Belmond Rio Sagrado

The Urubamba runs past the garden. It is the centre of everything: the river marks the hours, the willows filter the valley light, and the thirty stepped casitas are arranged to face it. Belmond Rio Sagrado occupies a three-hectare estate on the banks of the Incas' sacred river, at 2,800 metres — a gentler altitude than Cusco, with steady temperatures year-round and the clearest skies in the Andes.

The Deluxe River View Rooms open directly onto the Urubamba and are the first choice; the Villas with private pools are intended for honeymoons or small families. The spa draws on herbs from the hotel's own garden. The kitchen works with produce from the valley — trout from the river, white Urubamba corn, Andean herbs — and serves dinner by the riverbank when the weather allows. Lunch in the medicinal-herb garden is among the quietly memorable moments of a stay.