Five Places You Must Visit On Your Peru Holidays

Posted by Ash K on Thursday, June 21, 2012 0

If you’re just at the stage of beginning to plan a holiday to Peru, you can be forgiven for wondering where to start. Sure, you’ll know that cheap flights to Lima are your best bet for arriving in the country, but where to go from there? Peru holidays offer something for everyone and your final choices will obviously be determined by your interests – do you want to track down wildlife, enjoy sophisticated cities, or get the most from Peru’s history and culture? However, whatever your tastes, there are five places that you simply have to see...

Spend some time in Lima

The Peruvian capital hasn’t had the best press in the past, and there’s no denying that with its traffic and urban sprawl it suffers from the same problems as large cities everywhere, but new public transport systems are improving the traffic, and its reputation is slowly improving along with the general upturn in Peruvian prosperity. By no means everyone in Lima can afford to sip a beer in one of the bars overlooking the Pacific cliffs, or to enjoy the new wave of sushi bars that have popped up everywhere, but the numbers are increasing, and eating out in Lima is certainly something you should enjoy on your Peru holidays as the buzz around food in Peru is reaching fever pitch.

Soak up the Culture in Cusco

Lima might be Peru’s modern capital but in the time of the Incas that honour went to Cusco, and you can still see Inca architecture all over the centre of this highland city, despite the best efforts of the conquistadores. Cusco is somewhere most people visit during their Peru holidays as it’s the base for Machu Picchu, but there’s far more to this intriguing city than the train station! With some of Peru’s best colonial architecture as well as the Inca remains, and as one of the strongest bastions of the indigenous Quechua culture, Cusco repays a few days of your holiday at the very least.

Trek the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

No surprises on this one, but then it is just hands-down one of the most amazing treks in the world. Setting off from Cusco, this four-day trek takes you along the original Inca Trail to the famous lost city of Machu Picchu. Famous it might be, but this amazing site still blows you away, no matter how many photos you might have seen before your Peru holidays. If you want to try something a little different, then some of the alternative Inca trails to Machu Picchu, such as the Salkantay trek, are a little tougher but will get you away from the crowds along the main route and also don’t require one of the special government permits that you need for the main Inca Trail.

Climb a Canopy Tower in the Amazon

A trip to the jungle is another must for most people on their holidays in Peru, and with regular flights from both Lima and Cusco, the Tambopata Reserve in the south of Peru’s Amazon basin is becoming the ungle destination of choice within Peru. There are a variety of jungle lodges to choose from, but if you want a truly exceptional experience, pick one with a canopy walk or canopy tower so that you can get right up into the tree-tops and enjoy a birds-eye view of the Amazon rainforest.

Visit the Pre-Inca North of Peru

Most people restrict their Peru holidays to the south of the country, and this is where all the places above are located, but there is an increasing awareness of the archaeological and natural wonders in the north of Peru as well, and so more and more holiday-makers are heading north for at least part of their holidays in Peru. With historic sites such as Kuelap that rival Machu Picchu, and with jungle areas around Iquitos and Tarapoto which offer amazing wildlife-spotting opportunities, it’s another area that shouldn’t be missed!

Dan Clarke works for Real Peru Holidays – the UK specialists in tailormade holidays in Peru, from Inca Trail treks to Machu Picchu, to tree-top adventures in the Amazon jungle.