Two Week Peru Itinerary - Highlights of the South
You’ll have been dreaming of Peru’s highlights long before you arrive here: the color and freshness of some of Latin America’s finest food in Lima, ancient ruins and soaring mountains around Cusco, impossibly deep canyons outside Arequipa, shimmering Lake Titicaca cradled at over 3,000 meters of altitude, and the country’s star attraction, the ruined ridge-top citadel of Machu Picchu, high in the Andes.
This itinerary covers all these highlights, and much more.
But Peru is a vast country (over 1,750 miles from northwest to southeast) and its tricky topography – hundreds of miles of arid coastal desert, mighty Andean mountains, and dense jungle – mean that places are far apart and travel times are long. So know that a 2-week highlights trip cannot cover everything.
So the goal of this itinerary is to give you a sense of the breadth of Peru’s diversity while covering many of the country’s absolute highlights.
Read on for the plan!
Table of Contents
Itinerary overview
As I mentioned above, a 2 week itinerary can’t cover all of Peru (not even close), but it can still cover a lot.
This itinerary starts in Lima and then heads straight to the jungle, visiting the Peruvian Amazon in the Tambopota Reserve. From there, you fly to Cusco, where you'll stay for 6 days in order to explore the city, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu.
From Cusco, it's on to Puno and Lake Titicaca for a quick visit to South America's most famous lake and its islands.
To finish the trip, you head to Arequipa, a beautiful city in Peru's south surrounded by volcanos in a land in between desert and the high plains of Peru's Altiplano. You'll use the city as a base from which to visit Colca Canyon, where you'll spend your final 2 days in Peru.
Along the route, you’ll pass through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world as you navigate these almost outrageously diverse geographic zones.
Day 1 - Lima
Day 2 - Lima to Puerto Maldonado and into the jungle and Tambopata Reserve
Day 3 - Tambopata Reserve
Day 4 - Tambopata Reserve
Day 5 - Flight from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco. Head straight to Pisac and the Sacred Valley.
Day 6 - Sacred Valley: Pisac archaeological site, Urubamba, and train to Aguas Calientes
Day 7 - Machu Picchu
Day 8 - Ollantaytambo ruins and travel to Cusco with stops at Chinchero, Maras, and Moray
Day 9 - Full day to explore Cusco
Day 10 - Cusco to Puno and Lake Titicaca (by bus)
Day 11 - Full day on Lake Titicaca. Overnight bus to Arequipa.
Day 12 - Arequipa
Day 13 - Colca Canyon
Day 14 - Colca Canyon
Day 1 - Lima
Peru’s capital Lima is one of Latin America’s biggest cities and presents a dramatic impression, fanned out along clifftops that plunge down into the Pacific Ocean. Enjoy a full day here with a walk along the clifftops, a visit to the city center, and some great food.
For more info, see our guide to Lima.
Lima has little in the way of traditional sites and it’s objectively not a pretty city, but visiting is nonetheless essential if you want to understand contemporary Peru.
Although almost entirely modern, the city center has a lovely core of grand Spanish architecture and its seaside “suburbs” are pleasant places to eat, drink, and walk around.
The city also houses a number of good museums, with the world class Museo Larco and Museo MALI the best of the bunch.
Perhaps the best reason to include a day here is to eat. Lima is Peru’s culinary center and has almost certainly the best food of any city in South America. The city’s restaurants, which range from hole in the walls to Michelin-starred gastro experiences, combine the ingredients and flavors from all of Peru’s ecological zones in wondrous fashion, and eating here is an absolute delight.
Morning
Walk along the Miraflores malecón
Begin your trip to Peru in Lima’s coastal suburb of Miraflores, where most of the city’s good accommodation for travelers is situated.
In the morning, take a stroll along the clifftop walkway known as el malecón to get a sense of Lima’s vastness as its meets the sea. The whole “boardwalk” is tree-lined and verdant, making for a very pleasant wander.
Starting your walk at the LarcoMar shopping center is a good idea. You can then walk for several miles, stopping at sights like the colorful mosaic-decorated Parque del Amor (lovers’ park) and along to Lugar de la Memoria, Peru’s post-modernist tribute to the many that lost their lives during the violence of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) era of the 1980s and 1990s.
