Lima to Iquitos
Direct flights from Lima’s Jorge Chávez airport to Iquitos take about two hours and run daily. There is no road and no practical river route for travelers, so the flight is the only way in. Morning departures are the most reliable for connecting to a same-day embarkation.
If you land in Lima on an overnight international flight, we usually recommend one night in Miraflores before flying north. It removes the risk of a missed connection and starts the Amazon rested.
From Iquitos to the ship
Aqua Expeditions embarks at Nauta, south of Iquitos by road, where the Marañón and Ucayali meet to form the Amazon. Aqua Expeditions meets you for the transfer to the ship, and the return works in reverse, timed to your flight out.
Cusco to Puerto Maldonado
The southern Amazon is simpler to reach from the Andes. Flights from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado take under an hour, and Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica meets you at the airport for the short drive and boat ride up the Madre de Dios River. This is the connection we use on Exploration of Peru.
Connecting the Amazon and the Andes
There is no direct flight between Iquitos and Cusco; you travel via Lima, a full travel day. We plan that day with a buffer at each end and a private transfer waiting in Cusco, and we start you in the Sacred Valley rather than the city so you arrive at a lower altitude after a long day.
Doing the Amazon first, at sea level, and the Andes second is the order we prefer. You acclimatize later in the trip, with the river already behind you.
What we book for you
Flights are not included in our published prices, but we book them for you for a small fee and manage the connections, so one change does not unravel the rest. Our Amazon & Andes journey shows the whole sequence from Lima to Cusco.