Peru holidays

Never actually ‘the lost city of the Incas’, as the legends have it, Machu Picchu still has an aura of mystery to it thanks to its remote location on an Andean mountaintop. The Incans constructed some 200 stone buildings across wide terraces which, while crumbling, still attest to the amount of skill and labour involved. The most famous archaeological site in the Americas, abandoned in the 16th century, was probably used as religious citadel-cum-royal estate. Arrive either by trekking the Inca Trail or taking the bus from nearby Aguas Calientes, which can be reached by train. Your expert guides will make sure that your visit is timed just right – at sunrise, say, or on the quietest day of the week.

We are passionate about lodges and guest houses that are run by local people and directly support conservation projects – such as the research and rehabilitation of spectacled bears in Chaparri Eco Reserve. For more in the way of wildlife, head east of the Andes, where the Peruvian Amazon covers more than half of the country. Our expert-led trips into the dense rainforest usually begin from Puerto Maldonado or Iquitos and reveal wildlife, including sloths, howler monkeys, anacondas, pumas and over 1,000 bird species.