8-Day Peru Highlights Tour from Lima with Inca Trail and Machu Picchu

• Welcome to Lima; your representative will meet and assist you at the airport on arrival.
• Reach your accommodation and unwind at the hotel.
• Grab a towel, head for the beach, and meet your tour leader at 6 p.m.

• Start the morning with a stroll through Kennedy Park, home to the Virgen Milagrosa Catholic Church, built in 1939. Skim your eyes across the manicured flowerbeds within the park premises. Meet the painters working at their easels and, if you're lucky, linger for an occasional show at the amphitheatre located here. You will also come across plenty of friendly cats to stroke or even adopt if you want to.
• Sample some of the famous street food before heading to Parque del Amor, or Love Park, marked by its beautiful mosaics, a statue of a couple locked in an embrace, and a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean.
• Later in the afternoon, take a flight from Lima and touch down in Cusco.

• Take a deep breath of the crisp, clear air that hangs over the Sacred Valley, located at approximately 2450 metres. Your adventure starts today. Swing onto your saddles and turn up the gravel as you ride from Pisac to Calca, cutting through epic mountain landscapes, lush farmlands, ancient Incan ruins and artisanal villages.

• Start early this morning and board your train with plans for walking the historic Inca Trail.
• Follow the Urubamba River, coming face-to-face with it as you alight at the desolate Aguascalientes Station and continue to the famed landmark, kilometre 104, the starting point of your trek.
• Step into history as you follow the 13 km trail, marked by dense jungles and cobbled pathways, and punctuated by the temple ruins of Winay Wayna and the Sun Gate set among grassy terraces.

• Discover the mysteries of Machu Picchu as you slip in among the ruins and listen to the stories that unfold. Wonder in equal measure at the spectacular scenery that adds to its justifiably rich reputation. Contemplate, hypothesise, or simply embrace the scene before you finally descend to catch the train to Cusco.

• After clawing yourself away from the remote beauty of Machu Picchu, get a crash course in Quechua culture and Inca history as you step onto the cobbled pathways of Cusco's main square, the Plaza de Armas.
• Wander through the collage of ancient and modern as you take in Coricancha, or the Sun Temple, built by the Incas around 1200 AD.
• Head north from there to the equally impressive 15th-century Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin.
• Hunker down for some local flavour at San Pedro Market and run your eyes over traditional textiles, vegetable vendors and flower sellers, then move on to the more souvenir-friendly artisanal market.

• Spend the last day of your tour cooking up a tasty, traditional Peruvian storm. You eat what you cook, so take care to follow the instructions, lest you should have to eat more than humble pie for lunch.
• The rest of the day is free, so you might want to go back to Plaza de Armas to uncover sections that you may have missed.
• Later in the evening, perhaps rejoin your travel mates for the last hurrah and farewell dinner (not included) before closing the night on a wonderful journey.

• It's time now to bid farewell to your group leader and new friends, but not without a backpack full of memories.

Departure transfers are included on the day.