Arrive in Lima. Tonight you will overnight at the Ramada Costa del Sol hotel, situated opposite the airport arrivals hall.

After breakfast, you will be transferred back to Lima airport for the spectacular one-hour flight over the Andes arriving mid-morning in the ancient Inca capital of Cusco (altitude 3,338 m/10,952 ft.). From here it is a one-hour drive to your accommodation in the Sacred Valley.

For the next four nights, you will be staying in comfortable accommodation in the heart of the Sacred Valley, between Cusco and Machu Picchu and only a short drive from the stables.

Once you have settled into your room and freshened up you will be collected and transferred to the ranch. You will have an opportunity to become familiar with the beautiful Peruvian Paso horses and the traditional Peruvian riding gear. This is a time for taking it easy, as it can take a while to become acclimatised to the altitude.

Enjoy lunch at the ranch. In the afternoon, there will be a demonstration of classic Peruvian equitation, followed by a short, introductory Peruvian riding lesson, where you will be asked to ride and your ability will be evaluated. There will also be an informal briefing about the ride ahead, the horses & our safety guidelines on the trail.

You will then be taken back to your accommodation to freshen up for dinner. Dinner will be at the ranch or at a local restaurant. Overnight in the Sacred Valley. (B,L,D).

Today is a day to relax and enjoy being on holiday, while you continue to acclimatise to the altitude and before the ride begins in earnest. Around 10:00 am you will be collected from your hotel and taken on the short drive to Ollantaytambo where you visit the ruins and village. According to legend, Ollantaytambo is named after a rebellious chieftain, Ollantay, who took up arms against his sovereign, the Inca Pachacuti, in pursuit of his forbidden love for the Inca's daughter, Nusta Cosi Collyu. Historical records tell us the site was actually a royal estate of Pachacuti, the Inca responsible for the Empire's most expansive growth. This would account for the fine stonework throughout the site, and the quality, abundance and scale of the ceremonial architecture. Although not designed as a citadel when it was built in the 1460s, Manco Inca successfully defended Ollantaytambo against Hernando Pizarro in 1537.

The village of Ollantaytambo is the only inhabited settlement that has survived much as the Incas laid it out. Its streets form a grid pattern, with many people still living in the original Inca canchas, blocks of multi-family homes sharing a large courtyard.

Lunch will be enjoyed back at the ranch. After lunch, you will continue with your riding ‘course’ in classic Peruvian equitation and we will match riders to their mounts. If time allows there may be a short ride in the valley to give you the chance to get to know your horse outside the confines of the ranch.

Dinner at the ranch or at a local restaurant. Overnight in the Sacred Valley. (B,L,D).

After a good breakfast at your hotel you will be taken to the ranch and the ride will set off. You cross the Urubamba River via a bridge, pass Pichingote, an old Andean hamlet built along the river and then riding onto Salinas up a narrow track where you will see salt pans from Inca times which are still being used by the locals to extract salt from the mountain spring water. The salt pans consist of a series of platforms where the salty water is channeled through an impressive irrigation system and left to evaporate in the sun.

Today you climb nearly 850 m with the horses to reach the Andean altiplano. This climb takes about two hours and will be at an easy pace because the change of altitude does not only affect the horses. Once at 3,550 m (over 11,400 ft.), you will be surrounded by stunning scenery and the snow-capped mountains of Chicon, Veronica and Pitusuray.

Continue your ride to Maras, a typical Andean village with a beautiful 400-year-old colonial church, where a picnic lunch will be waiting for you nearby. The church at Maras was built just after the Conquest and is one of the ten oldest churches in South America.

From Maras, you will visit the ruins of Cheqoq. Here the Incas constructed fascinating cold-storage areas (pre-Hispanic refrigerators) to conserve the agricultural produce of the region. Cooling of the products was achieved by using a system of wind tunnels to circulate the air and a network of water channels to circulate the cold water from a nearby mountain spring. Continue riding to the beautiful churchyard of Tiobamba, which you should reach shortly before 16:00. The horses are left here with the grooms and you will be returned to your hotel.

After some rest and a hot shower, we will take you to enjoy dinner at one of Urubamba's local restaurants or at the ranch.

Overnight in the Sacred Valley. (B,L,D).

Riding time: approximately 3 hours. Altitude: 2,700 - 3,550 m/8,860 - 11,400 ft.

