Leaving from home, your overnight flight will arrive into Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) situated in Lima (the capital of Peru), bright and early the following morning.

On arrival from your spectacular flight over the Andes to Cusco, we transfer you to your hotel and start acclimatising to the rarefied air of this beautiful city (3,326m). In the afternoon, we take a short walking tour of the centre of Cusco to point out the main sights, stretch your legs and experience walking around town at 3,300m. At a convenient time your guide will arrange a full briefing for the days ahead.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch

This lovely half day on the bike is a superb introduction to the Inca heritage of Peru, as well as being suitably flexible to suit everyone, from the beginner to the experienced rider. At 3,250 – 3,650m, this is also a perfect acclimatisation ride to prepare you for your onward travels at altitude.

Leaving Cusco early morning, we transfer by car to visit the Inca ruin of Tambo Machay. This is popularly called The Inca’s Bath due to its finely preserved waterfalls, carefully diverted through fine stone channels. The Incas acknowledged water as one of the principal elements of life and revered it accordingly. We also visit Puca Pucara, a delightful ruin on a small prominence now believed to be a ‘tambo’, a rest house for travelling animals, goods and travellers, rather than the ‘red fort’ its name suggests.

Here we start our mountain bike journey. All trails are largely downhill as we wind our way back towards Cusco, enjoying spectacular views of the valley and city itself. Your support vehicle is nearby for virtually the whole trip, and can be used to carry any weary riders and extra gear.

Our third ruin is a large outcrop of rock known as ‘the Temple of the Moon’. This ruin demonstrates the Inca’s impressive skill with stone. We can see how they manipulated the naturally occurring features of this huge rock into caves, seats, carvings, mummy-niches and an altar that is supposed to be bathed in moonlight on the full moon of the winter solstice. From here an easy trail brings us to Quenko. This waca contains some of the finest examples of Inca carvings in the area. The eroded limestone fissures have been artfully carved into zig-zag channels (from where Quenko derives its name) and you can compete to see who is the first to spot the stone pumas, condors, snakes and houses.

We then continue down the road to our final and most stunning ruin, the extensive Sacsayhuaman. Although the smaller stones of Sacsayhuaman were used to build modern day Cusco, the remaining stones are up to 8.5m high and weigh over 360 tons. The distinctive zig-zag ramparts are attributed to being puma teeth, lightning and also fortification. This major centre obviously had many functions with storehouses, administration buildings, a reservoir and a play area. It was also site of a crucial battle between the Incas and the Spanish. This really is a great spot for kids as they can soak up the history without even realising it!

A final downhill either by smooth road or “step jumping” down an old Inca trail brings us to San Cristobal church, built on top of Inca Manco Capac’s palace and allowing a fantastic view of Cusco. We pass through the Plaza de Armas and end the tour just outside town to avoid the traffic.

After lunch, you have the option to chill out and explore Cusco on your own or for those who want some more biking action, we will head back up out of town to the small village of Huayllacochca. We’ll pick one of the many different routes back to Cusco, ranging from gentle swooping dirt roads suitable for everyone, to more challenging courses for those with some experience. Having completed our first descent down to Cusco, we can enjoy a snack in the support vehicle whilst returning to the top for another go! Your guide will suggest a route depending on the group’s ability, encouraging you along so everyone has a great time. There are both gentler and more challenging routes and we can even do some uphill… (if we have to!)

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch

Today our biking journey begins in earnest. Following a short bus ride to avoid Cusco’s traffic, we head to Huambutio on a good tarmac road. Here we turn off the main road and take a beautiful, rarely used road beside the Rio Urubamba.

With the support vehicle close at hand we can focus on taking in the great scenery. We can chose to stick on the tarmac or take off and explore lesser trodden dirt trails on this mainly flat ride.

We stop for a picnic near the river, before heading on to today’s goal, the town of Pisac. We look to arrive in time to explore its artisan market, perfect for picking up souvenirs or photographing a typical Andean market. Our overnight stay the is at a hotel in Pisac.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch

A short tarmac ride through Pisac village, across the Urubamba river brings us to Taray and the start of a lovely, rarely used trail along the far side of the Sacred Valley.

This lovely dirt track undulates between local villages and haciendas, where we can see traditional farming methods still in use against the beautiful backdrop of glaciated mountains and Inca ruins.

The support vehicle will be on hand for the final section, allowing us to carry on through the villages of Qoya, Lamay and Calca. En route we’ll enjoy a delicious picnic lunch. If you are feeling strong we can then continue to Urubamba and our hotel for the next two nights.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch

A short transfer brings us to Chinchero for one of the best one day mountain bike rides in Peru. Largely downhill, we pass Lake Huaypo and enjoy great views of the Vilcanota mountain range. This fun dirt-road descent into the Sacred Valley is suitable for all the family. The final descent on exciting mule trails is to the spectacular working salt-pans of Maras, where we have time to explore before we continue on to our hotel by support vehicle. For those after more riding, we can enjoy an exciting zig-zagging downhill singletrack to the Rio Urubamba, and a short ride all the way to the hotel. Like all of the riding on this trip the trails are suitable for the whole family, from mums and dads with a bit more experience, through to younger kids who we will support with tips and advice to help make everything feel manageable, safe and fun.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch

Just outside Urubamba we cycle to the Yawamaki pottery where we can have a go at decorating our own pottery (which will then be fired and delivered to our hotel a few days later – a unique souvenir). Afterwards we jump back on our bikes for a largely flat and gentle ride, following the Rio Urubamba, through small villages and onto the town of Ollantaytambo where we check into our charming hotel for the night before going out to explore this lovely Inca village.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch

In the morning, we can visit the impressive Inca fortress of Ollantaytambo, or just relax in one of the many restaurants and bars around the square and watch the world go by. At lunchtime we catch the train from Ollantaytambo that follows the raging Urubamba River to Machu Picchu town. Here we walk up to our hotel in this colourful town and if time permits, explore its shops for souvenirs or visit the hot springs.

• Meals: Breakfast

First thing in the morning we head up the hill to the fabled Lost City of the Incas – Machu Picchu, for a fully guided tour. There will be time afterwards to hike to the Inca Bridge, Watchman’s Hut or take a wander soaking up the atmosphere. In the afternoon, we board the train for a trip along the Sacred Valley of the Incas. From here our minibus takes us to our hotel in Cusco, before a celebratory dinner in one of Cusco’s excellent restaurants.

• Meals: Breakfast

After a fantastic trip, today it is time to head home. We transfer you back to Cusco airport for your return flights.