Machu Picchu Express (5 days)

Welcome to Cusco- touch down, collect your luggage and meet your guide, then drive twenty minutes through the colourful South American streets to your hotel.

After lunch step out into the Cusco streets and explore with one of our carefully chosen guides. They are not only very knowledgeable but also great fun to be with.   You do not want to cram too much in on your first day at altitude, so relax and get used to being up high with a gentle walk around this old Inca capital.

Visit the Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral and the Qoricancha temple of the sun and perhaps take in the sights, sounds and smells of San Pedro food market too.  If you normally shop in supermarkets and farmers markets, you are in for a surprise. Stands full of juicy exotic fruits, counters heaving with cow heads and sheep hooves and cheerful local women selling handmade cheeses, local breads, healthy juices and even toad soup.

The evening is free to relax and wander around the UNESCO World Heritage Site city centre.

So you want to see the best of Cusco and the Sacred Valley but you don’t want to do it with crowds of people? This is how to do it. We swapped the order around, so that you visit places when they are at their quietest.

First you stop amongst the huge megalithic walls of Sacsayhuaman, fifteen minutes above Cusco. Wander among the old stones of this Inca complex and listen to stories of the rebel Incas and Spanish who fought here in 1536. Tread the bloody battlefield where a few desperate Spanish horsemen broke the siege they were under and took on the masses of the Inca army.

Next you drive half an hour through the hills to the small market town of Pisac. Barter with local artisans for handicrafts, munch on an empanada fresh from the town oven and snap away as the local mayors emerge from the church, dressed in their finest traditional clothing, serenaded by assistants blowing conch shells.

Take a break for lunch and try a local Peruvian delicacy. Then hop in the vehicle and drive twenty minutes to Pisac ruins. The views are stunning.  Ask your guide everything you ever wanted to know about Peru and the Incas. Such as why they decided to build so high up this hill. He will be delighted to answer.

Once you have filled your camera with photos, your brain with information and your lungs with fresh mountain air drive back down to the valley and check into your hotel for the night.

Drive high above the Sacred Valley through patchwork farmlands to the gleaming white Maras salt-pans. Watch the locals extract salt by hand as they have done since the times of the Incas. Compose the perfect photo or just sit back and take in the beauty of the place. You can even buy some  pink salt to sprinkle on your food back home.

Fifteen minutes more and you arrive at the strange circular ruins of Moray. Look around and decide what you think it was. Was it a landing pad for alien spaceships or was it an experimental Inca agriculture centre?

You then take a secret shortcut to the old Inca town of Ollantaytambo where you enjoy a special Pachamanca lunch on 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 farm, learning about sustainable methods of providing food for the Cafe Mayu restaurant. After 45 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.

Finally you board a train for the ninety minute ride, along the river to the town of Machu Picchu where you will sleep for the night.

For many of you, Machu Picchu is the very reason you come to Peru. So we thought hard how to make it extra special.

Board a morning bus for the twenty minutes ride to the entrance to Machu Picchu. It is a pretty busy place in the morning so you can avoid the crowds by taking a gentle stroll to the Sun Gate. Here you can enjoy a wonderful overview of the world famous site and take those all important photos.

We have lunch at the entrance to Machu Picchu, then, once the crowds have calmed down a bit, take the time to enjoy a full tour of the ruins with your guide. The afternoon is in our opinion the very best time to enjoy Machu Picchu.

Finally, you ride the bus down the mountain, take the train back along the river and transfer to your hotel. If you still have energy, you can enjoy a refreshing Pisco Sour in one of the many Cusco bars.

Back once more in the old Inca capital you have time to enjoy all that this city has to offer. Museums, chocolate making classes, souvenir hunting or even just sitting in one of the many cafes and watching the world go by. The new late flights out of Cusco allow you to really maximise your time and get the most out of this holiday of a lifetime.

For those with more time we can offer you extensions to the Amazon rainforest, Lake Titicaca, Colca Canyon and Arequipa or even to the little visited northern Peru.