Machu Picchu Drive
General information
You drive your own pickup truck or SUV at your own pace through southern Peru.
This Self-Guided tour brings you to all the world famous highlights Peru has to offer. How about the Nasca Lines and Lake Titicaca?
Extremely dry deserts, deep canyons, lively cities and colorful markets will be your part. And you’ll see lots of animals of the high Andes. But the absolute highlight of the tour is: The lost city of the Incas: Machu Picchu, deep in the Andean rainforest.
Let’s not forget that the driving in Perú is in one word: SPECTACULAR !!!
The tour starts and finishes in Arequipa, our hometown.
Highlights
- City of Arequipa
Beautiful colonial (UNESCO) city in southern Perú - Coastal Desert
Driest desert in the world - Nasca lines
Mysterious figures and lines on the pampa - High Andes
Ride up to an altitude of 5.000 meters (16,500 feet) - City of Cusco
Ancient capital of the Inca Empire - Machu Picchu
The lost city of the Inca’s - Lake Titicaca
Highest navigable lake in the world - Colca Canyon
Deepest canyon in the world, home of the Andean Condor
Prices:
Prices 2026 / 2027:
- 1 Hotel room / 1 Car:
1 Guest: US$ 3,795.00
2 Guests: US$ 2,540.00
3 Guests: US$ 2,280.00
- 2 Hotel rooms / 1 Car:
3 Guests: US$ 2,440.00
4 Guests: US$ 2,150.00
All prices are in US Dollars, per person
Upgrades:
- Closed SUV (like a Toyota LandCruiser, or similar model): US$ 420.00 per car
- Private driver/guide: US$ 2,685.00 per tour (all expenses included)
- Single room supplement: US$ 500,00
Included:
- 11 Nights in nice 3* tourist class hotels with private shower and toilet, including standard breakfast
- Rental car for the whole tour, unlimited kilometers / miles
- Car insurance, with a deductible/excess of max. US$ 1,000.00
- Detailed Road Book
- Garmin GPS
- Day trip to Machu Picchu (Train-, bus- and entrance- tickets)
- Boat cruise on Lake Titicaca to the “Floating Island of Uros”
- Airport transfers in Arequipa (Perú)
Not Included:
- Flights to and from Arequipa (Perú)
- All not mentioned entrance-fees for excursions, museums, parks, etc.
- All not mentioned meals
- Fuel and tolls
- Safety deposit for the rental car: US$ 1,000.00 (Cash or major credit card)
- Airport taxes
- Personal expenses
* On resting days the motorcycles are not available for riding.
Kitty
Damage Reduction Waiver (in short !)
The rental car is fully insured against:
– Damage to the rental car
– Third party property damage
– Personal injury to third parties
With an excess/deductible of max. US$ 1,000.00. A safety deposit of US$ 1,000.00 is required in cash or with a credit card (Visa, MasterCard, AmEx or Diners Club). It is not possible to re-insure the excess/deductible. The rental company can not accept any other insurance. If the client has such an insurance, he/she has to pay the excess/deductible and then claim it on their own insurance.
The following applies to all damages: regardless of the cause !
Day 1: Arrival in Arequipa (Peru)
The tour starts with your arrival in Arequipa, the sizzlin’ “White City” in southern Peru. We pick you up from the airport and bring you to the hotel. Here you will get the extensive briefing about your upcoming tour from a PeruMotors representative.
The rest of the day is at leisure in Arequipa, a very nice colonial city with a friendly atmosphere.
- Altitude: 2.300 meters (7,500 feet)
Day 2: Arequipa - Puerto Inka
Early in the morning the rental car is delivered at the hotel. Finally, the tour starts. The first stage is to the coast, descending about 2,300 meters. From there the route goes northbound along the Pacific coast all the way to Puerto Inka. You will pass small villages and enjoy the spectacular views. The hotel Puerto Inka is one to remember, because of its amazing location, on a natural bay. Once this was the harbor of the Inca’s. There are still some interesting Inca-ruins next to the hotel, which are free to visit.
- Distance: 410 km. (255 mi.)
- Altitude: From 2.300 meters (7,500 feet) to sea level
- Road Surface: All pavement
Day 3: Puerto Inka - Nasca
Following the PanAmericana northbound, through one of the driest deserts in the world. On our way to Nasca, world famous for its geoglyphs and lines only visible from the sky. In the afternoon there is the possibility to do a half an hour flight over the world famous pampa.
