacatay for our cooking class. Chef Vasquez, who often fishes the trout he serves at his tables, will lead a class on different preparations of that fish. We will lunch the plates we prepare in class. A transfer will bring us back to the hotel for a siesta, before we head out for an afternoon exploring the Maras salt reserves and the Inca agricultural ruin of Moray. Dinner will be served at the Valley's beloved Huayoccari Hacienda Restaurant. Then, participants are taken back to the hotel.
DAY 6: Sacred Valley (B, L, D)
Breakfast will again be taken at the hotel before we meet up with Chef Vasquez. Before heading to our Peruvian cooking classes, we will wander through the diverse Urubamba market and tour a local farm to collect ingredients. Today's menu features pachamanca, a pre-Hispanic dish in which potatoes, corn, and meat are smoked in an earth pit, and served with a variety of sauces. We will share our lunch of pachamanca before returning to a restful afternoon at the hotel. Early evening, we will head back to El Huacatay, stopping in route at a chichería, a local pub that serves fermented corn beer. This evening Chef Vasquez will cook for us, letting us taste the creativity of his Peruvian, Spanish, and German-influenced menu. A transport will finally bring us back to the hotel.
DAY 7: Machu Picchu (B, L)
We will grab a quick breakfast in the hotel in order to be aboard the first Machu Picchu-bound train. We will head up the steep mountain hills - first in train, then by bus - before we begin our guided tour of one of the world's most majestic archeological sites. The morning we will wile away wondering through Machu Picchu's immense stone buildings. Lunch will be served at the nearby Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge so that afterwards guests might return to the ruins. A late afternoon train brings us back to Urubamba and a relaxing evening in the hotel. Dinner will be on your own.
DAY 8: Sacred Valley/Cusco (B, L, D)
After our last breakfast in the sunny dining room of Casa Andina, we'll swing by El Huacatay for our last cooking class of alpaca kebabs and the classic solterito salad. After lunch, we will wind our way back through the Sacred Valley and on to Cusco. After checking in to our hotel, Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco (www.casa-andina.com), you will have a free afternoon. You can get in some last minute shopping or sightseeing before we regroup for our tour through the Museo de Arte Precolombino and a final dinner in MAP Café.
DAY 9: Cusco/Lima (B)
Breakfast will be served in the hotel's colonial dining room. Then we catch our mid-morning flight to back to Lima.
OPTIONAL:
*To upgrade your hotel option to the waterfront Miraflores Park Hotel in Lima (www.mira-park.com) or to the 16th-century Hotel Monasterio in Cusco (www.monasterio.orient-express.com), both owned and operated by the famed Orient Express group, please contact Pica Peru staff.
*If you are interested in connecting your Lima-Sacred Valley & Cusco culinary vacation with a trip to another Peru destination, Pica Peru can help arrange your trip details. Please be in touch with one of our staff members to coordinate.
With advance notice, Pica Peru can coordinate customized Peruvian culinary vacations.
