Your guided city tour takes you to all the major sites of this fascinating city including a visit to the Plaza de Mayo, enclosed on 3 sides by the metropolitan cathedral, the town hall and the Casa Rosada (the presidential palace). The tour continues to bohemian, arty La Boca, which was settled and built by Italian immigrants and has streets lined with brightly painted corrugated iron-clad houses, before visiting the district of Recoleta, home to the famous cemetery where Eva Peron is buried

On the outskirts of the town is Cerro San Bernardo, a hilltop that can be reached via a long, arduous stairway, or by cable car, and from which there are sweeping views of the city and the mountains beyond. The anthropological museum here has some wonderfully-preserved Inca mummies which were recently discovered at the peak of a remote mountain, over 6,000m high.

The town itself is picturesque, squatting below an Andean backdrop, and there is time to explore as well as to visit one or two of the many local wineries, where there are guided tours and opportunities to sample the wines. One of which, Torrontés, which is unique to Argentina.

On the guided excursion to the Moon Valley you arrive late afternoon to explore shady gorges and dramatic canyons formed over centuries by the erosion of salt mountains. Just before dusk climb to the ridge of a vast golden sand dune to see the landscape lit up in different shades of pinks, reds and oranges cast by the setting sun.

Finally you reach the Salar de Uyuni, a dizzying sight. The surface is utterly featureless, smooth, and composed of nothing but pure, dazzling white salt. After rain a thin layer of water covers the surface, turning the salt flat into a huge mirror that reflects an inverted sky. In the centre lies the Isla del Pescado, a small island covered in giant cacti, where you stop to stretch your legs and soak up the view.

At certain times of year flamingos add a vivid splash of pink to the interminable whiteness of the landscape. Eventually you arrive in Uyuni where we jump straight on a plane to arrive in the comfort of La Paz.

At over 3,500m La Paz is the highest capital city in the world. It's a glittering mosaic of tin, slate and tile roofs, interspersed with a line of skyscrapers that march down the valley. And beyond, keeping an eye on it all, is the colossal bulk of Mount Illimani.This busy city has a population which is 60% indigenous. Women dress in voluminous multi coloured skirts and bowler hats and have centre partings, as decreed by the Spanish monarch 3 centuries ago. Your full days in the city give you plenty of opportunity to explore the colonial centre around Plaza Murillo, to stroll through the steep narrow streets, and around the many open and covered markets; it's the street life here, with its exotic sounds and scents, that make it so fascinating. You are orientated in the compact city centre on a city tour.

In the morning it's time to set off to cross the border into Peru, and on to the port of Puno. In the afternoon set out on the lake aboard a motor boat to the Uros Islands; gliding over these deep blue glacial waters is a highlight. You alight on a floating island, made entirely of tortora reeds - the same material the islanders use to build their canoes - and the ground moves almost imperceptibly beneath your feet. A unique feature of this part of the lake is the traditional settlement of Uros people; nowadays, the inhabitants earn their living mainly through selling handicrafts to tourists and, while this is a unique experience, it has the air of a visit to a living museum.

A guide gives you a fascinating tour of Cusco, which includes a visit to several nearby Inca remains. You visit Q’oricancha, once the principal Inca Sun Temple, with extraordinarily intricate stonework, and then explore the colossal zigzag walls of Sacsayhuamán, brooding on a hillside above Cusco. In 1536 a desperate and defining 3 day battle was fought between the Spaniards and the Incas here: the first conquistadors to see it were awestruck and centuries later it is still an extraordinary and imposing sight.

In 1911 the American explorer Hiram Bingham discovered the ruins buried beneath tropical cloud forest. It is the city’s location which most captures the imagination, on a ridge spur amid forested peaks and above a roaring river canyon. Following a guided tour of the ruins you spend the night at the spa village of Machu Picchu, a couple of kilometres upstream.

Fancy hiking some of the Inca Trail without interrupting your tour? We can organise for you to walk the mini Inca Trail on this day, but still, have a guided tour of the ruins and stay with the group in the evening. Please ask us for more details.

Away from the busy centre, there are some superb traditional restaurants as well as archaeological museums filled to the rafters with pre-Columbian treasures. In crowded streets, throngs of traffic race out towards Miraflores, on the coast, a modern middle-class suburb where your hotel is located. There will be a walking tour of the colonial centre with your tour leader.