Cusco

1. ~9:00a●An easy first morning (acclimatize)

   Take it slow on day one for the 3,400 m altitude — coca tea, a light breakfast, and a gentle start. Eggs, fresh fruit, and pan chuta bread at a plaza café.

2. ~10:30a◆The Plaza de Armas & the Cathedral

   The grand square ringed by colonial arcades built on Inca foundations — the Cathedral's cedar altars and the famous cuy (guinea-pig) Last Supper painting.

3. ~12:00p◆Qoricancha

   The Inca Temple of the Sun, once sheathed in gold, with the Santo Domingo convent built atop its flawless stonework — the clearest image of conquest in the city.

4. ~1:30p●Novo-Andino lunch

   Quinoa soup, a causa (layered potato terrine), and an alpaca steak — or, for the brave, anticuchos (beef-heart skewers) — with a lúcuma juice.

5. ~3:30p→San Blas & the stone lanes

   Uphill into the artisans' quarter — the twelve-angled Inca stone, whitewashed studios, and a viewpoint over the terracotta roofs of the old city.

6. 7:30p✦MAP Café or Cicciolina (Cusco)Anchor table

   Cusco's standout table — refined Novo-Andino tasting built on Andean ingredients (the country's great stars are in Lima, but this is the marquee Cusco room). Book ahead and keep dinner gentle on night one.

Altitude is the real factor on arrival — go slow, hydrate, lean on coca tea, and keep day one light. Cusco's Inca-and-colonial layering is the prologue to Machu Picchu; give it a full, unhurried day.

1. ~8:30a✦Down into the Sacred Valley

   Drop to lower, warmer altitude along the Urubamba River — easier breathing and the agricultural heart of the Inca world.

2. ~9:30a◆Pisac ruins & market

   The hillside Inca terraces and temple complex above the village, then the famous Pisac market for textiles, silver, and ceramics below.

3. ~12:00p✦Maras salt pans & Moray

   The thousands of pre-Inca salt terraces cascading down the valley, and the concentric agricultural terraces of Moray — an Inca crop-laboratory.

4. ~1:30p●Valley farm-to-table lunch

   A Sacred Valley hacienda restaurant — trout from the river, Andean corn and cheese, and a pisco sour on a garden terrace.

5. ~3:30p◆Ollantaytambo

   The great fortress-temple of giant stone terraces — and the only Inca town still lived in on its original grid. Climb for the sun-temple monoliths and the valley view.

6. ~7:00p●Dinner in the valley

   Stay overnight down here (kinder for altitude and closer to the train) — a cosy valley restaurant with Andean dishes and a fire.

The Sacred Valley is best as an overnight — lower altitude helps acclimatization and puts you at the Machu Picchu train. Ollantaytambo is where the train departs, so ending the day here is ideal.

1. ~6:30a✦The train to Machu Picchu

   The glass-roofed Vistadome (or the luxury Hiram Bingham) along the Urubamba gorge to Aguas Calientes, then the switchback bus up to the citadel.

2. ~9:00a◆The Lost City of the Incas

   The wonder itself — the Temple of the Sun, the Intihuatana stone, the terraces falling away to the cloud forest, and Huayna Picchu rising behind. A guide brings the stones alive; book your timed entry circuit ahead.

3. ~11:30a✦Climb Huayna Picchu or the Sun Gate

   The steep peak behind the city for the aerial view (permit required, sells out months ahead), or the gentler walk up to Inti Punku, the Sun Gate, where the Inca Trail arrives.

4. ~1:30p●Lunch in Aguas Calientes

   Back down to the river town — trout, an Andean soup, and a well-earned beer before the return train.

5. ~6:30p✦The train back & the stars

   The scenic ride back up the valley as dusk falls — or, if overnighting in Aguas Calientes, the hot springs and the cloud-forest quiet.

6. ~8:30p●Celebratory dinner

   A toast to the day — a Novo-Andino dinner back in the valley or Cusco, pisco sours all round.

Machu Picchu now runs on timed-entry circuits and capped numbers — book entry, train, and any Huayna Picchu permit months ahead. A guide is required for first entry and well worth it; go early for the morning light and thinner crowds.