Please exit the airport terminal and head towards the greeting barrier. The person meeting you will be holding a board with your name on it. They will then help you with your baggage to the awaiting minibus for your transfer to your hotel.

This journey takes around forty-five minutes.

The remainder of the day is yours to relax, unwind and explore the neighbourhood.

From modern and cosmopolitan Lima, Peru’s Capital City, you will go back in time through the Colonial and Pre-Hispanic stages of Peruvian History.

Drive through Lima’s first freeway, built during the 1960s and 1970s to arrive to Downtown Lima, a historic site per UNESCO, where you will appreciate its impressive monuments and imposing architecture from colonial times. Here you will visit Convento de Santo Domingo (circa 16th century), one of the best-preserved monasteries in the whole of Lima where you will be able to see the old Lima from its tower.

Next we visit the Larco Museum. This features the finest gold and silver collection from Ancient Peru and the famous “erotic” archaeological collection. Finally, you will be able to try a dessert based with an endemic Peruvian fruit “lucuma” at the Cafe del Museo. (B)

Airport transfer, then flight to Cusco.

Please ensure you purchase any last minute essentials or change money in the airport before heading off to the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

On the way you will have the opportunity to visit the cameloid farm of Awana Kancha to see different members of the cameloid family and also learn about local weavings techniques.

Your guide will then drop you off and help you check in to your Sacred Valley hotel. (B, D)

Leaving our hotel in the morning we drive to Pisac Ruins, situated high on the mountain overlooking the picturesque village that is Pisac today.

The village is famous for its local market and superb Artisan stalls, and from the main square there is a circular hike along a well-defined mountain trail leading up to the ruins.

From there we can explore the extensive royal buildings, look-outs, terraces, tunnels and irrigation channels before returning on another good trail to our waiting vehicle.

We can visit a traditional bakery to try freshly baked bread or empanadas and learn about the guinea pigs of Peru before returning to our hotel for the night. (B,L,D)

Distance: 1-4 km (¾ – 2 ½ miles)

Time: 1-3 hours

Ascent: 430m (1400ft)

Descent: 430m (1400ft)

Altitude: 2970m – 3400m

From Urubamba, it’s around a 40 minute drive to the town of Chinchero.

From here, we trek down into the Sacred Valley to the town of Huayllabamba.

This trek follows an original and rarely used Inca trail still at many points in pristine condition. Here we meet our vehicle, returning to our hotel.

Lunch today will be at Hacienda Huayoccari, a beautifully restored colonial hacienda where you will enjoy delicious local dishes with an incredible view of the Sacred Valley.

After lunch, you can visit the Lambarri-Orihuela family private art collection, with original pieces belonging to the Tiawanaku and Wari cultures as well as Inca artifacts and colonial paintings and sculptures. (B,L,D)

Distance: 8 km

Time: 3 hours

Ascent: negligible

Descent: 650m

Altitude: 3500m – 2850m

This short hike is great to experience both the ancient culture of the Inca, and the living culture of Peru today. The area remains a very traditional farming area.

Initially, we drive to the ruins of Pumamarca, about half an hour above Ollantaytambo.

You can learn about its history and purpose with your guide, before we follow an old Inca Trail down the walls of a steeply terraced valley towards Ollantaytambo.

Depending on the time of year, you may see people ploughing with oxen, harvesting by hand, or perhaps just the colourfully dressed locals walking down to town, from the communities above, where most still wear traditional clothing.

You can then explore the old streets of Ollantaytambo, with its narrow cobbled passageways and ever-present Inca walls.

We indulge in a Pachamanca lunch today is El Albergue, an organic farm.

A Pachamanca is a traditional way of preparing food in the Andes. In the absence of a stove an oven is built out of stones, the stones are heated with a wood fire and once brought to a very high temperature. The meat and vegetables are then carefully covered with the rocks. Herbs are then added, and the whole mound is covered by wet sheets and finally a mound of earth.

While the meal is cooking, you will be shown around this organic farm, working with sustainable methods to provide food for the Café Mayu restaurant. After forty minutes the meal is ready and we have the pleasure of digging our delicious potatoes, yams, corn, fava beans, lamb, pork, alpaca, and chicken straight from the earth.

