Travel in Peru

volcanic mountains, tropical rainforests and coastal deserts

Peru is a remarkably diverse country and rightly one of the most popular locations for travellers in South America.

The country can be divided into three very different areas, arranged into more or less equal vertical stripes, like the national flag.

In the centre we have the spine of the country, the dramatic Andes Mountains, with vast expanses of cloud forest, high altitude grasslands and majestic snow-capped peaks. This is the historic home of the Inca people, who ruled their incredible empire out of the city of Cusco. One of the great highlights of visiting Peru is meeting the wonderful peoples of these mountains and exploring incredible archaeological sites like Machu Picchu. Some of the trekking options are utterly superb.

Further east the mountains fall away into the upper Amazon Basin, where some of the ecologically richest and most remote forests are to be found. Easily accessed from Cusco and Lima, this region can add a real element of safari into a trip, especially if you’re prepared to really throw yourself into the experience.

Over on the western side, the Pacific Ocean is lined by arid coastal deserts where it rarely rains from one year to the next. Here lie some remarkable pre-Inca archaeological sites including the vast adobe city of Chan Chan and the epic Nazca lines. The capital Lima is a pretty interesting and happening place, there’s some impressive marine wildlife at Paracas and decent beach resorts around Mancora in the far north.

Of course Peru has a very strong Spanish influence, with the conquistadors having first arrived here way back in the 1530s. Modern day Peru is a blend of the chic elegance, with gorgeous hotels and an innovative cuisine, contrasted with the traditional ways of life of the indigenous peoples of the mountains, all the way through to the remote and uncontacted tribes of the Amazon.

The majority of visitors to the country focus mainly on the southern Andes areas around Cusco, Valle Sagrado, Machu Picchu and Lago Titicaca. Although visitor numbers are high in that region, there are definitely ways to put together cool trips and, especially if you’re up for trekking, some seriously remote backwaters to explore. It is very easy to spend 7-14 nights in this region alone.

The section of the Andes Mountains that lies to the north, the Amazon Basin and the coastal regions are far less commonly visited and are really good options for extending trips into quite extraordinary adventures of 14-28 nights, or for second and third trips to Peru.

Because of the amount of time needed to do the country justice, Peru is rarely combined with other countries, except in unusually long trips. However if you do just want to pop in for a couple of highlights, then popular combinations include the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador, the jaguar areas of the Pantanal in Brazil and the puma areas of Chile and Argentina.

The best time to visit Peru is generally considered to be during Apr-Sep.

In the Andes Mountains, the conditions during the Apr-Sep winter are usually cool and clear, with lots of sunshine, but during the Oct-Mar summer the weather is often cloudy and wet.

The Amazon Basin is hot and humid year round, but the best time to visit is generally considered to be during the Apr-Oct dry season (which happily coincides with the best time in the Andes). During other months the rainfall can be really high and conditions can be very oppressive.

The coast of Peru has a rather different climate, with lots of sunshine and virtually no cloud or rain year round. However, the southern part of the coast does suffer from persistent sea fogs during Jun-Aug.

Most people end up prioritising the conditions in the highlands and live with whatever the coast has to throw at them.

But the shoulder seasons of May and November are particularly attractive, especially given that visitor numbers are much lower than the Jul-Sep peak season.

International flights

Peru has one main port of entry for international flights, namely the capital Lima, which is situated down the coast, roughly half way down the country.

The vast majority of visitors to the country end up spending at least one night in the capital, usually at the front end of the trip.

There are options to fly from other countries in South America (Bogota, Santiago, La Paz etc) direct into Cusco, high in the mountains in the southeast of the country. In fact with long haul routes from Europe in particular it can sometimes be more convenient and/or lower cost to fly via one of these other countries.

Internal flights

Almost all of the key regions in Peru can be accessed by frequent, reliable and cheap internal flights from Lima.

In some cases regions can be connected directly, without the need to return via Lima. Popular examples include Cusco to Puerto Maldonado (for Tambopata in the southern Amazon), Cusco to Iquitos (for the northern Amazon), Cusco to Juliaca (Lago Titicaca) and Cusco to Arequipa (for the Colca Canyon).

Train connections

Remarkably the whole of PeruRail is owned by Belmond (the luxury train operator of Orient Express fame).

Luxury trains operate on most of the popular routes in the southeast of the country, including Arequipa to Puno (Lago Titicaca), Puno to Cusco, Cusco to Valle Sagrado and Valle Sagrado to Machu Picchu.

On the Machu Picchu route they actually operate five levels of train services, the top two of which are the renowned Hiram Bingham and Vist dome services.

The high-end Andes Explorer operates on the route between Cusco, Lago Titicaca and Arequipa and is widely recognised as being one of the world’s finest luxury trail services.

Road connections

All other locations we tend to connect by private guided road transfers, with popular routes including Arequipa to Colca Canyon to Lago Titicaca to Cusco and almost all connections around the north of the country such as the circuit that goes Trujillo to Chiclayo to Chachapoyas to Cajamarca.

When exploring cities and undertaking shorter sight-seeing excursions we also use private guided road transfers.

We do not recommend the use of any public road transport such as buses, coaches or taxis. The only exception is when connecting between Lima and the remote trekking area of Huascarán, when we sometimes get our guides to see guests on and off the special bus service.

Trekking

Up in the high Andes, especially In the region around Cusco and Machu Picchu, we offer a wide range of trekking options, fully guided and supported expeditions which can last from a half day to well over a week.

Motorboat

Down in the southern part of the Amazon Basin around Tambopata we use motorboats to connect between the main town of Puerto Maldonado and the various lodges, with some connections taking the best part of a day.

In the north part of the Amazon Basin around Iquitos we use small live-aboard cruise boats to explore the main river.

Where to stay

The usual way to go about choosing where to stay during your trip is to start by selecting the locations you would like to visit, then looking at the various options in each area.

reliable flights, local buses and luxury trains