Peru

After checking in, this afternoon we enjoy a city tour, visiting Lima’s most important colonial sites. You will see the Presidential Palace, the Plaza del Armas, Lima’s central square, surrounded by colonial-era buildings in the central UNESCO listed area of the city. We will also visit the Casa Aliaga one of Lima’s bestknown colonial mansions built by Pizarro for one of his lieutenants in the 16th century.

Transfer straight on to a domestic flight to the beautiful colonial city of Arequipa. The rest of the day is yours to relax.

Situated at an altitude of 7,660ft, Arequipa is Peru’s second-largest city and a good place to start acclimatising to the higher altitude. Its skyline is dominated by a trio of spectacular volcanoes, with many of the buildings constructed from volcanic rock.

After breakfast, we set out on a tour that begins at the Carmen Alto viewpoint, offering spectacular views of the city. We head through the Yanahuara quarter with its cobbled streets and beautiful mestizo baroque church dating from 1750. Then we head downtown to Arequipa’s UNESCO-listed historic centre and Plaza des Armas, which features the 17th-century baroque Jesuit church of La Compáñia.

Cross the plaza to the cathedral - a grand piece of colonial architecture -impressive by its own means, it's dramatised further when viewed against the backdrop of the three mighty snow-capped volcanoes. We move on to the Monastery of Santa Catalina, founded by the Spanish in 1580 for the nuns of the Order of Saint Catherine of Siena.
 

The afternoon is at leisure, giving you the opportunity to browse the local craft market or further explore the pretty streets of dazzling colonial buildings. Try locally caught trout cooked on a hot stone, the sweetest corn on the cob you’ll ever taste or even an alpaca steak, all washed down with a pisco sour, of course.

After breakfast we head north to Colca, site of one of the world’s deepest canyons. As we pass through the Pampa Cañahuas Reserve we see desert landscapes, exotic rock formations and grasslands populated by vicuñas, llamas and Andean deer. We climb even further to over 12,000ft and the Pampa de Toccra, a plain featuring a lake where pink flamingos reside in season.

The trip features several jaw-dropping viewpoints, including the Mirador de los Andes at Patapampa – at over 16,000ft above sea level the air here is thin but the view of the volcanoes around Arequipa is simply jaw dropping. In the afternoon we reach Chivay (alt.11,900ft), a small town near Colca Canyon.

Today we head to Condor Cross for some magnificent views of the Colca Canyon. Prepare to be amazed, the canyon is more than twice the depth of the Grand Canyon and is one of Peru’s most popular sights. This is also where you can get some amazing close-up views of one of the world’s most spectacular birds in flight – the Andean Condor.

The Colca Canyon region is one of the last remaining habitats of this endangered giant vulture, which has a wingspan of up to 10ft. At around midday we continue eastwards to Puno on Lake Titicaca, where we stay two nights overlooking the lake.

A packed lunch is included today.

The panorama of Lake Titicaca must be seen to be believed. Reflecting the blue sky above, is a fabulous deep blue expanse of water stretching as far as the eye can see.

After breakfast we board our private motor launch and visit the famous floating Uros Islands where the indigenous communities, living much as they always have, construct these islands using many layers of totora reeds.

We then visit the island of Taquile, further into the lake and famed for the highest quality knitwear in Peru. It’s very much a typical village, with no roads or electricity, where the Uros people proudly still adhere to their traditional culture and dress.

Lunch is included in Taquile.

This morning we say goodbye to Lake Titicaca and head northwards to Cusco. We firstly drive through the altiplano, the high-altitude Andean plateau observing small herds of llama, alpaca and the low mud-brick, thatch-roofed houses of the local farmers. As the scenery slips by, we start climbing gradually towards La Raya, at 14,170ft, the highest point on this stunning journey.

After our included lunch, we also visit the fascinating church of the Andahuayillas, known as the Sistine Chapel of the America’s due to the high quality of its artwork, arriving in Cusco in the late afternoon.

After breakfast we have a tour of Cusco, one of the most beautiful cities in South America, a heady mixture of traditional colonial architecture interspersed with fascinating Inca remains. Today it is the site of three churches, including the 16th century cathedral, so huge it took 100 years to complete.

We then visit the Qorichancha, the Incas’ principle temple to the sun. This was the ‘navel’ of the Inca world, originally covered in sheets of pure gold and contained the Incas’ most sacred object, the golden disc of the sun.

Our final Inca site is the extraordinary Sachsayhuaman with three vast megalithic walls, a staggering thousand feet long and with the largest blocks of stone ever found in Inca structures, all moved with no wheels. This was also the site of the final epic four-day last stand of the Inca rebellion. Had the conquistadors lost, the history of South America could have been quite different.

The Sacred Valley was the empire’s breadbasket, spiritual centre and home to some of its most iconic symbols. Its wide fertile plain, with ancient terraces hugging the valley sides and the imposing peaks of the Andes beyond is truly an awesome sight.

Firstly, we visit Pisac, famous for its dominating fortress and colourful indigenous market. Every kind of local handicraft is available – from vibrant hand-made rugs and ponchos in bright reds and yellows, to local ceramics and high-quality llama and alpaca knitwear.

After an included lunch we visit the massive fortress and temple of Ollantaytambo. Built along a dominant rocky bluff, and was the site of a rare Conquistador defeat. You can examine the astonishingly intricate Inca stonework – its beauty and precision unique in the world and all hand-crafted using stone tools.

We return by train to the Urumbamba Valley, known as the ‘Sacred Valley of the Incas.’

Today we board the specially constructed Explorer train from Ollaytambo station, taking us on one of the world’s most spectacular rail journeys through the narrow Urubamba river gorge to the legendary Machu Picchu. As we descend, the scenery changes from semi-arid brush and cactus to dense, lush rainforest. Below us, the river rushes headlong into numerous rapids whilst above, the precipitous sides of the gorge rise to dizzying heights.

The ‘Lost City of the Incas’ suddenly and magically appears before you, its wonder and mystique astounds - the only Inca settlement never discovered or destroyed by the Spanish. Set on a ridge overlooking the gorge of the Urubamba River, it was rediscovered in 1910 by Hiram Bingham, an American explorer. No one knows why it was built in such an inaccessible spot or why it was mysteriously abandoned. As you walk through its gates, temples and houses, our guide will explain the significance of the location in relation to the equinoxes and how central mountain-worship was to the Incas.