Best of Peru (3 week itinerary)

How to see Machu Picchu (and how not to mess it up)

I'm going to cut right to the chase here - if you don't PLAN your visit to Machu Picchu, you might not get to see Machu Picchu when you're in Peru.

Machu Picchu is one of the new 7 Wonders, one of the most famous tourist destinations on Planet Earth and access to it is restricted. If you're going to Peru, you're likely planning to go to Machu Picchu, either as a daytrip from Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo), or one of the treks like Inca Trail or Salkantay treks. However, there are a few very critical things you need to take into consideration when planning your trip there.

Be aware of the weather

The wet season runs from November to April, with December, January, February and March seeing the heaviest and most frequent downpours. You could be lucky and get a great day when you go to Machu Picchu, but your chances are significantly slimmer during this time than during the dry season. During the wettest season, there are frequent travel disruptions as well, with debris flows, floods and road closures making travel more challenging. On top of that, if you are planning to do the Inca Trail trek, then be aware of the fact that the trail closes in February. Machu Picchu is in the mountains, high up above the valley where Aguas Calientes sits and if it is raining, then Machu Picchu will be completely covered in clouds. Forget the postcard picture of Machu Picchu.

The best time to go is May to October, or the shoulder season in April or November. Note that there can still be some clouds in the morning - if there are still clouds looming over Machu Picchu when you get there, just hang around the view points until it clears, because you won't be allowed to go back on yourself later. The circuits are one-directional only.

Buy your tickets as early as possible

Doing the Inca Trail

If you're planning to do the Inca Trail, book your spot no later than 3 months in advance if you're going in the high season (May to July), preferably earlier. Make sure you go with a reputable tour operator. I did the Inca Trail back in 2007 with a company called Peru Treks and they were great. They still exist and still get consistently good reviews. There are also many other tour operators out there, so do your research.

There are also other ways to do a tour to Machu Picchu via several different routes, one of the most popular alternative routes being the Salkantay Trek which takes you to the beautiful Humantay Lake and Salkantay Pass, ending the tour at Machu Picchu. You also stay in some really unique accommodations like their signature Glass Domes and Hobbit House, Alternatively, there's also another route for the adrenaline junkies which is highly rated and looks like great fun if you have the time, which is the 4 days/3 nights Inca Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu where you get there by means of combination of hiking, biking, zip-lining and rafting.

Whatever tour you decide on, just be sure to book it in plenty of time, as they do sell out, especially in the high season.

Note that you don't need to hike / bike or use physical force to get to Machu Picchu - you can also just go there by means of an expensive train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (also called "Machu Picchu Pueblo") and then take a bus from Aguas Calientes to the top of the mountain where Machu Picchu sits so majestically.

Buying entry tickets to Machu Picchu before travelling to Peru

If you're planning to do the train + bus + entrace ticket to Machu Picchu, I'd suggest you buy the tickets as soon as they come on sale. The official (and only legal) site to buy the entrance tickets is via the government site: https://tuboleto.cultura.pe/llaqta_machupicchu . You MUST book tickets way in advance - the morning entries can sell out as much as 6 months in advance! If you find that the above website is glitchy, it sometimes helps to use a VPN service like Proton VPN, Tunnel Bear, etc and set your location to Peru..

If the tickets are sold out

If you're one of the many unlucky ones that doesn't manage to secure a ticket, there is a riskier alternative available where you stand in a line at Peruvian Ministry of Culture in Aguas Calientes to buy tickets for the next day. Approximately 1,000 tickets are released daily for the following day on a first-come, first-served basis, requiring your passport. This can be feasible in the low season and shoulder season, but as soon as it's the high season, this approach becomes riskier and you may have to budget for an extra day or two in Aguas Calientes in order to be 100% certain you can bag a ticket. Especially as it seems they have now started selling high-season tickets 2 days in advance.

The downside of this way of getting a ticket for Machu Picchu is that just the return train journey from Ollantaytambo (next village) to Aguas Calientes costs £105 ish (depends on times your travel) per person, which is an insane amount of money for such a short train journey. There is no road into Aguas Calientes, only train or walking from a place called Hidroelectrica (which is quite convoluted to get to). It would be very disappointing to spend that on the train, and not be able to get to Machu Picchu. Note also that by the time you get to the front of the line, even if there are tickets left, the most popular routes, like Circuit 2 (The Classic Route), might be sold out. Yet another nuisance of this method of gettingtickets for Machu Picchu is the fact that there are limitations to the amount of luggage you can take on the train, so you may have to abandon some of your bags in luggage storage in Ollantaytambo.

Apparently, as of April 2025, the process often involves getting a "pre-ticket" queue number in the morning (sometimes as early as 5:00 AM or 6:00 AM) to return later that afternoon/evening to actually purchase the ticket for the next day. Lines can start forming hours before the office opens; some tourists line up as early as 4:00 AM to secure a spot for the ticket queue and if you miss out on your first chance, this may be what you'll need to do on your second attempt. You can check the official website tuboleto.cultura.pe to see how many tickets are available for the next day. You can pay for your ticket in cash or credit card and your ticket will be valid for a specific entry time the following morning.

As mentioned before - to avoid disappointment, you're much better doing what we did and buy the ticket online months before you actually travel to Peru.

Choose the correct ticket

The tickets are sold as circuits (Circuito 1, 2 or 3). You are not allowed to roam freely, you must stick to the circuit route that you purchased and if you want to do a different route, you have to purchase another ticket (with the same caveats as mentioned above re: availability of tickets). We purchased tickets for Circuit 2B, which was excellent. The different circuits (as they stand in May 2026) are shown below.

Circuit 1 will allow you to get an overview of the site but nothing else - you don't get to wander through the ruins. With Circuit 3 you get to walk through lots of the ruins, but you don't get the postcard view of the site. Therefore, if you're wanting that postcard-perfect photo of Machu Picchu while also getting up-close and personal with the ruins, the ticket most people would go for is Circuit 2A or Circuit 2B. Circuit 2 is described in detail here. In January 2026 when we purchased our online tickets for April 2026, a circuit ticket cost £33 GBP per person, or 152 soles.

Getting to Machu Picchu

Note that your entry ticket to Machu Picchu will be timed (specific time at a specific date), so you'll have to plan your transport accordingly so that you don't miss your spot. Getting to Machu Picchu requires 2 changes in transport, as described below.

Step 1: Cusco to Ollantaytambo by bus or private transfer

To access Machu Picchu, you need to get to Aguas Calientes (unless you're doing the Inca Trail). Typically, you will have arrived to the high Andes via either a bus to Cusco bus terminal or by air to Cusco airport. Note that currently, a new airport is being constructed in Chinchero in the Sacred Valley, about an hour northwest of Cusco, but local sources told me they don't expect the airport to be ready until the year 2030 if they're lucky. When the new Chinchero airport is ready, all air traffic will go there instead of to Cusco.

There used to be a train going from Cusco all the way to Aguas Calientes, but the rail companies seem to have stopped that (at least for now) and are doing a bus + train combo purchased through the train companies, oryou can find your way to Ollantaytambo with a private transfer or a colectivo microbus - my recommendation would be the private transfer (Taxidatum is great). The journey from Cusco to Ollantaytambo is about 2 hours. Ollantaytambo is a very cute village surrounded by steep mountains, and worthwhile stopping there for a night or two.

Step 2: Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes by train

Once in Ollantaytambo, the only way forward is taking a train to Aguas Calientes. The train companies that hold the monopoly on the railway line into Aguas Calientes from Ollantaytambo are:

• Peru Rail (trains look old and windows steam up easily, from what we could see)

• Inca Rail (the company we used, appears to be much more modern)

Mentally prepare yourself for these tickets for this 1hr 30min train journey from Ollantaytambo to be very expensive! Note that there's luggage limitations on the train to go to Aguas Calientes, so you may have to leave some behind in Ollantaytambo.

Step 3: Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu by bus

Yet another monopolised leg of the journey is the bus trip up to Machu Picchu, which costs $24 USD round trip at the Consettur office. To get to the office (when we were there), exit the train station, cross a footbridge to the other side of the street and as you come down (walking through a building on the other side), turn left. You'll likely have to wade through a crowd of people queueing for the buses. The queue looks intimidating and you'd think you'll have to wait for ages, but the bus company actually runs this like a very well oiled machine. Once we had our tickets, we only maybe waited 5-10 minutes. You walk a block or two uphill to the Consettur office, get your bus tickets (pay card or cash) and then get back to the queue you just passed. The journey up to Machu Picchu takes about 30 minutes.

Step 4: Get into line for your timed entry slot

Remember your ticket and be sure to have your passport ready for checking as you go through the gates.

Once inside Machu Picchu, note that the route is restricted one way and you cannot go back on yourself. Therefore, if the scenic viewpoints are clouded up when you're there, you'll have to hang around there waiting for the clouds to lift, or else you'll miss it.

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Visas

Most people don't need visas to go to Peru, unless you're from some African, Middle Eastern or Asian countries. However, do check on reliable, up-to-date sources for your specific country (e.g. embassy) before travelling. We travelled on an Icelandic and Irish passport, both of which get 3 months in Peru without a visa.

Sadly for us passport stamp collectors, your passport does not get stamped anymore at Lima International Airport, it is all electronic with biometrics at the border now.

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Travel health

Vaccinations

I've been to Peru plenty of times and know lots of people who have been as well. Making sure you're up to date with routine vaccinations for your country is always recommended, but it's also a good idea to get Hepatitis A vaccination due to risk from contaminated food or water. The likelihood of catching Hep A is slim, but it's just an unneccesary risk to take, so just get jabbed.

I typically wouldn't get Rabies vaccination because I don't really go close to dogs or other animals where this could be a risk, but if you are one of those people who see a street dog and you feel like you MUST give it a cuddle, I'd say certainly make sure you get rabies vaccination before travelling. However, I will state that the street dogs in Peru are generally very, very nice and not aggressive towards people at all, because they are treated well by the locals (unlike Bolivia, where street dogs are treated very poorly and are thus aggressive towards people). Likewise if you suspect you'll be spending a fair amount of time in very rural areas where medical attention might not be readily available.

However, I shall state here that I am not a medical professional, so don't take my advice, speak to a medical professional about your trip to Peru.

Medical Kit

Joe doesn't have any travel vaccinations but I have ones I have had on previous adventures. Neither of us got ill during the 3 weeks of travel in Peru. Therefore, we never needed to use any of our medical kit while we were in Peru. However, for peace of mind I'd say the following items are good to keep in a kitty:

• Painkillers (for altitude sickness and other ailments)

• Imodium (for diarrhea, especially ahead of long bus journeys)

• Ciprofloxacin (for food poisoning - if you're in the UK you can't get this off a doctor ahead of your trip, but you, as a tourist, can buy them over the counter in Peru)

• Electrolyte tablets (to increase hydration to avoid altitude sickness or if you get a stomach upset)

• Hand sanitiser

We were amazed to find that you can just buy most things over the counter in pharmacies in Peru, at least as a tourist. I ran out of my contraceptive pill and didn't need a prescription to buy it in Peru (1 month supply cost £8 GBP). They also sell you antibiotics like amoxicilin, ciprofloxacin, etc over the counter, which is worthwhile buying in case of emergencies. Particularly if you're in the UK and the doctor would rather see you die than presecribe antibiotics (or this has been my feeling).

How to stay healthy

Sometimes you just get unlucky and fall ill with a stomach bug when travelling. But there are certain things you can do to try to minimise the chances of a stomach bug ruining days of your holiday.

• Avoid the tapwater at all cost. You'd think when you're in the middle of the mountains, that surely the water is nice and clean but it isn't. The tapwater in Peru is not safe to drink. In fact, just try to keep it away from your insides, even when brushing your teeth. We avoided the tapwater at all cost and never fell ill.

• Be cautious with raw salads outside reputable places. It may have been cleaned with tapwater.

• Avoid seafood in areas far from the sea. If you'd love some octopus or other seafood like ceviche, it's unlikely to be at its freshest far inland. Seafood can make you violently ill if it's not fresh, so my suggestion is to save your seafood cravings for when you're actually by the sea, and even then, choose your restaurant wisely. Go somewhere that's popular that sells a lot of seafood, to ensure maximum freshness.

• Prevent mosquito bites if you're in the jungle. Malaria exists in some lowland jungle parts of Peru but it is fairly rare to catch malaria, particularly when compared to places in Africa. You'll have to research for yourself if you think it's worthwhile the side effects and the expense to take antimalarial drugs if you're headed deep into the jungle. In the Andes and by the desert coast, mosquito bites are very rare. I got a single bite in 3 weeks, which happened in Machu Picchu.

• Use a sanitiser. Bugs like norovirus can be caught touching contaminated surfaces.

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Language

The primary language in Peru is Spanish, but the primary indigenous languages are Quechua or Aymara, though most of the indigenous people speak Spanish too. There is some English spoken in the tourist areas, but there are not too many people who you could say are fluent in English, and English is by no means widely spoken. Your life will be so much easier and you'll gain so much more from your journey though Peru and South America if you make sure you pick up a bit of Spanish before you go. Honestly, a little goes a long way, but the more you study the better. People don't really generally speak English in South America (though some do), but they are incredibly patient with people who speak a little bit of Spanish who try to get by.

You can do Duolingo or go to a physical Spanish class, but genuinely my honest recommendation is that you should sign up for the Pimsleur language programme. It honestly is just so good, and it will get you talking in 1 month - as long as you religiously make sure that you listen to at least 1 lesson (30min) EVERY SINGLE DAY, because that's the only way the language programme truly works (and it is based on proper science). I used it to learn a bit of Egyptian Arabic before our trip to Egypt in 2025 and I was so impressed by how much I could actually understand when I got there, even though I started quite late, just 3 weeks before we were due to travel.

The Pimsleur language programme is an audio-only language programme which you play from your phone on an app, each lesson is 30 min and you can listen while you commute to work, do housework or walk the dog. Just make sure you fit in at least one 30min lesson every single day and you'll definitely see results and you'll be so glad that you put the time in once you're in Peru. It's not even expensive at £18.45 GBP per month (or £144.95 annually), especially if you compare it to a physical class, and especially if you compare it to £9.99 GBP Duolingo max, which is absolutely RUBBISH in comparison (you will only just about learn how to say "apple" in Spanish using Duolingo). Meanwhile, Pimsleur will actually get you SPEAKING and UNDERSTANDING when spoken to. With Pimsleur, you even get a 7 day trial period, in case you don't believe me! Just make sure, again, that you study each of these 7 days. Also, for that £18.45 you get access to ALL the languages on Pimsleur, so if you're a language buff, it's an absolute bargain.

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Weather

In South America, it's typically summer when it's winter in the northern hemisphere. HOWEVER, during this time, i.e. from about November through to late March, this is the RAINY SEASON in the high Andes. This is a CRITICAL thing to consider when you're planning your trip to Peru, because the Inca Trail might not be running at all during some of the rainy season, but also it will just be generally quite miserable weather and visibility may often be poor.

On top of that, as I experienced when I went to Peru with some friends back in 2010, is that the heavy rainfall will often cause serious landslides, as we found out (see the news article here). Luckily (?) we hadn't actually made it to Machu Picchu but we had planned to go there, but those plans were thwarted. Be prepared for yours to be too, if you decide to go in the rainy season, and just generally increased risk of disruption to your plans.

If you are planning to see Machu Picchu, the better time to go is the tail-end of April until October-ish.

One thing to consider in terms of the weather is what to pack, because the weather and temperatures vary VASTLY based on where you are. In very high altitude places like Puno and the Rainbow Mountain, where you're very high up, it can get quite cold, while along the coast it can be absolutely roasting, so pack accordingly. Cold, hot, rain, shine.

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Money

Peru is a cash economy, but weirdly, nobody ever seems to have change for a 100 or 50 soles. Especially taxis. Unless you're willing to give the taxi a 50 for a 12 soles ride, be sure to have the change, or be prepared for the stress at dropoff to ask around for change but not getting any. Annoyingly, any time you take out money from the ATM, it will only spit out big 100 soles bills, so you'll have to work hard trying to break those somehow, or else your life will be quite frustrating. You will need cash to pay for taxis, pay tips or buy souvenirs in markets (though some will accept cards). For the 3 weeks we stayed in Peru, we ended up taking out 2400 soles, but would have preferred having 3000 at least.

Bigger establishments take cards, typically all major credit cards like MasterCard, Visa and American Express. However, 90% of places will ask you for a 5% "processing fee". Only a handful of places have card fees built into their pricing and thus won't charge you extra. That being said, ATMs also ask for commission. The lowest we saw was 18 soles, the highest 35 soles, most commonly 25 soles. The maximum amount you can take out in one go from an ATM appears to be between 400 soles to 700 soles (c.a. £85-£150 GBP), depending on the bank, so that makes the minimum fee typically around 5%, way more if you take out less than the maximum - note that you can be charged 25 soles commission on a 20 soles ATM withdrawal, as we painfully experienced when our airport taxi in Cusco didn't have any change for a 100 soles bill and had to use the airport ATM to get the exact change out (if we had chosen a bigger amount, we would have just gotten more 100 soles bills!).

