Peru – Land of the Incas

Fly overnight to Lima, Peru's fascinating capital. 

Arrive in Lima and transfer to your hotel, where you can spend the rest of the day at leisure.

A guided sightseeing tour brings to life the Peruvian capital. Founded by conquistador Francisco Pizarro, Lima is a thriving city of some nine-million inhabitants that boasts a number of UNESCO-listed historic treasures, legacies of Spanish colonialism. The vast Plaza Mayor (also known as the Plaza de Armas) with its grand Presidential Palace and stunning Baroque cathedral, sit easily alongside the gleaming developments of San Isidro and Miraflores. Wander through verdant El Olivar Park, past its ancient Spanish olive trees, meet the resident cats of Kennedy Park, or take in the view of the Pacific Ocean from the Lacromar mall, in its cliff-side location.

This evening, choose from a vast selection of dining opportunities: Lima is renowned as one of South America's liveliest culinary centres.

Today you'll fly east from Lima to the Inca stronghold of Cusco. From here you'll travel by coach into the fabled Sacred Valley of the Incas, where highlights will include a visit to the tiny Andean town of Ccaccaccollo, where the ancient Inca techniques of weaving and fabric-dyeing live on, and you’ll enjoy a demonstration given in the local Quechua language, before spending the night in the Valley.

Continue your exploration of the Sacred Valley, today. Visit Pisac, with its substantial Inca ruins and colourful market, and Ollantaytambo, home to the remains of a monumental Inca fortress from which the Inca organised resistance against Hernando Pizarro (conquistador brother of Lima’s Francisco). Highlights of your day will be a visit to an indigenous community ‘Potato Park’ and a traditional lunch. You’ll then spend a second night in the Valley, in preparation for tomorrow’s extraordinary day.

Whatever has gone before, today is sure to be a pinnacle of your holiday as you travel by narrow-gauge railway to the spa town of Aguas Calientes. Take in the panoramic views of the astonishing Andean scenery through the enormous windows of your comfortable, modern Vistadome carriage, and then transfer to the bus for the final leg of your journey, zig-zagging up through the jungle to Machu Picchu, the breath-taking Lost City of the Incas.

This extraordinary mountaintop citadel in the heart of the Andean jungle is an absolutely unforgettable place, part military outpost, part secret retreat of Inca rulers or estate built in honour of Inca chief Pachacuti. During your visit, your guide will explain the citadel's layout and the supposed significance of buildings such as the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows and the Sunken Plaza. It really is, quite simply, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

At the end of the day, you’ll travel to Cusco via Aguas Calientes for a two-night stay in the "archaeological capital of South America".

The Incas called Cusco the 'Navel of the World', and its citadel (reputedly shaped like a puma) was an intricate maze of palaces and gilded temples upon which the conquering Spanish built their colonial city. It remains one of the world’s most enthralling settlements, and today's guided tour will bring to life the city’s fascinating history and most important landmarks, including the Santo Domingo monastery, built on the site of the Inca Temple of the Sun, the magnificent Cathedral and the elegant Plaza de Armas. You'll also take a walk through colourful San Pedro Market, with its stalls selling local produce, clothing and crafts, before spending a second evening in the city.

You'll have a very early start, this morning, as you board your well-appointed coach for the 10.5-hour journey through the high Andean plains to Puno. Alternatively, you may choose to take the PeruRail Titicaca Train (must be pre-booked, supplement applies). As you travel through the startling landscape, you'll make plenty of stops, including for a gourmet lunch, and arrive in lakeside Puno late this afternoon to spend the first of two evenings in the colourful capital of Peruvian folklore.

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, the birthplace in myth of the Inca civilisation, home to shore-side and island communities where life is conducted as it has been for centuries, and refuge for Andean wildlife and many species of resident and migratory birds. Explore its waters as you travel by boat to the floating-island homes of the Uros people, stepping aboard their man-made islands, built with tightly bound reeds, to learn how they maintain their traditions and way of life. Cruise to Taquile Island, where a fairly strenuous walk will be rewarded time to explore some local craft shops, enjoy a traditional Taquile lunch and the opportunity to learn more about the peoples and cultures of the lake.

At the end of the day, you'll cruise back to Puno to spend a second evening here.

Board the coach early this morning and journey west from Titicaca, heading towards startling, scenic landscape of the Aguada Blanca National Reserve, past herds of vicunas and alpaca, and the Inca farming terraces that are still worked today. Pass across the high plains, enjoy lunch and the opportunity to visit a natural hot spring, then spend the night in Chivay, your gateway to the stunning Colca Canyon.

We'll have an early start today, as we drive to the spectacular viewpoint at Cruz del Condor. Here, with luck, you'll catch sight of the enormous, majestic condors that make the Colca Canyon their home gliding on the swirling winds and thermals.

Take a short, guided hike into the spectacular canyon, then continue your scenic journey, pausing at the ancient villages of Pinchollo, with its pre-Inca terraces, at the Andean community of Maca, and at Yanque, with its beautiful Baroque church.

This afternoon, you’ll arrive in the beautiful city of Arequipa, in its dramatic setting beside the Chile River beneath three snow-capped volcanoes.

Today you’ll enjoy a tour of White City, Arequipa, with its elegant main square Plaza de Armas, lined on one side by the great cathedral, and surrounded by 19th-buildings constructed of white volcanic stone. You’ll also visit the extraordinary ‘town within a city’, the narrow streets, cloisters and hidden quarters of the Monasterio Santa Catalina, to discover the convent's fascinating religious art and architecture. Your tour will end with a visit to the stunning Jesuit La Compañía church to see its ornate façade, golden altar and the adjacent chapel with its richly decorated cupola.

This afternoon, you'll head to Arequipa airport to catch your flight to Lima for a last night in the capital.

Spend a last few hours in Lima, perhaps enjoying lunch, before returning to the airport to check in for your overnight flight home.

Arrive home, today, after an absorbing, extraordinary Peruvian adventure.