The Peru MTB trip

Welcome to Cusco, capital of the Inca Empire and one of the most beautiful cities on Earth! We’ll meet you at 1pm for a traditional Peruvian meal at a local favourite restaurant. In the afternoon your guide will lead a relaxed walking tour around Cusco’s stunning historic centre. It’s a good idea to take it easy and drink plenty of water today to aid acclimatisation, as we start experiencing Peru’s incredible biking tomorrow!

We start the biking today with a fun, easy ride on paved and dirt road and easy single track to Pisac – an Inca township that’s the gateway to the Sacred Valley and home to a famous handicraft market which we’ll have time to explore. In the afternoon we saddle up again and ride along the flat, fertile floodplain of the Sacred Valley to our campsite, where we’ll spend the night under the stars between a mountain and a river.

This morning we’ll drive up to Amparaes Pass and then descend on incredibly fun, scenic paved road, with sections of single track, into the remote Lares Valley, starting in high-altitude rock and cold, and ending up in a warm, green river gorge. The chance to enjoy a beer and barbecue at the surreal and beautiful water park that is Lares hot springs is worth a trip in itself. Naturally occurring hot springs are surrounded by lovingly landscaped terraces and lawns dotted with tents. This is one of our favourite places in the world – there is no better end to a day’s biking than soaking in the springs and staring up at the stars.

This morning an incredibly scenic drive past isolated farms and tiny hamlets takes us up over a high (4,300m/14,200 feet) pass, through high-altitude wetlands and farmland, and to the top of one of the world’s most enjoyable bike descents. We’ll ride (on either single track or dirt road – it’s your choice) around craggy Andean peaks, and traverse open valleys where traditionally-dressed locals tend flourishing llama flocks and potato crops. As we gently descend, the landscape gradually changes from austere open pasture and rock to a verdant, bushy river gorge that brings us down through the villages of Patacancha and Huilloc and eventually into Ollantaytambo – one of the most beautiful villages in Peru, and our destination for the night.

This is the most popular bike trip in Peru – even non-riders get on bikes to enjoy this morning’s scenic, easy riding through rolling countryside, past lakes and ruins. And our next ride is a treat – one of the best single-track descents in Peru, it has something to teach everyone from novice to expert. Best of all, it ends at our favourite Inca attraction, Salineras – a surreal and beautiful patchwork of pools and paths that still produces salt using Inca technology. Later we’ll take a train to Aguas Calientes.

An early start rewards us with sunrise at Machu Picchu – a peak moment for anyone. A spectacular stone city surrounded by incredibly steep, incredibly green mountains, Machu Picchu needs no introduction and is deservedly one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Your guide will give you a thorough tour of the massive site, and then there’s some time to wander around and soak it all in, before we catch the train back to Cusco for our last night together.

You can book your flight out of Cusco for any time today. If you’re staying on in Peru, we’d be delighted to help out with suggestions and assistance for the rest of your time here, including hooking you up with more of Peru’s incredible biking!