I HIGHLY recommend you either get money changed from your local currency into Soles at home - in the UK this would be places like ASDA Money for example. However, because Peruvian Soles are not commonly changed in the UK, you have to give it a fair few days from when you order the money until you leave. We left it too short (tried ordering 4 days before departure).

The alternative would be to send yourself a money transfer to Peru with something like Remitly. We tried this once with my money to see if it worked, and it did. Just 15 min after I sent the money through the app, I collected it at the BCP (Banco Crédito del Perú) at no extra cost. Just had to tell them I was collecting a transfer (in Spanish: "recogiendo un giro"), give them the app reference and show them my passport. The benefit of doing this is that you can send much more than the ATM 700 soles limit. It is one of the most cost-effective ways to get money out as well. On ASDA Money, 3000 soles would have cost us £685.97 with the ASDA Rewards rate, which is amongst the best rates you can get while in the UK. Meanwhile, if we used Remitly to send money to ourselves, it would cost £650.56 including the £1.99 Remitly fee. You also get £10 off on your first money transfer of £100 or more if you sign up for Remitly using my referral link: https://remit.ly/2u9y5qv9

On forums, people will recommend you bring US dollars, that these are typically accepted. We made the mistake to believe that "Advice" and found that it is not true. While you may SOMETIMES be able to pay in dollars, like Taxidatum preordered taxis where prices are given in dollars, we typically found it very difficult to pay with dollars. These are however readily exchangeable at "Casa de Cambio" (foreign currency exchange booths), as long as the bills are pristine, as are Euros (don't try to bring Scottish pound notes!). So unless dollars are your native currency, it is not worth it to change your currency into USD, as you might get nothing for them if they are just slightly worn.

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Staying Connected

eSIMs in Peru for mobile internet

We were connected to the internet the whole time we were in Peru, but we used eSIMs that are easily and automatically installed on your phone through whichever eSIM app that you choose to use, which you can do before you travel and then you're connected as soon as you land in Peru. We do this on all of our trips and have usually used an app called Airalo that has worked very well for us in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Colombia, less well in Egypt. However, on this particular occasion, we chose to use an app called Saily, which we had a statement credit for on American Express so it worked out cheaper than Airalo, plus a chance to earn some valuable Avios through the Avios app. Saily worked perfectly, too, during the 19 days we were travelling in Peru.

As I am already a member of both Airalo and Saily, I can provide voucher codes so that you can get discounts on these eSIMs:

• On Airalo, use voucher code THRUDU0108 for $3 USD off your first eSIM

• On Saily, use voucher code THRUDU3751 for $5 USD on any plan or $10 USD on any Ultra plan.

WhatsApp

Here's the thing - absolutely EVERYBODY and EVERY BUSINESS uses WhatsApp in Peru, so it is highly recommended (if not essential) that you install WhatsApp on your phone. Guides picking you up for tours will message you through WhatsApp. Any issues with your tour or any confirmation on where to pick you up will be conducted via WhatsApp. Restaurant bookings can be made through WhatsApp. Airlines will message you about details on your flight via WhatsApp. You can contact your hotels' reception via WhatsApp to tell them when you're coming, asking for late check-out / early check-in or anything else you might need from them. The private transfer company Taxidatum will contact you via WhatsApp to keep you informed about your driver and your driver will contact you via WhatsApp to let you know he/she is there to pick you up.

So our advice - make sure you have WhatsApp and that the number you use for any bookings of any sort is the one that's linked to your WhatsApp account. Paired with an eSIM and you're golden.

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Electricity

In Peru, the electricity voltage is 220v. The plug sockets vary across different buildings in Peru, but there are two types in general use; either the American style (Type A) or European style (Type C). There doesn't appear to be any hard and fast rule about what type of plug you'll get where. Some hotels have both, some only one of them. We had three adaptors with us, two European and one American style and that was usually sufficient to keep our devices charged, but once we got a hotel room that only had American style sockets and we struggled to keep everything fully charged (2 phones, 1 ipad, 1 camcorder, 1 minidrone and 1 powerbank).

What I would say is that having a powerbank with us was a lifesaver, as it could act as an emergency supply of electricity. We highly recommend taking one with you, even if just a small one. We have a great wee one from Anker that wasn't expensive.

The type of electric plugs used in Peru are shown in red boxes

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Getting around Peru

Flights

I can't stop talking about the website FlightConnections.com - it is the ultimate flight planner for me, as I love data presented visually. You just click on a city and they show you on the map where you can fly to from that city. Unfortunately in Peru you are really quite limited in how many places you can fly between - normally you just have to put up with travelling in a bus. You can pretty much almost only fly between somewhere in Peru and Lima, with some rare exceptions, like the flight between Cusco and Arequipa. Below is a snapshot, but you click a city to depart from, then a city you're wanting to go to and they'll tell you what airlines do the route and on what days. Super handy! See example below.

If you already know what route you're flying, I highly recommend using Google Flights for searching for flights, especially if you're still quite a while away from travelling, because you can set alerts on your desired travel days and Google will alert you if a silly cheap price comes up.

In our case, the only flights we took were first from Lima to Cusco, and then from Cusco to Arequipa, both occasions with LATAM. The rest we did in either Cruz del Sur buses, Taxidatum private transfers or, on one occasion between Cusco and Pisac, by a shared colectivo minibus.

You'll save yourself a LOT of time and get some good views if flying

Buses

You'll need these links to book your transport, unless you go to the bus stations. There are three very well established and reliable bus companies that were around when I was last in Peru over 10 years ago and remain strong, popular and comfortable.

• Cruz del Sur: My preferred option. They travel to just about every place you'd want to go. We used them on our 3 bus journeys. It's easy to but the tickets online and you just show the barcode to board the bus.

• Oltursa: Also good, go to all the bigger places, but more focussed on the northern cities.

• Civa: Also good buses but their website is pretty frustrating.

Try to get tickets with some of the better bus companies, and preferably the better seats on these buses, as there's a big difference on long journeys.

On the better buses, there's usually a choice between "Semi Cama" / 140 degree reclining seats, or "Cama" / 160 degree reclining seats. The latter have much more legroom as well as reclining further, so it's a no brainer to choose those type of seats if you have the option. All these buses also have a toilet on board that is fully functional for number ones only.

Tourist bus

If you feel a bit insecure about taking the same buses the locals do, there is also another very good and very highly rated option, which is PeruHop. It is a company that basically takes you along the "Gringo Trail" of Peru with other "Gringos" and it has a bit more of a tour feel, though you can stay as long as you'd like in any of the stops along the way. It is more expensive than the public transport, but also more sociable as you're guaranteed to meet fellow travellers which will be going on the same tours as you and sometimes staying at the same hotels / hostels as you. It's kind of like an "Interrail of Peru in a bus" sort of thing, where you buy a pass for certain amount of days and choose if you want to include Peru, Bolivia or both. In May 2026, the typical "Gringo Trail" route starting in Lima and stopping in Paracas, Huacachina, Nazca, Arequipa, Puno and Cusco cost $219 USD per person.

PeruHop practically does exactly the same stops as we did, except it's pricier (but also in many ways more convenient, according to travel forums)

Private Transfers

Something that's new since I was in Peru 16 years ago is a company called Taxidatum, which operates in Lima, Cusco and the Sacred Valley. They offer a very affordable, comfortable and reliable way to travel some of the most common routes if you're more than just 1 person. They are very frequently recommended on travel forums. We used them on three occasions and can also recommend them. The routes where we used them were:

• Door-to-door taxi tour: Cusco Airport to our Urubamba hotel via the Sacred Valley tourist destinations of Chinchero, Moray and Maras: $65 USD or 220 soles for the car (total for both of us - half a day)

• Door-to-door taxi transfer: Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley to our Cusco hotel: $35 USD or 120 soles for the car (total for both of us - 2 hours drive).

• Door-to-door taxi transfer: From our Lima hotel to Lima Airport: $22 USD or 75 soles for the car (total for both of us - 45-60 minute drive).

To book the transfer, which you can do just the day before, you go on their website (https://taxidatum.com/) and find the route you need. They have all the prices publicly listed so there's no funny business about what you'll be paying. You don't share the vehicle with anyone else. You pay cash in either soles or dollars only, or you can ask them through WhatsApp to create a payment link to pay by card online.

Travel within cities

We never tried to navigate the public transport system, and unless you're completely broke, I wouldn't even recommend trying. Uber is present in all major cities, so is InDrive. We used Uber for all our travels within the cities, as well as between Ica and Huacachina, they are ridiculously dirt cheap. So cheap they we usually gave the driver a good tip (in comparison to the silly cheap fare). Fares were usually between 10 to 15 soles (£2.50 - £3.20 GBP), even rides that last 40 minutes.

I read on a travel forum that other travellers had experienced poor pickup rates or even cancellations of their rides when selecting card payment as payment method. Other travellers suggested that to avoid this, it's best to select "cash" as payment method in the app. We never tried using the card method, just went on people's recommendation and used the cash payment method, and never had any issues. You can try using the card payment, which would make your life a lot simpler, but if you find that you're having difficulty requesting rides, you may want to try the cash payment method. Just bear in mind, if paying with cash, that the drivers almost NEVER have any change to give, so you'll need exact change (or a generous tip).

Avoid using taxis at the bus terminals. They rip you off, at least compared to what Uber costs. When we arrived in Ica on a Cruz del Sur bus, we were swarmed by taxi drivers wanting to drive us to Huacachina 15 minutes away for 50 soles when Uber quoted 10 soles, whopping 5x more. As soon as we said "No", they dropped it to 15 soles but out of principle (and safety), we still went with Uber.

Traffic

The traffic in Peru is insane. If you're thinking about driving there, I'd say... reconsider. Driving in the cities is intense, fast-paced and unpredictable, especially for newcomers, but even some people in Lima prefer using Uber than risking their own car in the crazy traffic. Traffic is heavy most of the day, with congestion peaking during rush hours and lane discipline is more of a suggestion than a rule. There is no clear "right of way" at crossings. Drivers frequently change lanes without signaling, motorcycles weave between cars, and honking is used constantly, not just out of frustration, but as a way of communicating presence. Road signage and markings can be inconsistent and GPS directions don’t always account for local driving habits or informal detours Defensive driving is essential, as pedestrians may cross unexpectedly and buses or taxis often stop abruptly to pick up passengers. Infrastructure varies widely: some districts have modern, well-maintained roads, while others deal with potholes or limited traffic control. Mountain roads are frequently affected by debris flows in the rainy season, or other extreme weather related closures.

As a pedestrian - zebra crossings exist, but they don’t function the way you might expect if you’re used to stricter pedestrian-right-of-way cultures. In theory, drivers are supposed to stop for pedestrians at marked crossings, but in practice this is inexistent, so pedestrians often wait for a clear gap rather than relying on cars to yield. For visitors, the safest approach is to stay alert, avoid assuming vehicles will stop, and follow the lead of locals when navigating crossings.

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Dealing with high elevation

One thing to consider when planning your Peru itinerary is the elevation of the place where you're headed. Cusco and Puno are very high up in the Andes and you have a higher chance of suffering altitude sickness if you go there straight from sea level. I have once suffered altitude sickness before, and I'll tell you now, it was not fun. Avoid it if you can.

Altitude sickness is known as “Soroche” in Peru and Bolivia, which is the Quechua term. It usually kicks in at about 2500 meters (8000 feet). Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, headaches, fatigue, drowsiness, trouble sleeping, lethargy, swelling, high blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and a loss of appetite. More severe forms, like high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) which includes severe headaches, confusion, impaired coordination (ataxia), altered mental state and in severe cases and coma, and high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) which includes shortness of breath, fatigue, a dry cough that can progress to pink frothy sputum and chest pain, can also develop. When I suffered altitude sickness, I had a horrid headache and I felt like my brain was trying to explode through my skull. This was without doing any form of exercise, I was just hanging about in the cabin by the lake. I suffered impaired coordination and fainting, which forced me to have to lie down and drink coca tea until I felt a bit better and the coca leaves helped.

For your information, you can see the change in elevation across typical cities on the "Gringo Trail" in Peru in the graph below.

Typical "Gringo Trail" route and corresponding ground elevation

Getting altitude sickness was a horrible feeling that I didn't plan to repeat. Therefore, I had to make sure I'd listen to my body on arrival in the high Andes. We could have taken the coastal route and gradually increased our elevation towards Arequipa and then Cusco, however I worried that we might find ourselves without time at the end to see Machu Picchu, in case anything happened - roadblocks, civil riots, landslides or altogether failure of the roads at some point during our journey. Therefore I decided, just to be in the safe side, that we'd start our journey in the Cusco area, so if everything went the worst possible way, at least we'd have almost 3 weeks of opportunities to go and see Machu Picchu, and there are worse places than Cusco and the Sacred Valley to be stuck at.

As soon as we got to Cusco, we planned to go to the Sacred Valley, which is a bit lower than Cusco, just to allow me to acclimatise. We also didn't know how Joe would react, as he had never in his life been at such high altitude but unlike me, he doesn't suffer from high cholesterol or elevated blood pressure. If you have heart or respiratory problems, it’s best if you speak with your doctor before heading up into the Andes, as altitude sickness can be fatal to people with pre-existing conditions. I have a blood oxygen monitor in my Fitbit Charge watch, so I could actually keep track of my blood oxygen level and how they changed at going up to a higher elevation, as does Joe. Joe actually ended up coping really well with the altitude, but in my case the blood oxygen levels literally dropped off a cliff on arrival in Urubamba (from 95% to 82%), got ever so slightly better in Ollantaytambo which is slightly lower altitude (from 82% to 84%) but then dropped to 79% when we got to Cusco and didn't really improve much in the 4 days we were there.

A snapshot from my Fitbit Charge 6 below:

This is where you really need to listen to your body to avoid a full-blown episode of altitude sickness. I was drinking coca tea every day and didn't have any symptoms aside from feeling a bit out of breath when walking up hills, my appetite generally vanished and I felt really sleepy. But it was clear that, despite the fact that I was SO wanting to see the Rainbow Mountain, it was not a good idea to move from 3300 masl to 5000 masl when my blood oxygen was so low and I already had some symptoms of mild altitude sickness. Sometimes you just have to admit defeat, sadly.

To protect yourself from altitude sickness, you can follow the general guidelines:

• Go slowly the first 24–48 hours. When you first arrive at high altitude, avoid intense exercise, walk slowly, rest if you feel tired and don’t plan a hard hike immediately after landing.

• Hydrate aggressively. Dry mountain air dehydrates people quickly. Drink lots of water. Electrolytes can help. Limit excessive caffeine and alcohol at first.

• Eat lightly at first. Heavy meals can make nausea and fatigue worse. Many travelers do better with soups, carbs, fruit, lighter meals the first day or two.

• Sleep lower if possible. Fly into Cusco, then immediately continue to the Sacred Valley (lower altitude), acclimatise there, then return to Cusco later. Many travelers report this helps significantly and this was the case for Joe but not me, as my blood oxygen remained low while Joe's bounced back.

• Know the symptoms. Common mild symptoms include headache, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and poor sleep. Usually mild altitude sickness improves with rest and hydration.

• Use medication if appropriate. Many travelers use Acetazolamide (Diamox), which can help acclimatisation. You should discuss it with your doctor before travel because it’s prescription medication in many countries and it’s not suitable for everyone. Coca tea Coca tea is commonly offered in hotels around Cusco. Many travelers feel it helps mild symptoms. Oxygen boosts are available to buy in pharmacies in Cusco. Hotels and clinics in high-altitude tourist areas often provide supplemental oxygen if needed.

Avoid these mistakes

• Drinking heavily your first night.

• Hiking immediately after arrival.

• Ignoring worsening symptoms.

• Assuming fitness prevents altitude sickness — it doesn’t.

• Seek medical attention quickly if symptoms become severe, such as trouble walking, confusion, severe breathlessness at rest, chest tightness or worsening symptoms despite rest.

• Don't go higher if you're already struggling.

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Peruvian Food

Get familiar with the Peruvian food

Peru is world famous for its cuisine. It's the birthplace of the humble potato, with hundreds of different varieties, which are featured in many Peruvian dishes, but other very important ingredients in Peruvian cuisine include corn, yellow chilli pepper (aji amarillo), Peruvian red pepper (aji panka), red onions, tomatoes, avocados, rice, chicken, alpaca meat, lamb, cuy, freshwater trout and seafood, among many more.

