PICTURES OF PERU, BOLIVIA, CILE: TRAVEL GUIDE AND DAY BY DAY ITINERARY

PICTURES OF PERU, BOLIVIA, CILE: DAY BY DAY ITINERARY AND TRAVELOGUE

(Chile) Santiago day tour <<-- GO

Guided day tour of Santiago, visiting Plaza de Armas, the downtown with its modern skyscrapers, and the outskirts. Santiago is the starting or finish point for many tours in Chile or South America, and the city certainly deserves one free day.

(Chile) Winery tour from Santiago <<-- GO

Chile is getting every year more competitive in the wine market, thanks to the quality and to the increasing quantity. A winery tour in a farm near Santiago lets to discover the wine production process and to taste excellent wines.

(Chile) San Pedro De Atacama and Moon Valley <<-- GO

The Atacama desert in Chile is considered one of the world's driest place where and in several areas there are no registered rainfalls for many consecutive years. But this certainly doesn't mean that there is no life or nothing to see...

(Chile) Day trip to Salar De Atacama <<-- GO

Day tour from San Pedro de Atacama to Salar de Atacama, a huge salt flat surrounded by majestic volcanoes, where flamingoes have made their home. San Pedro de Atacama is the ideal starting point for tours to Bolivia and offers also excellent day trips to the many nearby attractions.

(Bolivia) Travel to Laguna Verde and Laguna Colorada <<-- GO

Today the groups gets into Bolivia where an adventure by 4x4 begins. The today itinerary goes from Laguna Verde (green lake) to Laguna Colorada (red lake) driving off road or onto dirty roads, between spectacular lunar landscape of high mountains.

(Bolivia) Crossing Bolivian plateau by 4x4 <<-- GO

The Bolivian desert expedition by 4x4 continues at altitudes between 3.500 and 5000 meters above sea level, in an incredible landscape of rocks sculptured by winds and other extreme elements. This is a paradise for landscape lovers and tourists interested in geology.

(Bolivia) Salar De Uyuni tour <<-- GO

With an average altitude higher than 4000 meters, the Bolivian plateau offers spectacular scenery, like the immense Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat. We make a stop at Isla Pescado (fish island) a small hill in the middle of the salt, where there are giant cactus.

(Bolivia) Travel from Uyuni to Potosi <<-- GO

Travel by public bus service from Uyuni to Potosi, over partly paved roads at extreme altitudes, in the middle of the Andes. The trip takes several hours, but the spectacular landscape makes the experience very enjoyable.

(Bolivia) Potosi city tour and silver miner excursion <<-- GO

Excursion to the interesting "museum of the coins" in Potosi, then tour into a silver miner where people work in terrible conditions inside a mountain above 4.000 meters of altitude. Potosì is rich in history and culture, making the city one of the most interesting in South America.

(Bolivia) Sucre city tour <<-- GO

Travel by public bus from Potosi to Sucre in Bolivia, then short Sucre city tour and excursion to the "dinosaurs footprints" site, a vertical wall of rock where dinosaurs tracks were left impressed after a sudden catastrophic event.

(Bolivia) La Paz city tour <<-- GO

Flight from Sucre to El Alto (La Paz), one of the world's most elevated airports. In the afternoon, a tour of La Paz follows, exploring the downtown and hiking among shops and street vendors selling locally produced artifacts.

(Bolivia) Tiahuanaco day tour from La Paz <<-- GO

Excursion to Tiahuanaco ruins by bus, departing from La Paz. This archeological site is very interesting and belongs to pre-Inca time, however, most of the constructions were destroyed to collect bricks for new buildings.

(Bolivia and Peru) Travel from La Paz to Puno via Copacabana <<-- GO

Travel by public bus from La Paz to Puno (Peru) via Copacabana. Today, we cross the border line between Bolivia and Peru, traveling along the Titicaca lake shores and making a brief lunch stop in Copacabana near the border line between Bolivia and Peru.

(Peru) Titicaca lake cruise <<-- GO

Like the ancient Uros people, about 2000 Peruvians still populate the floating islands built of Totora reeds, over lake Titicaca in Peru. Everything, from homes to the floating islands itself, is built using Totora reeds, a plant growing along the shores of lake Titicaca.

(Peru) Travel from Puno to Cusco by train <<-- GO

Travel from Puno to Cusco by train with Perurail, over one of the world highest railway. The entire journey takes almost 12 hours, but worth rather than taking a faster bus, because of the beautiful scenery.

(Peru) Excursions from Cusco <<-- GO

Cusco, in the middle of the Andes in Peru, is a city full of history and fascinating museum (some of the best in South America). The first day spent in Cusco is dedicated to an excursion to Sacsayhuaman fortress and to the temple of the sun.

(Peru) Pisaq and Ollantaytambo tour <<-- GO

Drive from Cusco thru the Sacred Valley to Pisaq with its ancient ruins and the local handicraft market. Continue to Ollantaytambo to visit the Inca fortress, before spending the night in a local small guest house.

(Peru) Travel to Machu Picchu by train <<-- GO

Travel to Machu Picchu by train from Ollantaytambo with Perurail. The narrow gauge railway finishes in Aguas Calientes, where we have some rest and overnight before actually getting to Machu Picchu.

(Peru) Machu Picchu tour <<-- GO

Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca town, has been discovered only in 1911, although was always known by several local farmers. A tour of Machu Picchu gives the possibility to better understand the everyday life of who has lived here.

(Peru) Cusco city tour visiting the museums <<-- GO

During any tour in Peru, only one day in Cusco is never enough, so, in this second day, I visit several interesting museums and do more hikes in the city, where many modern buildings are built over ancient Inca walls.

(Peru) Flight from Cusco to Lima <<-- GO

Short flight from Cusco to Lima by a Lan Peru on an Airbus A320. This journey thru the Andes of South America is now about to finish and the rest of the day is spent relaxing in Lima after so many days at travel.

(Peru) Lima day tour <<-- GO

Excursion to a pre-Inca cemetery, before visiting Plaza de Armas and the interesting San Francisco monastery with the catacombs. Brief visit to the more modern parts of Lima along the shores of Pacific ocean.

Collection of the best pictures from Bolivia, Peru and Chile <<-- GO

The most beautiful pictures from Peru, Bolivia and Chile are collected in this page. In Peru, Bolivia and Chile there are some of the most spectacular landscapes of the world, so impressive that you may still see them by closing your eyes, even after long time after your visit.

Photography equipment review <<-- GO

A trip photographically challenging because of lighting conditions not always optimal, and in a period of transition between traditional and digital photography. This section contains information on cameras and film used throughout the tour.