Five hundred years ago the Cusco region was the hub of the 22,000 km network of Inca roads known as Qhapaq Nan. Today it offers limitless trekking opportunities along ancient routes once transited by the Incas.

The Inca Trail goes through the 32,592 hectare Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary, which forms the transition zone between the Andes and the Amazon. The Sanctuary’s extraordinary altitudinal range, from 6,271 metres (20,568 feet) above sea level at Salkantay to 1,725 metres (5658 feet) in the Aobamba valley means that it comprises ten distinct life zones, from glaciers to cloud forest – home to fascinating Inca ruins, 423 species of birds and more than 300 types of orchids.