Fundación Museo Amano
Once your walk arrives at Parque Itzhak Rabin, two miles along the Malecón, head six blocks inland (on foot or by taxi if you are tired) to Fundación Museo Amano, for a riveting look into artifacts from the Nazca, Chancay, Chavín, Moche and Chimú pre-Columbian cultures.
Alternatively, the nearby Museo Larco also offers a stunning collection of pre-Columbian pottery and gold artifacts.
Seafood lunch
For lunch you absolutely have to try Peru’s national dish ceviche – citrus-marinated fish with red onions, cilantro, sweet potato, and chunks of corn. Standout cebichería (ceviche restaurant) La Mar, owned by celebrity chef Gastón Acurio is just five blocks west of the Museo Amano. On the same street (Avenida Mariscal La Mar) you’ll find many good seafood restaurants and on a parallel street you also have the excellent El Mercado, run by renowned chef Rafael Osterling.
The Chinese Pavilion inside "Parque Chino" on the Miraflores Malecon
Afternoon
Explore the city center
You shouldn’t leave Lima without seeing its colonial center, so get a taxi or take the El Metropolitano express bus system’s Ruta Troncal to the Plaza Mayor: the city’s central square and historic heart.
Here, take in the cathedral, still standing on the ground city founder and conquistador Francisco Pizarro set aside for the city’s church in the 16th century. The lavish Baroque building contains one of South America’s loveliest wooden choirs and Pizarro’s tomb.
A few blocks east is lemon-colored Basilica de San Francisco, an impressive 17th-century monastery with a beautiful library and thrilling catacombs to explore.
Walk or take a taxi about a mile south of the main square to tour the city’s best art museum, MALI (Museo de Arte de Lima) in Parque de la Cultura for a breadth of Peruvian art from the pre-Columbian to the mid-20th century.
Lima's cathedral and Plaza Mayor
Evening
Dinner in Miraflores
Miraflores has the greatest choice of restaurants in Lima, in Peru, and possibly in South America. The city has a host of restaurants that have earned spots on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurant lists and several that have even made it onto the World’s 50 Best. Virgilio Martinez’s famed “Central” still holds first place in the entire world, but the options are truly endless.
There are also great bars for trying Pisco, Peru’s famous grape brandy, such as Antigua Taberna Queirolo which also serves good food.
For some more ideas on where to eat, check out our guide to Lima’s best restaurants.
A night out in Barranco
After dinner, grab a taxi and head next-door to the Barranco neighborhood for drinks at the trendy bars around Puente de los Suspiros and the Parque Municipal. Barranco is slightly more bohemian than Miraflores, and you have lots of live music bars of every type and some good peñas (clubs that play live traditional music).
Overnight in Lima
Days 2-4 - Tambopata National Reserve
For these 3 days, you'll fly from Lima to the city of Puerto Maldonado and then head into the southern Peruvian Amazon, staying at a lodge within the Tambopata National Reserve, a protected swath of land with an enormous amount of biodiversity.
To learn more about your different options for travel in the Amazon, have a look at our guide to the Peruvian Amazon.
The Tambopata River. Frans-Banja Mulder, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
For these 3 days, I haven't given you a detailed plan because it doesn't make any sense for me to do so. Visiting the Tambopata Reserve means staying at a lodge, and each lodge offers a different package of experiences.
Instead, first here I've quickly provided a general overview of what your 3 days will look like. After, I've gone a bit more into detail on what the Tambopata Reserev is, how to get there, and what you can expect from a lodge stay.
Here's the overview of your 3 days:
Day 2 - Flight from Lima to Puerto Maldonado
Get up early today and take the earliest available flight to Puerto Maldonado (usually 5:30 or 6:30 am, though there is usually also one at 8:00 am). You can expect to arrive sometime around 8:00 am and your lodge will have someone waiting at the airport to pick you up.
On arrival to Puerto Maldonado, some lodges will take you for a quick "tour” of the city - you'll drive around town, stop to grab any supplies you might need, and take a walk through the market. It's nice to see what an Amazonian city is like, so I think spending an hour or so doing it is nice.
From there, you'll head to the city's docks and grab a boat to your lodge. Assuming you're staying a few hours away, you can expect to be at the lodge for lunch.
You'll then have some sort of an afternoon activity in the jungle, dinner, and probably something at night.
Day 3 - Full day in the Amazon
Hikes, boat rides, canopy tours, wildlife spotting, workshops, etc.