- Distance: 180 km. (112 mi.)
- Altitude: From sea level to 500 meters (1,650 feet)
- Road Surface: All pavement
Day 4: Nasca - Chalhuanca
Directly from Nasca the mighty Andes brings you to more than 4.200 meters, where we will meet the lamas, alpacas and vicuñas. Here starts a amazing road uphill. If you have ever driven the “Tail of the Dragon” in the USA, well this the same… but for hundreds of miles!!! Passing tourist-less Puquio, a beautiful little village in the high Andes. And then even higher over the Andes to Chalhuanca.
- Distance: 340 km. (210 mi.)
- Altitude: From 500 meters (1,650 feet), via 4.500 meters (14,800 feet) to 2.000 meter (6,560 feet)
- Road Surface: All pavement
Day 5 & 6: Chalhuanca - Cusco
After an early breakfast and enough of ascending and descending you will arrive, via Abancay, in one of the most beautiful cities of South-America: Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas.
The next day to explore this city and its surroundings. Stroll it’s little steep streets, the Plaza de Armas, local markets, the cathedral, museums, ruins of Saqsayhuaman and much, much more.
- Distance: 320 km. (200 mi.)
- Altitude: From 2.000 meters (6,560 feet) to 3.500 meters (11,500 feet)
- Road Surface: All pavement
Day 7: Cusco - Ollantaytambo
From Cusco you move to the “Sacred Valley of the Incas”. Here you can visit a variety of Inca ruins. Some well-known, some unknown, but all very interesting. The day ends in Ollantaytambo.
- Distance: 80 km. (50 mi.)
- Altitude: From 3.500 meters (11,500 feet) to 2.800 meters (9,200 feet)
- Road Surface: All pavement
Day 8: Machu Picchu
The absolute highlight of this tour: Machu Picchu.
There is still no road to this magical place. So, early in the morning you go by train to the little town of Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo). From there it is half an hour by bus to the entrance of the citadel. After your visit to the ruins you go back to Ollantaytambo by train.
- Altitude: 2.430 meters (8,000 feet)
Day 9: Ollantaytambo - Puno
A long drive mainly over the Altiplano, the largest high plain in the world.
- Distance: 400 km. (250 mi.)
- Altitude: 3.800 meters (11,500 feet)
- Road Surface: All pavement
Day 10: Puno - Chivay (Colca Canyon)
You'll have to cross the Andes once again, East to West, to the Colca Canyon. The pay-offs are the spectacular views on the mighty Andes. The day ends in the town of Chivay. In the afternoon you can visit the local natural hot springs. You’ll love it !
- Distance: 315 km. (195 mi.)
- Altitude: from 3.800 meters (12,500 feet), via 4.910 meters (16,110 feet) to 3.600 meters (11,800 feet)
- Road Surface: All pavement
Day 11: Chivay - Arequipa
Another early start of the day, because the condors won’t wait for you. In about an hour you will reach “Cruz del Condor” in the heart of the Colca Canyon. Here you can see the Andean Condor in flight in its natural habitat. An amazing experience. After the condors, on the road again to the city where this tour started: Arequipa, where you will arrive in the afternoon.
- Distance: 260 km. (160 mi.)
- Altitude: from 3.600 meters (11,800 feet) to 2.300 meters (7,500 feet)
- Road Surface: All pavement
Day 12: Departure Arequipa
Today we will bring you to the airport for your flight back home.
- Altitude: 2.300 meters (7,500 feet)
Ford Ranger
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Toyota HiLux
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Dodge Durango
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Toyota LandCruiser
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How to book for a PeruMotors tour or motorcycle rental:
- Click here, and you wil referred to go to the official website of the Peruvian credit card companies.
- Or you can click on the credit card logos in the footer of this page.
Our Peruvian bank account:
Name of the bank: BCP (Banco de Credito del Peru)
Address of the bank: Calle las Camelias 750
City of the bank: Lima 15046
Country of the bank: Peru
BIC/SWIFT-codes: BCPLPEPL or BCPLPEPLXXX
Account Name: PeruMotors SRL
Account Number: 215-2591836-1-86
Account Address: Psj. La Gruta 304
Account City: Arequipa 04001
Account Country: Peru
About eight (8) weeks before the start of the tour or rental, we will send you the final invoice and the detailed information about your tour.