You can enjoy your meal under a thatch roof in the middle of the farm with views of the Inca temple of Ollantaytambo, Mount Pinkulluna and the Veronica glacier. Food is served family style accompanied by chicha, fresh salads and a variety of sauces, including our tasty uchucutas. Beer and wine are available upon request, and we offer our signature Matacuy as a complimentary digestif after the meal. This is made in the on-site distillery, where you can also taste Caña Alta, a sugar cane spirit being distilled here in an attempt to revive lost traditions. (B,L,D)

Hike details: 6km, approx. 3 hours

Ascent: 50m

Descent: 600m

Maximum altitude: 3400m

Today, you head to our watersports center on the shores of Lake Huaypo for some active options. Set amongst fields of corn with fantastic views across to the snow-capped Vilcanota mountains, this is a relaxing rural setting and the perfect place to acclimatize and enjoy some fun on the water.

Choose between exploring the lake on our Stand Up Paddleboards or Sit On Top Kayaks. Once fully kitted up in wetsuits, booties and life jackets, your expert guide will give you full instruction on these easy to use crafts before you head out through the reeds and onto the lake itself.

To paddle across lake Huaypo is a magical experience as you glide along enjoying spectacular views of the Andes mountains and the local farms and hopefully glimpse some of the birdlife that uses Huaypo as a migration base including the rare Andean Flamingo. On the far side of the lake, we enjoy some snacks before heading back to our base in time for hot showers and lunch.

Lunch today is a delicious picnic buffet of local produce and fresh natural drinks.

Following a full briefing in the art of mountain biking, we kit up with gloves and helmets and cycle on a dirt road to the ruins of Moray.

Our state of the art E-bikes is full suspension electrically-assisted mountain bikes which mean you still have to peddle a bit but the electric motor is like having your best friend come along and give you a push up all the hills. They are truly brilliant!

We explore the amazing circular ruins of Moray. Some say it was an agricultural experimental station, others a UFO landing site. Whatever they were, it is an impressive feat of engineering.

We then cycle cross country to the town of Maras. If time and skills permit, you can attempt a more technical single track all the way to the spectacular Maras saltpans for a visit.

Worked since Inca times, these pools of salt are an impressive site to explore and maybe even take a bit home as a souvenir.

Finally, we return to our hotel after a full day of fun adventures, Inca history, and culture.

(B,L,D)

Today starts with us driving to Chinchero and heading along the beautiful Lake Piuray to the small village of Taucco where the hike will commence.

Leaving the vehicle behind, it’s a sharp ascent to the plateau.

With most of the day’s climbing now complete,  relax as we follow a mainly flat and well-preserved Inca trail for the remainder of the day.

This little-used route will take you past herds of alpacas and llamas and on a clear day, the views to the snow-capped mountains of the Urubamba range are fantastic.

Along the way, we’ll enjoy a tasty packed lunch.

After lunch, we’ll descend through a delightful canyon full of Inca remains to emerge high above the Sacred Valley for your first views of Huchuy Qosqo.

Little is known about this mysterious site, though ‘little Cusco’ (as it translates from Quechua) may have been the country retreat of one of the first Incas. Its three-story houses, extensive niched walls, large central square, three-metre-high terraces and hidden location make this one of the real gems of the Cusco area.

After time to explore, you head down to Lamay on a steep donkey trail where our vehicle awaits. (B,L,D)

Distance: 12km (7 ½ miles)

Time: 5- 6 hours

Ascent: 450m (1475ft)

Descent: 1250m (4100ft)

Altitude: 3650m – 4100m – 3500m – 2850m

Today we transfer you from the Sacred Valley back to Cusco.

We stop along the way to visit the impressive Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman, with its fabulous views over Cusco itself.

It’s then a visit to the spectacular Plaza de Armas of Cusco en route to our Cusco Hotel.

The remainder of the day is yours, free to explore the gorgeous city that is Cusco. (B)

Our adventure with you concludes today. After breakfast, take advantage of a transfer to the airport or bus station (or if you like, stay in Cusco longer). (B)