Day 4 - Full day in the Amazon
Hikes, boat rides, canopy tours, wildlife spotting, workshops, etc.
Boating on an oxbow lake in the Tambopata Reserve. Photo: Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What is the Reserva Nacional Tambopata
The Reserva Nacional Tambopata is a protected swath of rainforest in Peru's southeastern Madre de Dios department, near the border with Bolivia. Around 1,000 sq miles in size, it protects various ecological zones and is a haven for biodiversity. Two main rivers run along and through the reserve, the larger Madre de Dios River and the smaller Tambopata River. You also have many smaller rivers and streams as well as countless lakes and ponds
The gateway to the park is the city of Puerto Maldonado, which sits directly on the Madre de Dios River. Flights to Puerto Maldonado from Lima take about 1.5 hours and leave a few times each day, making this the most accessible of Peru's Amazonian reserves.
From Puerto Maldonado, a host of lodges are set up along the banks of the Madre de Dios and Tambopata rivers. The majority of them are 1-3 hours away from the city by motorboat. In general, the further away you go, the better your chances for spotting rare wildlife.
How to get there from Lima
From Lima, flights to Puerto Maldonado take 1.5 hours and cost as little as $65 USD. You have 2 or 3 non-stop flights every day, usually with 2 morning departures and 1 in the early afternoon. As of 2025, all flights are operated by Latam. StarPeru used to run the route, bus has stopped.
From Puerto Maldonado, most lodges are a few hours upriver on either the Madre de Dios River or the Tambopata River (the better option), accessible only by boat.
How to visit
The vast majority of visitors do a lodge stay, ranging in duration from 2-5 days. There are lodges along the actual Madre de Dios River just outside of Puerto Maldonado, but the majority of them are deeper into the reserve, on the banks of the smaller Tambopata River.
Lodges on the Tambopata River offer better access to wildlife as they are further into the protected zone and away from the city and boat traffic on the larger Madre de Dios.
When you book a stay at a lodge, you'll also purchase a pre-arranged package of tours. What you'll do will depend on the offerings of the lodge you choose, how long you stay, your budget, your interests, etc.
While you can visit the reserve directly from Puerto Maldonado, it doesn't make sense to do so as the city is really at the very beginning of it, so long boat trips would be required each day.
What to do for your 3 days
Because visiting the Tambopata Reserve means staying in a lodge, there's no point in my telling you what each different day will entail.
Here are some things you can expect at pretty much any of them:
Guided forest walks/wildlife spotting
All good lodges will employ licensed guides and wildlife experts (and sometimes scientists and researchers) who will lead walks and hikes on paths within the jungle. During these walks, they'll point out all different types of wildlife, as well as teach visitors about the flora in the jungle, native people, and how they coexist. It can be especially interesting to learn about all the different plants you pass by and how native people use them in medicine, craft production, cooking, etc.
One thing to always keep in mind is that many of the animals in the jungle are nocturnal, so forest walks typically are more about the jungle in general (and the plant life) than spotting animals.
Boat rides
Boat rides are a feature of every lodge stay. Some go out on canoes, other on motorboats, some to lakes, some of the river, or a mix of all of the above. Getting to see the jungle from the river is incredibly interesting as you get to see the canopy and the vast array of trees with a clear view. You'll also almost always see Caimans (similar to alligators) sunning themselves on exposed riverbanks.
A personal favorite of mine are nighttime boat rides, which many lodges offer. The likelihood of spotting wildlife increases at night, but it's also all about the atmosphere: with no light or noise pollution, the combination of darkness, starry skies overhead, still and silent water, and the ringing noises of the jungle is something totally unique and very moving.
Macaw spotting at clay licks
Known as "collpas” in the Amazon, clay licks are walls of earth with heavy clay deposits. When meandering rivers erode the riverbeds, the clay "seams” within the ground become exposed. All sorts of bird and wildlife, but especially beautiful macaws, come to lick and eat the clay.
For you, these are essentially the exposed sides of the river, covered in brightly colored birds! Boat tours on the Tambopata River will bring you past these licks, providing the opportunity of a lifetime for birders.
Canopy tours
Not all lodges have this, but many have created networks of elevated pathways and hanging bridges that weave through the jungle's canopy. These canopy walks give you the chance to spot wildlife that is otherwise obscured by denser foliage closer to the forest floor, like sloths, monkeys, and birds.
