2 week itinerary for the highlights of Peru

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
9
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
4
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
10
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
77 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
71st/454
Top 20%
continent
South America
country
Peru
Length of time
2-4 weeks
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$150 ($800-$3,300 in 2019 prices)
Time of year visited
May
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Inca sites Mountains Old town
All Tags
Adrenaline rush Adventure Altitude Ancient ruins Big city Bird spotting Bustling restaurants Camping Canyons Christian site Cliffs Climbing Cool neighbourhoods Driving Forests Hiking Hilltop towns Jungle Local villages Market Museums Paragliding Restaurant recommendations Rice terraces / terraces Sunrise Temple complex UNESCO world heritage site Wildlife - Condors Wildlife - Llamas/Alpacas/Guanacos/Vicunas Wonder of the World Zip-lining
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

Peru really has world class attractions – world-beating restaurants in Lima, a wonder of the world with Machu Picchu, the world’s deepest canyon and some of the best preserved ruins in the world courtesy of the master builder Incas.

The below 2/3 week itinerary lets you enjoy these key sites, plus two ingredients that make a great trip: great activities like hiking, paragliding, zip-lining; and a sense of adventure as you head a bit off the beaten track.

As with all such trips, having more time is ideal.  I’m sure you could easily take months on this itinerary, and indeed far longer for the rest of Peru.  But 2.5 weeks felt about perfect for this trip with the right combo of full-on days vs chill-out days to soak up the place and generally recharge the batteries after the travelling and hiking.  Similarly, you could also blitz through this if pressed for time and knock down to 2 weeks.  But just be aware that there are two quite strenuous hikes and the need to acclimatise to the altitude when you land in Cusco.

One of the best 2/3 week adventures I’ve been on.  Highly recommend

Table of Contents

Highlight moments

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#1 Hiking through some of the most stunning mountain scenery in the world on the Inca Trail and its surrounding area

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#2 Looking across the stunning chasm of the Colca Canyon, the world's second deepest canyon

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#3 The world class restaurants of Lima, showcasing the best of Peruvian cuisine

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#4 Checking out Machu Picchu - one of the Wonders of the World and in the most insane setting

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#5 Marvelling at the Inca perfection at sites such as Pisac in the Sacred Valley. no wonder they are known as the Master Builders

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#6 Soaking up Arequipa, one of the best Old Towns in Latin America, and with hidden little gems such as the Santa Catalina Monastery right in the heart of town

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#7 Waking up early on the last day of the Inca Trail hike to the Sun Gate and your first glimpse of Machu Picchu

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#8 Soaring off in less than 2mins from decision to being in the air as you check out the Lima coastal areas from the air

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#9 Zip-lining through the gorgeous valley near Chivay

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#10 Driving through the picturesque small Peruvian villages in the simply beautiful Sacred Valley

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#11 Wandering through the countryside right next to Cusco for some gorgeous views of the city and the surrounding area

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#12 Finishing your day's exploring Arequipa with sun downers overlooking the volcanoes in Arequipa

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#13 Working your way through the busy traffic on the Inca Trail

What to prioritise in Peru

Peru is an amazing country to travel around, but can be a little overwhelming as to what to prioritise. As a first time traveller, I would be thinking about the 3 main clusters of Lima, Cusco and Arequipa (in blue):

 

 

And I would prioritise the key activities this way:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hiking the 4 day / 3 night Inca Trail
43km hike that snakes its way majestically through a combination of dramatic Andes mountains and peaceful Peruvian countryside.  You’ll see perfectly maintained Inca ruins, thick misty cloud forest and end at the Sun Gate, the mountain entrance to the world famous ruins of Machu Picchu.  It is one of those rare travel experiences that really lives up to the hype and should be the focal point of your Peru trip. Hiking the 4 day / 3 night Inca Trail.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lima
The food is world-class and the coastal neighbourhoods beautiful.  You’ll be passing through Lima on any Peru trip, so make sure to give yourself 2 days.  Lima – a weekend of world class restaurants, super cool neighbourhoods and rapid paragliding.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hiking the Colca Canyon 
A great 3/4 day trip from Arequipa.  Stunning scenery as the canyon is the second deepest in the world (twice the depth of the Grand Canyon) with majestic condors flying overhead, plenty of traces of the old Inca construction and a fraction of the tourists of the Inca Trail. Hiking and zip-lining in the Colca Canyon

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Driving through the Sacred Valley 
Gorgeous Inca sites such as Pisac, Moray and Ollantaytambo, stunning surrounding scenery and picturesque Peruvian villages.  Driving this is a beautiful thing to do before hitting Machu Pichu and the Inca Trail, but hire a driver rather than doing a tour. Driving through the Sacred Valley.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Machu Pichu 
A Wonder of the World and it lives up to the hype.  Wow views, constant gawping and easy to get to from Cusco. Its downside is the crowds, which are intense.  This is why the approach from the Inca Trail makes sense as you have the higher points largely to yourself and your fellow hikers. Machu Picchu

 

⭐️⭐️ Arequipa 
Super pretty UNESCO World Heritage listed old town with beautifully maintained streets and white stone Baroque buildings.  Entry point for the Colca Canyon and surrounded by three majestic, dramatic, perfectly coned volcanoes.  Arequipa old town.

