Inca Trails (Peru)

Thirteen nights in a loop from Arequipa, guided, through the Peruvian Andes on entirely sealed road, reaching Machu Picchu.

Arequipa opens it, the White City, where the cathedral and the arcades around the Plaza de Armas are built from pale volcanic sillar quarried nearby, with three volcanoes standing over the town.

Colca Canyon follows on twisting mountain roads, usually described as the second deepest canyon in the world, where Andean condors ride the thermals along the rim in the early morning, though nothing can be promised on a given day. Lake Titicaca comes next at Puno, the highest navigable lake anywhere, with the Uros people’s floating islands built from layered reeds on the water. Cusco follows, the Inca capital with Spanish churches raised directly on Inca foundations, then Machu Picchu itself, the citadel on its ridge that was brought to international attention in 1911 and has drawn visitors ever since. Jungle roads carry the route back west, with a flight over the Nazca Lines optional.

The bike hire is included, with a Honda NX500 or CFMoto 450MT as standard and a long list of upgrades; the full inclusions are not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. Altitude is the thing to prepare for, since Cusco sits at 3,400 metres and the passes go higher. The dry season from May to September is the window. Fourteen days entirely on tarmac makes this one of the more accessible tours in the range, and the scenery does not need gravel to justify itself.