After a good breakfast at your hotel, you will be picked up and transferred back to Tiobamba, where the horses will be waiting for you. Today is a day for following primitive trails across the altiplano, enjoying spectacular scenery along the way with snow-capped mountains, wildflowers and beautiful mountain lakes. Meet smiling Quechua children with their herds of sheep or cattle and see campesinos ploughing their fields in the traditional way; oxen hitched to a wooden plough. You may even share a chicha (a traditional maize drink) with them. Just before Chinchero a delicious picnic lunch and our back up team awaits you. On a clear day the views from Chinchero are tremendous; to the west and northwest stretches a vista of rolling altiplano, ringed in the distance by the dramatic snow-capped peaks of the Cordilleras Vilcabamba and Urubamba.

After lunch there is a short ride to Lake Piuray where you will leave the horses and take a short trip by car to visit the ruins of Chinchero. The main square of the town is famous for its massive Inca wall, set with ten of the largest trapezoidal niches known among Inca structures. This was probably the base wall of a palace - perhaps that of Topa Inca - that once overlooked the square. At Chinchero there should also be the chance to visit a textiles workshop and see a demonstration of ancient techniques of spinning, dying and weaving wool. The beautiful fabrics are still made in the same way as they would have been made in Inca times. Take some money as you may want to buy some souvenirs (although please do not feel obliged to buy anything).

Transfer back to your hotel by vehicle. Dinner will be at a local restaurant or at the ranch. Overnight in the Sacred Valley. (B,L,D).

Riding time: approximately 4 hours. Altitude: 3,000 - 3,800 m/9,840 - 12,470 ft.

You will be collected after breakfast and transferred back to Lake Piuray. From here, you crisscross through the rough Andean landscape, passing remote Quechua communities, herder's huts and small farms called ‘chacras’. Today is one of the most beautiful riding days. You will travel a cobblestone-paved section of the network of Inca roads called the Capac Ñan, and enjoy wonderful vistas as you climb to an altitude of 4,000 m/13,125 ft. The scenery is breathtaking (quite literally), with impressive views of the many snow-capped mountains and the altiplano. You pass numerous Inca ruins; an ancient Inca aqueduct and Inca irrigation channels. Lunch will be enjoyed at a scenic spot and we will be met, as always, by our support crew. In the afternoon some technical riding is required with a tricky gorge to cross before we reach Cusco.

After a hard day's ride following old Inca trails, you will arrive at around 16h30 just outside the historic city of Cusco, the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America and the former capital of the great Inca Empire. For the next two nights you will stay a very comfortable hotel located near the Plaza de Armas, the heart of Cusco's archaeological centre. Enjoy dinner in Cusco (to your own account) and let us know if we can recommend a restaurant for you. If you still have the energy you can explore Cusco's legendary nightlife! (B,L). We will leave you with an overnight bag in which to put the things you will need for the camping night which is immediately after your Cusco stay.

Riding time: approximately 6 hours. Altitude: 3,800 - 4,000 m/12,470 - 13,125 ft.

Relax; today is yours to spend as you wish. Visit the numerous ruins, churches, cathedrals and museums of Cusco, enjoy some shopping, or just sit in one of the many coffee shops, restaurants, or bars and watch the world go by.

According to Inca legend, Cusco was founded around 1200 AD by Manco Capac and Mama Occlo. Manco Capac selected the site when the golden staff given to him by his father, the Sun, sank into the earth and disappeared. Each Inca emperor built his own palace and compound during his reign. The Spanish initially tried to raise the Inca buildings to the ground, but soon realised that because of their quality construction, it was easier to reuse the Inca foundations for their own buildings. For this reason, you can still see many of the original Inca walls throughout Cusco.

Cusco is now a vibrant city of some three hundred thousand inhabitants, the vast majority of whom are native Quechua Indians. Despite being a major tourist destination, both for its own treasures and as a jump-off point for the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, Cusco has managed to hold onto its own distinct flavour. It is great place to be for a day.

Overnight in Cusco. (B).

After breakfast, the riding expedition continues. Today's ride will pass along old Inca trails and through open country with spectacular views providing another memorable riding day in the Andes. You will be collected from your hotel and taken to the horses - waiting where you left them, just outside Cusco in the countryside just beyond Sacsayhuaman.