⭐️⭐️ Cusco 
Great sites abound as you walk around the Plaza de Armas, the grand Christian Churches and generally walking through the narrow cobbled streets.  Plus some of the smaller sites just to the north, which come as a really pleasant surprise for more Inca ruins.  You’ll pass through here on the way to Machu Pichu, the Inca Trail and the Sacred Valley, and its worth a day or so. A walk around some of the key Inca sites near Cusco.

Itinerary

  • Day 1/3 – Lima.  Wander the super cool neighbourhoods by the ocean front, trying some amazingly convenient paragliding over the cliffs, and above all make sure you get booked in for 2/3 of the world famous restaurants.
  • Day 4/5 – Cusco.  Fly from Lima to Cusco (roughly 4 hours), soak up the narrow Cusco streets and spend time walking up to some of the smaller Inca sites within walking distance such as Saqsaywaman, Pukapukara and Tambomachay.
  • Day 6 – Sacred Valley.  Leave Cusco around midday to drive through the Sacred Valley, seeing the combination of engineering marvels the Inca left and the picturesque villages dotted all through this gorgeous valley.  Stay the night in Ollantaytambo.
  • Day 7 – Ollantaytambo.  Take your time to see some of the Inca sites and rest up before the Inca Trail
  • Day 8/11 – the 3 night /4 day Inca Trail and finish at Machu Picchu.  The highlight of the country with its immense scenery, lasting Inca architecture and finishing at one of the Wonders of the World.  Make your way back to Cusco to arrive in the early evening
  • Day 12 – relax in Cusco.
  • Day 13/14 – fly from Cusco to Arequipa (1.5 hour flight time) and spend a day wandering around what must be one of the best Old Towns in Latin America.
  • Day 15/17 – the Colca Canyon.  Travel from Arequipa to the Colca Canyon and hike down to spend the evening in the canyon itself.  The next day hike back out of the canyon and spend the evening in Chivay.  Final day, zip-line in the early morning and make your way back to Arequipa for sundowners overlooking the 3 majestic volcanoes and to toast your successes over the past 2/3 weeks.
  • Day 18 – fly from Arequipa to Lima

Travel Tips

All of the detailed travel tips for each stop are listed in their individual entries, but a few tips for Peru overall:

Altitude – Cusco is 3,300m / 11,150 feet which is high enough to give you altitude sickness (generally feeling a bit like a bad hangover, which isn’t fun).  You can do various things to help, such as take pills (we took Acetazolamide and felt like it helped), drink coca tea, take pain killers to help with the headache etc, but the best way is simply to give your body time to get used to the altitude.  This itinerary gives you roughly 4 days to acclimatise between landing in Cusco and starting on the Inca Trail, which is enough.

History of the Inca – outside of Lima, this itinerary has a strong Inca theme so it adds a lot to the trip to know a bit about them.   I’d recommend Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams – an easy read as the author re-creates the rediscovery of Machu Picchu and gives enough detail that any first time visitor would need.  For the broader context on the Incas and the other pre-Columbus American civilisations, I’d highly recommend 1491 by Charles Mann which will, I think, open your eyes to just how sophisticated these civilisations were before the arrival, in particular, of Eurasian diseases.

Getting around – the 3 main hubs above are simple for travel.  Plenty of taxis / ride-hailing apps and generally public transport. But you realistically want to fly between the 3 as buses are slow to cross this mountainous country.

Prices – the whole thing cost the 2 of us in total US$6,000 in 2019, but that was largely because we did things a little last minute, stayed in hotels, rented drivers and went for the top tour for the Inca trail.  Once you account for inflation since then, you could still do this far cheaper if prepared to stay in hostels etc, but bear in mind that Peru is typically a lot more expensive for travel than the likes of SE Asia and Central America.

Book ahead for the Inca tour – this was the only thing we booked ahead for because of the limited number of permits for the route.  The way you do it is simply to contact the tour guide and ask them to manage / direct for you. Fairly straightforward and no need to have a major panic over it, but worth doing early to avoid missing out.

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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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