Peru has some regional delicacies that should not be missed. The food varies greatly depending upon the region. The coastal area specialises in seafood dishes, particularly notable is Cerviche as well as other dishes with fish, prawns, scallops and a variety of tasty shellfish. The Andean regions feature some regional specialities such as Cuy (Guinea pig), Lechon (Roasted pork) or alpaca. Some other specialities are Lomo Saltado, rocoto relleno, palta a la reina and more. There is also a strong Chinese influence in the food, you will see many chifas or Chinese restaurants. The areas around Puno feature a lot of fish from the lake, the most popular types of fish are Trucha (Trout) or Pejerry (King fish) Corvina (Sol). These can be grilled, steamed or fried with a variety of sauces.

Some of the useful foods to recognise on the restaurant menus found across Peru include the following:

• Pollo a la brasa – Rotisserie cooked chicken

• Pollo a la Plancha – Grilled chicken fillet

• Pechuga de Pollo - Chicken breast, generally grilled

• Milanesa - Breaded meat or chicken fillet, Similar to a type of Schnitzel

• Chorizo - Spicy sausage,

• Empanada – A type of pasty with meat or chicken, vegetables, sometimes with black olives and boiled egg.

• Lomo Saltado – A type of stir fried beef, vegetables & chips, generally served with rice.

• Rocoto Relleno – A stuffed bell pepper, generally contain mince meat and vegetables , a little spicy.

• Chicharon de Pollo – Strips of battered and deep fried chicken, also can be pork (cerdo - usually a pork belly)

• Palta a la Reina – An entrée, a avocado filled with a type of potato salad.

• Trucha – Trout, either, fried grilled or steamed.

• Cuy – Guinea pig, generally served whole, you may wish to get head removed.

• Chaufa de Pollo – Fried rice with chicken.

• Papa a la Huachaina – Boiled potatoes with slightly hot Aji Sauce.

• Cerviche – A plate of raw seafood, generally fish which is marinated or cooked in lime juice and served with boiled potatoes, maize and onions and capsicum.

• Choclo con Queso – Boiled maize with Andean cheese. A little bland for most foreign visitors

• Carapulcra - One of the oldest known dishes in Peru, a rich pork stew made with papa seca (sun-dried potato cubes)

• Causa Limeña - A chilled, citrusy mashed papa amarilla potato layered with tuna or chicken.

• Olluquito con Charqui - Charqui alpaca meat with olluquito (Andean tuber) and potatoes.

• Salchipapa - The ultimate Peruvian late-night comfort food. French fries topped with sliced pan-fried sausages and a "rainbow" of sauces (mayo, ketchup, mustard and spicy aji)

• Picarones - the "Potato" dessert. Type of doughnut where the dough is made from a blend of sweet potato and squash, deep fried into rings and drenched in spiced chancaca (raw cane sugar) syrup.

• Papa con huevo - a popular streetfood stable in the mornings at bus stops. It's a simple, boiled native potato served with a hard-boiled egg and a small bag of spicy sauce.

• Papa rellena - Kind of like a portable shepherd's pie that features mashed potato dough, stuffed with a savory mix of ground beef, onions, olives, raisins and hard-boiled egg, then deep-fried until golden.

• Pastel de Papa - the dish is typical in Arequipa and features a savory layered "potato cake" similar to a gratin, layered with thick slices of native potatoes, fresh Andean cheese and milk.

• Ocopa Arequipeña - it's similar to Papa a la Huancaina, but the sauce is made with huacatay (Andean black mint), giving it a distinct green colour and a herbal, earthy kick,

If you do have some time in Lima at the start of your trip, I would highly recommend doing a food tour. Peru is FAMOUS for its cuisine and Lima is the best (and cheapest) place to go on a food tour to get an introduction to the Peruvian cuisine. I would recommend this for any first-timer to Peru, but I didn't need to take us on one, as I have been to Peru twice already and could make sure Joe could try all the tasty stuff the country has to offer.

If you do go on a food tour, it means you'll be a lot more familiar with all the restaurant menu items as you travel through the country, and generally more familiar with the ingredients that are available in Peru. That also means that if you discover something that you find absolutely incredible, you'll have lots of opportunities to have some more of that tasty dish you loved before you have to go home. Proper Peruvian cuisine is not very commonly found outside of Peru, Chile and Spain, so take the opportunity and enjoy it as much as you can while you can!

Viator offers a few food tours, but based on the reviews and photographs of the food I've seen, and my experience of Peruvian food, the Lima Ultimate Peruvian Food Tour looks amazing - it takes place in the neighbourhood of Barranco and it has all the classic dishes you need to get to know! The great thing about getting this type of introduction to Peruvian classics at the start of your trip is that you'll feel more confident about what to order at restaurants as you travel through the country, and you'll get maximum opportunity to eat all your favourites as often as you'd like while in Peru. Peruvian food is rare to find outside of South America and Spain, so enjoy it while you're there! If you're like us and love to eat street food and snacks, then the Street Food, Market & Old Eateries Tour in Lima's Historic Center Tour might be the one for you. It's a night tour that runs for 4 hours, starting at 16:30 in the afternoon.

Restaurants we ate at

You can get through a lot of food and try out a lot of restaurants if you need to eat out every day for the best part of 3 weeks. I tried remembering to take photographs of the food we ordered every time (though the salchipapa we ordered on our first night disappeared before I could get around to taking a photo, as we were ravenous). What surprised us though when eating our way through Peru is that the food is by no means cheap. It's actually pretty expensive comparedto what it used to be. Most mains typically cost us 45 to 55 soles (£9.70 to £12 GBP), but that was us avoiding the more expensive restaurants. There even exist restaurants that charge as much as $600 USD for a tasting menu in a restaurant near the Moray ruins! In Lima, there are numerous crazy expensive places that serve you £300 GBP tasting menus like Maido. Drinking is also quite expensive, with the cheapest small beers costing 12 soles (£2.60 GBP) but more typically around 16 soles (£3.50 GBP) per small Cusqueña, while schooner of craftbeer is more typically around the 25 soles (£5.40 GBP) mark. The cheapest restaurant bottle of wine we found was 60 soles (£13 GBP) but they were usually closer to 100 soles (£21 GBP).

Below is a photolog of the plates and places we ate at in Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, Aguas Calientes, Cusco, Pisac, Arequipa, Nazca, Huacachina and Lima (in that order).

Urubamba

Salchipapa (3 stars) at the Bardock Bar in Urubamba (1 star)

The dish features french fries topped with sliced pan-fried sausages which are usually served with a variety of sauces to top it. Joe loves this stuff, because he loves chips and sausages, and there was nothing wrong with his dish, which he enjoyed. However, we were both quite concerned about the fact that the places was completely empty of customers during prime dinner time on a weekend, all their beers had gone off. This made us a bit paranoid about whether our stomachs would leave this place unscathed. Luckily we didn't get ill but I wouldn't recommend the place to anyone. We came here for two reasons; (a) because we love craftbeer and it is a craftbeer pub (albeit beer off), (b) it was the closest restaurant to our otherwise quite out-of-the-way hotel.

Lomo Saltado (3 stars) at the Bardock Bar in Urubamba (1 star)

Lomo Saltado is a type of stir fried beef, vegetables & chips, generally served with rice and a very common and popular dish across all of Peru. In Bardock, the meat was tender and chips were crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle. Rice tasted a bit odd, so I left it, particularly as the place was so empty and I couldn't be sure about how fresh it was. As in earlier comment on this place, don't recommend it as a place to go to.

Ollantaytambo

Cuy (1 star) at Chuncho (2 stars) in Ollantaytambo

Cuy is an extremely popular dish in Peru, loved by Peruvians. I tried asking several Peruvians what their favourite dish was, and they all said "cuy". Cuy is a guinea pig. but it's a dish that's been extremely popular even from the Incan times. In parts of the Peruvian Andes, especially around Cusco and other highland regions, some depictions of the Last Supper show Jesus and the apostles eating guinea pig (“cuy”) instead of lamb or fish. This reflects a blending of Catholic imagery with Andean culture after Spanish colonization. Guinea pig has been an important traditional food in the Andes for thousands of years, so local artists incorporated familiar foods and symbols into Christian scenes. In Andean culture, cuy is a traditional celebratory dish, commonly served for festivals and special occasions and culturally significant beyond just being everyday food. However, as a foreigner who has not grown up with this type of food, it really doesn't match with our tastebuds or our perception of good mouthfeel... But it's a fun dish to try nevertheless! You try it once, and then probably never again.

Grilled Alpaca with sides of yuca and rocoto relleno (3 stars) at Chuncho (2 stars) in Ollantaytambo

The alpaca dish is really the reason why I am only rating the restaurant as 2 stars. Alpaca is a bit like lamb and can be delicious, however they overcooked it and shredded it, so it was very dry and just served generally wrong for a grilled meat. The yuca wasn't particularly seasoned, however I gave this dish 3 stars instead of just 2 stars because the rocoto relleno was very tasty. The restaurant is also downgraded because they had exceptionally small drinks selection, but they had run out of all the beer and all the wine, which was very disappointing and quite shocking to be honest for a restaurant.

Aguas Calientes

Causa Limeña (5 stars) at Mapacho Craft Beer Restaurant (5 stars) in Aguas Calientes

Causa Limeña is one of our favourite Peruvian dishes and therefore not a surprise we rate it highly, but the restaurant was also excellent and had a great selection of tasty craftbeers. Yellow potato laden with a bit of aji amarillo, the miniature eggs, the absolutely delicious Peruvian avocado, the chicken in mayo on top, the olives, everything was absolutely gorgeous. The dish is served cold as a starter but it's huge so we shared it between the two of us. For some reason starters in Peru are always huge. Highly recommend this dish.

Aji de gallina (3.5 stars) at Mapacho Craft Beer Restaurant (5 stars) in Aguas Calientes

Another super traditional Peruvian dish that contains aji amarillo, the famous Peruvian yellow pepper. It's chicken in a yellow pepper sauce with some yellow potatoes, rice on the side and a sprinkle of olives. It's a tasty dish, which could have been elevated to 4 stars if the chilli sauce had just had a little bit more of a kick to it. A bit too mild but still tasty.

Aji de Gallina Pizza (4.5 stars) at Mapacho Craft Beer Restaurant (5 stars) in Aguas Calientes

This isn't like any other pizza you would have tried. While it looks like your standard fire baked pizza base, the bread is uniquely Peruvian. As in, so incredibly fluffy and delicious, with toppings that are also uniquely Peruvian. In my view, the aji de gallina was even better in the form of a pizza than the traditional dish that I had ordered (Joe ordered the pizza). Yummy yum.

Cusco

Papa Rellena (4 stars) at Chull's Restaurant (5 stars) in Cusco

This was one of our two starters that we had on our first visit to Chull's Restaurant but it was enormous! Papa rellena is kind of like a portable shepherd's pie that features mashed potato dough, stuffed with a savory mix of ground beef, onions, olives, raisins and hard-boiled egg, then deep-fried until golden. Then Chull's took it to the next level with a lovely huancaina sauce, red onions and tomato. It was delicious.

As for the restaurant, it is set in this beautiful colonial courtyard - if you didn't know about it, you'd miss it. The staff speak good English, the food is fantastic and beautifully presented, it features lots of elevated Peruvian classic dishes but they also have a good selection of craftbeers. This restaurant is a hidden gem in Cusco and we both highly recommend that you visit!

Deepfried prawns in aji panca sauce (3.5 stars) at Chull's Restaurant (5 stars) in Cusco

This dish which features deepfried prawns with a sauce made of the traditional aji panca chilli sauce. Aji panca is a popular Peruvian chili with a deep red (often dark brown) color and a unique flavor profile that is smoky, fruity and slightly sweet, with notes of berries and cocoa. The dish was beautifully presented but could have been elevated to 4 stars if the prawns had been a touch less cooked, as they had turned a wee bit tough from cooking too long in the deep frier.

Tacu tacu with Alpaca (5 stars) at Chull's Restaurant (5 stars) in Cusco

Tacu tacu is a traditional Afro-Peruvian dish consisting of leftover rice and beans pan-fried together into a savory, crispy-edged cake. It is a staple of Creole cuisine, typically shaped into a flat oval with a golden crust and served as a hearty breakfast or main, in this case a main topped with a grilled alpaca. This is the sort of alpaca I expected when we ate at Chuncho in Ollantaytambo. Mouthwateringly delicious and so tender and lovely.

Chicharron de cerdo (5 stars) at Chull's Restaurant (5 stars) in Cusco

This one was ordered by Joe, which is a crispy pork belly that blew his mind. He said it was so incredibly juicy and tasty and in his view, one of the absolutely best dishes (of many very good dishes we had) in all of our Peru trip. Chull's knocked it out of the park and set the bar very, very high for any other chicharron de cerdo that'd come after this anywhere else.

Chull's Burger (4.5) at Chull's Restaurant (5 stars) in Cusco

On our second visit to Chull's Restaurant, we were more in the mood for a burger and let me tell you this - their burgers did not disappoint!! It was incredibly juicy with first class ingredients including pepper sauce, cheese, avocado, bacon and grilled onion, all of which were delicious, with a side of native potatoes with a delicious Peruvian sauce sprinkled over it. One of the tastiest burgers ever.

Chicha Morada at Chull's Restaurant (5 stars) in Cusco

While not strictly a food dish, this is still a very traditional and popular non-alcoholic Peruvian drink made by boiling purple corn (maíz morado) with pineapple, quince, cinnamon and cloves. It is a sweet, spiced and refreshing drink served chilled, known for its deep purple color and antioxidant. They make a very good chicha morada at Chull's, so if you go, you should try it there!

Empanadas (3.5 stars) at Chicha by Gaston Acurio (4 stars) in Cusco

Gaston Acurio is a renowned Peruvian chef, author and entrepreneur credited with establishing Peruvian cuisine on the global stage. He has transformed Peruvian food into a worldwide phenomenon, operating over 33 restaurants across 12 countries, one of which is Chicha in Cusco. The restaurant looks very nice and the service is great. We decided to share the empanada starter, just as well, as it was huge! I don't know what it is about starters in Peru, they are always huge and they're always best shared between 2 people. These particular empanadas were filled with Andean cheese, onion, tomato, rocoto pepper and huacatay (Peruvian black mint). They tasted nice but not amazing as one would anticipate from such a high caliber of a restaurant, and the empanada Joe had was actually stone cold on the inside.

Piqueo Chicha (3 stars) at Chicha (4 stars) in Cusco

Piqueo translates as something like "snack platter", which we shared between the two of us. Again, just as well, as it was a mountain of food! It contained lots of Peruvian classic ingredients, like chicharron de cerdo (crispy pork belly), Peruvian potatoes, corn, red onions, stuffed rocoto pepper, humita (sweet corn kernel paste) and Peruvian style bread. While it tasted allright and was fun to try, it didn't really blow our mind and the chicharron wasn't nearly as good as the one in Chull's Restaurant.

Cheese & charcuterie board (3.5 stars) at Rosso (2 stars) in Cusco

We had our heart set on having a cheese & charcuterie board for our dinner with some wine that night and had plans to go to a place called Masha Charcuteria Andina which had great reviews, located in the San Blas neighbourhood with a view over the city of Cusco, which sounded amazing. However, when I contacted the restaurant's WhatsApp number, the guy said that Masha had been sold and that he now had a popup elsewhere in the city that doesn't have a view. After some messaging back and forth about the new location and so on, the guy just messed us about, telling us that our reservation would be later and later and later until I gave up and just told him we weren't going. So began a search for something similar, and Joe found this place called Rosso near the main square in Cusco. It is a tiny little place with just 4 barrels acting as tables and high stools around them. The guy at the bar was quite possibly the least friendly person we met in our 3 weeks in Peru. He wasn't nasty or anything, he just barely spoke and had just a very grumpy demeanor about him. The seating area was also very uncomfortable and the toilet was just a cubicle with no sound insulation right inside the bar area that had zero privacy. So as a place to hang out, it wasn't great but the cheese platter was good (and huge) and so was the wine, albeit the wine was the most expensive there I think compared to anywhere else we went.

Peruvian wine at Rosso in Cusco

You don't really think of Peru as a wine country. You think of Chile and Argentina but Peru does have a wine region in the region of Ica. If you go to places like Nazca and Huacachina in the Ica region, you'd think it's mad that they actually make wine in the desert, but they do - you can even tour the wineries! And it's very tasty as well, I'll have you know! Our visit to Rosso was the first time we tried Peruvian wine, and after that, we'd always order Peruvian wine if it was on the wine list.

Native potato crisps (5 stars) at 7 Vidas Taproom (5 stars) in Cusco

Peru is famous for its potatoes. At the 7 Vidas taproom in Cusco you get these crisps for free with your drink, but they make them fresh in-house. We know this, as we wanted to find them in the shops because they taste absolutely amazing, but sadly they could not be store-bought, only received for free, fresh at the taproom. We went to two other 7 Vidas Taprooms in Peru, but they just served the same old boring corn they give you absolutely everywher else. If you are a crispaholic, a visit to the Cusco branch is worth it for the crisps! Yum.

