Country guide

Peru

Andean peaks, ancient citadels and Pacific light

Peru is a country of staggering variety — Pacific coast, high Andes and Amazon rainforest, layered with the remains of civilisations a thousand years old. It rewards families who travel slowly: gentle acclimatisation, kind people, and sights that genuinely live up to the photographs.

May – September

Arequipa & Colca Canyon

White-stone city and the world’s deepest canyon

Arequipa is Peru’s loveliest city — a grid of colonial churches and cloisters carved from white volcanic stone, sitting in the shadow of three snow-capped volcanoes. A few hours beyond lies Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, terraced since Inca times and patrolled by Andean condors on the morning thermals.

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May – September

Cusco & the Sacred Valley

Inca terraces beneath Andean snow

Cusco was the capital of the Inca world, and the Sacred Valley the breadbasket that fed it — a river valley of terraced hills, adobe villages and old fortresses, running between snow-capped peaks toward Machu Picchu. It is the gentle, acclimatising heart of any Peru trip, and a wonderful place to slow down.

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December – April

Lima

A Pacific capital of clifftops and ceviche

Lima is the gateway to Peru and a destination in its own right — a Pacific capital of clifftop promenades, colonial squares and the best food in South America. The old centre is a grid of balconied churches; Miraflores sits on the cliffs above the surf; and Barranco is a bohemian quarter of street art and old bridges.

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May – September

Machu Picchu

The cloud-city above the Urubamba

Machu Picchu needs no introduction and somehow still exceeds it — a city of dry-stone terraces and temples perched on a ridge between two peaks, ringed by Andean mountains and wrapped in cloud. Rediscovered a century ago, it is the great sight of South America, and one of the few that genuinely stuns children and adults alike.

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