Peru does not ease you in gently, and honestly, that is the point. One day you are cooking Peruvian dishes in Lima with a Pisco sour in hand, and a week later you are standing on a floating island woven from reeds in the middle of the highest navigable lake on earth. The distance between those two mornings is enormous [and also entirely the reason people come back from this trip talking about it for years].
Peru tours from Canada mean long flights, real altitude, and a country with more layered history than most travellers expect going in. We built our itinerary around all three, not despite them. If you are weighing whether Peru, and Machu Picchu specifically, belongs on your list, here is what an Approach Tours trip actually looks like, what it costs, and how we plan around the parts of Peru that catch first-timers off guard.
Key Takeaways
- Peru is a country you build a real itinerary around, not just a stop. Our Peru & Mystical Machu Picchu Tour is 16 days, all-inclusive, and moves through Lima, Arequipa, Colca Valley, Puno and Lake Titicaca, Cusco and the Sacred Valley before Machu Picchu itself. See our full Peru experience.
- Altitude is the thing to plan around, and we do. The route climbs gradually, giving your body time to adjust before Cusco’s higher elevation, rather than flying you straight there on day one.
- Every departure is capped at 30 travellers, all-inclusive from flights out of Canada to gratuities on the ground, with a Group Guru at your side the entire way.
- This is rated High difficulty, and we say so plainly. It is not the easiest Approach Tours itinerary, but it is built for travellers 55 and up who want the real thing and are willing to pace for it.
- Machu Picchu is the finale, not the whole trip. Skip straight to our dedicated Machu Picchu tours from Canada guide if the citadel itself is what brought you here.
Why Peru rewards a guide who knows it
Everyone thinks of Machu Picchu first, understandably. But some of the most memorable mornings on this trip happen a thousand kilometres from the citadel, out on Lake Titicaca, where families from the Uros community still build their homes on islands made entirely of totora reeds.
Here is the part most visitors never get told, and it is worth knowing before you go. The Uros didn’t start building floating islands as a curiosity for tourists. Long before the Spanish arrived, the Uros people constructed these islands to stay mobile and keep their distance from more powerful neighbours, first the Inca, later others, simply by being able to pole an entire village away if trouble came. The reeds rot from the bottom, so every few weeks a fresh layer goes down on top. An island you visit today has, in a sense, been continuously rebuilt for generations without ever fully being new or fully being old.
That is the kind of context a good guide hands you at exactly the right moment, standing on the reeds themselves, not read off a plaque you skim once and forget by morning. It is also, honestly, why we think a small group with a dedicated Group Guru beats touring Peru on your own. You could see the islands without that story. You would not feel the same about standing on them.
What a typical Peru itinerary covers
Our Peru & Mystical Machu Picchu Tour runs 16 days and does not rush the country. The rough shape of it, without pretending to cover every single stop:
Lima first. You will land, meet your Group Guru and the rest of your small group, and settle in with a cooking class making authentic Peruvian dishes before touring Huaca Pucllana, a pre-Columbian adobe pyramid sitting improbably in the middle of a modern residential neighbourhood. Colonial Lima gets its own day too, cathedral, catacombs and the seaside districts of Miraflores and San Isidro included.
From Lima, a short flight takes you to Arequipa, a gorgeous colonial city where the elevation starts to climb and your body gets its first real chance to adjust. Plaza de Armas, the Basilica Cathedral, and the vast Santa Catalina Convent, the largest colonial monastery in Peru, all fill the days here. Then it is on to Colca Valley, where Andean condors ride the thermals above one of the deepest canyons on earth and hot springs wait at the end of a day spent among pre-Incan agricultural terraces that are still, remarkably, in active use.
Puno comes next, Peru’s folkloric capital on the shore of Lake Titicaca. This is where the floating islands wait, along with Taquile Island’s famously skilled knitters and, in the village of Llachon, native Quechua still spoken as a first language by the people who live there. From Puno, the route climbs to Cusco, the historic capital of the Inca Empire, before settling into the Sacred Valley and Ollantaytambo, a quaint cobblestone town with some of the best-preserved Inca ruins in the country. Machu Picchu itself is the culmination, reached by train through scenery that, several times a trip, will genuinely stop conversation in the coach.