What are lodge stays like
This varies tremendously. Some lodges are very high end while others are quite rustic and basic. It's a pretty regulated industry and there are not that many lodges, so I don't know of any that offer a bad experience, but the quality definitely does vary.
All lodges will provide 3 full meals as well as all of your tours and activities. Meals are typically pretty good quality and served individually, but at defined times. Dining areas range from big wooden communal tables to chic restaurant-style.
Most have a bar that will offer beers, cocktails, and other drinks outside of meal times. They all have pleasant common areas for lounging (pool table, ping pong, etc.), hammocks set up overlooking the river, and pleasant little cabins.
Rooms are almost always set up as pretty raised wooden cabins with their own bathrooms.
Many lodges heat their water using solar, so hot water may be limited to certain times of day. Similarly, you may only have electricity for a few hours each day, usually shutting off pretty early in the night. Consider it a forced technology detox! At regular price points, you'll also typically just have a fan. I've never found not having AC to be a problem.
More luxurious lodges will offer air conditioning, 24-hour electricity, and perhaps even a pool.
Of course do whatever you like, but I prefer a good midrange lodge. In my opinion, going to the jungle to experience nature and then isolating yourself from it in a 5-star luxury hotel experience kind of defeats the point.
Is 3 days enough time for a visit
Well, the answer here is really “yes and no". A 3-day lodge stay is enough time for a quick introduction to the Amazon, to see some wildlife, and to spend some time cruising down rivers in the jungle.
For the best experience, you want to go as deep into the reserve as you can, and that means more travel time on the boat from Puerto Maldonado. To get that deep into the jungle, you need more than 3 days, with 5-7 being the right amount of time.
But, given this is a two week trip, you don't have time for that and 3 days will still be a very lovely visit.
Lake Sandoval in the reserve
Scarlet macaws at a clay lick in the reserve. Photo: Brian Ralphs, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A specetacled caiman in the Tambopata River
A lodge's boat launch on the Tambopata River. Photo: Alvaro Becerra Figueroa, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Day 5 - Puerto Maldonado to Cusco and into the Sacred Valley
Leave the Amazon behind today and journey on to Cusco, high in the Andes Mountains. On arrival to Cusco, you'll actually depart straight away for the Sacred Valley, heading to the town of Pisac. You'll save Cusco for a bit later in the trip.
For more advice on visiting Cusco and the surrounding region, see our guide to Cusco and Sacred Valley travel guide.
The Sacred Valley and Andes Mountains. Photo: Adrascruz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Cusco is the capital of the Cusco department and the gateway to the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and some of Peru's most iconic sights and landscapes.
Once the capital of the mighty Inca Empire, it was also an important Spanish city during Colonial times, and today it's a gorgeous town with pretty architecture, cobblestone streets, great food, and a wealth of archaeological sites all around it.
Today, however, you're not actually going to visit Cusco, instead just arriving to its airport from Puerto Maldonado and then departing straight away for the Sacred Valley, 1,000 meters lower in altitude.
There are multiple reasons to do this - first, it's the most efficient use of your time and will make your itinerary flow better and be more relaxe. Second, most of the Sacred Valley is lower in altitude than Cusco, so you're less likely to get hit by altitude sickness. And lastly, by doing the plan as I've structured it, you'll get to visit some of the Sacred Valley's marquee sights when there are fewer crowds (i.e. in the mornings).
Morning
Breakfast at your lodge and boat ride back to Puerto Maldonado
There is only one non-stop flight from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco every day, and it always departs at 1:30 pm. This is convenient, because it means you can enjoy breakfast at your lodge and then take the boat back to Puerto Maldonado in time to catch your flight.
The airport in Puerto Maldonado. Photo: Frans-Banja Mulder, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped
Afternoon
1:30 pm flight to Cusco
As I just mentioned, the only non-stop flight to Cusco leaves at 1:30 pm, so that's the one you'll be taking. It's operated by Latam.
The flight takes about one hour, so you'll be arriving to Cusco at around 2:30 pm.
There is a little snack bar/restaurant in the airport at Puerto Maldonado, so I'd recommend having something to eat as you'll otherwise be quite hungry when you get to Cusco. The food isn't great, but you can get empanadas, sandwiches, and enough to hold you over until dinner.
