Hotel breakfasts are normally simple buffets, usually including bread/toast and jam, cereal, sometimes eggs or a cooked dish, sometimes fruit, tea/coffee and fruit juice. We cannot guarantee that wheat- or gluten-free products will be available for breakfast in all locations – if you have an intolerance you may wish to bring your own breakfast food from home. Where lunch and dinner are not included, we visit a variety of local cafes and restaurants.

Peruvian cuisine is loved for its flavours and originality; it’s well worth digging into the local delicacies. Among these are ceviche (seafood or fish marinated in lime juice), lomo saltado (a Peruvian take on a beef stir-fry), and various hearty soups including the delicious quinoa soup. Other dishes include roasted cuy (guinea pig), alpaca steak. To drink, there’s pisco sour, the national beverage.

The tap water in Peru is not safe to drink. Free drinking water is provided in large containers, so please bring a refillable bottle with you.

Glide across calm high-altitude water on a stand-up paddleboard, typically at Lake Piuray near Cusco. Gentle instruction helps you find balance as mirror-still waters reflect eucalyptus slopes and distant snow peaks.

This optional outing is at additional cost and bookable on tour. All equipment is included; the pace is relaxed, making it a refreshing way to feel the Andean landscape from a new perspective.

Explore the coastal desert south of Ica to view the Nazca Lines from roadside mirador viewing towers. From these platforms, pick out figures such as the Hands and Tree and pause for photos and reflection over one of archaeology’s great enigmas.

Etched between roughly 200 BCE and 600 CE by the Nazca culture, these giant drawings survive thanks to the hyper-arid climate and windless plateau. Engineers, astronomers and artists have all theorised about their purpose, adding intrigue to the stark beauty of the pampas.

Visit the enigmatic Saywite Monolith, a colossal carved boulder whose terraces, stairways and channels are thought to model the Inca world in miniature. Trace the channels on a guided visit and admire the craftsmanship that turned living rock into a symbolic landscape.

Continue to Tarawasi, an Inca ceremonial complex and tambo with exquisite Inca stonework, trapezoidal niches and an usnu platform. Set against Andean peaks and the Apurímac Valley, these sites reveal the Inca mastery of ritual architecture and mountainous terrain.

Join a guided walking tour through the heart of Cusco, from the arcades of the Plaza de Armas to the artisan quarter of San Blas. Admire legendary Inca masonry along Hatun Rumiyoc Street, including the celebrated 12-angled stone, and feel the layers of history in this highland capital.

Hear how Qosqo, the Inca “navel of the world,” became a Spanish colonial showpiece of churches and convents. Your guide points out the Qorikancha complex and other landmarks, illuminating the dialogue between Inca foundations and baroque facades stone-for-stone.

Attend Inti Raymi, the Andean winter solstice celebration honouring the Sun. Witness processions and music at Qorikancha (Sun Temple) and the Plaza de Armas, then move to the hillside fortress of Sacsayhuamán for the principal rites, colourful dances and ceremonial invocations in Quechua.

Revived in the 20th century from Inca tradition, the pageantry features the Sapa Inca borne on a golden litter, priests and nobles in radiant textiles, and symbolic offerings to Pachamama. The setting among cyclopean stones and highland vistas creates a profoundly atmospheric celebration of living heritage.

Ride the valley railroad beside the Urubamba River and disembark at Aguas Calientes to join a guided tour of Machu Picchu. Enter the citadel to explore agricultural terraces, ritual precincts and vantage points like the Temple of the Sun and Sacred Plaza amid a cloud-forest setting.

Hear how this 15th-century Inca estate, hidden from the conquistadors and reintroduced to the world by Hiram Bingham in 1911, balances bold engineering with spiritual geography. Mist-wreathed ridges, orchids and the circling river below frame extraordinary stonework and mountain drama.

Cross the world’s highest navigable lake to boat across Lake Titicaca and reach Amantani, where you’ll stay with a local family. Share stories over a home-cooked Andean meal and discover island life shaped by terraced fields, weaving and Quechua customs.

