Self-Launched Peru & Galápagos Central Islands — 27 Days, Lima to Quito

Fly into Jorge Chávez International Airport and take an official airport taxi (approx. £20-22, 45 mins) or the Airport Express bus to Miraflores. Settle into a hostel dorm or private room, then walk the Malecón at sunset and eat ceviche at a mercado-side counter. Book tomorrow's Cruz del Sur bus to Paracas online tonight.

🚌Official airport taxi ~£20; local buses/metro ~£3

🛏Miraflores hostel dorm or budget private room, £12-18

• →Malecón sunset walk
• →Mercado eating
• →Book Cruz del Sur bus online

Morning exploring Barranco (street art, Café Tostado) or the Museo Larco if you have time. Afternoon Cruz del Sur or Peru Hop bus to Paracas (~3.5 hrs, £9-14). Check into a seafront guesthouse and book tomorrow's Ballestas Islands boat direct at the harbour kiosk.

🚌Cruz del Sur / Peru Hop Lima-Paracas £9-14

🛏Paracas guesthouse, £14-20

• →Barranco street art walk
• →Museo Larco (optional, £6)
• →Book Ballestas boat

Early 2-hour Ballestas Islands boat tour (book direct at the pier, ~£15) for sea lions, boobies and the Candelabro geoglyph. Then transfer to Huacachina oasis for sandboarding/dune buggy (~£14) or a winery stop en route. Evening bus to Nazca (~3 hrs, £8-10).

🚌Shared van/bus Paracas-Huacachina-Nazca £12-16

🛏Nazca budget hotel, £12-16

• →Ballestas Islands boat tour ~£15
• →Huacachina sandboarding/buggy ~£14
• →Pisco winery visit ~£5

Optional scenic flight over the Nazca Lines (~£70-90 booked locally at the airfield). Afternoon guided tour of the Chauchilla desert cemetery and a Nazca potter's studio (book a local guide, ~£12) — 1,500-year-old mummies, bones and pottery in situ. Then the overnight Cruz del Sur bus to Arequipa (~9 hrs, cama seat ~£16-20).

🚌Nazca-Arequipa overnight bus £16-20

🛏Overnight bus (reclining seat)

• →Nazca Lines flight (optional) ~£80
• →Chauchilla cemetery + potter's studio tour ~£12

Arrive early, drop bags at a hostel in the historic centre. Optional city walking tour (free, tip-based) or the Santa Catalina Monastery entry (~£14). The Museo Santuarios Andinos (Juanita the ice maiden) is ~£13. Eat rocoto relleno and buy altitude-sickness tablets before heading higher.

🚌Local taxis £3-5

🛏Arequipa hostel, £12-18

• →Free walking tour
• →Santa Catalina Monastery ~£14
• →Juanita Museum ~£13

Local bus or colectivo from Arequipa to Chivay (~3 hrs, £5-7). Check into a basic hostal near the plaza and spend the afternoon in the La Calera thermal baths (~£3). Book a shared early-morning Cruz del Condor minibus for tomorrow at your hostal.

🚌Local bus Arequipa-Chivay £5-7

🛏Chivay hostal, £10-15

• →La Calera hot springs ~£3
• →Village plaza wander

Leave at 5:30am with a shared minibus to Cruz del Condor viewpoint (~£12 including stops), watching Andean condors ride the thermals over the 1,200m-deep canyon. Return via Chivay, then bus to Puno (~5-6 hrs, £9-12). Book tomorrow's Lake Titicaca tour with a community homestay directly through a Puno operator (~£35 including meals).

🚌Shared minibus to Colca ~£12; bus Chivay/Arequipa-Puno £9-12

🛏Puno budget hostel, £10-14

• →Cruz del Condor condor viewpoint
• →Book Taquile homestay tour

Share a boat out to Taquile Island with a local operator, walk the terraces with your host family, learn to weave, and eat quinoa soup and fresh trout at 3,950m. Stay in a village homestay — the DIY equivalent of the operator's community-stay experience. Cash only; bring a headtorch and warm layers.

🚌Shared boat Puno-Taquile ~£8-12

🛏Taquile community homestay, £12-18 incl. meals

• →Taquile weaving demonstration
• →Village hike and viewpoint
• →Homestay dinner with local family

Return to the mainland via the Uros floating reed islands with a 1-2 hour stop (~£8 boat/entry included in most shared tours). Afternoon back in Puno: markets, or an optional colectivo to the Sillustani burial towers (~£10 tour).