Arrival to Cusco and departure for Pisac and the Sacred Valley
On arrival to Cusco, you'll want to have a driver meet you directly at the airport. You could arrange a transfer with a taxi driver on arrival, but you'd be well advised to reserve this in advance, ideally with an English-speaking driver, and with a set plan already in place.
The drive from Cusco airport to the town of Pisac, if done direct, can take as little as one hour. However, to make the best use of your time, I would recommend that you stop at a few archaeological sites on Cusco's outskirts that are on the way.
By adding these sites, you should expect for the drive to take 3-4 hours, meaning you'll be arriving to Pisac some time around 6:30 pm.
Visit Sacsaywaman, Q’enko, and Tambomachay on the way to Pisac
In the green hills overlooking Cusco sit 4 wonderful archaeological sites, the most famous of which is Sacsaywaman. On your way from the airport out into the Sacred Valley, you'll visit it and two others; Q’enqo and Tambomachay. They are all a few minutes away from each other on the same road, so you can visit in an hour or two.
Saqsaywamán is the most impressive site, once a 15th-century Inca citadel, it's an expansive field studded with massive stone walls comprised of some of the largest carved stones you’ll have ever seen. The annual Inti Raymi festival of the sun is held here every year. The site is incredible and the views over the city are wonderful. Give yourself at least an hour to enjoy it. Give yourself at least an hour here.
Q’enqo is a ceremonial rock plastered in symbols such as the puma, condor, and llama that were of importance to Inca culture.
Tambomachay is a stone bath thought to be connected to worship of an Inca water deity.
Both are very atmospheric and small enough to be explored in about 30 minutes each.
Stop at Awana Kancha
Awana Kancha is a cool little place about halfway between Cusco and Pisac. It's a textile shop and sort of animal park with a very nice boutique selling excellent quality Alpaca and Vicuña garments.
Outside the shop is a fenced in field where Alpacas and Vicuñas graze. You can get hay to feed the Alpacas and take some photos. It's very touristy, but fun.
There are also local ladies who will show you a bit about the weaving and dyeing process.
The shop is quite expensive, but the quality really is very good.
Sacsaywaman
Tambomachay. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Looking at the Alpacas at Awana Kancha. Photo: Awana Kancha, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped
Evening
Arrival to Pisac and dinner in town
Pisac is a lovely colonial village at the base of the mountains in the Sacred Valley. Its best known for two things: its Sunday market which is the largest in the region and the stunning archaeological site (also called Pisac) that is carved out of the mountains above town.
Pisac is also very popular with New Age wellness practictioners/adherents (I'm not sure what you call them) and you'll see lots of yoga studios, restaurants with international cuisine, and lots of tourists and expats.
On arrvival, head straight to the hotel, drop off your bags, and have a rest. You will almost certainly be rather exhausted as a result of the altitude.
When you're feeling ready, pop out into town to grab dinner. There are restaurants all around town (most of them quite good), but any of the ones around the town square are usually a good bet.
An evening wander
Pisac is its most atmospheric in the evenings when things become quiet and still and you get a real sense for where you are: in a tiny village deep in the Andes Mountains. The best way to enjoy it is by aimlessly meandering around the cobblestone streets.
Aferwards, get a good night's sleep as tomorrow is a busy day.
Overnight in Pisac
A street in Pisac
Day 6 - Pisac ruins, Urubamba, train to Aguas Calientes
You'll spend the morning exploring the phenomenal ruins of Pisac archaeological site, grab lunch back in town, and then take a transfer to the town of Ollantaytambo, where you'll take the train up to Aguas Calientes, the town that sits at the base of Machu Picchu.
On the way from Pisac to Ollantaytambo, stop off for a walk around the Sacred Valley's main town, Urubamba.
For more advice on visiting the valley, see our Sacred Valley travel guide.
A section of the Pisac ruins
Morning
Visit the Pisac ruins
I can't recommend enough that you get up early today and enter the archaeological site as soon as possible. Most tours buses and group tours don't start arriving until 10:00 am, but once they do the crowds can become intense.
The site opens at 7:00 am, but the ticket booths often aren't actually staffed until 8:00 am. So, if you want to try for a 7:00 am entrance, buy your ticket ahead of time.
Although you can hike from town to the entrance, it would take two hours and your energy is better spent exploring the site (and then hiking down to town from it afterwards, instead of up to it before). So, grab a taxi in town and have them drive you the 15 minutes to the entrance. You'll find taxis around the main squar and a ride will cost you a few soles or you can have your hotel arrange one for you.
