NEW LUXURY PERU BY RAIL HOLIDAY WITH JOURNEY LATIN AMERICA

Specialist tour operator Journey Latin America is delighted to announce the launch of a new luxury Peru holiday incorporating South America's first sleeper train, the Belmond Andean Explorer.

The 10-day Peru by Rail holiday focuses on the country's Andean heartland travelling between the highlights by luxury train. The holiday will operate from May 2017 to coincide with the first departure of the sleeper train. Two nights are spent on board the Belmond Andean Explorer connecting Cusco with Arequipa and Lake Titicaca.  In addition, guests will also take the first-class Belmond Hiram Bingham train to Machu Picchu.

The tour begins in Lima where guests will have the opportunity to explore the historic centre and enjoy a special guided tour of the Larco Museum, which houses one of the finest collections of pre-Columbian artefacts in the country.

Flying on to Cusco, the former Inca capital, guests will then descend to the fertile Sacred Valley visiting the Inca terraces and fortresses of Pisaq and Ollantaytambo. From here, they will travel in style on the Hiram Bingham luxury train, indulging in gourmet cuisine and admiring the spectacular scenery on the way to Machu Picchu. With a privileged location right by the ruins, a stay at the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge offers guests the opportunity to make a second visit to Machu Picchu the following day and experience the site in more depth. Upon guests' return to Cusco, there is a tour of the city's important Inca ruins such as Q'oricancha (the Sun Temple) and the Inca fortress of Sacsayhuamán.

The following day sees guests back on to the tracks with a sumptuous rail journey across the high plains to Lake Titicaca. The train passes through agricultural valleys and into a rugged landscape of tawny plains and jagged, snow-capped mountains before stopping for the night outside Puno. After a peaceful night spent aboard, guests will awake to dawn at the lakeside.

Continuing by rail down the western flank of the Andes guests will take breakfast by the sapphire, flamingo-dotted Lagunillas Lake and make a stop at the 8,000-year-old Sumbay Caves whose walls are adorned with fascinating pre-Columbian folk art. In the afternoon, the journey comes to an end at the pretty colonial city of Arequipa at the foot of the slopes of the perfectly conical El Misti Volcano.

Isabelle Mazille, Product Manager, comments, “Currently visitors have the option to fly, travel by car or bus between Cusco, Arequipa and Lake Titicaca so we're thrilled that we will soon be able to offer our clients the opportunity to experience the breathtaking mountain scenery by train”.

This holiday costs £5,595 per person and includes first-class accommodation at three Belmond properties and the Casa Andina Private Collection in Arequipa, transfers, excursions, breakfast daily, and full board on the Belmond Andean Explorer. International flights are extra.

About Journey Latin America   

Journey Latin America is an award-winning tour operator with over 36 years of experience creating tailor-made holidays and group tours to all of Central and South America as well as Antarctica, Cuba and Mexico. The holiday firm has over 60 members of staff who have all lived, worked and/or travelled extensively throughout the region and as such can offer first-hand knowledge based on personal experience. All holidays are ATOL protected.

For more information on Journey Latin America visit www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk or telephone: 020 8600 1881

Press contacts:

Jenny Powles, Head of Press

Laura Rendell-Dunn, Press Manager

press@journeylatinamerica.co.uk

020 8747 1881