Self-Guided Fly & Ride Peru & Machu Picchu

Twelve nights in a loop from Arequipa to Machu Picchu and back, ridden self-guided with hotels pre-booked and a road book supplied, and almost entirely on tarmac. The hire is included, with a long upgrade list.

Puerto Inka comes first on the Pacific coast, then Nazca, with the mummies at Chauchilla, which sit open in the desert with hair and textiles preserved by the dryness, and the lines seen from the air or from the roadside tower. Chalhuanca follows on the climb to 4,500 metres.

Cusco gets a rest day, with a walking tour or a ride out to the Inca sites around the city, and Norton Rat’s Tavern on the Plaza de Armas, where visiting riders have been signing the guest book for years and which is as close to a motorcycling institution as South America has.

Ollantaytambo follows in the Sacred Valley, then Machu Picchu by train and bus, and Puno on Titicaca with a rest day for the Uros reed islands. Yanque and Colca Canyon come next, with vicuna, llama and alpaca along the way and the only unpaved section of the route, and the return to Arequipa includes condor viewing at dawn. Prices are quoted in US dollars, and no wildlife sighting can be promised. Riding this one without a guide saves a substantial amount against the guided version and gives up the company rather than the arrangements, since the hotels, the train tickets and the route notes are all handled in advance. Peru is also a reasonable country in which to ride alone: the main roads are good, fuel is everywhere, and the route sticks almost entirely to tarmac.