This morning we'll pick you up at 10am, then head out to explore the different places that Lima offers, like Lima contemporary with the most important traditional districts like El Olivar de San Isidro, Miraflores.

Lunch will be a tour of the best Peruvian coastal cuisine: causa (avocado and seafood layered between mashed potato – Peru’s answer to lasagne!) and ceviche (the most delicious version of raw marinated fish on the face of the Earth).

Then we will Lima's grandiose colonial centre for the picturesque cobbled byways of the historic bohemian neighbourhood of Barranco, the Government Palace, the Archbishop's Palace, the Cathedral Basilica, the Municipal Palace among others.

Meals: Lunch included

Accommodation: Lima airport Holiday Inn

Welcome to Cusco, capital of the Inca Empire, and one of the most beautiful cities on Earth!
Today your guide will take you on a relaxed walking tour around Cusco’s fascinating historic centre – an incredible maze of Inca foundations overlaid with Spanish colonial architecture, all against the backdrop of the surrounding high Andes.
Please remember to take it easy today as you’ve arrived from sea level today, and you need to adjust to Cusco’s 3,400m (11,200ft) altitude.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Hotel Inkarri, Cusco

The sunny, incredibly scenic floodplain between Pisac and Ollantaytambo in the valley of the Urubamba River is known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Pisac is a tiny, cobbled Inca village which is home to the largest handicraft market in the region and a huge Inca fortress. We’ll explore both, then set off into the Sacred Valley. We’ll need frequent photo stops as we pass still-working Inca terracing, irrigation canals, and awesome mountain vistas. At the other end of the spectacular valley we'll explore Ollantaytambo, perhaps the most perfectly preserved of all Inca towns, a maze of cobbled alleyways and sun-drenched plazas presided over by a spectacular, llama-shaped ruin.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Casona Yucay

This morning we’ll explore village life in the tiny hamlet of Lamay. Here, the baker, the chicha (traditional corn beer) lady, the cuy (guinea pig) man, and the church are the social hubs, and we’ll get to know each of these in between wandering around a typically sleepy Peruvian farming village.

Later we'll take a scenic 1.5 hour train ride through a rainforest gorge to Aguas Calientes, the little town that nestles between riverside and the jungle-clad base of Machu Picchu mountain.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Hatun Inti Classic, Aguas Calientes

A spectacular stone city surrounded by incredibly steep, incredibly green mountains, Machu Picchu needs no introduction and is deservedly one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

After your guide shows you around Machu Picchu’s main citadel, as well as our favourite hidden nooks and crannies, there’s time for your own exploration of the massive, still-mysterious site.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Hotel Inkarri, Cusco

The Valle Sur just outside Cusco is one of our favourite places to take our guests, because it offers a one day snapshot of the incredible variety of this whole region. We’ll meet brujos (witches) who can read your future in coca leaves, and see how bakers create the area’s famous chuta bread. We’ll explore two charming, little-visited ruins: the Inca agricultural laboratory Tipón, with its still-working terraces and panoramic views, and Pikillacta, ‘the flea village’, which was home to 10,000 members of a pre-Inca tribe known for abundant procreation!
We’ll check out the church of Andahuaylillas, so elaborate it’s known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas, and the deliberately-deformed skulls of departed Inca nobles displayed in the museum next door.
On the way home there’s time to sample local specialty foods like toqto (pigskin), cuy (guinea pig), or for the less adventurous palate, the best cakes and ice-creams in the region!

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Hotel Inkarri, Cusco

You can book your flight out for any time you like today. For as long we you're in Cusco, your guide is here to share the experience with you.

Cusco is the longest inhabited city in and undisputed archaeological capital of the Americas. It’s also beautiful, fascinating, and bursting at the seams with things to see and do: churches and temples, colonial architecture, stunning streetscapes, great cafés, mountain views, museums, musicians, markets, and crazy hole-in-the-wall shops selling everything from frogs and herbs for casting spells to the world’s most colourful candles!

By this stage of the trip, your guide will be familiar with your interests and will be there with you to help you make the best of your time in this amazing town.

We'll get you to the airport in time for your departing flight (or if you're staying on in Cusco, we're happy to help with arrangements.)

Meals: Breakfast and lunch included