In the morning visit the impressive Larco  Museum, one of the finest museums in Latin America, housing a vast collection of pre-Columbian pieces. The majority of artefacts in the museum are ceramics, depicting a number of Peruvian cultures including the Moche, Sicán and Chimú and there is also an excellent collection of textiles, gold and silver work, and mummies.  We love this museum, so we have included just for you a special  guided tour.

Transfer to the airport for a 1hr flight to Cusco in the Andes; on arrival you’re met and driven to the Belmond Palacio Nazarenas (formerly Orient Express).

Today  a half-day tour of the city. You visit Q’oricancha, once the principal Inca Sun Temple, with intricate stonework, and then explore the colossal zigzag walls of Sacsayhuamán, brooding on a hillside above Cusco. The first conquistadores to see it were awestruck, and centuries later it is still an extraordinary and imposing sight.

You visit Pisaq, both the village, and the terraces and fort high above. The engineering and preservation are unrivalled. From the flat valley floor the sculpted hillside rises up like a green staircase to the heavens.

Continue along this picturesque, patchwork valley to the temple of Ollantaytambo. The snow-frosted Andean cordillera forms a stunning backdrop. Ollantaytambo, sitting strategically at the gateway to the Amazon basin, was never captured by the Spanish conquistadores, but the inhabitants decided that the settlement was too vulnerable and would eventually fail, and so they abandoned it. The fortress, the colonial grid plan and the Inca foundations are still intact and there are wonderful views down over the sloping hillsides and into the fertile valley.

Continue to the Maras saltpans, a series of terraces where a natural source of saline water is evaporated by the strong Andean sun. In use since Inca times, the saltpans continue to be worked by the local community. You’ll also visit Moray, an Inca experimental agricultural centre. It comprises numerous terraces carved into a large, natural amphitheatre, each one with a different microclimate from those above and below.

Time permitting, you can also visit a traditional weaving project, where local women demonstrate the weaving technique and you can learn about the use of natural dyes and patterns unique to the numerous mountain communities surrounding the Sacred Valley – also a great opportunity to buy excellent quality products, directly from the producers.

Continue down to the Sacred Valley of the Incas for two nights in Urubamba.

The majestic ruined city, reclaimed from tropical cloud forest, is reached by minibus up a sinuous road, or on foot up a near vertical rocky path. The American explorer Hiram Bingham discovered it in 1911, by which time it was completely buried beneath jungle vegetation. It is the ruins’ location, on a ridge spur amid forested peaks and above a roaring river canyon, that most ignites the imagination.

You will have a guided tour of the ruins and, since you are staying overnight at the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge (at the ruins), and so not restricted by the small window of opportunity offered by a day trip, there’s time later to take one of the many trails within the site itself. It’s a short hike to the vertiginous Inca Bridge, carved into a cliff edge; or wander amongst the stone buildings and llama-dotted grassy ledges soaking up the atmosphere.  You can climb the torturously steep Huayna Picchu mountain the other side of the valley, but you need to book in advance.

Revisit the ruins in the morning, before returning to Cusco by Vistadome train service, where you'll spend the night at Belmond Hotel Monasterio.

Cruises operate throughout the year - in the high water season (December – May) you can venture further into the flooded creeks, in the low water months (June - November) you can stroll along sandy beaches exposed by the lowering water-line. There are opportunities to encounter local communities, and wildlife you may see includes pink dolphins, black caiman alligators and giant river otters. Other excursions include trying your hand at piranha fishing and night jungle trips.

The M/V Aria is equipped with auxiliary aluminium skiffs which will take you along the waterways, or will ferry you to the landing point for onshore excursions. Each of the excursions is led by a trained and knowledgeable naturalist guide who speaks good English. We allow plenty of time for you to explore, listen to your guide’s explanation, and photograph the wildlife.

If there are days when you choose not to go onshore for an expedition, you can stay on board. Lie back in a lounge chair, breathe in the Amazon air, soak up the sun, read a good book, watch the ever-changing view, and simply experience total relaxation in the heart of the Amazon jungle.