We’ll pick you up from your accommodation between 9.30 and 10am, and head straight off to start the trip. It’s about an hour’s drive to Patabamba where we start the hike. Before we set off walking you’ll have the opportunity to organise your luggage so you can just bring what you need and can carry for our overnight hike to Huchuy Qosqo.

The 10km (6 miles; 4-6 hours walking time) hike takes us through farmland and rugged mountain scenery, with stunning views of the Sacred Valley below, to the community and ruin of Huchuy Qosqo.

Here a warm welcome, a hot dinner and a comfortable bed await us at Irene and her family’s house just above the ruin.

Meals: Lunch and dinner included

Accommodation: Irene's place, Huchuy Qosqo

Today’s hike to Huchuy Qosqo and out to Lamay is all downhill. A short walk brings us to Huchuy Qosqo, a fascinating, little-visited site with sweeping views of the stunning Sacred Valley. After exploring the site we’ll walk down the hill and out to the main Sacred Valley road at Lamay (5km or 3 miles; two hours walking time)

After a slap-up lunch near Urubamba, and a little time to explore the charming town of Ollantaytambo, we’ll take the afternoon train to Aguas Calientes.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Hostal Imperio del Inka, Aguas Calientes

An early start rewards us with sunrise at Machu Picchu – a peak moment for anyone. 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. Your trip leader will take you on a guided tour – a necessary start to orient you in this massive site – then you’ll have plenty of time to explore the site and some of the surrounding peaks on your own before we catch the train to Ollantaytambo for the night.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Hostal Kuychipunku, Ollantaytambo

This morning we’ll explore Moray – three massive Inca amphitheatres of incredible engineering precision and stern, magnificent beauty. Then a delightful stroll (or ride in the bus if you prefer) through rolling farmland and views of the high Andes brings us to Salineras – a surreal and beautiful patchwork of pools and paths that still produces salt using Inca technology.

In the afternoon we’ll check out Chinchero, a quiet little town best known for its outdoor weaving studios, terraced Inca ruin, and intricately-frescoed colonial church, before heading for beautiful, fascinating Cusco where we’ll explore the center a little if there’s time, and spend the night.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Hostal Inkarri, Cusco

The Valle Sur just outside Cusco is a popular weekend destination for Cusqueños, who flock here to specialist restaurants offering local favourites like chicharrones (deep fried pork chunks with corn and mint) and cuy (guinea pig), as well as plenty of more conventional and equally delicious options! We’ll fit a very local lunch in between visiting Tipón and Pikillacta, two of Peru’s most charming archaeological sites, and the church of Andahuaylillas, whose interior is so ornate that it’s known as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas.

Late this afternoon we’ll arrive at the village of Raqchi, home to a group of gracious, funny people we’re proud to call our friends. Tonight they’ll open their homes and lives to you, giving you a unique insight into traditional Andean life. This evening we’ll have the privilege of attending a ch’alla (payment to the Earth) – a ceremony of propitiation of Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) held regularly by an ostensibly Catholic community, and a very good example of the paradox at the heart of Andean religion.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Raqchi homestay

This morning we’ll strike off into the countryside, wandering to breathtaking (literally!) lookouts, and the nearby (extinct!) volcano of Kimsach’ata. Then we’ll explore the enormous adobe ruin that dwarfs the humble homes of Raqchi, before heading off into the altiplano - one of the highest inhabited places on Earth, and home to some of its most unlikely attractions.

We’ll take the plunge at Marangani: a surreal and improbable complex of five natural hot pools linked by steaming streams and populated by locals enjoying the only hot water for miles around.

We’ll spend the night at a historic hacienda. Established as a convent in the 18th century, it’s now home to a dairy farm where we’ll have the opportunity to sample delicious high-altitude cheese and yoghurt.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Hacienda near Ayaviri

Today we’ll explore Lampa. Once one of the richest towns in Peru, it’s now all but a ghost town, making the grandeur and scale of its cathedral all the more striking. Impressive from the outside, inside the cathedral is simply incredible. Among many other marvels, it houses a catacomb, a collection of skulls and skeletons, and a full-scale reproduction of Michelangelo’s Pietá.

We’ll also join the very small number of foreign tourists to ever visit the stone forest of Tinajani, a windswept catacomb of weird rock formations, on our way to Puno, a bustling port town on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Cosy hotel in Puno

This morning we take to the waters of Lake Titicaca. We’ll stop briefly at the Uros – the famous floating reed islands of Lake Titicaca – but our main destination is Taquile, one of the most fascinating islands in the world. It was isolated until the 1950s and still follows a very different way of life. Decisions are communal, economic activity is co-operative, and society is based on the fundamental Inca principles:  "Ama sua, ama llulla, ama quella" (don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t be lazy). There are no cars, few dogs, and little electricity, because the Taquileños want it that way.

Taquile is also the most famous textile centre in the Andes. Colorful, storytelling textiles, designed and woven by Taquile’s women from thread spun by its men, draw aficionados and investigators from all over the world to this amazing island. On top of all this, the scenery is stunning and the peace and tranquility is like nowhere else on Earth. Taquile is just magic.

Meals: All meals included

Accommodation: Cosy hotel in Puno

You can book your flight out for any time you like today – do allow for the fact that Juliaca airport is just over an hour’s drive away. If you’re staying on in Peru, we’re delighted to help out with suggestions and assistance for the rest of your time here.

Accommodation: Breakfast included