Starting at 3.300 m you will begin by following a footpath leading north, then after climbing you will see a stone-lined Inca irrigation channel which parallels our trail. On ascending a steep, narrow valley, we reach a pass at 4,350 m (14,275 ft.) and see the small, shallow Lake Quellacocha; the highest point of the ride. At the lake you will stop for lunch. After lunch we descend the high trail around the north end of the lake and ascend eastward to Lake Q’oricocha, where you arrive at the campsite mid-afternoon, allowing time for you to enjoy the stunning, secluded location and acquaint yourself with your comfortable tent. Herds of llamas and alpacas are usually seen grazing around the campsite.

The people living at this high altitude are friendly, hard-working farmers who grow mainly potatoes. Tourists are seldom seen here. You may have the opportunity to purchase some fine weavings made locally if you wish - girls walk about an hour from their village with items they have made – again there is no obligation to buy, but the hats, belts, purses etc are beautifully hand-made.

Dinner and overnight at the campsite near Lake Q’oricocha (weather permitting). (B,L,D). Hot water bottles are provided!

Riding time: approximately 4 hours. Altitude: 3,600 - 4,350 m/11,810 - 14,275 ft.

From Lake Q’oricocha the ride heads northeast in the direction of the Sacred Valley. Today is another stunningly scenic day and you will enjoy plenty of breaks and photo-stops to soak it all up before you descend from the altiplano into the valley.

Our first port of call is the village of Umaspampa and from there to the villages of Cuper Alto and Cuper Bajo, arriving in the early afternoon at Chinchero, where you will enjoy lunch. Much of the riding today is along trails that are part of the great Inca Empire’s road system, the Capac Ñan. The Inca road network was one the greatest engineering feats ever undertaken in the New World, rivaling the Roman road system in the Old World. The 25,000 km network linked Cusco, the Inca capital, to the empire’s far-flung domains. The road system reached almost all of the Andean territories, including Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile and was formed by four main roads clearly recognisable, plus many secondary roads.

After another beautiful afternoon ride you arrive to the village of Racchi where the horses will stay with our grooms for the night. Transfer to your hotel in the Sacred Valley.

Dinner at a local restaurant or at the ranch. Overnight at a comfortable hotel in the Sacred Valley. (B,L,D)

Riding time: approx. 5 1/2 hours. Altitude: 4,300 - 2,800 m/14,110 - 9,190 ft.

You will be collected after breakfast for your last riding day. Today we follow a trail with great views of the Urquillos Valley and after a couple of hours, you arrive once more at the village of Maras. From Maras, you will follow country trails to the agricultural terraces of Moray, but before entering the archaeological site of Moray it is time to enjoy another delicious lunch on the trail.

Moray is quite unique - hundreds of years ago, people in the region took four huge natural depressions in the landscape and sculpted them into multi-level agricultural terraces that served as an experimental agricultural station for the development of different crops. This was possible due to a remarkable natural phenomenon: the climates of many different ecological zones were present at a single site. In the thirty or so metres of altitude between the bottom and the top levels of Moray’s depression, scientist John Earls once recorded a full 15 degrees C difference in temperature. This is equal to the difference between the mean annual temperatures of London and Bombay! It is possible that Moray played a key role in the original transformation of maize into a high-altitude crop. There are no great ruined structures in Moray to impress; it is more for the contemplative traveler or farmers!

After visiting Moray, you continue the descent into the Sacred Valley arriving back at the ranch and journey’s end at around 16:00 and time to celebrate your return with a traditional Pisco Sour.

Tonight you will enjoy dinner at the ranch or at a local restaurant. Overnight at a comfortable hotel in Urubamba. (B,L,D)

Riding time: approximately 5 - 5 1/2 hours. Altitude: 2,800 - 2,600 m/9,190 - 8,530 ft.

An early start today, as you catch the train from Urubamba to the ruins of Machu Picchu. The experience of visiting Machu Picchu is not limited to the ruins themselves; the train journey is one of the most spectacular in the world. The Vistadome train brings you to Machu Picchu an hour before the main tourist train arrives from Cusco. Since its discovery by Hiram Bingham in 1911, Machu Picchu has captivated the hearts and minds of the modern world.

In the afternoon take the train back to Urubamba, arriving late afternoon. Enjoy dinner at one of Urubamba's famous restaurants or at the ranch and make the most of the last chance to sample Maria's legendary pisco sours!

Overnight at a comfortable hotel in the Sacred Valley (B,D).

Early morning transfer to Cusco airport for your flight to Lima. The driving time is one hour, followed by a one-hour flight. The earliest possible departure time from Lima is 17:00pm