Peru travel guide
What we would tell a friend planning their first trip to Peru: how long to go for, what order to put the days in, and the mistakes that cost people a day they paid for.
Itineraries
The routes we actually build, day by day — pick the length your calendar allows.
What Is the Sacred Valley in Peru? (And What It's Not)
Half the itineraries that mention the Sacred Valley never say what it is. The valley floor of the Urubamba, town by town — and why Machu Picchu is not in it.
20 min read
Machu Picchu Tickets: Circuits, Quotas & Booking Windows
There is one official place to get them, ten routes that see different things, and a daily quota that sells out months ahead in dry season. The whole system, explained with dates.
20 min read
Planning a Trip to Peru: Everything You Need to Know
Peru looks simple on a map. Then you add altitude, trains, entry caps and three different climates. Here is the whole plan, in the order that works.
14 min read
The Best Time to Visit Peru: A Month-by-Month Guide
There is no single best season for Peru — Lima, the Andes and the Amazon run on three different calendars. Month by month, here is how to choose.
10 min read
Cusco Altitude: How to Prepare Without Letting It Ruin Your Trip
Everyone worries about Machu Picchu's altitude. Almost nobody realizes Cusco is a thousand meters higher. That mix-up is fixable — with the itinerary.
9 min read
Sacred Valley vs Cusco: Where Should You Stay First?
Where you sleep on night one in the Andes decides how you feel for the next three days. The answer is not the famous city.
8 min read
How Many Days Do You Really Need in Peru? 7 vs 10 vs 14 Days
The most expensive Peru planning mistake is not the hotel you choose. It is trying to fit a 14-day country into a 7-day trip.
8 min read
How Much Does a Trip to Peru Cost? A Realistic Budget Guide
Asking whether Peru is cheap is the wrong question. The right one: what level of comfort do you want, and which four levers actually move the total?
10 min read
Is Lima Worth Visiting? How Many Days Should You Stay?
Most travelers treat Lima as the airport between them and Machu Picchu. Then they eat one dinner there and wish they had planned two days.
9 min read
Is Rainbow Mountain Worth It? What Nobody Tells First-Time Visitors
The photos are real. So are the 3 a.m. alarm, the three-hour drive and the 5,000 meters of altitude. Whether it is worth it depends on which traveler you are.
8 min read
Peru With Kids and Teenagers: The Family Itinerary That Works
Peru is not adults looking at ruins while children wait. Done right, it is the trip where your kids climb the ruins — and the teenagers put the phone down.
10 min read
Romantic Peru: The Perfect Trip for Couples and Honeymoons
The Machu Picchu photo is thirty seconds of your honeymoon. The picnic among the salt terraces, the lit pyramid at dinner, the quiet valley — that is the trip.
9 min read
The Ultimate Peru Packing List: Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu
Grey drizzle in Lima, hard sun at noon in the Valley, near-freezing at dawn in Cusco — on the same trip. Packing for Peru is a layering problem. Solve it once.
9 min read
12 Mistakes First-Time Visitors Make When Planning a Trip to Peru
The most common one: landing at 3,400 meters and scheduling a 5,000-meter hike for day two. Here are the twelve we fix most often, and what to do instead.
11 min read
Is Peru Safe for Tourists? A Practical Guide for International Travelers
Neither the scare stories nor the shrug is honest. Here is what actually goes wrong for travelers in Peru, how often, and the habits that prevent most of it.
10 min read
Luxury Train to Machu Picchu: Hiram Bingham or Vistadome?
Three names come up every time: Hiram Bingham, Vistadome, the 360. They are not three versions of the same ride — and the priciest one is not always the right one.
11 min read
How Do You Get to Machu Picchu? Every Route, Explained
Half the questions about reaching Machu Picchu assume a flight or a road that does not exist. Here is how everyone actually arrives — all four ways, timed and priced.
19 min read
Tell Maia your dates and we will take it from there
Maia is our planning assistant. Tell her when you land, how long you have and what you care about — hiking, food, quiet, comfort — and she will sketch a day-by-day itinerary in minutes. A person on our team in Peru checks it before anything is confirmed.
Start planning your trip