Signature Peru and Chile: Machu Picchu and Easter Island

Once the capital of the ancient Inca Empire and still its tangible heart, Cusco is stuffed with the riches of many different eras. Spanish churches jostle for position with solid Inca walls that seem barely in need of preservation – such was the skill of their makers that they look certain to withstand many centuries more.

Our guided tour leads you through the city’s cobbled streets and into its most impressive colonial buildings, displaying the wealth and zealotry of the Spanish conquistadors.

It is said that Cusco was designed in the shape of a puma, with Sacsayhuamán as its head. The symbolism would be apt, since archaeologists believe this imposing fortress doubled as a ceremonial centre of supreme importance to the ancient Incas. Proving that it continues to be at the centre of Cusco’s traditions and heritage, modern-day Peruvians celebrate the Inca festival of Inti Raymi here in the shadow of its solid stone walls.

A visit to the impressive ruin is often combined with the nearby temple of Q’enqo, the ancient military complex of Puca Pucara and the ‘Inca Baths’ at Tambomachay.

Peru is well known for its brightly coloured textiles and distinctive handicrafts, sure to liven up your home or make you very popular if you plan to bring some back as gifts. You can haggle for a bargain or just observe the colourful scenes at Chinchero’s Sunday market, which takes place in the main square beneath a magnificent Inca wall. While in Chinchero, don't miss the pretty village church with its impressive frescoes. 

The Sacred valley of the Incas, just an hour's drive out of Cusco following the river Urubamba towards the Amazon, is a fertile plain once known as the breadbasket of the Incas. Highly populated at the apogée of the Inca Empire, it is now a bucolic paradise of fields bulging with cereals and vegetables, dotted with colonial towns and villages, as well as the ruins of imposing Inca temples and fortresses  

The pretty village of Pisaq in the heart of the Sacred Valley of the Incas hosts a colourful market 3 times a week, where you can haggle for handcrafted souvenirs and textiles alongside locals bartering for fresh produce. It's also home to an impressive Inca site set high on a hillside spur overlooking the town. Jutting out between two gorges, the large complex consists of temples, observatories and grain stores. Ollantaytambo sits at a strategic point where the river begins its descent to the Amazon jungle. The village has squat colonial houses with Inca foundations and quaint lanes and squares.  Most tours visit both.

This is the moment almost all visitors to Peru have come for: the chance to finally see the legendary Lost City of the Incas for yourself.

Perched on a remote mountain pedestal and shrouded by neighbouring Andean peaks, the secluded citadel of Machu Picchu was never found by the Spanish invaders and escaped plundering, making it the most complete and intact Inca site in existence.

Charismatic Valparaiso is a tumbledown maze of colourful buildings scattered across hilly slopes on the edge of the ocean. It has a marked bohemian feel that has long attracted poets and artists, and its meandering streets lined with multicoloured corrugated iron houses have a charm that’s all Valparaiso’s own.

Our walking tour begins at the main pier, passing into Plaza Sotomayor to visit the surrounding historical buildings and an underground mausoleum to Chile’s naval martyrs.

The best way to get around is via a quirky network of funiculars, and you’ll ride a number of them as we journey up and down Valparaiso’s hillside neighbourhoods to uncover hidden corners, small galleries and all the most photogenic viewpoints.

The sun-drenched vineyards of the Central Valley are a picture of rural serenity, yet lie within remarkably easy reach of the capital. On a relaxed daytrip from Santiago we can take you into the heartland of Chile’s wine-growing region to visit one or two of our favourite wineries: historic properties where grand estate houses overlook landscaped grounds and rolling hills.

But of course the main attraction is what’s in their cellars – Chile’s finest wines are produced here and you’ll have a chance to sample a few of them for yourself. A winery tour will also introduce you to the wine-making process and the viticultural heritage of this fertile valley. 

There’s no better way to immerse yourself in all Easter Island has to offer than on foot.

One unmissable route is the 14km cliff-top walk to Anakena beach, showcasing the gloriously rugged coast and the endless Pacific beyond. Nobody lives along this remote shore, so the walk allows you to absorb the sense of total isolation as you stumble upon forgotten Moai lying toppled in the grass and wander past long-abandoned Rapa Nui villages.

Eventually you’ll reach Anakena beach: an archetypal Polynesian paradise complete with swaying palms and turquoise seas. It’s an astonishing sight, and all the more so after you’ve traversed the forbidding cliffs and stony bays more typical of the island’s coastline.

On the eastern end of the south coast of Easter island is Tongariki, just a 30 minute drive from the main town Hanga Roa. It is an exquisite spot, the name of which refers to the easterly winds which reach the exposed shores here.  Tongariki  is defined by the extinct volcanos Rano Raraku and Poike. Poike is of the three extinct craters which compose the island and the second highest point on the island. Its slopes fall away steeply to the sea at Hanga Nui cove, beyond which is an islet known as Motu Maratiri. The fishing port Hanga Iti is also nearby.   

The ahu here (ahus are the burial platforms, topped by the famous moai statures, built to celebrate the revered leaders of the island’s 13 tribes) is the largest on Easter Island, with a row of 15 flinty moai. They have an eventful history: toppled during the island's civil wars and then in the 20th century the ahu was swept inland by a tsunami. They are now restored, and the sight of them silhouetted against the tangerine sky at sunrise is not to be missed.  

With a plausible claim to be one of the world's most remote inhabited territories, Easter Island is a tiny, far-flung speck in the Pacific Ocean, cut off from other populated islands by at least 2,000km of open sea in each and every direction.

Bearing this extraordinary isolation in mind, the island’s famous archaeological remains – the giant stone heads known as Moai – have come to fascinate and puzzle experts and travellers alike.

Visit them on this full-day tour of Easter Island’s most beguiling sights, taking in the classically Polynesian Anakena Beach as well as the more rugged inland terrain. You’ll see all the most significant of the island’s silent stone guardians, from the tallest individual statue to the largest platform at Ahu Tongariki. To complete the picture, and have you questioning for yourself how and why these monoliths were transported across the island, you’ll also visit the ancient quarry of Rano Raraku where almost 400 statues lie frozen in various stages of the carving process.

Even if Machu Picchu was not lying at the end of the tracks, resplendent on its mountain pedestal, this train journey would doubtless still be an attraction in its own right. It traverses one of the continent’s most scenic sections of rail, where each of the panoramas that glide past your window seems even more spectacular than the last.

At first you’ll look out over a serene rural tableau, passing a patchwork of fields studded by whitewashed adobe villages. Soon however the valley narrows into a dramatic gorge, carved by the tumultuous Urubamba river that gushes alongside the railway track. Bottle-green mountains and cliffs clad in dense vegetation accompany the final stretch to Machu Picchu village (formerly Aguas Calientes), where a zigzagging bus journey transports you up to the mountaintop Inca citadel.

For a real treat, upgrade to the luxurious Hiram Bingham train to arrive at Machu Picchu in ultimate style and comfort. Harking back to the golden age of rail travel, the carriages are sumptuously kitted out and two dining cars serve up an outstanding gastronomic experience.