Coca Tea at breakfast at Saska Hotel Boutique in Cusco

I was feeling the altitude a bit in Cusco, so I'd have coca tea every morning. Coca tea is an herbal tea made by steeping the leaves of the coca plant in hot water. It has been used for centuries in the Andes, especially in parts of Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina. People commonly drink it to help with altitude sickness, fatigue, digestion and mild hunger suppression. While cocaine is made from coca leaves, coca tea is not the same thing as purified cocaine. The tea contains naturally occurring compounds in much lower concentrations and in a traditional plant preparation rather than a concentrated processed drug, but in the cocaine process, the coca leaves are mixed with solvents, strong acids as well as oxidising and purification agents to create the white powder.

Pisac

Freshwater trout (3.5 stars) at La Ruta restaurant (3 stars) in Pisac

After having travelled 1 hour from Cusco to Pisac, then followed by a 2 hour hike from the top of the Pisac ruins down into Pisac village, we were very hungry for our lunch. There's not too much choice in Pisac but we ended up at this place called La Ruta by the main square. I ordered the freshwater trout, as I was in the mood for some fish. It was quite nice, though parts of the fish were maybe a touch overcooked and the prawns on the side were totally overcooked, almost like rubber bullets. I did enjoy the dish as a whole though and it was nicely presented.

Lomo Saltado (3 stars) at La Ruta Restaurant (3 stars) in Pisac

Joe ordered the Lomo Saltado at La Ruta but he was disappointed by how little actual meat there was on the dish for the price we paid. It was basically a dish of rice and chips, with 4 pieces of meat.

Arequipa

8 Ball croquettes (5 stars) at Chelawasi Public House (5 stars) in Arequipa

We were regulars at the Chelawasi Public House during the 4 days we were in Arequipa. It is an awesome wee place that's a bit out of the way just at the edge of the historical centre but it just so happened to be the closest pub / restaurant to our hotel (Hotel qema). They have a great selection of craftbeers from various breweries and their bar snack menu is awesome. Everything we had there was super tasty, and tastiest of them all were the 8 Ball croquettes, absolutely delicious, I think we ordered them like 3 times! And upon leaving Arequipa, it was a sad realisation that we were most likely never going to get to have the Chelawasi 8 Ball ever again.

Chicharron de pollo (3.5 stars) at Chelawasi Public House (5 stars) in Arequipa

Chicharron de pollo is basically just crispy chicken strips, so it does what it says on the tin. It wasn't otherworldly or anything, it was tasty and did the job. The portion was absolutely huge, so you definitely get value for money.

Tequeños (3.5 stars) at Chelawasi Public House (5 stars) in Arequipa

Tequeños are very popular in Peru but they remind a bit of spring rolls, except the pastry around them is a bit thicker and crunchier. At Chelawasi you could choose between two types of filling, either cheese or pulled pork. We tried both, both were good.

Loaded chilli fries (4.5 stars) at Chelawasi Public House (5 stars) in Arequipa

These loaded fries took us by surprise. They are delicious.

Free corn snack with chilli and rosemary (2.5 stars) at Chelawasi Public House (5 stars)

You get this type of corn snack absolutely EVERYWHERE in Peru, at every restaurant and every bar, without asking for it. Neither of us like them, they are usually quite hard, very dry and lacking seasoning of any sort and if I was to give them star ratings, it'd usually be around 0.5 stars or so. However, the ones they gave us at Chelawasi were several calibers above others in terms of quality, texture and seasoning, they were actually palatable. So while I wouldn't order them myself, as a snack that's put in front of me for free, it was decent.

Picaña al Carbon (beef rump cap) (5 stars) and Carré de cordero (lamb cutlets) (5 stars) at Texao Restaurant (3 stars) in Arequipa

This place is an odd one. The interior of the restaurant is very nice, the food we got was absolutely gorgeous but the management of the place is utter shambles - it beggars belief. Their menu is extremely limited, only 4 mains dishes and the dessert menu has only 2 items on it. All the tables are lined with wine glasses. As we were having steaks, we wanted wine with our dinner and when we asked for it, the waiter went to the counter where we thought he was fetching a wine menu but no. He brought over two half empty bottles of wine and asked us which one we wanted. We ordered two glasses of one of the wines. When we finished our lovely meal, we asked for one of the two items on the dessert menu - a tiramisu each, and two more glasses of the red wine we had just had. Except that bottle was finished and the only wine in the house they had was that other half empty bottle the waiter had shown us. So I guessed we were having that one then. Once our wine was poured, the waiter came back to tell us that they had no tiramisu. And then went on to say they had no desserts at all. So we just finished the glass of wine that we had meant to have with our dessert and left. What a weird experience.

Causa Limeña (5 stars) at La Plaza Bar & Grill (4 stars) in Arequipa

This was the second Causa we had on the trip and it was just as delicious as the first one. That purple sauce is a black olive sauce. The restaurant is fairly expensive (prices maybe some 20% higher than midrange) but boasts very nice views over the main square of the historical centre of Arequipa. The service is good and the food is good, so I'd recommend this placefor a meal.

Empanadas (4 stars) at Don Empanadon (4 stars) in Arequipa

We discovered this chain of bakeries in Arequipa where you can get very tasty empanadas for 6-7 soles (£1.30-£1.50 GBP), which make for a nice cheap and tasty lunch.

Empanadas (1.5 stars) at Balcon (?) (1 star) in Arequipa

We arrived on a very early flight from Cusco to Arequipa and had 6 hours to kill before we could check into our hotel. We were tired and a bit "hangry" and just needed to sit down with a coffee and a snack. We had just arrived in the city and hadn't really properly gotten our bearings and got lured into this restaurant from the street with the promise of a nice view over the main square but that's where nice things end for this restaurant. We weren't in the right headspace to make logical decisions and when the woman said we could get empanadas for 20 soles we were like "OK fine". However, in retrospect we realised that it was a total ripoff. For one, we got TWO much better empanadas at the famous Chicha Restaurant by Gaston Acurio in Cusco for a total of 23 soles (which I didn't remember the price of at the time) and we also learned about Don Empanadon in Arequipa later on the trip.

I have put a question mark behind the restaurant's name, because we didn't pay attention to the name when we walked in, but judging by reviews on Google (2.5 average across 74 reviews) and descriptions from diners about being flagged down from the street and being totally overpriced and poor. The place is on the western side of the main square and has lots of viking related decor as you walk up the stairs. If you see that, know not to go any further because the place is RUBBISH. Totally overpriced, the empanadas were poor quality with almost no filling in them and the coffees were a sludge and for some reason cold towards the bottom!

Currywurst (4 stars) at 7 Vidas Taproom (5 stars) in Arequipa

The 7 Vidas Taproom in Arequipa is our favourite amongst the three branches we went to (Cusco, Arequipa, Lima) because they have this incredibly peaceful and lovely courtyard where we just LOVED chilling with nice and delicous 7 Vidas craftbeers. We spent a lot of time chilling here and ate here once in our 4 days in Arequipa, where we shared a currywurst platter. We were a bit hesitant generally to order food here, because any time we were ever there, we were the only clients aside from one time when a family came for some food. I always worry a bit about the freshness of the ingredients if there's little foot-traffic eating at any given place but we did decide to give the currywurst a go, and actually, it was delicious! The peruvian potatoes served with it were great as well, even amplified further with two awesome dipping sauces.

Pork Rib Pizza (4 stars) at Las Gringas (3.5 stars) in Arequipa

The restaurant Las Gringas is a bit awkward, it's in a small cramped courtyard with parasols to protect you from the sun, except the parasols are kept a bit too low, so you have to make sure you don't bump into them. The restaurant doesn't have any specific charm and the service is OK. However, their pork rib pizza is mighty tasty! It's got some sort of white sauce beneath the cheese, then actual ribs (with bone and all) on each slice, smothered in BBQ sauce. Very nice, it took us by surprise how tasty it was.

Cheeseboard (2.5 stars) at Las Gringas (3.5 stars) in Arequipa

You get value for money if you order this cheeseboard, as it is absolutely HUGE and only costs 25 soles (£5.40 GBP). However, it is far from perfect. The cheeseboard looks more like a sandwich making platter with normal bread with raisins, focaccia bread and LOADS of just the same sort of cheese (or at least we couldn't taste any difference between them). The focaccia was just rank. I don't know if they meant for it to taste like this, but the flavour was sour. Not "sourdough-like", actually sour, like some yoghurts. I just took one bite and yuck, wasn't having any more of that. The cheese wasn't particularly interesting but nice enough with some wine. Chutneys were not a hit either, so basically all we ate from that huge platter was the bread you see in the bottom left corner, all the cheese, walnuts and olives. I did like the presentation though.

Grilled Alpaca (1 star) at Hatun Wasi (1 star) in Chiguata near Arequipa

We were taken to this place for breakfast and a very late lunch as part of an organised tour to the Salinas & Aguada Blanca nature reserve. The breakfast was fine - just a Peruvian bread with an egg, and it was a much needed stop as we had left too early on the tour (6am) to be able to get our breakfast at the hotel. However, the lunch stop was TOTALLY redundant and clearly just a deal that the tour company has with the owners of this restaurant, because we were just 25 minutes from the outskirts of Arequipa by this point, and it was way too late for lunch (I think it was like 3pm or something) - we would have rather either been offered an earlier lunch stop, or just taken back into Arequipa where we could just have whatever we wanted rather than being forced to eat at this place. The food was not good, the potatoes must have been boiled earlier in the day and then just microwaved, the corn was hard as glass, the alpaca meat had lots and oots of bones and the meat was totally overcooked, very dry and very tough. The marinade on the meat was good though, as were the red onions and tomatoes, which give the dish one star at least instead of zero. The place is also expensive by Peruvian standards for what you actually get.

Nazca

Burger (3.5 stars) at Mamashana Cafe Restaurante (3.5 stars) in Nazca

We were just in Nazca for one day/one night and chose this place for lunch, as it gets lots of good reviews on Google Maps. Joe had a burger at this place and thought it was decent. The restaurant has a nice terrace where you can watch the world go by. The restaurant was nice and a decent place to go for a meal while in Nazca.

Chicken with mushroom sauce (2.5 stars) at Mamashana Cafe Restaurante (3.5 stars) in Nazca

I ordered the chicken in mushroom sauce when we went to this place in Nazca and the waitress told me that was a good choice, that it was the house speciality. However, what arrived was a bit underwhelming. The mushroom sauce was pretty wishywashy without any real flavour. Maybe I'm just spoiled, because I make a darn good mushroom sauce, if I may say so myself, and this sauce didn't come anywhere close to it. It tasted like tinned mushrooms in double cream with nothing else added to it. The chicken was also a bit overcooked, so the best thing on the plate ended up being the potatoes and salad. I was definitely jealous of Joe's burger. I think I just picked the wrong dish for me.

Huacachina

Tallarines salteados (fried noddles) (3.5 stars) at Huacafuckingchina (3 stars) in Huacachina

This was our first meal in Huacachina and the restaurant is located right next to the oasis, overlooking the dunes, so it's quite scenic. The service was a bit of a hit or miss, it was difficult to get the waitress' attention even if the place was nearly empty and they didn't bring our food out at the same time, so Joe had his salchipapa (probably the 4th time he ordered that dish on this trip, he loves it), I didn't have my food until fair bit later. The sauce the noodles were in was tasty, quite gingery. I enjoyed it. Simple dish but did the job.

Tomahawk Steak (1.5 stars) and Ribeye Steak (3.5 stars) at Cask (3.5 stars) in Huacachina

We stayed at the Senoma Adults Only resort in Huacachina and the on-site restaurant is called Cask. It feels like the most upscale restaurant in Huacachina, the service and attention is great, so as a restaurant, it's an overall good experience. However, we ordered a couple of steaks - Joe asked for the tomahawk and I asked for the ribeye. My ribeye was decent, it was tender. It is really hard to mess up a ribeye steak. But it could have just done with a bit more seasoning. However, Joe's tomahawk steak was a bit of a disaster. We expected something similar, but smaller, to the tomahawk we had at a steakhouse in Barcelona but Joe's steak was absolutely RIDDLED with sinew to the point that he really struggled to cut through it even with a steak knife and a lot was left of the steak at the end of the meal, which was a real real shame, as we were both looking forward to a nice meal at this restaurant. They could have also given us some sides with this or done something to improve the presentation, the plate was literally just the steaks, then some potatoes on the side. Wine is quite expensive at this place too. You can walk across the road and get wine half price.

Papas a la huancaina (3 stars) at Mamashana Cafe Restaurante (3.5 stars) in Nazca

This dish is typically served cold. The potatoes are already boiled and cooled down, and then the cold huancaina sauce is poured over it, served with hard boiled eggs and olives. It is a creamy, spicy Peruvian cheese sauce made primarily from aji amarillo (yellow hot peppers), queso fresco (fresh white cheese), evaporated milk, and saltine crackers. however the spice was definitely lacking in the sauce they serve at Mamashana. It was nice enough though, eaten as a shared starter whenwe were hungry and it comes out quickly.

Aji de gallina lasagna (4 stars) at the Tiki Backyard (5 stars) in Huacachina

The Tiki Backyard is located within the Bananas Adventure Hostel in Huacachina and it's open to the public. It is a great wee place with LOADS of atmosphere and fun decor. The prices were the most reasonable we had seen on all our travels through Peru. The bottle of wine here was half price compared to the restaurant at our hotel just across the road. We had a lasagna made with a Peruvian twist, using aji de gallina (chicken in a Peruvian yellow pepper sauce) which makes it a sort of a white sauce lasagna (with a touch of yellow!). The garlic bread on the side was good too, we enjoyed the meal overall and loved the place itself. After our dinner we ended up staying much longer for more drinks.

Paracas

Mixed seafood chaufa (1.5 stars) at Sol de Oro restaurant (0 stars) in Paracas Nature Reserve

Again we found ourselves on an organized tour where we were taken to lunch WAY too late, to the point we were absolutely ravenous, and being told to go to this restaurant by the guide who claimed it was good. Only to find out that actually it is not good. The service was abysmal, we hadn't received our food by the time we were meant to be leaving and for what we were served, it was expensive and poor. The fried pieces of fish were decent but not a lot of it and the seafood was otherwise like rubber bullets. We had to rush extremely to eat our food because the bus was waiting on us. Lesson to be learned: Do not go to the places the guides tell you to go to, it will be poor quality and expensive. Trouble is, even though there were more restaurant choices there, there's no internet reception in this place, so you couldn't check reviews of the restaurants beforehand. If we had been able to check, we would have seen that several people have reported getting food poisoning at this place. So if you're going on a Ballestas Islands & Paracas Nature Reserve tour, be sure not to go to Sol de Oro.

Lima

Caesar Wrap (4.5 stars) at the Intro Cafe Bar (4 stars) in Miraflores Lima

There is so much choice of food in Miraflores you're totally spoiled and it's hard to decide on a place but we were glad we came to the Intro Cafe Bar. Joe was super chuffed with his Caesar Wrap, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Beef and avocado sandwich (3.5 stars) at Intro Cafe Bar (4 stars) in Miraflores Lima

My sandwich was very tasty, especially thanks to the avocado. Peruvian avocado is INCREDIBLE, and the Peruvians know how to serve avocado, when it's at the right amount of ripeness, unlike in Europe where people are less familiar with the fruit. The beef was a touch dry, but I did have the avocado and a sauce on the side to juice it up.

Causa Limeña (5 stars) at Kauza (4 stars) Miraflores Lima

This was the third and last time we were having Causa Limeña on our holiday in Peru, as it was coming to an end. This time at a restaurant named after the very dish - Kauza. The Cause did not disappoint, it was delicious. We both ended up having the same one - we were not sharing this time!

Mixed seafood ceviche (4 stars) at Kauza (4 stars) in Miraflores Lima

We were getting to the end of our Peru trip and I still hadn't had the chance to have ceviche, but you want to make super sure that you have it at a reputable restaurant (which Kauza is) because food poisoning from seafood is proper nasty. So even though I ordered an entire Causa for myself too, I also ordered a ceviche as well. For those that don't know what it is, Ceviche is a popular Latin American cold dish consisting of fresh, raw fish or shellfish "cooked" in citrus juice, typically lime or lemon, along with onions, chili peppers and coriander. The acid in the citrus denatures the proteins in the fish, making it opaque and firm, resulting in a fresh, tangy, and zesty flavor. It is very popular in both Peru and Chile. As to the one they served at Kauza, it was very fresh, the seafood was just right, the onions delicious, as were the sweet potatoes and surprisingly, I really enjoyed the corn served in the bowl as well - it was a lot juicier, sweeter and less tough than your usual corn that you get served in Peru.

