Your guide will pick you up at 1pm and take you for a big traditional Sunday lunch at one of our favourite local restaurants. In the afternoon there’s time for a stroll around Cusco’s beautiful historic centre, and our mechanic is on hand to help you assemble your bike if you’ve brought it from home. It’s important to take it easy and drink plenty of water today to aid acclimatisation, as we start to mountain bike Peru tomorrow!

Meals: Lunch and dinner included

Accommodation: Comfortable hotel in Cusco

Like many Andean cities, Cusco sits in the flat bottom of a steep-sided, horseshoe-shaped valley, and the hills around the town offer miles and miles of riding, ranging from easy dirt track to gnarly downhill and a jump park. We’ll spend the day doing as many of Cusco’s classic descents as you like. You won’t believe the quality and variety of terrain, and with the added bonus of pretty countryside and incredible views down into Cusco, this day gives you a good insight into why Cusco is the Southern Hemisphere’s premier MTB destination.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Comfortable hotel in Cusco

This morning we’ll make our way, via a little awesome single track and a very scenic paved-road descent, to Pisac. Here there’s time to check out Pisac’s famous artesian (handicraft) market before we drive 30 minutes or so to the tiny farming village of Amaru.

After a traditional lunch, home-cooked by our hostesses, we’ll head out to help in the fields and learn about the plants and processes behind this region’s famous weavings. Or if you’d prefer, you can explore the spectacular local countryside by bike, or walk or even ride a horse to a mountain lookout for breathtaking views across the high Andes range to whose side Amaru clings.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Basic guesthouse in Amaru

This morning we’ll drive up to Amparaes Pass and then descend on an easy gravel road into the remote Lares Valley, starting in high-altitude rock and cold, and ending up in a warm, green river gorge. The chance to enjoy a beer and barbecue at the surreal and beautiful water park that is Lares hot springs is worth a trip in itself. Naturally occurring hot springs are surrounded by lovingly landscaped terraces and lawns dotted with tents. This is one of our favourite places in the world – there is no better end to a day’s riding than soaking in the springs and staring up at the stars.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Camping at the glorious Lares hot springs

This morning an incredibly scenic drive takes us up to the dizzying Amparaes Pass, and to the beginning of arguably Peru’s best mountain biking, and definitely Katy’s favourite bike ride in the world. Section follows section of llama track, gravel riverside, and eventually scenic river gorge. We'll end with an array of undulating riverside single track (or take the open, speedy backroad alongside) into the outskirts of Calca, back once more in the sunny Sacred Valley. From here we'll head back to Cusco for the night.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Comfortable hotel in Cusco

There are things to do in Cusco to suit every mood and personality: churches, museums, and art galleries, rafting, horse riding, and cooking classes, just for starters. This is also the perfect day to just wander around and enjoy the spectacular mountain views, traditionally dressed locals, excellent cafes and charming architecture that make Cusco such a fascinating and beautiful place.

Meals: Breakfast included

Accommodation: Comfortable hotel in Cusco

This is Peru’s most famous and commercial mountain bike day, and our pick for the best day trip from Cusco. Even non-riders get on bikes to enjoy an easy, cross-country ride through rolling farmland that ends at Moray – three massive amphitheatres of incredible engineering precision and stern, magnificent beauty.

After exploring this mysterious Inca site we’ll saddle up again for our next descent, fantastically fun dirt-track descent to our favourite Inca site, Salineras – a surreal and beautiful patchwork of pools and paths that still produces salt using Inca technology.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Family-run hotel in Ollantaytambo

This morning we drive up to 4,350m (14,000ft) Abra Malaga (Malaga Pass). Here we cross from the eastern to the western side of the Andes – we’re now on the upper slopes of the mighty Amazon Basin and will lose nearly 3,000m (10,000ft) of altitude over an incredibly scenic 71km on-road descent into the tropical cloud forest.

It's not hard to see why this ride is one of South America's classics, and often favourably compared to Bolivia's infamous ‘Death Road’. It's pure fun – a long, gentle descent through some of the most spectacular scenery you'll ever see. By the time we get to Santa Teresa, at 1,900m (6,230ft), we’re in the high jungle – a whole different world from the icy Andean pass where we started.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Rustic eco-lodge outside Santa Teresa

Today we’ll experience Cola de Mono, South America’s highest zipline (flying fox), and one of the most exciting and scenic activities we’ve ever encountered, then relax in natural mountain hot springs beside a raging river. In the afternoon we’ll take a short train ride to Machu Picchu pueblo, Aguas Calientes.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Comfortable hotel in 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.

We’ll be up at sunrise so there’s time for your guide to show you around Machu Picchu’s main citadel, as well as our favourite hidden nooks and crannies, before the crowds arrive. Then there’s time for your own exploration of the massive, still-mysterious site before we catch the train back to Cusco.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Comfortable hotel in Cusco

We’ve saved the best for last – the Inca Avalanche International racetrack. At times exhilarating, at times humbling, it’s a massive 1,500m (4,920ft) descent from the Abra de Malaga – over 20km (12 miles) of unrelenting single track through rocks, mud, forest tracks and stone walls, to name just a few features. No downhiller would want to leave Cusco without having a crack at this ride. The really great thing is how this track is set up as if deliberately so that people of all levels of ability can participate – a paved road zigzags across the valley, frequently intersecting the single track that bombs straight down, and our expert guides will advise you which sections are appropriate for you.

After an unforgettable day’s biking, we’ll head back to Cusco for our last evening together.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Comfortable Cusco hotel

You can book your flight out of Cusco for any time today. If you’re staying on in Peru, we’d be delighted to help out with suggestions and assistance for the rest of your time here.

Meals: Breakfast included