🚌Boat + colectivo £8-12

🛏Puno budget hostel, £10-14

• →Uros floating islands visit
• →Sillustani chullpas (optional) ~£10

Full day on a Cruz del Sur or Tour Peru bus to Cusco (~6.5 hrs, £12-18). Or upgrade to the tourist bus with Inca ruins stops for a bit more. Arrive, check into a San Blas hostel, drink coca tea and take it easy on the altitude. Confirm your Machu Picchu/Inca Trail paperwork and briefing tonight.

🚌Puno-Cusco bus £12-18

🛏Cusco San Blas hostel, £12-18

• →Scenic altiplano bus
• →San Blas wander

Pick your own adventure: Rainbow Mountain full-day hike (~£35 with a GetYourGuide group tour, 3am start), a Peruvian cooking class (~£30), or a free walking tour and café culture in San Blas. Buy a Boleto Turístico (~£28) if you plan on several ruins and museums. Rest early — Sacred Valley tomorrow.

🚌Local taxis £3-5

🛏Cusco San Blas hostel, £12-18

• →Rainbow Mountain hike (optional) ~£35
• →Cooking class (optional) ~£30
• →Free walking tour

Shared Sacred Valley tour (book via GetYourGuide, ~£25-35) stopping at Pisac market, the Ccaccaccollo women's weaving co-operative (buy directly from the weavers), a pottery community, and the Parwa-style community restaurant in Lamay for a farm-to-table lunch. Finish in Ollantaytambo — clamber the storehouse ruins at dusk and try chicha in a local chichería.

🚌Shared Sacred Valley tour van ~£25-35

🛏Ollantaytambo guesthouse, £12-18

• →Ccaccaccollo weaving co-op
• →Pottery demonstration
• →Parwa community lunch
• →Ollantaytambo ruins

Inca Trail day 1: meet your licensed guide and porters (you must book a permit+guide through an authorised agency — permits cost ~£60 and sell out months ahead; permits are released in October for the following year). Short transfer to Piscacucho/KM82, easy 12km warm-up along the Urubamba to Wayllabamba camp (2,950m).

🚌Transfer to trailhead included in trek package

🛏Inca Trail camp (tent, provided by trek agency)

• →Inca Trail trek day 1
• →Archaeological site visits en route

The hardest day: climb to Warmiwañusca / Dead Woman's Pass at 4,198m, then descend steep stone steps to Pacaymayo camp (3,600m). Roughly 11km, 6-7 hours. Porters carry up to 6kg of your kit; carry your own day pack. Coca tea, diamox and steady pacing are your friends.

🚌On foot

🛏Inca Trail camp (tent)

• →Dead Woman's Pass 4,198m
• →Runkurakay ruins

Pass Runkurakay and Sayacmarca ruins, drop into cloud forest, and reach the terraced site of Wiñay Wayna (2,650m) for the final camp. ~10km, 5-6 hours with far gentler gradients. Early night — tomorrow is a 4am alarm.

🚌On foot

🛏Wiñay Wayna camp (tent)

• →Sayacmarca ruins
• →Wiñay Wayna terraces

Pre-dawn start to reach Inti Punku / the Sun Gate as the light hits Machu Picchu. Two-hour guided tour of the citadel with your trek guide, then bus down to Aguas Calientes. Afternoon PeruRail Vistadome or Expedition train back to Ollantaytambo (~£50-65, book well ahead) plus a shared van to Cusco. Celebrate with a lomo saltado.

🚌Bus to Aguas Calientes ~£10; PeruRail to Ollantaytambo ~£55; van to Cusco ~£6

🛏Cusco San Blas hostel, £12-18

• →Sun Gate sunrise
• →Guided Machu Picchu tour

Short flight or a long overnight bus to Puerto Maldonado. Best value is a 2-night Tambopata ecolodge package booked direct or via GetYourGuide (~£180-230 including meals, guides, boat transfers and jungle walks) — the DIY stand-in for the operator's exclusive Amazon lodge. Afternoon boat upriver to the lodge.

🚌Flight Cusco-Puerto Maldonado ~£55-80 (or 10hr bus £15)

🛏Tambopata ecolodge, 2 nights £180-230 all-in

• →River boat transfer
• →Lodge arrival briefing

Dawn boat trip to an oxbow lake for giant otters, hoatzins and macaws; a naturalist guide explains medicinal plants and forest ecology. After dark, a guided night walk around the lodge grounds in search of tarantulas, poison dart frogs, snakes and owls — torch and long sleeves essential.