Pollada Criolla (5 stars) at Siete Sopas (Parque Kennedy) (5 stars) in Miraflores Lima

We were recommended this place by a security guard we had asked for directions when we were looking for the 7 Vidas Taproom in Miraflores and asked him if there was somewhere good to eat nearby. This was the first suggestion, plus he also suggested checking out Calle Bonilla if we were looking for craftbeer and food. This place did not disappoint, as it was one of the most reasonably priced places we had been to in all of Peru (along with the Tiki Backyard in Huacachina). I ordered the roast chicken and I must say, I think that is the tastiest piece of roast chicken I have ever eaten in mylife! It was so incredibly juicy and the marinade was delicious. And even better yet, the whole dish only cost 29 soles (£6.30 GBP)!

Chicharron de Pollo (4 stars) at Siete Sopas (Parque Kennedy) (5stars) in Miraflores Lima

Joe ordered the crispy chicken strips after noticing that they served it with tartare sauce, which got him interested. For 33 soles (£7 GBP) they brought him this mountain of chicken with chips and a variety of very tasty dipping sauces which got practically completely mopped up. His only complaint was that they gave him too much food. There are worse problems to have!

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Hotels we stayed at while in Peru

The following hotels were the ones we stayed at as we travelled through Peru, listed in the same order as our itinerary. One night was spent in a bus (£32 pp) as we travelled from Arequipa to Nazca. These hotels ranged in price from £44 to £87 GBP per night in shoulder season, with an average nightly cost of £64 GBP. Just a word of warning - nice hotels do sell out months in advance, particularly in the peak season.

• Lima: Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima Airport (1 night)

• Urubamba: Wifala Harmony Hotel (1 night)

• Ollantaytambo: Picaflor Tambo B&B (2 nights)

• Cusco: Saska Boutique (4 nights)

• Arequipa: Hotel qema (4 nights)

• Nazca: DM Hoteles Nazca (1 night)

• Huacachina: Senoma Adults Only (2 nights)

• Lima: iNNSiDE by Melia Miraflores (2 nights)

Below are some photos we took, where available, and our review of the above hotels.

LIMA: Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima Airport

I just want to say from the get-go that even though this hotel is associated with the airport, it isn't technically at the airport, it's a 15 minute drive away if you're lucky, 45-60 minute drive away if it's rush hour traffic. Confusingly, there IS a hotel right at the airport (and it's the only one there) with practically the exact same name, called Wyndham Grand Costa del Sol Lima Airport and it's twice the price of the one that doesn't have "Grand" in its name and isn't actually at the airport. It is also confusing because if you have never been to Lima airpor before, on a map it looks as if the Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima Airport is in fact at the airport. Except it's next to the OLD airport building that is no longer in use. We were confused, and others at the check-in desk were also confused as they thought they had been staying at an airport hotel.

Confusion aside, the hotel has what you need. The rooms are decent, there's an onsite restaurant and hotel bar, and you get breakfast included. We only had the limited breakfast that starts at 4am, which is super handy if you have an early flights, but it is basic. No cooked items, just bread, ham, cheese, fruits, coffee, i.e. the essentials. The hotel bar served us a nice salchipapa (plate full of chips with fried sausages on top, covered in lots of different sauces) while we drank beer, and we were also given a complimentary welcome drink there of a Pisco Sour.

Do we recommend this place?

No, not unless you need to be there. The neighbourhood where the hotel is located is definitely rough, you can see that as you sit on the shuttle from the airport to the hotel. I wouldn't fancy going out of the hotel, particularly at night. Callao, the airport neighbourhood where the hotel is located, is known for violence, drugs, extortion and other violent crime. Therefore, there's no reason to stay here unless you have a connecting flight right the next day, the neighbourhood is not a nice place to be. If you have the money to spare, I'd suggest you stay at the Wyndham Grand instead, as it's literally RIGHT OUTSIDE the airport, you can just walk. If you're more budget conscious, then the hotel we stayed at is a good choice for the night, given the free shuttle, free breakfast and on-site facilities.

Below are a few photos I took from the Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima Airport hotel. Appologies on the mess - I didn't get around taking a photo when it was all pristine!

URUBAMBA: Wifala Harmony Hotel

I discovered this place, Wifala Harmony Hotel, through a Chilean friend's Facebook page who had stayed here and taken pictures. I was just left in awe of the place and knew that whenever we'd make it to Peru, I wanted to stay at this place, if even just for a night. So that's what we did! Upon arriving at the hotel, I was as much in awe as I was when I saw my friend's photos - possibly even more! I just love the design and how they've played with light, as well as all the curved and natural shapes of the building. You can definitely tell that there's a bit of a Gaudi inspiration going on here, but with a Peruvian twist. There's lots of plants as well, lots of spaces to chill out, and the rooms are a bit like inside of a spaceship or something! The host is also very friendly and helpful, who served us nice breakfast the next morning, which is included in the price of the hotel.

The hotel is a wee bit on the pricier side compared to what you'd expect to pay in this part of the world, but for the one night experience, it was great fun. Also, depending on the season you're there (we were there mid April), there's this field of flowers right outside the property that attracts a big number of hummingbirds! I can't even count how many I saw!

On the downside, this property is a fair bit out of the way, very few restaurants around and you'd really need to get a taxi to get into Urubamba city centre. We did walk some 20 minutes to the nearest pub called Bardock Beer Company, but it was dreadful. There's no through traffic of taxis, so you'd have to call one to get out of there, and the road is SUPER narrow and tricky to navigate - don't try to drive it yourself! It's barely a pedestrian path.

Do we recommend this place?

From practicality perspective, not really. If you are short on time as we were, we'd better have asked the Taxidatum transfer to drop us off at Ollantaytambo rather than in Urubamba after the Sacred Valley tour, because not only would we have saved half a day and used it to see Ollantaytambo ruins on the same day, but also saved ourselves the taxifare from Ollantaytambo from Urubamba as well as gotten half-price accommodation. HOWEVER - I must say that this place is a super unique place to stay and if you have the time and money, it's totally worthwhile staying here a night or even two, if you're willing to take taxis and just want to chill in beautiful surroundings.

Below are photos I took from when we stayed at Wifala Harmony Hotel:

Bonus: Other cool places to stay in the Sacred Valley

If you do decide to stay in the Sacred Valley rather than just heading straight from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, there are some utterly stunning and fascinating places to stay!! Probably some of the more epic places include the following places (which we did not have an opportunity to stay at):

Starlodge Adventure Suites

Sleep in a glass pod perched onto the side of a mountain. Not for the faint hearted or small budgets. In May 2026, a night here was costing in excess of £800 GBP per night!

You'll see these pods hanging from the cliff face as you drive through the Sacred Valley:

Skylodge Adventure Suites

In the same area as Starlodge, again just for the brave with big budgets wanting a unique experience, with nights over £800 GBP.

Sky Dome Peru near Chinchero

This one is very popular, very scenic and unique, and also actually cheaper than Wifala where we stayed. However, in our case it was just a bit too close to Cusco, as we were en route to Aguas Calientes. But you get to stay in these wee domes that overlook the Sacred Valley:

OLLANTAYTAMBO: Picaflor Tambo B& B

This incredibly charming little bed and breakfast called Picaflor Tambo B&B is located close to Ollantaytambo's main square on a cobble stone street, built on ancient Incan foundations and overlooking the Pinkuylluna Incan granaries that are perched on the steep slopes of the hill right in front of the hotel. The staff members are so very kind, and they even let us check in early at no extra cost, as our room was already ready. She gave us a big thermos with hot water to make ourselves tea or coffee when we arrived, which stayed hot until the next morning. The room we stayed in had a cozy sofa and the decor of the room was very charming. It somehow ended up being one of the cheapest places we stayed at, but we paid only £44 GBP per night including breakfast for the two of us. Ollantaytambo is also a very charming, albeit small village but it's a great base to go and see the surrounding sights, including Machu Picchu.

Do we recommend this place?

100%! If you go to Ollantaytambo, stay here! It's great.

Below are photos I took from when we stayed at Picaflor Tambo B&B:

CUSCO: Saska Boutique Hotel

We stayed at Saska Boutique in Cusco for 4 nights and had a nice time there. It is a functional room where we could watch Netflix and it was literally THE ONLY place in Peru we went to that had a kettle in the room! Whichis no short of miraculous ! The breakfast was nice with lots of variety and they changed it around every day. It was buffet style, so you could have your fill of coffee, if you so wished. They also had coca leaves to make tea, in case you were feeling the altitude. Our room also had a nice patio where we could sit and watch the humming birds. Conveniently, there's also a laudry just a couple of doors up from the hotel where you can get your clothes washed for 7 soles (£1.50 GBP) the kilo, a service we definitely took advantage of.

I guess the one downside of this hotel is that while it is actually pretty central, you still have to walk 10 minutes along not-so-attractive busy streets with loads of car traffic before you get to the historical centre on a gentle uphill incline, which can be a bit of a chore if you're struggling with the altitude.

Do we recommend this place?

Yes, we'd overall recommend it as a place to stay. There are a LOT of places in Cusco, some of which are pretty spectacular, some are incredibly cheap, others are very convenient, and so on. Basically - there's something for everyone, depending on what they're looking for. However, Saska Boutique ticks a lot of boxes for modern comfort without being too far from the hustle and bustle of the historical centre. But still just do your research, in case there's something that fits your personal taste or preference better, cause there's lots of choice.

Below are some photos I took from while we were staying at Saska Boutique:

AREQUIPA: qema Hotel

We also stayed 4 nights at Hotel qema in Arequipa which is just at the edge of the historical centre. We booked ourselves the Suite, which still only cost us £49 GBP the night including a breakfast. The bed was absolutely ENORMOUS, so was the TV, we had a balcony overlooking the pool area and a sofa indoors for chilling. We also had a fridge to keep our beer cold, which was very useful.

As usual, no kettle in the room, but there was an espresso machine (albeit no espresso capsules). The coffee at breakfast was insanely weak as well, so that was a bit of a struggle for us! Another thing that wasn't great was the water pressure in the shower. I don't know if the city was having a water pressure issue or if this is a hotel issue, but one of the days we were there, the city shut down the water supply for an entire day. The front desk staff are not helpful, and actually pretty grumpy (at least those that were there when we were there), if you need any assistance with anything, you're much better speaking to the bar staff.

Do we recommend this place?

Yes 100%. It's quite possibly one of the best places to stay in Arequipa (I think!). The rooms are fantastic (as long as the water power is better), if you choose the suites. The grounds are beautiful. The atmosphere is chilled. It's close to the Chelawasi pub, which we loved. It's also not far from the main part of the historical centre.

Below are some photos I took from while we were staying at Hotel qema:

NAZCA: DM Hoteles Nazca

We came off a Cruz del Sur night bus from Arequipa to Nazca and the DM Hoteles Nazca is incredibly conveniently located just over a block away from the Cruz del Sur bus terminal in Nazca, so we just walked there with our suitcase on wheels. We paid £62 GBP for the 1 night for a double room at the hotel including breakfast, but were given an absolutely enormous room that turns out was the suite! We did pay extra for the room though, as we asked them for an early check-in because we were arriving so early in the morning after a nightbus. The early check-in cost us a whopping $45 USD, while several other hotels had just let us check in early for free. But at least they did give us the suite!

The suite had lots of useful things, like a fridge for beer, sofa, two TVs, a decent bed and amazingly, it had a kettle! The shower was also the best we had on all our travels through Peru, almost as good as our shower at home!

Do we recommend this place?

Yes 100%, and preferably for a bit more than just a night. The pool area is a lovely oasis and there's more stuff to do in Nazca than just see the Nazca lines.

Below are some photos I took from while we were staying at DM Hoteles Nazca:

HUACACHINA: Senoma Hotel - Adults Only

We took a Cruz del Sur bus from Nazca to Ica and then booked an Uber to take us the short distance to Huacachina. Don't use the taxis at the terminal in Ica, they'll rip you off. The Senoma Adults Only hotel is run by two very friendly Irishmen and one of the owners was kind enough to let us check in a bit early without asking us for any money for it, which is always a nice gesture. The hotel has beautiful garden grounds, but the hotel itself looks a bit like a US-style motel on a few floors. The room was functional with a bed, a TV, a shower, sink, a toilet and air conditioning and not much beyond that. The internet didn't really work for neither of us when we were there, which was a little bit tricky as this was coming to the end of our journey around Peru and our Peruvian mobile data packs were running low by this point. We paid £80.50 GBP per night at Senoma Adults Only, which does not include breakfast. It is a bit pricey for Peru, but reasonable price for a hotel like this in Huacachina. What really sells this hotel is the pool area and the fact that it's right next to an absolutely massive dune that looks like a wall next to the hotel. It really is stunning.

We did try the on-site restaurant which comes highly rated on Google but we were not impressed. Joe had the Tomahawk steak and it had so much sinew that he could barely eat the steak because he couldn't cut through it with a steak knife and couldn't really chew through the sinew, which was a real shame. I had a ribeye steak which was a lot better but nothing amazing, and served with no sides aside from potatoes. The place is also very expensive compared to elsewhere in Huacachina. We ended up just going to the Bananas hostel across the road for food and drink every time after this experience, because it's literally half the price and we got better quality.

Do we recommend this place?

Yes, I suspect it is the nicest place to stay in Huacachina for the views and outdoor facilities for the price. It is also quiet, even on a Friday and Saturday night, so we managed to get good sleep. The restaurant there is pricey though and while some dishes might be good, ours did not impress us. Try the place across the road for food and breakfast (Bananas Adventure Hostel).

Below are some photos I took from while we were staying at Senoma Adults Only

LIMA (Miraflores): iNNSiDE by Melia Miraflores

We took a Cruz del Sur bus from Ica to Lima and then an Uber to our hotel in Miraflores. The iNNSiDE by Melia Miraflores cost us £75 GBP per night including breakfast. The breakfast is good, lots of variety but it gets really, really busy if the hotel is fully booked, as we found out. We had to abandon our breakfast plans at one point cause there was no seat for us, and try again later. The location of the Melia is amazing, you have everything you need practically at your doorstep and the neighbourhood feels very safe. The hotel has a rooftop terrace and a rooftop pool, but the photos on the booking site are quite deceiving. The space isn't inviting at all, so the one time we did go there (you get a free welcome drink on arrival), we only just stayed for the one drink and even then it was a pretty uncomfortable space with awkward plastic stools. The room itself was basic but comfortable, with a huge bed and a TV with good enough internet connection to stream some shows on Amazon Prime.

Do we recommend this place?

Yes 100%. It is a very comfortable hotel in an amazing and safe location, with literally hundreds of restaurants within easy walking distance and breakfast is good.

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos, but there are some on the booking site: iNNSiDE by Melia Miraflores

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However, turns out that the Wyndham Costa del Sol is right next to.... the old airport building! The new one is in between the two runways and access is via that green road between the runways that looks like a rectangle, and to get there from Wyndham Costa del Sol, you have to go the long way around. As we found out when we arrived, during rush hour the roads are absolutely MENTAL, total chockablock. You move at a crawling speed. There is however another hotel that IS right next to the NEW airport building, which is the Wyndham Grand Costa del Sol but costs twice the price of the one missing the "Grand" in its name.

The hotel is located in the Callao neighbourhood, which is one of the most dangerous areas of Peru due to its proximity to the Callao Port, which is ripe with cocaine smugglers, allegedly. So we were not going to be wandering about, just had a snack called salchipapas at the hotel bar, went to bed, got up early for the hotel breakfast and then caught the free shuttle to the airport.

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Day 3 - Chinchero

We woke up at the Wyndham Costa del Sol Lima Airport hotel at 4am and had breakfast. We then got the free shuttle and caught a 07:35 flight to Cusco. Arrived 08:55 and went outside the airport to find our driver that we had arranged through Taxidatum. For $65 USD per group you get a private driver that picks you up at Cusco airport, takes you on around the sights of the Sacred Valley, in this case Chinchero, Moray and Maras, then dropped us off at our hotel in Urubamba in the Sacred Valley just after 1pm.

The first stop on our Sacred Valley tour was Chinchero, starting at the ruins there and then visiting local weavers. Unfortunately I forgot my phone in the car when we went to the ruins and it was too much of a trek at too much altitude to try to go back and get it - Chinchero is fairly hilly and at 3800 m above sea level, the altitude is no joke. Chinchero ruins feature extensive agricultural terraces, stone enclosures, and a Spanish colonial church built directly over an Inca palace, but to be honest there's not all that much to see.

The second stop in Chinchero was a lot more interesting, meeting the local weavers. They are predominantly women who have been maintaining their ancestral textile tradition and techniques that date back centuries to the Incan Empire. They manage every stage of production by hand, from shearing the animals to the final intricate warp-faced weaving on backstrap looms. These weavers operate through cooperatives where they demonstrate the "cleaning" of the wool using "saqta", a natural root detergent that creates a rich soap-like lather. The vibrancy of their textiles comes from a sophisticated mastery of natural dyes derived from the surrounding landscape. They transform raw alpaca and sheep wool into a rainbow of hues using minerals, plants, and insects; for example, the deep reds are sourced from "cochineal" (an insect found on cacti), while blues come from indigo and yellows from the "kolle" flower. To fix these colors, they use mineral salts as mordants, ensuring the wool remains soft and the colors enduring. Alpaca wool is the preferred medium due to its incredible thermal properties, hypoallergenic nature and silky luster. By shunning synthetic chemicals and industrial machinery, the Chinchero weavers produce sustainable, "living" art that remains one of the most authentic expressions of Andean heritage.

