Richseen Private Journeys · South America

Rio Carnival & South America Grand Journey

Brazil · Argentina · Peru · Chile — 20 Days
20 Days · Four Countries
"From the rhythm of Rio to the wonders of Machu Picchu."
The Journey

A Continent
Unveiled

South America is not a single destination — it is a continent of contrasts so extreme they seem theatrical: the thundering curtain of Iguazú Falls, the pampas silence of a Patagonian estancia, the sacred geometry of Machu Picchu emerging from cloud-forest mist at dawn. This twenty-day private journey moves across four countries and the full dramatic range of the continent's landscapes, cultures, and capital cities.

The journey opens with Rio de Janeiro during Carnival — when the entire city becomes a stage and the samba schools pour months of collective artistic obsession into five days of performance at the Sambadrome. Your private box is arranged in advance; your cultural guide ensures the experience reaches its full emotional and historical depth. From Rio, the journey moves through the European grace of Buenos Aires, to the sacred highlands of Peru and the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, before concluding in the elemental wilderness of Chilean Patagonia.

Each destination in this journey is a world unto itself. The care and depth of experience at every stage — private guides, expert naturalists, extraordinary lodges — reflect a philosophy of travel that treats time not as a resource to be managed but as a gift to be inhabited.

Curated Highlights

What Defines This Journey

01🎭
Rio Carnival — Private Sambadrome Box
The world's most exhilarating single night of performance — samba schools years in preparation, drums felt through the air, witnessed from the finest private box in the Sambadrome.
02🌊
Iguazú Falls — Argentina & Brazil Combined
The world's widest waterfall system from both sides of the border — the Devil's Throat catwalk at the Argentine side, where the mist rises twenty metres and the sound is absolute.
03🏔️
Machu Picchu at Sunrise
The Inca citadel at first light — arriving via the Sun Gate trail as the cloud burns from the mountain, with a private archaeologist whose fifteen years of study make the stones speak.
04🥩
Buenos Aires — Asado Culture & Tango
The finest beef in the world prepared over wood coals by a maestro parrillero; a private tango lesson in a milonga that has been dancing the same steps since the 1940s.
05🏛️
Cusco & the Sacred Valley
The Inca capital and its extraordinary valley: Pisac market at dawn, Ollantaytambo fortress at sunset, weaving communities where five-century-old techniques remain living tradition.
06🦅
Torres del Paine — Patagonian Wilderness
Granite towers, glacial lakes of impossible blue, and condors riding thermals above a landscape unchanged since the last ice age retreated — Explora Patagonia as base camp.
Sample Itinerary

Key Moments & Movements

Twenty days across four countries requires an architecture of pace — building from Carnival's intensity toward Patagonia's elemental silence. The journey is designed to move through register as much as geography.

Every Richseen journey is individually crafted. Your private consultant will tailor each day to your preferences, pace, and passions.

Days 1–4
Rio de Janeiro — Carnival Week
Four nights at the Belmond Copacabana Palace during Carnival. Your private cultural guide navigates the city's festival energy: the Sambadrome on night two in your private box; private samba school rehearsal visits; the street blocos of Santa Teresa.
Belmond Copacabana Palace, Rio
Days 5–6
Iguazú Falls — The World's Greatest Waterfall
Fly to the falls. The Belmond Das Cataratas Hotel — the only property within the Brazilian national park — is your base. Walk the Argentine side at dawn; view the Brazilian panorama in the golden afternoon light; sleep to the sound of the falls from your terrace.
Belmond Das Cataratas, Iguazú
Days 7–9
Buenos Aires — The Paris of South America
Three nights in Buenos Aires. Private architectural tour with a local urbanist. Dinner at Don Julio — ranked among the world's best restaurants. A private tango lesson in a milonga where the steps have been the same since before you were born.
Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt, Buenos Aires
Days 10–12
Cusco & the Sacred Valley, Peru
Fly to Cusco — acclimatise with a gentle city orientation through its Inca stonework and Spanish colonial overlay. Move to the Sacred Valley: Pisac market at dawn, Moray's concentric agricultural terraces, Ollantaytambo fortress at sunset, weaving communities in the afternoon.
Belmond Rio Sagrado, Sacred Valley
Day 13
Machu Picchu — City in the Clouds
Rise before dawn for the Sun Gate trail. Arrive at the citadel as the cloud clears, accompanied by a private archaeologist who has studied the site for fifteen years — the terraces, the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, each explained with a depth no group tour can approach.
Belmond Sanctuary Lodge
Days 14–15
Lake Titicaca — The Altiplano
Cross to the shores of Lake Titicaca — the world's highest navigable lake at 3,812 metres. A private boat to the floating reed islands of the Uros people; sunset from the Amantaní Island lookout across eighty kilometres of high-altitude water.
Titilaka Lodge, Lake Titicaca
Days 16–20
Chilean Patagonia — Torres del Paine
Fly to Punta Arenas and transfer to the wilderness of Torres del Paine. Five days at Explora Patagonia — eighteen trail routes, expert guides, and evenings by fire as the wind moves through the valley in the way that only Patagonia's wind does.
Explora Patagonia
Luxury Stays

Where You Rest Matters

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
Belmond Copacabana Palace
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The legendary ocean-fronting palace on Copacabana Beach — every distinguished visitor to Rio since 1923 has considered this their address. The most significant hotel in South America.
Urubamba, Peru
Sacred Valley, Peru
Belmond Rio Sagrado
Urubamba, Peru
Terraced gardens descending to the Urubamba River — a lodge of striking beauty at the heart of Peru's most archaeologically dense valley, with Inca ruins visible from every terrace.
Torres del Paine, Chile
Patagonia, Chile
Explora Patagonia
Torres del Paine, Chile
The definitive Patagonia wilderness lodge — set above a river in the heart of the national park, with eighteen trail routes, expert guides, and a library that makes isolation feel like privilege.
Exclusive Experiences

Moments Designed for You

💃
Cultural Immersion
Samba School Visit — Behind the Sambadrome
A private evening at the rehearsal hall of one of Rio's great samba schools — the drummers, the costume designers, the culture that builds toward Carnival all year in rooms tourists never see.
🦜
Natural Wonder
Iguazú at Dawn — Empty Trails
Early entry to the Argentine national park before the organised tours arrive — the full force of the falls in morning light, only your guide and the sound of eighteen kilometres of cascading water.
🗿
Private Access
Machu Picchu with an Archaeologist
Fifteen years of scholarly study expressed in a single private morning — stone walls and agricultural terraces transformed into a comprehensible, living Inca civilisation.
🌄
Wilderness
Patagonian Photography at Dawn
A private expedition in Torres del Paine with a professional landscape photographer — the Torres at the precise moment the first light touches the granite, a colour that has no adequate name.
Visual Journey

Through the Lens

Begin Your Story

Craft Your
Private Journey

Every detail — from your first arrival to your final farewell — is composed entirely around you. Speak with your dedicated Richseen journey consultant today.

Plan Your Journey