🚌Motorised canoe (included)

🛏Tambopata ecolodge (included)

• →Oxbow lake wildlife excursion
• →Guided night walk

Optional pre-dawn parrot clay lick, then a final river excursion before boating back to town. If you're overnighting in Puerto Maldonado, join an evening caiman-spotting boat trip (~£15-20) to find white caimans on the riverbanks with a spotlight.

🚌Boat transfers included; local mototaxi £2

🛏Puerto Maldonado guesthouse, £10-15

• →Caiman-spotting evening cruise ~£18
• →Parrot clay lick (optional)

Fly back to Lima (or take the long bus if you're on a tighter budget) and overnight in Miraflores or Barranco. Use the afternoon for a craft-beer bar, the Circuito Mágico water park (~£3), or that cooking class you skipped on day 11.

🚌Flight Puerto Maldonado-Lima ~£60-90

🛏Miraflores/Barranco hostel, £12-18

• →Barranco evening
• →Cooking class (optional) ~£30

Fly Lima to Quito (~£120-180 one-way; Avianca/LATAM, book early). Settle into a hostel in the Mariscal or Centro Histórico. Buy your Galápagos Transit Control Card paperwork in mind for tomorrow, and check your cruise's boarding instructions. Evening wander through Plaza Grande.

🚌Lima-Quito flight £120-180; airport taxi £8-10

🛏Quito hostel, £12-18

• →Plaza Grande evening walk
• →Quito craft beer bar

Fly Quito to Baltra/Seymour (approx. £330-420 return — this is the single biggest cost; book 2-3 months out). Pay the £80 park entry and £16 transit card in cash at the airport. Bus and ferry to Puerto Ayora, then a shared taxi to the Santa Cruz highlands to see giant tortoises in the wild and walk the lava tunnels (~£25), with lunch. Board your budget cruise boat that evening.

🚌Flight Quito-Baltra ~£185 one-way; airport bus+ferry £4; highlands taxi £25

🛏Galápagos budget cruise yacht, twin cabin (4 nights, ~£430-520 total incl. meals and guide)

• →Giant tortoise highlands hike
• →El Chato lava tunnels
• →Board yacht

Morning panga (Zodiac) excursion into the mangroves of Black Turtle Cove to spot stingrays, sea turtles and small sharks in the calm brackish water. Afternoon landing on a central island — South Plaza for land iguanas feeding in the cactus forest and blue-footed boobies. Snorkel gear and wetsuit included on board.

🚌Panga/Zodiac excursions (included)

🛏Yacht cabin (included)

• →Black Turtle Cove panga excursion
• →South Plaza land iguanas
• →Snorkelling

Typical day: a dry landing for a short hike past marine iguana colonies and frigatebird cliffs, then deep-water snorkelling with sea lions, parrotfish and reef sharks. Evenings: briefings with the certified naturalist guide, eating on deck and watching the sun set over the Pacific. Boat tips are customary (£10-12/day).

🚌Panga/Zodiac excursions (included)

🛏Yacht cabin (included)

• →Snorkelling with sea lions
• →Island hike
• →Naturalist briefing

Last morning excursion, then disembark in Puerto Ayora. Visit the Charles Darwin Research Station (free/donation) and see Lonesome George's legacy, swim at Tortuga Bay beach (~45-min walk) and eat at a local fish kiosk. One night in a Puerto Ayora guesthouse is far cheaper than a fifth cruise night.

🚌Local buses/walk; taxi £2-3

🛏Puerto Ayora guesthouse, £25-35

• →Charles Darwin Research Station
• →Tortuga Bay beach walk
• →Fish kiosk dinner

Fly Baltra back to Quito. Afternoon options: the Teleférico cable car up Pichincha (~£7), the Basílica del Voto Nacional towers, or the Intiñan Equator museum (~£4 plus taxi). Last-night dinner in La Ronda street.

🚌Flight Baltra-Quito (return half); airport taxi £8-10

🛏Quito hostel, £12-18

• →Teleférico ~£7
• →Basílica towers ~£2
• →La Ronda evening

Departure day — no activities planned. Buy last-minute café chocolate and handicrafts at the Mercado Artesanal, then head to Mariscal Sucre airport. Note the ~£33 Ecuador departure tax is normally baked into your airfare.

🚌Airport taxi £8-10

🛏—

• →Mercado Artesanal shopping