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Day 3 - Moray Archaeological Site

The Taxidatum Sacred Valley tour then continued from Chinchero to the next stop: the Moray Archaeological Site. The circular terraces were built upon natural sinkholes in the limestone terrain, engineered by the ancient Incas to be an agricultural laboratory. The temperature range between the highest and lowest terrace is 15°C, which allowed them to test what crops thrived best under each temperature range.

The stop there is quite short, we only got about 20 minutes or so to walk around the rim and take in the spectacular scenery around the terraces before we had to go back into the taxi. However, if you are very wealthy, there is a restaurant practically next to the ruins, which we originally learned about on Nick Knowles' travel show Peru - Amazing Railway Adventures. I bet he didn't pay for the journey himself, because trains in Peru are INSANELY expensive, so was this restaurant called "MIL Centro - Food Lab and Interpretation Center" where they charge you a whopping $360 - 660 USD for a tasting menu. I for one don't think any food is worth $660 USD as a single meal got one...

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Day 3 - Maras Salt Mines

The third stop as part of our airport transfer/tour, or technically fourth, if you count Chinchero twice (ruins and weavers), was the Maras Salt Mines in the Sacred Valley. They are not a mine in the strict sense. It doesn't have people working underground doing dry halite mining, nor does it involve aggressive pumping and dissolving of the underground asalt, as was done in Cheshire in the UK by means of bastard brine pumping (uncontrolled means of dissolving salt by pumping).

The source of the salt in Maras is not from a modern sea, but the remnants of an ancient, trapped ocean deep beneath the Andes, brought up to over 3000 m above sea level by tectonic uplift during the Andean orogeny (mountain building event), as the Nazca plate pushes itself beneath the South American Plate. As it got uplifeted, it started as an isolated body of seawater inland, this ancient sea then evaporated, leaving behind thick halite‑rich sediments which were then buried within the mountain strata.

Today, groundwater percolates through these hypersaline underground layers, dissolving the ancient salt and emerging at the surface as a hyper‑saline artesian spring known as Qoripujio. This spring water is 8–9 times saltier than seawater and it flows year‑round, providing the continuous supply that feeds the 3000+ terraced salt pansat the Maras Salt Mines. The salt pans themselves are a blend of natural geology and human engineering dating back at least to pre‑Inca times but the spring water is diverted into the shallow pools carved into the steep canyon slope. Under the intense Andean sun, the water then evaporates, leaving behind layers of crystallised salt, often tinged pink due to trace minerals such as iron oxide. The entire system works purely by gravity, with water flowing from the highest pans to the lowest.

The Maras Salt Mines are a fascinating example of ancient hydraulic engineering, a system that still works to this day. This salt is sold locally in all shapes and sizes, some sold as a low-sodium mineral-rich salt, others as flavoured salt, chocolate with salt, native potato crisps with salt, bath salt, and the list goes on. Do try the many local delicacies when you're there! The salt makes a perfect gift, and Joe absolutely loved the native potato crisps with Maras salt.

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Day 3 - Urubamba

The Maras Salt Mines was the last official stop on the tour, though the driver did take us to a wee shop for tasting Maras Salt chocolates and crisps too, before we went to the mines them selves. We were then dropped off at our hotel door, Wifala Harmony Hotel in Urubamba (amazing! See photos in the section: Places to Stay in Peru) where we were staying for just one night.

The hotel that we stayed at was a bit outside the centre of town and there was not much nearby really aside from a couple of hotels and a couple of restaurants / bars. It was weird, cause it just felt so eerily quiet, we never saw any tourists. The craftbeer pub we went to that was about 20 minute walk from the hotel was also absolutely dead. So while the hotel was stunning, I wouldn't particularly recommend staying in Urubamba, really. Ollantaytambo is so much more charming, so if you're doing the same tour as us with Taxidatum, I would suggest you make Ollantaytambo your final stop (unless you have a particular desire to visit the beautiful hotel we went to - it is extremely Instagrammable!).

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Day 4 - Ollantaytambo Inca Fortress

We dumped our bags at our hotel and headed straight to the Ollantaytambo Archaeological Site in town. The entrance was included in the 130 soles (£28 GBP) tourist ticket that we had bought at the start of our Sacred Valley Taxidatum tour the day before, but the ticket includes numerous other sites. We just had to show them our ticket, they punched a hole in the Ollantaytambo section and off we went.

The site is an Incan fortress, one of the most sophisticated examples of Inca engineering, serving as both a ceremonial center and a strategic defensive stronghold in the Sacred Valley. Its most striking feature is the Temple of the Sun, where six massive red monoliths are joined with incredible precision using thin stone spacers. The site was designed to align with solar events; during the winter solstice, the sun strikes specific points on the mountain across the valley, illuminating the face of the deity Wiracocha. The fortress also showcases massive agricultural terraces that follow the natural curvature of the land, demonstrating the Inca mastery of integrating man-made structures with the rugged Andean topography.

Geologically, the "Imperial" sections of the fortress are composed of pink rhyolite, a volcanic rock prized for its durability and striking color. These rocks did not originate from the site itself; they were extracted from the Cachiqata quarry, located approximately 5 km away on the opposite side of the river (there is a hiking trail to there). To transport blocks weighing up to 50 tons, the Incas engineered an extraordinary logistical system that involved dragging the stones down steep slopes, diverting the river to move them across the water and hauling them up the massive ramp leading to the fortress summit. The presence of "tired stones", blocks abandoned mid-transit along the path, provides a permanent archaeological record of this monumental geological relocation.

The setting of the fortress is spectacular, but as you go up you also get stellar views over the village of Ollantaytambo, the Pinkuylluna Granaries on the opposite side and the Sacred Valley.

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Day 4 - Pinkuylluna Granaries of Ollantaytambo

Our second stop of the day after visiting the Ollantaytambo Incan Fortress was the Pinkuylluna archaeological site. The site sits on the slopes just in front of our hotel, Picaflor Tambo B&B and the trailhead was just a stonethrow from our front door. It is a collection of ancient Inca storehouses or "qollqas", perched precariously on the steep cliffs of Pinkuylluna Mountain overlooking the town of Ollantaytambo, offering a spectacular view of the town. Built during the 15th century, these structures were strategically positioned at high altitudes to take advantage of the cool, constant mountain breezes, which acted as natural refrigeration for preserving grain, maize and tubers.

The climb up is very steep but 100% worthwhile! The ruins are free to visit (though that could change in the future) and are a must-do while in Ollantaytambo. Don't miss it!

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We timed everything pretty well and everything went really smoothly. This was our itinerary:

1. Inca Rail train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes at 07:22, arriving at Ollantaytambo railway station at least 30min before to check into train.

2. Arrival in Aguas Calientes at 08:50am. Walked straight to Consettur Bus Tickets office, got tickets immediately, walked straight to bus queue and we were en-route within 15 min of getting bus tickets.

3. Timed entry into Machu Picchu Circuit 1 at 10am, arrived about half an hour early.

After we got back from Machu Picchu we had a fair few hours to kill in Aguas Calientes as our train back to Ollantaytambo wasn't until 7pm. This was done on purpose for two reasons: (1) The last time I was in Machu Picchu it was part of the Inca Trail and once we had finished the tour, we got shipped straight back to the train station to go back to Cusco but I thought Aguas Calientes was so pretty, I would have wanted to stay there for a bit of time. So this time, I allowed for some time to wander around and get to see some of the village. (2) The train was cheaper at that time compared to the earlier trains.

Seeing practically the whole village doesn't take very long though, we found out quickly, maybe just 1-2 hours or so. The rest of the time, we just spent having some excellent food and drink at the Mapacho Craft Beer Restaurant by the river, which we both highly recommend. See the food section higher up for details.

The village is tucked into this very narrow valley surrounded by towering peaks and the roaring rivers. There's lots of massive granite boulders scattered around town which artists have carved traditional art into. There's literally endless restaurants all around town, and the artisan market is massive. Below are some photos from around Aguas Calientes.

Where to stay in Aguas Calientes

We did not stay in Aguas Calientes as we opted for the more traditional and less hectic Ollantaytambo on the other side of the train line, as we had pre-purchased our Machu Picchu entry ticket months before. However, you will likely find yourself needing to stay in Aguas Calientes if you do not have a pre-purchased ticket, as it's here you need to buy one of the 1000 last minute tickets. Aguas Calientes is a very small village but there's suprising number of places to sleep for the size of the place. The benefit of staying in Aguas Calientes is that you get the chance to go as early as possible up to Machu Picchu (if you have pre-purchased tickets. If you don't, then you're at the mercy of whatever circuit at whatever time is available after standing in the last-minute ticket queue).

We considered staying in Aguas Calientes to get to be one of the first people into Machu Picchu but I decided against it because we were there at the end of the rainy season, and the clouds can linger in the early morning, blocking all visibility. Therefore we went for the 10am entry ticket, which also meant we could stay in Ollantaytambo 2 nights instead and not mess around with our luggage back and forth. But if you do find yourself in Aguas Calientes, the below hotels are some of the ones we considered staying at, with the relevant prices for the time of year we were going:

• Hatun Inti Classic (£50 per night) - stunning views

• Casa de Luz Hotel (£60 per night) - better reviews

• Taypikala Boutique Machupicchu (£95 per night) a bit outside our budget but the hotel is highly rated, with beautiful views and their breakfast rated as "superb" so maybe worth the splurge.

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Blast from the past: Hiking the Inca Trail

If you are an avid hiker, the Inca Trail is a great multi-day trail that takes you to Machu Picchu by foot. I did the trek back in 2007 with a company called Peru Treks, which appear to still be operating and still get good reviews, all these years later. The classic Inca Trail is 4 days / 3 nights where you trek 42 km through mountainous terrain, carrying all your things on your back and sleeping in a tent en route. It is an extremely popular trek which costs from $780 USD including door to door service, tents, campsites, all food and entrance fee to the ruins. Extras, when I was there, included the rental of a sleeping bag and if you wanted an extra porter to carry everything but your daypack. Because the trek is so popular, you're best booking as early as you possibly can if you want to get your preferred departure date. Note that you will need a few days in Cusco for acclimatising before you start the trek. This is extremely important, because you definitely don't want to suffer altitude sickness in the middle of nowhere.

The hike is divided into four parts:

1. Arriving at the trail head. The walk is pretty easy 14km walk with light rolling hills.

2. The second day is really tough, with a very steep uphill climb from 3300masl to 4215masl, followed by a steep downhill climb. Where the second day stops varies by company. Peru Treks stopped in Pacaymayo Alto, doing just 11km on that day, while other companies may push on to Chaquicocha.

3. The third day takes you almost entirely downhill, constantly for most of the day, to Wiñay Wayna. There's a long section where you're walking down steps, which are awkwardly spaced. Don't do the same mistake as me, using always the same foot down to the next step (it's easy to do because of the length of each step). I ended up with immense cramps and was almost unable to continue the downhill walk after hours of doing the same. The third day can range between 10-16km in length, depending on where you stayed overnight on Day 2.

4. The last and fourth day is technically a very easy hike that's only 5km in length. However, it is made difficult by the fact that you set out in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT to get to Machu Picchu for sunrise. If it is raining, as it was when I did the Inca Trail, it gets even trickier. Make very sure that you take a GOOD torch or headlamp with you.

A cross-section of the trek is shown below, giving you an idea of the terrain:

Elevation profile of the 4 day Inca Trail in Peru

When I went back to Peru this time in 2026, I decided I wanted to see Machu Picchu with minimum effort, as I had already done the Inca Trail, and for me it took a bit away from the charm arriving there completely soaked to the bone after little sleep, so this time I wanted to actually feel fresh to enjoy the site.

However, if you are planning to do the Inca Trail, I have the following recommendations for you:

• Be aware that the Inca Trail closes in February for maintenance.

• Be aware of the wet season - you really want to aim to go some time between April and November, avoid December through end of March if you don't like getting soaked.

• Go with a reputable company.

• Book as early as you possibly can. The spots can sell out months in advance.

• Go to the gym for a few months before doing the trek and train using the Stairmaster / ClimbMill. Keep a record of how many steps you do within a timescale and aim to constantly improve the number of steps you complete within a timeframe. This will help you cope with Dead Woman's Pass.

• Pay for an additional porter. I didn't because I was young and a cheapskate but I suffered as a result. It is worthwhile getting someone to carry your stuff and only have to worry about carrying your daypack with water, waterproofs and snacks.

• Allow time in Cusco to acclimatise to the high elevation. Most reputable companies will not allow you to go on the trek unless you've done so.

• Make sure your waterproofs are up for the challenge. Even if you go in dry season, it can rain any time.

• Make sure you have walked-in your hiking boots, unless you fancy blisters all over your feet!

And just to end this section - a few photos I took back in 2007 while trekking the Inca Trail.

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Day 6 - Cusco Free city tour

I heard about this platform called GuruWalks from a German person living in Glasgow, but she was trying to see if some of us foreigners living in the city fancied joining a free tour with her. This led me to trying it out when we were in Colombia back in 2024/2025 and we had an awesome tour of the Comuna 13 slum of Medellin, so I thought I'd give it a go again when we were in Cusco.

Unfortunately, the tour did not live up to expectations this time, as the guide seemed extremely disinterested, and was just rushing us from A to B with barely any context of each stop at all. He was moving very fast, which in a city like Cusco at 3300m above sea level when you have literally just arrived from the coast, doesn't seem like the best idea, racing around the steep hills of the city, feeling completely out of breath. The organisation was terrible as well. An American that was with us on the tour had booked for a morning slot, however nobody showed up to do the tour. When we booked, we were told our guide was named "x" but when we went to the square there was a guy "y" who picked us up at the meeting point and then sent us away with a guy "z" who actually ended up being our tour guide and passed on money to guy "y" before taking us away. It almost felt like some sort of a mafia operation. Certainly did not inspire confidence.

I know the tour is "free" but tips are always expected and at the end of the tour, we didn't really feel like the guide deserved the tip. I won't recommend this tour, but I will link it so that you maybe book something else if you're wanting to go on a walking tour. The tour has loads of positive reviews, but based on our experience, they must be fake reviews.

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Day 7 - Chill in Cusco

After running around the hills of Cusco on our first day in Cusco the day before, the altitude was hitting me a bit. an acclimatization day in Cusco. With my blood oxygen levels dropping to just 79% it was time to take it easy. Besides, we had had action packed last few days, seeing Chinchero ruins, the Chinchero weavers, Moray, Maras, Ollantaytambo Incan Fortress, Pinkuylluna Granaries, Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes in just 3 days prior to us coming to Cusco and doing the city tour. So we had earned a chill out day.

The first task was to drink some coca tea to help with the acclimatization. Coca tea is primarily celebrated for its efficacy in alleviating altitude sickness (soroche) by improving oxygen uptake and blood flow at high elevations. It contains alkaloids that act as a mild stimulant, offering a gentle boost in energy and mental clarity similar to a cup of coffee but without the intense jitters. Beyond its respiratory benefits, the tea serves as a traditional digestive aid, helping to soothe stomach upset and ease intestinal spasms. Additionally, it possesses mild analgesic properties and contains essential minerals like calcium, potassium, and phosphorus, along with vitamins A and E, making it a functional tonic in Andean culture for fatigue and general wellness

Museums were the easy option for activities for the day, so we went to the Qorikancha Museum on our ticket, as well as the Museo Machu Picchu Casa Concha museum. So, after breakfast, we headed to the Qorikancha Site Museum. It is an archaeological museum located underground directly beneath the gardens of the ancient Temple of the Sun. It serves as a repository for artifacts unearthed during the site's major excavations in the 1990s, showcasing a chronological timeline of the region's history through pre-Inca, Inca, and colonial-era displays. The small museum is included in the Tourist Ticket (Boleto Turistico) and features mummies, ceremonial ceramics and metallic tools. The museum also features a fascinating collection of pre-Columbian skulls that showcase the ancient Andean practice of cranial deformation where the heads of infants were bound with boards or bandages to achieve elongated or flattened shapes as a sign of social status or tribal identity. There are also specimens displaying trepanation, an advanced surgical procedure where Inca "surgeons" removed sections of the skull to treat head injuries, pressure or psychological ailments. While the museum is interesting, it is very small and if it weren't free with the Boleto Turistico, it might not be worth the entrance fee.

The next stop was Casa Concha Museum, The museum is located within a stunning 18th-century colonial mansion, which itself is built atop the Puka Marka Inca palace. The entrance fee of 20 soles is not included in the Boleto Turistico, but is well worth the fee.

