Wonders of Peru: Machu Picchu and Amazon Adventure

This thirteen-night escorted holiday from Travelsphere crosses Peru from the Amazon basin to the Andean highlands. After landing in Lima, there’s time to see its colonial centre and Pacific coast before a three-night stay in a jungle lodge near Puerto Maldonado. Early mornings often bring river birds and late afternoons may find you on a gentle canoe glide around Lake Sandoval, watching for giant river otters and red howler monkeys.

From the rainforest you travel by boat, plane and road into the Sacred Valley, visiting traditional weaving co-operatives before a visit to Machu Picchu. The route winds on to Cuzco, where Inca and Spanish architecture overlap, with ruins of Sacsayhuaman just above the city. Next, a road journey follows the Urubamba valley to Puno on Lake Titicaca, including a visit to the 17th century church at Andahuaylillas.

The lake’s man-made reed islands and natural island of Taquile are quiet reminders of high-altitude life in the Andes. The journey rounds off back in Lima, leaving a morning to take one last look over the Pacific before heading home.