Costs, timing and getting there from Canada
The Peru & Mystical Machu Picchu Tour runs $10,095 CAD per person in double occupancy for 16 days, all-inclusive, from your flights out of Canada right through to gratuities on the ground. A single supplement applies at $2,000, and if you would rather handle your own flights, a land-only option saves $1,075. Deposits work the same as every Approach Tours departure: $500 per person to book, $1,000 per person 45 days later, and the balance due 90 days before departure.
Wondering when to actually go? We have a full seasonal breakdown for Peru that walks through the dry season, the wet season and everything in between, worth a read before you pick a departure date.
Radically All-Inclusive, applied to Peru specifically
“All-inclusive” gets used loosely by a lot of operators. For us it means every flight, every hotel, the vast majority of meals, and a Coach that takes you between every stop without a single logistics decision landing on your plate. You will not be hunting for a taxi in Puno at 6am or trying to figure out train tickets to Machu Picchu on your own. Your Group Guru handles it, and handles the small stuff too, the reservation nobody remembered to make, the traveller who needs a slower pace on a given morning, the little details that add up to a trip that actually feels like a vacation rather than a project.
Built for Travellers 55 and Up: altitude, honestly addressed
We rate this itinerary High difficulty, and we are not going to soften that. Cusco sits above 3,400 metres, high enough that altitude sickness is a real consideration, not a scare tactic. So here is the thing: the itinerary is built around that fact, not in spite of it. Arequipa and Colca Valley come before Cusco specifically so your body has days, not hours, to acclimatize gradually rather than being dropped at altitude on arrival.
It still asks something of you, cobblestones underfoot, some stairs, real elevation in your lungs whether you’re ready for it or not. Go in with honest information instead of glossy marketing that pretends altitude is a non-issue, and the trip is simply better for it. Our physical requirements FAQ covers what to expect in more detail, and your Group Guru is there for the entire acclimatization stretch, not just the highlight-reel days.
How to choose the right Peru tour
A few things worth checking before you book with anyone, us included: does the itinerary build in acclimatization time before Cusco, or does it fly you straight there and hope for the best? Is the group size actually small, or is “small group” doing a lot of marketing work for what turns out to be forty-plus people on a coach? And does the operator handle Machu Picchu entry and train logistics for you, given how limited and how regulated access to the citadel actually is?
We think our answer to all three holds up. Thirty travellers maximum, an itinerary paced around the body’s actual response to altitude, and a Group Guru who has done this route before and knows exactly which logistics to worry about so you don’t have to.
Related Articles
- How to Choose the Best Peru Tours for You
- Best Time to Visit Peru: Your Seasonal Guide
- Peru Travel Guide for Canadian Senior Travellers
- What to Expect on a Machu Picchu Tour
- Machu Picchu Packing List for Seniors
- Machu Picchu Tours from Canada: The Complete Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the Approach Tours Peru itinerary?
Sixteen days, all-inclusive, covering Lima, Arequipa, Colca Valley, Puno and Lake Titicaca, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.
How much does a Peru tour from Canada cost?
Our Peru & Mystical Machu Picchu Tour is $10,095 CAD per person in double occupancy, with a $2,000 single supplement and a $1,075 discount for travellers arranging their own flights.
Is Peru difficult for travellers with mobility concerns?
We rate this itinerary High difficulty because of the altitude and some cobblestone walking, and we would rather tell you that upfront. The route is built to acclimatize gradually before Cusco, and our Group Guru paces the group throughout, but it is worth an honest conversation with us before booking if altitude or mobility is a concern. Our physical requirements FAQ is a good place to start.
What is the best time of year to visit Peru?
It depends on what you want from the trip. Our seasonal guide to Peru breaks down the dry season versus the wet season in detail.
Does the tour include Machu Picchu?
Yes. Machu Picchu is the culmination of the itinerary, reached by train after the Sacred Valley portion of the trip. If Machu Picchu itself is your main interest, our dedicated Machu Picchu guide goes deeper on the citadel specifically.