The museum is dedicated to the discovery of Machu Picchu and housed the collection of Machu Picchu artifacts returned by Yale University. It features over 360 pieces including ceramics, textiles and skeletal remains recovered by Hiram Bingham when Machu Picchu was first discovered. It explains the layout of Machu Picchu and contains photographs from the original expedition, with old photographs of Machu Picchu as well as from Aguas Calientes from when it was a mere outposti.

Our recommendation is to go to the Casa Concha museum BEFORE visiting Machu Picchu, as it will give you some great insight into the design of the citadel.

The rest of the day was spent eating, drinking and chilling. For lunch, we went to a restaurant called Chicha, owned by Gaston Acurio, who's a bit like the Gordon Ramsay of Peru. There we had delicious Peruvian empanadas and a sharing platter with traditional Peruvian food, such as potatoes, humita, corn, rocoto relleno and chicharrón.

We also discovered a great craftbeer as we escaped from the rain once and into the 7 Vidas taproom. We liked it so much that we ended up going twice the same day, the second time for dinner snacks. For food pics and recommendations, go to the food section above.

Massage in Cusco

I had been wanting to find a place for a massage since I got to Peru, just to get rid of all that tension from work-related stress and the long travel to get to Peru. However, I hadn't really fancied any of the places in Ollantaytambo and we hadn't stopped long enough in Lima. Cusco however is the perfect place to unwind with a massage, if a massage is what you're after. I ended up going to this place called Mystical Tierra which comes highly rated on Google, where I had the so called "Inka Massage" which cost 150 soles (£31 GBP) for the hour. It was basically a mix of aroma therapy, Swedish massage and hot stone massage, it was incredible and I highly recommend it!

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It took us just about 2 hours to complete the walking route shown above, but we did the smart thing to start at the top and walk down to the village - if you're going to be paying for a taxi one way, it may as well be the way up rather than down! If you choose to walk up from Pisac village (why would you do this to yourself??), you'll have to gain total of 438m in elevation in quite a short space of time. We met a couple doing it the opposite way around when we were almost at the bottom, and the guy looked like he was regretting his life choices... and they had only just started!

The day we went to Pisac was one of our best days in Peru, and we both highly recommend this trek to anybody who loves hiking and nature. In my opinion this trek is better than the Inca Trail. You see a lot more ruins in much shorter space of time, it feels a lot more isolated and less touristy, the scenery is just SO spectacular and as an extra bonus, you don't have to carry 4 days worth of stuff in a backpack or sleep in a tent. It's a bit like an "Inca Trail in a Miniature", except you pay the tiniest fraction of the price!!

Pisac ruins are already included in the Boleto Turistico, which you will most likely end up buying anyways if you're in the Sacred Valley. The partial ticket includes Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, and Moray and costs 70 soles (£15.50 GBP). That's about £4 GBP for the entrance fee per site. So if we add the numbers for our trip to Pisac, it was £1.35 GBP x2 for the colectivo, £7.65 GBP split two ways (if you're 2 travelling) for the taxi up, which takes the full price of this wonderful daytrip from Cusco, which will likely be one of your highlights of your trip to Peru, to just £10.53 GBP per person!

During this relatively short trek, we saw some utterly stunning landscape and more Incan ruins than we can count! There was also a fun little twist on the way where we had to squeeze through a tunnel that had been carved through the rock by the Incas. At the end of the trek we had a nice lunch at La Ruta by the main square and did some shopping at the famous Pisac handicraft market, where you can get some really good deals on wonderful Peruvian handicraft. I highly recommend wandering through the market, but be sure to have some cash on you, cause you'll want to buy some souvenirs for sure!

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Day 9 - Sacsayhuaman Ruins

On our 9th day of travel (8th day in Peru) we visited Sacsayhuamán, a monumental Inca citadel and ceremonial complex on the outskirts of Cusco, an attraction that is included i n the Boleto Turistico (which also includes Moray, Chinchero and Pisac in the Sacred Valley, plus some museums).

Geology of Sacsayhuaman

The ancient citadel sits atop a steep limestone hill of mid- to upper-Cretaceous age, overlooking the city at about 3,700 m elevation. For context, limestone typically forms in warm, shallow seas, generally less than 200 m deep. However, due to the Nazca Plate being forced beneath South America (subduction), the continent’s edge has crumpled, thickened, and risen over time. This process uplifted what was once shallow seabed to its current location of roughly 3,700 m above sea level.

The limestone outcrop provided abundant local building material, a stable bedrock platform for massive construction, and a naturally defensible, yet symbolically significant, high point. Sacsayhuamán is one of the best places to appreciate Inca stonework from the 15th century. The site is renowned for its enormous, expertly fitted limestone walls, constructed without mortar, with some individual stones weighing between 100 and 300 tons.

The Incas quarried this local limestone and shaped it using harder igneous hammerstones such as andesite and diorite. They then fitted the stones together with extraordinary precision and without any mortar, forming the iconic zig-zag terraces that still stand today.

The striking El Rodadero diorite outcrop at Sacsayhuamán is approximately 200 m in diameter. Diorite is an intrusive igneous rock, meaning it formed from magma that cooled slowly underground, allowing large crystals to develop. The diorite here is composed of plagioclase, orthoclase, augite, titanite, apatite, ilmenite, epidote, calcite and chlorite, and is classified as an augite-bearing diorite porphyry. Because this intrusion cuts through Cretaceous formations, it is estimated to date to the Tertiary period.

El Rodadero displays polished and grooved surfaces across nearly the entire outcrop, forming prominent slickensides with north-south striations. The origin of these markings is still debated. One leading hypothesis suggests they formed from friction between the limestone country rock and the edge of the intrusive body. Another proposes that the smooth grooves developed as rock blocks slid past one another along a fault plane, now exposed at the surface. There is also anecdotal evidence that centuries of human activity, people literally sliding down the rock—have further polished and smoothed its surface.

Aside from the fascinating history and geology of Sacsayhuamán, the site offers the very best views of Cusco.

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Off-piste: The Rainbow Mountains of Peru

One of my goals for this trip to Peru was to go and see the very famous Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain from Cusco. Unfortunately, we could not make it there, as I was coping poorly with the altitude after spending about a week at 3000m altitude and not really adjusting very well. Therefore, it was not advisable to continue up to 5000m above sea level, which is the altitude at which the Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain is encountered. However, I did my research on the different places to see before we went to Peru, so I thought I'd share those details with you, as I imagine you'll want to go there.

Geology of the Rainbow Mountains of Peru

There is a good geological reason for the presence of these beautifully multicoloured mountains. All three mountains owe their striking appearance to the same broad geological story - Layers of sediment deposited millions of years ago were buried, compressed, uplifted and tilted by the formation of the Andes, and then exposed by erosion.

1. The first phase was the accumulation of sediments over tens of millions of years from rivers, shallow seas, lakes, deserts and volcanic eruptions that deposited layers of sand, silt, clay, limestone, volcanic ash and iron-rich minerals. These sediments were gradually turned to rock.

2. The Andean orogeny that began roughly 50-60 million years ago then compressed and folded the rocks, causing the formerly horizontal sedimentary layers to buckle, fold, tilt steeply upward and fracture along faults, resulting in the dramatic striped mountainsides visible today, with colours further enhanced as the rocks get exposed to the surface through erosion and mineral weathering / oxidation.

Some of the colours at the Vinicunca mountain are explained below, but the reason behind the colours in other rainbow mountains will be broadly similar.

The 3 Most Famous Rainbow Mountains of Peru

The rainbow mountains are stunning geological marvels formed by millions of years of mineral weathering. While Vinicunca is the world-famous original, Palcoyo and Pallay Punchu offer drastically different terrains, crowd levels, and physical demands. The most famous "rainbow mountains" of Peru are located in the Andes Mountains not too far from Cusco, typically visited as a daytrip from there. Just note that altitude sickness (soroche) doesn't care how fit you are. Because all three trails take place well above 4,700 meters, you must spend at least 2 to 3 days acclimating in Cusco (3,400 m) before attempting any of them. Stay hydrated, eat light meals the night before, and sip on coca tea.

The three most famous rainbow mountains are:

Vinicunca - The Classic Rainbow Mountain

This is the famous, Instagram-iconic mountain you see in all the travel brochures. It features wide, sweeping ribbons of turquoise, magenta, and gold. It takes about 3.5-4 hrs one way to get there from Cusco, with tours leaving brutally early as a result, usually between 3:00 AM and 3:30 AM. It is Peru’s second most-visited attraction after Machu Picchu and crowds are therefore extreme. There's a good chance you will be hiking in a massive column of thousands of tourists, and you'll likely have to wait in a queue to take a photo at the top. Vinicunca is the highest and most oxygen-deprived of the three rainbow mountains, reaching a maximum altitude of 5,200 meters / 17,060 feet. The hike up is strenuous even though the trail has been shortened over the years to a 1.5 to 2-hour uphill walk (~7 km round trip), with the extreme altitude making every step feel like a marathon. You can rent a horse from local handlers for the majority of the uphill climb if you are struggling, though you must walk the final, highest and steepest stretch to the viewpoint yourself. Another alternative that's been recently started as well, which was the option I was considering for us was the ATV tour, which requires less walking and you can also see the Red Valley, which looks really amazing as well. As this rainbow mountain is so extremely popular, it is very easily booked through literally any tour agency in Cusco, Viator or GetYourGuide for a very low price. Alternatively, you can hire a private driver with Taxidatum, but the road is heavily trafficked by tour buses.

Palcoyo - The Easy, Multi-Mountain Alternative

Palcoyo is actually a valley that features three separate rainbow mountains, a bizarre stone forest (bosque de piedras), and views of the massive Ausangate glacier. The colors are slightly more pastel, but the landscape is vastly more expansive. It is located about a ~3.5 hours drive from Cusco, with organised tour departures leaving slightly later than Vinicunca (usually around 4:30 AM) and crowds are a tiny fraction of that at Vinicunca, meaning you can fairly easily take photos without a single stranger in the background. The maximum elevation reached is 4,900 m / 16,076 feet but the tour bus drives you almost all the way to the top. The hike is a mostly flat, gentle 45-minute to 1-hour walk (~3 km round trip) along a ridge. Horses are rarely needed or available here because the trail is so short and flat. As with Vinicunca, you can book tours either at local agencies in Cusco or online Viator or GetYourGuide.

Palcoyo Mountain (Photo Credit: Inka Altitude)

Pallay Punchu - The Sharp Newcomer

Discovered much more recently, Pallay Punchu translates roughly to "Filigree Poncho" because its sharp, vertical zig-zag patterns mimic traditional Andean textiles. It features a wildly dramatic, jagged topography that looks more alien and sharp than the rolling slopes of Vinicunca. It also overlooks the massive, beautiful Langui-Layo Lagoon in the valley below. It is located some 3.5-4.5 hours drive from Cusco and remains almost entirely untouched by mass tourism (for now), which also means getting there is tricky without private transfer (and possibly even an overnight stay in Sicuani or Layo, depending on what time you leave). While it sits at the lowest peak altitude of the three (4790 m / 15,715 ft), it is still a strenuous, steep hike. If you take a standard tour, the vehicle drops you close enough for a brief 30-to-45-minute hike, but the terrain is naturally steep, loose, and pointed. (Note: Avoid the independent 10 km trek from Layo village unless you are an experienced, fully acclimated trekker).

Pallay Punchu Mountain (Photo credit: Salkantay Trekking)

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Day 11 - Santa Catalina Monastery in Arequipa

I had previously been to this beautiful, highly instagrammable monastery some 2 decades ago. This time, as we were in the city and the fact that Joe has never been, we visited the Santa Catalina Monastery in Arequipa. It is an extraordinary "city within a city," founded in 1579 as a cloistered convent for the Dominican Second Order. It is like a maze, in which you can easily lose yourself for 2 hours. The entrance fee is currently 50 soles (£10.60 GBP) per person.

Unlike the austere, communal living typically associated with monastic life, Santa Catalina was famously exclusive, primarily housing women from wealthy Spanish families. These families paid significant dowries to enroll their daughters, who often entered the convent with their own private servants or slaves. The nuns lived in individual, beautifully decorated suites rather than shared cells, and the complex expanded into a sprawling 20,000-square-meter labyrinth of narrow streets, vibrant plazas, and sun-drenched courtyards painted in iconic "Arequipa blue" and sienna red.

For much of its history, the monastery functioned more like a high-society retreat than a place of rigorous penance. Because the inhabitants were of noble descent, they maintained a lifestyle that mirrored their secular privilege; they hosted musical performances, enjoyed fine imported porcelain, and lived in relative luxury behind the high volcanic sillar walls (more on the sillar stone later).

This era of indulgence lasted for nearly three centuries until 1871, when Sister Josefa Cadena was sent by the Pope to reform the convent, enforcing a strict vow of poverty and communal living. Today, the site remains an architectural masterpiece that captures a unique intersection of colonial religious fervor and the stratified social hierarchies of the Spanish elite.

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Day 12 - Chilling in Arequipa City

We didn't do much on our second day in Arequipa, as we needed to get laundry done and thought we'd just take a day to enjoy our very nice hotel suite, watch telly, eat good food (Arequipa has plenty of it!) and just generally wander around the city. For anybody looking to do laundry in Arequipa, I can confirm thatthere are a fair few on Calle Jerusalen as you walk towards the north from the Plaza. Likewise on the same street but called Calle San Juan de Dios once it goes south of Calle Mercaderes, there are lots of money exchange places, should you need it.

Arequipa is one of the loveliest cities in Peru, so it was nice to just get a full day to enjoy it. I did have some plans for us to go to the Museo Sanctuarios Andinos, which was the most famous and most intersting museum of Arequipa when I was there 19 years ago forhaving a mummy called "Juanita" or "The Ice Maiden" that was an exceptionally preserved frozen body of an Inca girl that was sacrificed more than 500 years ago and discovered in 1995 near the summit of Mt. Ampato volcano. However, back then I didn't have enough time to go and see it so I planned to see it this time. Though only to find out that the mummy is no longer on display and you can also no longer visit the museum without a guide. So in the end we decided against going.

Thinking of how we could occupy our time in Arequipa, I suggested we could go to the market. Except when we got to the market, it was actually closed for a one-off cleaning. Ah well....

Day 13 - Reserva Nacional de Salinas y Aguada Blanca

Our first tour from Arequipa was to the Reserva Nacional de Salinas y Aguada Blanca, which is focused on high-altitude scenery and wildlife rather than hiking or historical sites. It's one of the best excursions from Arequipa if you enjoy photography, wildlife, nature or dramatic volcanic landscapes.

We booked the tour through Viator but the travel agency was a bit disorganised for my liking, as we had to chase them and chase them, and then chase them some more to get to know when they'd actually be picking us up the next day. In the end, we managed to get a reply through WhatsApp that they'd be picking us up from our hotel at 06:15am.

As the tour starts so early, there was no opportunity to have breakfast at the hotel but the tour stops in a small village called Chiguata just outside Arequipa where they stopped at this place called Hatun Wasi for breakfast. The breakfast was fine - they served us a tasty Peruvian style bread with an egg and some coffee, so that did the job and when booked through Viator, the breakfast is included in the price.

On the way we had some excellent views of Misti volcano, as well as the other volcanoes surrounding Arequipa and after breakfast began the rather hair-raising journey along the foothills of Pichu Pichu volcano. The road is rough and with sheer drops, so it did not help that our driver seemed to like driving the bus right at the edge rather than along the cliff face. I'm guessing he must have had a previous accident where he had a rock fall onto his vehicle or something? I don't know. But the scenery was stunning.

The first tourist stop is a quick one at a church made of the Sillar stone, which is famous in the Arequipa region. Then we continued onwards to the high plains where we could see some alpacas roaming and then shortly after stopped at a place that breeds llamas and alpacas, where you could pay a small sum of soles (didn't ask how much but don't think it was a lot) to go into a pen and pet them. That was very popular amongst some of our travel companions.

We then continued onwards to the salt flats or "Salinas", which was one of our main stops of this trip. We got a fair bit of free time there to take some funny photos.

There's also a really, really shallow lake in the same area where you get these absolutely incredible mirror reflections and you can walk a fair distance without getting the inside of your shoes wet.

The landscape is just generally so beautifully desolate and alien. There are also pink flamingoes that we did see, but did not capture a photo of before they flew off, but we got some pictures of llamas and alpacas.

One everybody had explored the salt plains, we got back on the bus and travelled further inland to an area of hotsprings and even more alien landscapes, including what the guide called a "mini volcano", though I would say it's more of a hotspring that is loaded with mineralswhich fall out of solution, cristalising around the opening of the hotspring, similar to what we get in Iceland. The only thing it really had in common with a "volcano" was that it was slightly cone shaped with a "crater" at the top (where the water comes out). There is a small viewing platform with a very short ladder of something like 4 or 5 steps. At this point you are at about 4,860 m / 15,945 ft above sea level, and gosh was I glad I decided against going to Rainbow Mountain, because I literally felt like I was going to die after those 4-5 steps.

