Peru in Depth

Welcome to the City of Kings. Perched on cliffs by the Pacific Ocean, Lima enjoys wide acclaim on the world food scene. Receive a warm welcome by your A&K representative and transfer to your boutique hotel in the Barranco neighbourhood. Spend time orientating yourself with a leisurely walk in the bohemian art district, which promises history, colour, and culture at every turn.

Hotel B

Taste the real Peru with a revealing culinary experience. Take a trip to the local market to source fresh ingredients, and with a pisco sour in hand, you’ll become sous chef for the morning as a local chef shares Lima’s classic recipes. After enjoying the spoils of your labour, unlock the secrets of the “City of Kings” on a walking tour led by a local expert. Get the key to one of South America’s oldest colonial houses, Casa Aliaga dating back to the founding of Lima in 1535, among hidden courtyards and ramshackle rooftops. Stand in Lima’s birthplace, Plaza Mayor, and admire architectural masterpieces including the historic cathedral, grand presidential palace and Santo Domingo Convent.

Hotel B | Meals: BL

Lose yourself this morning amongst more than 45,000 classified pre-Columbian archaeological objects in the fascinating and intriguing Larco Museum, a one-time private mansion and one of the city’s best museums. Then, embark on your own treasure hunt through the city, discover Lima’s emerging art scene or find something closer to home during your time at leisure.

Hotel B | Meals: B

Today, fly to Iquitos. Upon arrival, journey overland into the Peruvian countryside en route to remote Nauta, a village set on the banks of the Marañón River, one of the Amazon’s three main tributaries, where you are met by a river guide. Begin your three-night river adventure, embarking elegant Pure Amazon, A&K’s all-new boutique riverboat offering an intimate and exclusive experience. Designed for sustainable exploration and authentic cultural immersion, it features panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows for superb wildlife viewing and a staff-to-guest ratio of over 1:1, ensuring exceptional, personalised attention. Settle into your spacious suite before meeting the expert naturalist guides who accompany your expedition. This evening, gather for a dinner featuring innovative Amazonian cuisine.

Pure Amazon | Meals: BD

In this paradise for birders, where vibrantly colored macaws may be seen gliding over the river, start your day at dawn’s first light on an expert-led birding excursion, catching glimpses of some of the many exotic avian species living here. View any of the hundreds of amphibians, reptiles and mammals that call the Amazon home as well, including frogs, bats, iguanas and a diverse array of insects. Be sure to scan the forest canopy for long-limbed spider monkeys or an endearingly slow-moving sloth. Return to your ship for lunch and an exclusive midday lecture from one of the local experts travelling by your side. This evening, as the equatorial sun dips behind the treetops, you may opt to set out by skiff for a night safari, watching as your guide shines a light over the ink-black water to reveal the glowing yellow eyes of dozens of caimans and other nocturnal river dwellers.

Pure Amazon | Meals: BLD

A new day along the ever-changing river brings with it new possibilities. This may be the day you spot the Amazon’s fabled pink dolphins or go ashore to visit the residents of a local village to learn about daily life deep in the Amazon. Alternatively you may choose to explore by kayak or find a perfect viewing spot onboard, using the complimentary binoculars for a close-up view of the extraordinary array of birdlife and wildlife that reside along these waterways.

Afterward, relax or perhaps enjoy a swim. Back on your vessel, enjoy lunch before heading out on another river foray or fish for piranha from a skiff, catching (and carefully releasing) one of most dangerous fish in the world. Later, gather for a chat with the guides of your vessel who recount stories of life in the Amazon, followed by dinner on board.

Pure Amazon | Meals: BLD

Return to Nauta, bid farewell to your crew and disembark Pure Amazon before making your way to Iquitos to visit a lively market, where the freshly harvested bounty from the surrounding forest is on display, as well as the Museum of Indigenous Amazonian Cultures. Transfer to the airport for your flight via Lima to Cusco and onwards by car to the Sacred Valley of the Incas (2,900 metres). It is difficult to imagine anywhere better to soak up the tranquillity of the mountain-ringed valley than your luxury property. Take time to acclimatise the local way – with rest and coca tea.

Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba | Meals: BD

Once the epicentre of the Inca Empire, the Sacred Valley is speckled with little-known but spectacular ruins, many of which remain unexplored. Visit a remote village seemingly frozen in time. Experience complete cultural immersion as you delve into the ancient agricultural methods used for centuries in this challenging Andean mountain environment. Join in the daily activities and discover how local communities live today. Learn how vibrant food is being cooked in wood-fired, mud-brick stoves. Watch a demonstration of age-old textile artistry and uncover secrets to natural dyeing. Return to your lodge and spend your afternoon at leisure, enjoying the amenities of your accommodation before dinner.

Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba | Meals: BLD

Begin your pilgrimage to Machu Picchu (2,400 metres), stopping en route at the imposing fortress of Ollantaytambo, where the Incas celebrated their greatest victory over the invading Spanish. Board the train and sit back and relax and absorb the majestic Andean landscape as you wind through the mountains and cloud forest to the lost city of Machu Picchu. Overlooking the raging Urubamba River and discovered by American explorer Hiram Bingham in a hidden tangle of trees, the true history of Machu Picchu will forever remain an enigma, as the Incas left no written records. Unravel its mysteries as you explore with your expert guide. Return to your hotel, an intimate styled Andean village with terraced hills, waterfalls, stone pathways. Relax in a hidden corner or indulge in an invigorating spa based on a mystical Andean approach.

Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo | Meals: BLD

Spend time exploring the natural beauty of your lodge, seek out the more than 200 species of birds or delve deeper into the mysteries of the ancient citadel with the opportunity to climb to the “Inti Punku”, the famous Sun Gate. Or, for superior views across the ruins, hike further to the highest mountain, Huayna Picchu, or continue a leisurely tour of the rambling stone terraces. Later board the Vistadome train to Ollantaytambo and continue by road to Cusco, the former ancient capital of the Inca Empire.

La Casona Inkaterra | Meals: B

Sitting at an altitude of 3,400 metres, Cusco’s rich tapestry of Spanish and Quechua influences is yours to uncover this morning on foot. Considered to be one of the most beautiful churches in the Americas, the cathedral in the central Plaza de Armas will leave you breathless. Seek out the fresco of ‘The Last Supper’ with Jesus eating guinea pig, a sacred motif of Incan paganism. Explore the well-preserved ruins of Sacsayhuaman, a testament to Incan architectural skill. Compiled of massive stones, the walls were cut and placed together with incredible precision and without a single drop of mortar to hold them in place. This ancient fortress, where the greatest battle between the Spanish and Incas took place, overlooks the red-tiled roofs of Cusco and the spectacular lush countryside.

La Casona Inkaterra | Meals: B

Appreciate a day at leisure. Stroll the cobblestone plazas and winding alleyways, or search for treasures in one of the fascinating markets that dot the city. Alternatively take the hike to the statue of Christ at the top of the valley overlooking Cusco and soak in the breathtaking views of the entire city below. Late afternoon accompanied by your Guardian Angel, take a private tour of your historic boutique accommodation. Learn about the restoration process that brought this colonial building back to its original glory and stories from the manor's long past. Later join a local shaman for a unique coca leaf reading. The coca leaf is integral to Andean life besides being used in celebration ceremonies, funerals, labour, and religious practices, among other occasions.

La Casona Inkaterra | Meals: B

Private transfer to Cusco airport for your flight to Juliaca and be met on arrival by a representative of the hotel. Proceed to Puno, situated between the mountains and the shores of Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake. Journey onwards to your luxury lodge set on a secluded private peninsula, and en route stop at Sillustani, the region’s largest and most important pre-Hispanic funeral grounds. Settle in and soak up the exceptional views from your lake facing room, the ultimate place for discovering this mystical land and birthplace of the Incan civilisation.

Titilaka | Meals: BLD

Tucked between snow-capped mountains along the border of Bolivia and Peru, Lake Titicaca is not only the world’s highest navigable lake at 3,812 metres, it’s also one of the most beautiful. And there are endless ways to explore. Shared excursion options include day trips to the Uros floating islands and the Island of Taquile, trekking along the Colla Route, part of the original network of Incan roadways to the market, birdwatching with specialists, visits to colonial temples, and more. After a day exploring, there’s no better place to re-energise than back at your lodge surrounded by the astounding Andean terrain.

Titilaka | Meals: BLD

Return transfer to Puno’s Juliaca airport and en route stop and see Lampa, a colonial-period architectural gem and previous Spanish colonial stronghold. Arrival at the airport where your journey ends. Alternatively travel across the border into Bolivia and appreciate another part of Lake Titicaca.

Meals: B