Peru Travel Guide Best Places to Visit & Things to Do in Peru

Why visit Peru? Peru compresses three entirely distinct ecosystems — Pacific coastal desert, Andean highlands, and Amazon rainforest — into one country, and the classic Inca circuit is only the beginning, a good starting point for anyone asking where to go in Peru. A proper Cusco travel guide starts with the former Inca capital itself, which sits at 3,400 meters and still stands on stone foundations so precisely fitted they’ve outlasted the Spanish colonial buildings built on top of them. From there, Sacred Valley Peru terraced ruins at Pisac and Ollantaytambo lead to a full Machu Picchu Peru tour, the 15th-century citadel that remained unknown to the outside world until 1911 — best reached via Inca Trail hiking Peru or the train from Aguas Calientes. Lima Peru attractions are now a destination in their own right rather than a mere transit stop, with the culinary capital where ceviche reaches its finest expression. Arequipa’s white volcanic-stone architecture opens onto Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and home to Andean condors gliding at eye level, while Rainbow Mountain Peru and Lake Titicaca’s floating reed islands near Puno offer two of South America’s most singular sights. Few countries let a single trip move this fluidly between empire, desert, and jungle, which is exactly what makes it such a strong source of Peru travel experiences and why most first-time visitors build a 10 to 14 day route around the Inca circuit with one or two additional regions layered on.