In the late afternoon, walk to the hilltop shrines of Pachamama or Pachatata for sunset over the altiplano. The stillness of the lake, far mountain silhouettes and the glow of adobe homes create an intimate portrait of Andean hospitality and tradition.

Sail across Lake Titicaca to the floating reed islands of the Uros. Step onto the springy surface of bundled totora reeds and learn how islanders build, anchor and maintain their homes and reed boats in this extraordinary aquatic community.

Meet families who share insights into daily life, sustainable fishing and barter with the lakeshore. The tactile feel of stepping onto the springy totora and the sight of reed craft against deep-blue waters make this a memorable encounter with living tradition.

Rise early for a ridge-top vantage to watch condors on the morning thermals at Cruz del Condor. Scan the vast canyon walls as these giant birds sweep past, wingtips skimming the air currents rising from fields and cliffs far below.

Among ancient terraces and tiny villages, the scale of one of the Americas’ deepest canyons is humbling. Framed by high volcanoes and Andean light, this is a photographer’s dream and a stirring lesson in the condor’s place in Andean cosmology.

Explore Santa Catalina Monastery, a city within a city where cloistered streets, flowered patios and vividly indigo and terracotta walls unveil centuries of devotion and quiet industry behind high convent walls.

Founded in 1580 and opened to the outside world in the 1970s, the complex preserves cells, laundries and chapels built from Arequipa’s white sillar volcanic stone. The interplay of light, colour and silence offers a contemplative glimpse into colonial religious life.

Take a scenic flight over the Nazca Lines in a light aircraft for the most complete perspective on these immense geoglyphs. From above, the Hummingbird and Monkey emerge clearly from the pampa as the pilot banks to allow photographs.

This optional experience is at additional cost, weather permitting, and bookable on tour. Motion sensitivity and small-plane considerations apply; your Tour Leader will outline practicalities and timings to ensure a comfortable, informed decision.

Secure a second entry to Machu Picchu for extra time on designated circuits, deeper exploration of lesser-visited sectors and unhurried photography amid shifting light and cloud.

This optional experience is at additional cost and must be arranged in advance due to limited daily permits. Your Tour Leader will advise on current circuit options and timings, with bookings typically confirmed before arrival in Cusco or earlier.

Clip into a cable-protected route to tackle a via ferrata climb on a granite cliff, then zip-line across the Sacred Valley for bird’s-eye views of maize fields, river and snow-clad peaks. Professional guides provide equipment and a specialist safety brief.

This optional, high-adrenaline outing is at additional cost and bookable on tour. It suits active travellers comfortable with heights; all technical gear is supplied, and route lengths vary to match experience and fitness.

Pedal quiet backroads and flowing tracks on a guided mountain biking excursion past Inca terraces, adobe hamlets and Andean fields. Expect big-sky vistas and cultural snapshots as you roll through the heartland of the Quechua world.

This optional activity is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Bikes, helmets and support are provided; routes can be tailored for confident beginners to intermediate riders, with vehicle backup and photo stops along the way.

Ease travel-tired muscles in the thermal pools of La Calera hot springs near Chivay, letting mineral-rich waters and the cool high-altitude air work their restorative magic.

This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour. Changing facilities are available; remember swimwear and a towel to savour a relaxing interlude amid the canyon landscape.

Cruise by open-top boat to the rocky outcrops of the Ballestas, where you can cruise the Ballestas Islands past wave-carved arches alive with sea lions, Humboldt penguins, cormorants and Inca terns. En route, gaze up at the Paracas Candelabra, a vast trident-shaped geoglyph etched into a sandy hillside above the bay.

Fed by the nutrient-rich Humboldt Current, this protected marine sanctuary teems with birdlife and coastal drama. The spray, cries of seabirds and salt-scented air set an exhilarating scene as your skipper idles for photos and close-up observation among the caves and cliffs.