Peru in depth and the Inca Trail vacation

Planet

This journey overland through Peru's highlights culminates in trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

To protect the trail, no trekkers can hike it without a certified guide. This ensures that everyone sticks to the designated path and limits any damage to the path itself and the incredible plant life that surrounds its length. To protect the historical importance of the area, locals' livelihoods and the natural environment, no wild camping is allowed; although basic, the camp sites fully immerse you in the surrounding landscapes and add to the experience of the trail.

Overtourism is a big problem for the world's most beautiful and iconic locations; to protect Machu Picchu and give everyone enough space to enjoy these incredible wonders, UNESCO has capped the number of visitors that can visit the site each day at 2,500 and the Peruvian government only allows 200 trekkers a day on the Inca Trail (which also includes entry to Machu Picchu at the end). In this way, they will be protected for future generations to enjoy.

Since 2018, trekkers and support teams alike are no longer able to bring single-use plastic onto the Inca Trail. In order to reduce the amount of waste on the trail, all rubbish is weighed at each check-point and at the end to ensure that all waste is taken away. There's no refuse collection on the trail so anything that goes with you must come back off the trail - either with you or as part of the porters' rubbish. Plastic water bottles are included in this ban, therefore water is boiled each evening and morning for our customers to re fill their bottles and throughout the day there are plenty of streams along the way and even ancient water fountains to top-up from.

Food throughout the trek is locally sourced, our Inca Trail cooks plan and prepare meals that are nutritious and suited to the physical exertion of the trek. The fruit and vegetables are as fresh as they can be and have all been grown locally - supporting farmers and the local economy. The food is often one of the biggest surprises for trekkers; meals are hearty and flavoursome, with three courses and even pancakes for breakfast!

As a travel company we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key, and so all staff, Tour Leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage.

People

Traveling through Peru we spend time on Lake Titicaca, rather than just visiting one of the reed islands close to land we continue by boat to Taquile Island. This distributes visitors throughout the islands and to other communities who call the lake home. We stay on Taquile Island, which is the home to the Uros community - our customers will spend time with the community learning about how the famous reed islands are built, what the different traditional dress means, how they live on the islands and having the change to buy locally produced embroidery. We overnight in a small village house, where our guests have the option to join an evening folklore show.

When trekking the Inca Trail we support the local economy by employing porters people who live in the surrounding Sacred Valley. They know the region like the back of their hand and they are well-acclimatised to the altitude. For all their hard work we make sure they're paid fairly so that they're not relying on each trek but have a steady, reliable source of income to support their families.

As a company we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of the UK travel industry body AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.