Classic Peru

Sixteen nights across Peru, self-guided, two thousand miles from Lima to Machu Picchu and the Colca Canyon.

Peru is a high country and this route makes no secret of it: Cusco sits at twelve thousand feet, the La Raya pass at fourteen, and the volcanoes above Colca reach sixteen. The schedule climbs gradually, which is the only sensible way to do it.

Lima opens it for two nights with a tour of the colonial centre, then Nasca down the Panamericana, with a flight over the lines available, and Chalhuanca climbing into the Andes through Pampa Galeras, set aside in 1965 to protect the vicuna. Urubamba follows by the Maras salt pans and the terraces at Moray, then the train to Machu Picchu, and two nights in Cusco by way of the Sacred Valley and Pisac market. Puno comes next over La Raya, with a boat on Lake Titicaca to the floating reed islands of the Uros and on to Taquile. Chivay follows above the Colca Canyon, often reputed the deepest in the world, with hot springs, then two nights in Arequipa by way of the Condor Cross.

The vehicle hire, all the transfers, twin-share accommodation, breakfast and many dinners, comprehensive no-excess insurance, the Machu Picchu entry and transport, the Cusco tourist ticket and the route books are all included; fuel, drinks, insurance, flights and the optional Nasca flight are not. Departures run around fifteen vehicles. The dry season from May to September is the window, and anyone with a heart or lung condition should take medical advice first.