Peru boasts one of the most spectacular ruins in the world—Machu Picchu—reason enough to journey to this incredible country. But Peru offers so much more to the adventurous traveler. Cusco is South America’s oldest continually inhabited city, with narrow, lively streets and foundations of original Inca stonework. The Sacred Valley of the Inca has popular markets and ruins, and hides several lesser-known, but equally wondrous, ruins and towns. Lake Titicaca, sitting at over 12,000 feet, is spectacular. Manu National Park protects some of the most remote and pristine Amazon jungle, a vast wilderness unparalleled anywhere on the planet.

Culture and Language

Peru’s culture is a mix of Spanish, Incan, and other indigenous influences. The Incas are the best-known pre-European culture, and their ruins such as Machu Picchu, and cities such as Cusco, are dramatic, intricate, and colorful.

Other native cultures pre-dated the Incas and their influence is still apparent in some parts of the country. The floating islands of Uros are inhabited by a centuries-old culture that learned to build the islands out of Lake Titicaca’s reeds in order to escape other warring civilizations on the mainland, and the Aymara community of Isla Taquile prides itself on its fine decorative weavings; the men wear knitted hats whose colors signify whether they are married or single. They often knit while walking, carrying on conversations, or just about anything else they do!

Spanish is the main language of Peru, although in rural areas some people speak only one of the indigenous languages, such as Quechua in the highlands and Aymara near Lake Titicaca. In popular tourist areas such as Cusco you'll find some people who speak English, but not many.

Food and Drink

Peruvian cuisine is varied, tasty, and filling. Areas along the coast are known for ceviche, and throughout the country a very common dish is lomo saltado, a plate of steak, vegetables, rice, and a few french fries. Lomo saltado is found everywhere from small market stalls to high-end restaurants. Other regional specialties include alpaca steaks (which we highly recommend) and cuy (guinea pig, not highly recommended but if you're feeling adventurous...)

The national cocktail is the pisco sour, a combination of brandy, lemon, egg whites, and sugar. In our humble opinion, the pisco sour is delicious and might just go down a little too smoothly. A non-alcoholic option, coca tea, is served throughout the highlands as a way of combating the effects of altitude.

When to go

Peru is close enough to the equator that its seasons are predominantly wet and dry, instead of summer and winter, and as a geographically diverse country its seasons are different throughout the country.  In the popular travel destinations of Cusco and Machu Picchu, May through September is the dry season, and therefore the most popular time to visit.  May and early June, soon after the wet season, afford clear days with views of snow-clad mountains from the Sacred Valley. The Amazon rainforest is much wetter than the highlands, with the wet season more pronounced and rain possible throughout much of the year. The coastal desert, in which Lima sits, is dry but has a low-hanging cold fog during much of the year.