Top Things to Do in Peru: Machu Picchu, Cusco, Colca Canyon and Beyond

Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail: Planning the Centrepiece

No photograph prepares you for the first sight of Machu Picchu, the 15th-century citadel that balances on a ridge above the Urubamba River. Arrive at dawn through the Sun Gate on the classic four-day Inca Trail and the terraces emerge from cloud one by one; arrive by train to Aguas Calientes and bus up the switchbacks for a shorter, no-less-dramatic reveal. Timed entry slots govern the site, and only a limited number of hikers are permitted on the trail each day, so permits are snapped up months ahead — especially for the dry months from May through September. The trail closes every February for maintenance and safety.

Inside the site, don't sprint between photo spots. The Temple of the Sun, the Intihuatana stone, the Room of the Three Windows and the agricultural terraces reward a slow, guided walk of two to four hours. Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain, the two peaks that frame the ruins, require separate permits and add a steep, ladder-heavy climb of roughly an hour and a half each way. Altitude is real here: at about 2,430 metres the citadel is lower than Cusco, which is why many travellers sleep in the Sacred Valley first to acclimatise.

Cusco: The Imperial City and Its Inca Foundations

Cusco is where Peru's colonial and Inca layers sit literally on top of each other. Walk the Plaza de Armas, flanked by the cathedral and the Church of the Society of Jesus, then head two blocks south to Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun, whose precisely fitted Inca stonework now forms the base of a Spanish convent. Above the city, Sacsayhuamán's zigzag ramparts are built from blocks so enormous and so tightly joined that a blade won't fit between them. Add Q'enqo, Tambomachay and Puka Pukara on the same loop for a half-day of ruins.

The neighbourhoods make Cusco worth more than a night. San Blas is a steep grid of cobbled lanes, artisan workshops and tiny galleries; San Pedro market is a sprawl of fruit stalls, soup counters and juice vendors where you can eat cheaply and well. Buy a multi-site ticket if you plan to see several ruins and museums, and give yourself at least two full days before or after Machu Picchu — altitude headaches on day one are common and the city is at 3,400 metres.

From Cusco, the Sacred Valley unfolds along the Urubamba: the hilltop fortress of Ollantaytambo, the Sunday market and ruins of Pisac, the weaving village of Chinchero, and the circular agricultural terraces of Moray. Nearby, the Maras salt pans have been worked for centuries, hundreds of shallow evaporation pools turning blinding white against the valley walls. Most travellers string these together over two or three days en route to Machu Picchu.

Arequipa and Colca Canyon: Condors, Volcanoes and a White City

Arequipa glows. Its historic centre is built from sillar, a pale volcanic stone that gives the city its nickname, and the Plaza de Armas is one of the most elegant squares in South America, watched over by the perfect cone of El Misti. The Santa Catalina Monastery is the showstopper: a walled city-within-a-city of cloisters, orange-tree courtyards and painted streets that nuns inhabited for centuries. The Museum of Andean Sanctuaries houses the ice maiden found on a nearby peak, a genuinely haunting display.

Three hours inland lies Colca Canyon, roughly twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and a lived-in landscape of terraced fields, villages and hot springs. Its signature moment is watching Andean condors ride the morning thermals out of the canyon at Cruz del Condor — early starts, ideally between 7am and 9am, offer the best chance, particularly in the dry season from May to September. Hardier travellers can hike down to the oasis village of Sangalle and climb back out the next morning, a two-day route that is far tougher than its modest elevation profile suggests.

Arequipa is also the gateway to the wider southern Andes. From here, routes climb to the high plains around Puno and the church-and-tower tombs of Sillustani, and onward to the Pacific coast at Paracas and the desert oasis of Huacachina — a natural lagoon ringed by sand dunes near Ica, where dune buggies and sandboards take over at sunset. It's one of the few places in Peru where you can swim, then roll down a 100-metre sand slope an hour later.

Lima, Paracas and the Nazca Lines: The Desert Coast

Lima surprises people who expect only a transit hub. The colonial Plaza Mayor, the catacombs beneath the San Francisco church, and the bohemian streets of Barranco are all worth an unhurried day, and the cliff-top parks of Miraflores look straight down onto surfers riding Pacific waves. Pre-Inca history is close at hand too: the adobe pyramid of Huaca Pucllana sits in the middle of a residential district, and the Larco Museum's collection of ceramics and goldwork gives essential context before you head into the Andes.

South of Lima, the Paracas National Reserve is a red-and-cream desert that drops into the sea, and boat trips out to the Ballestas Islands pass a huge hillside geoglyph before reaching colonies of sea lions, boobies and penguins. Continue south to Nazca, where enormous lines and animal figures were scraped into the desert floor — best understood from a small plane, though a viewing tower gives a ground-level glimpse of a few of the shapes. Flights are short and can be bumpy; motion-sickness precautions are wise.

The coast is dry and mild year-round, but the garúa sea fog settles over Lima between roughly May and November, turning the city grey while the Andes bask in sun. This is the paradox of Peruvian travel: choose the coast in the northern-hemisphere winter for warmth and the highlands for clear trekking skies, and you'll rarely be caught out by weather.

Lake Titicaca and the High Andean South

At around 3,800 metres, Lake Titicaca is the world's highest navigable lake and the spiritual heart of the Andean south. From Puno, boats thread out to the Uros floating islands, where families build their homes and boats from layers of totora reeds that are replenished constantly as the lower layers rot. Further out, Taquile Island is known for its textile cooperatives — the weaving here carries meaning in its patterns and is among the finest craft work in the country.

This is cold, thin-aired country. Nights near the lake can drop below freezing between June and August, so pack layers even in the dry season, and take the first day slowly. The reward is a landscape of huge skies, patchwork fields and reed boats that feels genuinely otherworldly, especially at sunrise when the water is glass-flat.

On the way between Cusco and Puno, the stop at Sillustani is easy to overlook and shouldn't be: tall cylindrical burial towers stand on a peninsula above Lake Umayo, built by the Colla people and later used by the Inca. It's a quiet, atmospheric half-hour walk, and a good reminder that Peru's story runs far deeper than the Inca empire alone.

The Amazon and the Northern Ruins

Peru holds a huge slice of the Amazon, and you don't need weeks to see it. Fly to Puerto Maldonado for Tambopata, where lodges sit along oxbow lakes reached by canoe and night walks turn up caimans, tarantulas and frogs. Or base yourself in Iquitos, a river city reachable only by air or boat, and take a slow launch down the Amazon and its tributaries to spot pink river dolphins and visit riverside villages. The wetter months from December to May flood the forest and open up canoe routes; the drier mid-year months are better for hiking trails and, generally, for fishing.

In the north, the archaeology is outstanding and blissfully uncrowded. Kuelap, a cloud-forest fortress of massive stone walls built by the Chachapoya, sits on a ridge above the Utcubamba valley near Chachapoyas, with the 771-metre Gocta waterfall a short detour away. Near Trujillo, the adobe city of Chan Chan and the painted Moche pyramids of Huacas del Sol y de la Luna make a compelling pair, while Chiclayo's royal tombs museum displays the spectacular gold regalia of a Moche lord.

For serious trekkers, the Cordillera Blanca around Huaraz is the country's other great mountain theatre — glacier lakes like Laguna 69, day hikes beneath Huascarán, and multiday routes such as the Santa Cruz trek. And for those who want an Inca ruin without the crowds, the multi-day trek to Choquequirao leads to a vast, terraced sister city that receives a fraction of Machu Picchu's visitors. Whatever your route, budget for altitude, book permits and trains early for the peak months, and leave slack in the itinerary: Peru has a habit of slowing you down in the best way.