Cusco: History & Culture

Overview

Inca Empires & Ancient Traditions

Explore one of the richest and most diverse cultures in South America with a trip to Cusco and the spellbinding Sacred Valley. Students immerse into the Quechua culture with a homestay that includes traditional cooking, house building, weaving and traditional farming. Students visit impactful reforestation and community composting projects before visiting the iconic Machu Picchu.

Details

Location: The Sacred Valley, Cusco, Peru
Duration: 4 days +
Number of participants: Flexible
Date: Flexible
Cost: From $599 p/p*
Language: Spanish or English
Subjects: Anthropology, Archaeology, Social Studies, Humanities, Sustainable Tourism, Spanish, History.
Carbon emissions: 87kg of CO2e p/p – we offset 100% of these emissions plus your journey here! See below for more details.

Available Activities

Tour of UNESO-listed historical centre of Cusco
Cooking class in Cusco
Tour of the Temple of the Moon
Homestay with Quechua community – traditional farming, cooking, weaving
Visit to women’s weaving corporation.
Visit to a reforestation project
Visit to Machu Picchu
Multi-day Lares or Salkantay trek
Visit to local recycling initiative
Lectures and talks from expert anthropologists, archaeologists, historians.
Market visit and student challenge

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrivals & introduction to the program

Private airport transfer. Hotel check in. Welcome dinner, brief tour of Cusco’s beautiful historical centre.

Day 2: Market visit and cooking class

Visit the local market to find an array of locally-sourced food. In teams, choose the right ingredients for you as we enjoy a cooking challenge led by local expert chefs.

Day 3: Visit Temple of the Moon

Set off with a local guide to visit an archaeological site with many insights into Inca culture and history. Enjoy some free time in Cusco’s centre before dinner.

Day 4: Community homestay experience

Arrive at the community and meet your new families for your unique homestay. Learn how this community self-sustains itself using traditional cooking, house-building, weaving and crafting techniques.

Day 5: Pachamanca - underground cooking

Students get a unique opportunity to make one of the community’s most traditional meals using nature to cook the food. Enjoy and afternoon visit to the archaeological site of Pisac.

Day 6: Trip to Aguas Calientes

Enjoy one of the continent’s most epic train journeys winding through the spellbinding Sacred Valley. Explore the markets in the town of Aguas Calientes.

Day 7: Machu Picchu trek

Explore one of the wonders of the world. Led by an expert guide, discover the extraordinary history of this ancient city and the remarkable construction methods used by the Incas. Return to Cusco after lunch.

Day 8: Visit to a quechua women's weaving corp

Discover a social enterprise spearheaded by native women that has addressed the balance of uncontrolled tourism in the Sacred Valley. Students learn weaving techniques from the locals and enjoy a community lunch together. Return to Cusco for final meal.

Day 9: Departures:

Private transfer to Cusco’s international airport in plenty of time for your flights home.

More Information

Free professor place for every 10 students that sign up
All meals (we’ve chosen varied dishes to give a real taste of the Peruvian cuisine)
Accommodation (rooms are shared but privates are available on request and at an extra cost)
Private transport – buses and small jeeps depending on the size of the group
All scheduled excursions and activities
Local guides and translators
Safety documents – risk assessment, safety protocols, liability cover
Health Insurance
One Kagumu guide for every 8 students

We have worked out this trip generates an average of 87kg of CO2e per person. This includes all the carbon equivalent emissions (CO2e) from your trip including accommodation, food, transport, guides, and staff operations.

Extra potential CO2e emissions from your journey to and from Santa Marta.
New York – Lima; Lima – Cuzco 774kg (round trip)
Mexico City – Lima; Lima – Cuzco 727kg (round trip)
Panama – Lima; Lima – Cuzco 505kg (round trip)

You can read more about how we measure our carbon emissions by reading our climate action policy here.

Flexible bookings

Book now, pay later. Due to changing circumstances we make it easy for you to reserve your educational trip without paying a deposit upfront!.