Here, there was also an opportunity to go for a dip in a hotspring, which we did, because why not. However, there are no showering facilities, so you will be sharing the bodily dirt of your fellow travellers until you get back to your hotel. The bottom of the hotspring is also extremely muddy, which made me feel a bit queasy.

This was the last stop of the tour before heading back to Arequipa. There were some shops there selling sandwiches and such things, but the guide told us it would be a bad idea to buy them. I suspect he was saying that, because we were being taken back to the same restaurant we had breakfast at for our extremely late lunch - I think it was something like 3:30pm or something by the time we got to the restaurant, if not later!

The restaurant in Chiguata ended up being a massive disappointment and expensive for the very little, poor quality food that we got given. My recommendation would be, if you are at all able, is to take some form of packed lunch with you and then just go for a walk while everybody else is having their expensive bad lunch.

We eventually got back to Arequipa, having had a day of adventures. We saw some great sights and we overall enjoyed the tour but as I mentioned before, the fact that people were given lunch SOOOOO late, and then the food was just pretty rubbish as well, I would just say... bring your own lunch if you can. I would also say that while this tour is in many ways comparable to the Altiplano & Uyuni Salt Flats tour in Bolivia in terms of what you see, the Bolivian one is still far superior. Just see some of my pictures from previous trips to Bolivia, trips that were just incredible and I will never forget. I certainly hope to go back so that Joe can experience it too some day.

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The next stop on the Sillar Route was the Culebrillas "canyon". It's not really an actual canyon but more of a ravine where water has cut through the rock over a very long period of time. It reminded me a bit of Antelope Canyon in Arizona, except this is a type of an ignimbrite rather than the red Navajo sandstone.

The walk through the Culebrillas Ravine is short, but there is some fairly uneven ground, so our hiking shoes definitely came in handy. We were just surprised to see that we were the only ones wearing them! Everybody else just looked like they just came off a cruise ship or something!

After we finished the walk, we were then taken back on the bus and driven to the western part of Arequipa where we had a splendid view of the Misti volcano, as well as some decorative arches featuring the famous Sillar stone to finish up the tour before being driven back into the historical centre.

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Day 16 - Huacachina Dune Buggy & Sandboarding tour

One of the top things to do in Huacachina is to go on a dune buggy & sandboarding tour of the dunes. There are loads of tour operators, but we booked through the hostel next door, Bananas Adventure Hostel, which cost 70 soles (£15.50 GBP) per person, but you get a 20% discount of that price if you actually stay there. It is also possible to book the tour on Viator or GetYourGuide.

We booked the sunset tour and went on this fun and crazy adventure in the Huacachina oasis on our first day in Huacachina. If you're thinking about doing the dune buggy tour, I'd definitely recommend the sunset tour, not only because it's a lot more scenic, with the sun creating these contrasting colours of sunny and shaded sides of the dunes, as well as the beautiful sunset sky, but also because it can be brutally warm during the day, when I'm sure you'd rather be enjoying the swimming pool rather than literally roasting in the baking desert sun, walking through the extremely hot sand.

You should also know that this is an extreme sport. It is not a leisurely drive through the desert - it truly is intense. First we got onto the dune buggy which drives full speed with a throttling engine up dunes and bombing it down the leeward 35° slope of the dune. It felt like a rollercoaster on slippery sand! Or like those Icelandic offroad formula 4x4 rides. What a thrill!

As part of the 2 hr buggy tour, you also get to do some dune surfing using makeshift snowboards. First they took us to the "practice run" dunes where people slid down 2 slopes, but then we were taken to another spot where there were 2 pretty massive dunes for surfing down - though granted, it is more of a "sliding down on your belly" than actual "surfing".

At the end of the tour, we were taken to the dune next to Huacachina for a view of the sunset over the oasis. What I would say is that the dune buggy tour probably isn't for the faint hearted, it is proper extreme activity, but if you're fit and up for it, it's great! It will definitely be one of our most memorable experiences we had in Peru.

At the end of the tour we were dropped off at a spot behind the main Huacachina Oasis dunes, where the travel agencies have put together these makeshift stairs to help you climb up to the top of the dune. I gather they make you walk up despite the fact you've got a dune buggy so that they don't have detrimental effects on the natural beautfy of the oasis and surrounding landscape. It's a bit of a trek up, but once you're at the top, it really is spectacular!

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After visiting the islands, we were taken to a tourist shop in Paracas to try some local sweets and biscuits. It seemed a bit of a waste of time if you ask me and probably just a stop to earn the tour guide / travel agency some additional money. After that, we got back on the bus and explored the land-based part of Reserva Nacional de Paracas, a sprawling protected area where the arid sands of the Atacama meet the nutrient-rich waters of the Pacific Ocean. The reserve is known for its dramatic geological formations, most notably the red-sand beaches and the mysterious Paracas Candelabra, which we actually saw from the Ballestas boat tour.

The landscape in the nature reserve on land is truly alien looking, and the beaches are pretty spectacular.

We were then taken to Lagunillas for a late lunch at a restaurant called Sol de Oro, which was clearly a paid arrangement for the guide/driver, overpriced and not very good. But everyone was absolutely ravenous by that point, so people bought the food anyway.

The tour to the Ballestas Islands & Paracas National Reserve has the potential to be incredible, because you really do get to see some beautiful and amazing natural wonders. The boat tour was very cool, and the desert, particularly its beaches, was beautiful. However, we wouldn’t necessarily recommend the tour itself, as it was spoiled by a fair few things:

• Poor quality of transfer - the minibus was not comfortable. A tall guy on the tour had to sit in the middle seat at the back cause his legs literally did not fit in the seat. It also operated more like a "colectivo" (shared taxi that picks people up and drops people off at random points along its route) than an actual tour transfer. We dropped a fair few people off in Paracas at the end of the tour, thinking "Great, we'll spend less time then dropping everybody off once we're in Ica and Huacachina", except the guide/driver just kept picking up new passengers, so no time was saved.

• Poor timing of activities - We spent lots of time in a boring little shop in Paracas, while we had barely time to take a couple of pictures at Playa Roja in the Paracas National Reserve. We also spent an excessive amount of time at Playa La Mina where people were given a chance to go for a swim (on a very crowded beach), but for those of us who weren't swimming, there was literally nothing to do except sit and wait until everybody was back. I don't even think anybody from our tour group went for a swim, but the tour guide just disappeared and picked us up just over an hour later. The lunch was also very late, but we got our seafood rice at just after 2pm, by which time we were very hungry.

• Poor communication - we were not told at any point prior to being on the bus on our way to Paracas that there was going to be a stop for swimming. So naturally, we did not have any swim wear, neither did our travel companions.

• Guide pushed sales from one specific shop - there was so much time wasted on such a pointless thing, when we could be enjoying more time at the natural sights, which was the whole reason why we came here.

• Guide pushed lunch from one specific restaurant - the restaurant had really poor service, poor quality of food and expensive. There are other restaurants in Playa Lagunillas, but there's no internet to research reviews of these places. To be fair, many of the restaurants were of poor ratings, most rated between 1.5 and 3.1 on Google Maps, with Restaurante El Che and Cevicheria La Tia Fela slightly higher rated, at 3.7 and 3.9 respectively. The ideal thing really would be to just push the guide to let you have your lunch in Paracas town - he asked at the start of the tour which we would prefer, but nobody gave a definitive answer and the guide said that Lagunillas "was better" so we were just taken there by default. The restaurants in Paracas town are SIGNIFICANTLY higher rated, with numerous places rated 4.6 to 4.9 out of 5.

If you do remember to bring your swim wear and towel, ensure you bring some snacks for the road, push for the guide to take you to Paracas for lunch instead of Lagunillas (because you'll actually be going to Paracas right after lunch anyways to drop some people off!) and you're not 6 ft tall, then the tour is actually fine. The rest of the items are minor nuisance, if you want the comfort of having things just organised for you.

Personally, if we were to do it again, our recommendation would be to make a base in Paracas for a night, either on your way south to Huacachina/Nazca/Arequipa or north to Lima. Then organise the boat tour and desert visit from there. There's lots more options that way and you don't get herded into places you don't want to go. From Ica, there are many departures with Cruz del Sur every day and it takes between 1 hr to 1.5 hrs to get to Paracas, costing 25 soles but you'll need to watch the hours if you're planning to go on a boat trip the same day, as the earliest bus doesn't actually get to Paracas until 11:10am. So you may just want to see the desert that day, then go on the boat tour the following morning. There are earlier buses from Lima, leaving at 4am and arriving in Paracas at 07:15, spending 3 hrs 15 min on a bus. The last bus back to Lima is then leaving at 18:20 arriving in Lima at 21:30 in the evening. It's a LONG day, but it is possible to see the islands, the desert and return back to Lima on one and the same day, if you're desperate for time.

At the end of the tour, we went back to the Bananas hostel, as they have a restaurant there with cool vibes. As they cater to backpackers, they sell some of the cheapest drinks we've come across during our travels through Peru, and the food was also good and very reasonable priced too.

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On a tangent: Remembering the Pisco earthquake

As we headed on a wildlife watching tour from Paracas in the Ica region of Peru, I was taken back to the last time I was in this neck of the woods, which was in December 2007. On that occasion, I couldn't go to the Ballestas Islands, famously known as the "Poor Man's Galapagos" as they offer a high-density, low-cost wildlife experience similar to the Galapagos Islands. The reason was that on 15th August 2007, a devastating 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit Peru with an epicenter just off the coast of the town of Pisco in the Ica region, just some 13km north of Paracas. The earthquake was the second most destructive and deadly in South America in the past 20 years, with the 2010 earthquake off the coast of Concepcion in Chile being the most severe.

The Pisco earthquake caused at least 514 deaths, injured 1,300 and left thousands homeless. It destroyed tens of thousands of homes, particularly in the city of Pisco itself.

The impact varied significantly across the region based on their distance from the epicenter and their local geology.

Pisco was the hardest-hit urban center, where the severity of the impact was extreme, with over 80% of the city destroyed and the highest casualty rate. Because many buildings were constructed of adobe (dried mud brick), the intense shaking caused immediate collapses. In a tragic moment, the San Clemente Cathedral collapsed during a memorial service, resulting in over 100 deaths in that single location. The city lost power, water, and communications instantly, and the local hospital was overwhelmed and damaged. I was in South America just a couple of months after the earthquake and was on a long distance bus travelling from Lima to Arequipa. The bus made a stop in Pisco and I just remember the sheer horror of seeing practically all of the city in ruins.

In Paracas, where we find ourselves today on tour, the severity of the impact was high, with severe structural damage and a significant local tsunami. Located just south of Pisco, Paracas suffered from both the tremors and the sea. A localized tsunami struck the bay. While not as large as trans-oceanic tsunamis, the surge flooded the shore, destroying beachfront hotels and "El Chaco" harbor facilities. Concerns were raised about the famous geoglyph, but it remained largely intact, though the surrounding National Reserve saw the collapse of the "La Catedral" rock formation, a natural arched landmark.

The regional capital Ica experienced prolonged, violent shaking and high severity of impact, with major damage to historic structures and infrastructure. The city’s iconic Sanctuary of the Lord of Luren partially collapsed, becoming a symbol of the earthquake’s cultural toll. Some areas also experienced soil liquefaction, causing roads to crack and tilt. Thousands were left homeless as modern brick homes fared better than the older adobe quarters.

In Huacachina Oasis where we are currently staying, the village felt the shaking intensely, but the damage was less catastrophic than in the dense urban centers. however there was severe disruption to tourism, which is the village's livelihood. Residents reported changes in the water levels of the oasis, likely due to the shifting of the local water table caused by the seismic waves.

Pisco is built on a coastal plain characterized by loose, saturated sand deposits and a very shallow water table. When the high-amplitude, long-duration seismic waves hit, the pore water pressure between the sand grains escalated rapidly. The soil completely lost its shear strength, temporarily behaving like a dense liquid. his led to massive bearing capacity failures. Even buildings that were structurally sound above ground suddenly tilted, settled uniformly by several feet, or suffered lateral spreading (where the ground literally slid toward the ocean). Today, geotechnical reporting is mandatory before any major construction in Pisco. Engineers now utilize dynamic compaction, vibro-flotation, or deep concrete pile foundations that bypass the liquefiable upper sand layers to anchor structures directly into stable bedrock or denser strata.

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Day 18 - Travel day to Lima

We had a departure from Ica to Lima at a reasonable hour, leaving at 9am and arriving in Lima at 13:20. We had booked the usual 160 degree reclining seats on Cruz del Sur and were looking forward to the chilled, comfortable journey. However, as it drew closer to getting on our bus, we realised our bus wasn't coming... An announcement was made, stating that something had happened to the bus on the way from Arequipa to Nasca and therefore, we were going to be placed on alternative transport. The alternative transport arrived some 30min or so later, but we had unfortunately been downgraded to the less comfortable seats.

We eventually made it to Lima though, checked into our hotel, the iNNSiDE by the Melia franchise and went to the bar for our welcome drink. We also tried to get some food but weirdly a lot of places are closed on a Sunday, including the 7 Vidas taproom we planned to visit that afternoon. We did end up finding an allright place though nearby for some burgers and beers, but then just chilled for the remainder of the day, enjoying watching the TV in our hotel room.

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Day 19 - Historic Centre of Lima and the Catacombs of the San Francisco Convent

Lima is a HUGE city and I always find huge cities a bit daunting. It takes ages to get from A to B and things are very spread out. I had also been to Lima a couple of times before, and while the city is "nice" there's nothing overly exciting about it, unless you're there for the food, of which there's LOADS. We had however eaten so much Peruvian food during the past weeks that our cravings were very much muted by this point.

Once place I had never been though on my previous journeys was the historical centre. To get to the historical centre, we took an Uber, which was just silly cheap. We paid 14 soles for the 30 minute ride from Miraflores, but we gave the driver a good tip, because seriously.... £3.10 GBP is very cheap for that length of ride.

I was always warned that it was "dangerous" and I was on my own, so I had avoided it. And maybe it is a bit dodgy at night, I don't know. But when we went to the historical centre on this trip, it didn't feel the slightest bit dodgy. There was also a lot of police presence, so that might be why. I first wondered why there were so many guards and police, so I stopped at the main square to ask one of them, asking if there was going to be a protest or some event, but they said no - that there's always this much security. They were clearly very bored, as they tried their best to keep the conversation going, telling us about places in Peru that we should go and see, food that we should eat, asking us about our journey across the country and such thing. Until I finally, eventually, managed to politely excuse myself and we got moving again.

The historical centre of Lima has lots of beautiful colonial buildings and just seemed eerlily quiet.

After wandering for a while and grabbing a nice frappuchino at an outdoor cafe, we decided to do one touristy thing - to visit the catacombs in the San Francisco Convent.

When you visit the catacombs, you must go with a tour guide and the one that we were given didn't speak terribly good English and had significant lisp, so it was very difficult to understand him, though he was clearly very passionate about the convent and the catacombs. Sadly, it's not allowed to take pictures on the tour, but there are some rule breakers who have posted on the internet, so I can still show you what the catacombs are like. It was an interesting underground tour, but if you've been to the ones beneath Paris, then this will likely feel quite underwhelming.

Dentist in Lima

After the catacombs, we needed to get back to Miraflores because I had an dental cleaning appointment with a local dentist at Dental Protect in Miraflores. They charge 160 soles for the cleaning which is a fair bit for Peru (£35 GBP) but cheaper than the dental hygenist at home. Way easier to get an appointment as well.

What I also discovered is that teeth cleaning at the hygenist doesn't need to be painful. I have avoided going for WAY too long, because the hygenist at home leaves me in so much agony, leaving me as a ball of stress and anxiety any time I need to go. However, the dentist (not hygenist!) at Dental Protect in Lima uses an ultrasonic tool to clean the teeth, something I had never tried before and was absolutely astonished by the fact that it didn't hurt a bit getting my teeth cleaned! Best £35 I ever spent, and I will certainly be looking for clinics that use this technique in the future, rather than the medieval torture devices commonly used by UK hygenists.

So if you're looking to get your teeth cleaned while in Lima, I wholly and fully recommend Dental Protect in Miraflores! At the time of writing, they have an average of 5 out of 5 stars on Google Maps from 374 reviews - it can't get much better than that!

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Day 20 - Chill in Miraflores and Flight back home

This was out last day in Peru and thanks to Joe's status with Melia, we were able to secure a late check-out from the hotel, important as we weren't flying until in the evening so having a base to crash until 4pm was ideal.

Siete Sopas

Paddington the Bear

7 Vidas Taproom

Handicraft Markets

LATAM Lounge in Lima airport

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