A Grand Tour of Peru With Belmond Trains
An Immersive Train Journey Through Peru With Belmond
Maison Benjamin recently journeyed aboard Hiram Bingham, A Belmond Train that transports you back to the Golden Age of travel with its one-of-a-kind vintage carriages. Peru has wild and diverse landscapes, ancient sites, exceptional cuisine, and incredible hotels. This cultural journey teaches you about the Incas while allowing you to experience five-star luxury. Maison Benjamin will arrange your Belmond train voyage, which includes a trip aboard Hiram Bingham with an optional extension on Belmond’s other Peruvian sleeper train: the Andean Explorer. Maison Benjamin also has an affiliation with Belmond’s invitation-only Bellini Club. Through this affiliation, our members are able to receive VIP perks when booking through us, including room upgrades, welcome amenities, and more. The Bellini Club offers upgrades at participating Belmond Hotels. Want in? Read on for a glimpse inside our epic Peruvian trip.
Our First Stop Was in Lima
We traveled from Miami to Lima, where we checked into Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel. This urban hotel in Lima’s chicest neighborhood has a rooftop terrace and pool and sights. We spent a day in Lima experiencing the hotel, enjoying a city tour, visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and indulging in Limeño cuisine. We also visited Larco Museum, the Government Place, City Hall, and San Francisco Monastery topped it off with lunch at Café del Museo.
Next Up: The Sacred Valley
After a brief flight to Cusco, we embarked on a drive to Peru’s Sacred Valley. During your time in the Sacred Valley, Maison Benjamin can happily arrange cultural excursions and site visits. One in particular we loved was visiting a textile center featuring weavers from more than 12 communities who demonstrate various weaving techniques to make traditional Andean clothing. The best part? Interact with the four groups of South American camelids, Llamas, Alpacas, Vicuñas, and Guanacos, whose fleeces are used to craft these garments.
Pisac
Next, you’ll visit Pisac, known for its markets selling traditional textiles and jewelry, before checking into Rio Sagrado, A Belmond Hotel in the heart of the Sacred Valley to spend two sumptuous nights. We loved our visit to the village of Chinchero and our picnic lunch overlooking Huaypo Lake.
Moray
Finally, we drove through idyllic fields to reach Maras, known for its salt harvesting, and visited Moray, an ancient Inca site that once grew many crops.
Depart on the Hiram Bingham, A Belmond Train
The morning before embarking on Hiram Bingham, you’ll visit the village of Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, home to one of the area’s most famous Inca fortresses. Finally, you’ll board the train—the most luxurious way to travel from Cusco to Machu Picchu while admiring the Urubamba Valley.
Next, the two-hour guided tour to Machu Picchu is unlike anything else on Earth. This once-in-a-lifetime experience will take you 2,430 meters above sea level in a tropical mountain forest to see the Inca Empire’s most incredible and most famous creation. The 15th-century site features ancient stone ruins with large walls, temples, and terraces. In fact, the Belmond train is named after the explorer Hiram Bingham III, who encountered Machu Picchu in 1911.
Machu Picchu
“It was like being transported back in time with elegance and hospitality at its best,” says Maison Benjamin founder Benjamin Vaschetti. “Arriving and departing from the base of Machu Picchu aboard the Hiram Bingham is like a royal privilege.”
After your breathtaking journey, enjoy an overnight stay at Sanctuary Lodge, A Belmond Hotel to cap off your journey before boarding the train back to Cusco. You’ll enjoy the sunrise over Machu Picchu the next morning.
Off to Cusco
We spent the day visiting Cusco’s most desirable sites, like the Cathedral on Plaza de Armas, the Santo Domingo temple, and a Dominican church and convent built on the foundation of the Koricancha.
Mauka Restaurant
We spent the night at Palacio Nazarenas, A Belmond Hotel, where we had a spectacular dinner at the hotel’s Mauka Restaurant courtesy of award-winning chef Pia León. Then we also enjoyed a site visit and dinner at Monasterio, A Belmond Hotel in Cusco.
Andean Explorer, A Belmond Train
There is an optional train journey on the Andean Explorer, A Belmond Train, the continent’s first luxury sleeper trip, for those who want to extend their stay to explore this beautiful country. Depart from Cusco to Puno, where you’ll view Lake Titicaca. You’ll spend the day exploring the land, as well as the luxury train, which has a Piano Bar, Observatory, and a Picaflor Spa Car for a moment of relaxation.
Allow Maison Benjamin to arrange your special journey through Peru, where we can provide you with perks and amenities through the Bellini Club and our additional partners.