The ruins themselves are a series of buildings in different sections that overlook hundreds of terraces cut out of the mountainsides. The site is very large and all interconnected by gravel paths, Inca steps, and bulky doorways. The ruins themselves are wonderful, but the site also provides some of the Sacred Valley's most impressive panoramas.
For me, the best experience is to start at the entrance and then weave your way through the entire site. At the end, follow the well-marked path all the way back to Pisac town (if you don't want to walk back to town, you'll find drivers back at the site entrance who will drive you down).
Give yourself 3-4 hours to explore properly. With some advance research you can visit on your own, but this is a site that is best explored with a guide.
For detailed information on planning a self-guided visit have a look here.
Pisac
Pisac
Pisac
Afternoon
Check out of your hotel and take a transfer to Ollantaytambo
Assuming you enter the Pisac ruins between 8:00 and 9:00 am, you'll probably be back down to your hotel in Pisac between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm.
So, get your bags, check out, and grab a transfer to the town of Ollantaytambo, about 1.5 hours away.
Stop in Urubamba for a walk and lunch
The town of Urubamba, located right in front of the Urubamba River (which gives the Sacred Valley it's other name - "Urubamba Valley” -, is the main town in the region. It's not as picturesque as places like Pisac or Ollantaytambo, but it's pleasant and a nice place to stop on your way to Pisac.
I'd recommend having a walk to stretch your legs and then getting lunch here. Two of my favorite restaurants in Peru are located in Urubamba, so it's the perfect lunch stop. Right in the town center, I think you should choose between the excellent Huacatay and the also excellent Tierra. Good luck picking!
Arrival to Ollantaytambo and train to Aguas Calientes
From Urubamba, it's about 40 minutes to Ollantaytambo. This lovely little town is very much worth visiting and has its own wonderful ruins, but you're saving that for later.
So, when you get to Ollantaytambo, have your driver leave you directly at the train station and get a train to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu.
Between PeruRail and InkaRail (the two companies that operate train service to Machu Picchu) you typically have departures at 3:30, 4:30, 7:30, and 9:00 pm. The train ride takes 1 hour to 1 hour and 45 minutes depending on the type of train.
I always recommend taking a “Vistadome” train if going with PeruRail. They have more and bigger windows, and the views really are lovely. It costs a bit more, but is worth it.
If you can't make the two earlier departures work, the 7:30 train is a fine option. You can kill the time wandering around Ollantaytambo, which is lovely.
PeruRail trains at the Ollantaytambo train station. Photo: PsamatheM, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A cabin in a “Vistadome” train headed to Aguas Calientes. Photo: Ntmon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Evening
Settle in to your hotel in Aguas Calientes
Regardless of which train you take, you'll be spending the evening in Aguas Calientes. There's really nothing to see in the town itself as it exists almost exclusively to service tourists visiting Machu Picchu.
You have plenty of restaurants, a couple bars, and lots of hotels. It's nice enough for a wander in the evening, but there's nothing of note to look for.
Get to sleep early so that you can get up early and enjoy your day in Machu Picchu to the fullest.
Overnight in Aguas Calientes
Day 7 - Machu Picchu
Today, you're dedicating the entire day to exploring the wonderful archaeological site of Machu Picchu. To enjoy it to the fullest, get the first bus up to the site so you can enjoy it for a bit before the crowds arrive.
You'll return to Ollantaytambo at the end of the day and spend the night there. If the thought of packing your bags and taking another train so soon is too painful, then spend another night in Aguas Calientes and head down to Ollanta the following morning.
Machu Picchu's main ruin site is visitable in about 3 hours, but you should also give yourself about that same amount of time to do one of the additional hikes/walks that are available.
Spots for hikes like Huayna Picchu, Machu Picchu Mountain, and others are limited and tickets do sell out, so you absolutely must purchase yours in advance, ideally by a few months.
Further, to enjoy the site to the fullest, get up there as early as possible (before people arriving from Cusco and the Sacred Valley arrive).
Morning & Afternoon
Machu Picchu
Get an early start to Machu Picchu today. Buses for the 25-minute run up to the entrance to the site start running at at 5.30am and it’s worth getting there at the beginning of the day to see this exquisite historic sight early when there are fewer tourists. Separately, make sure you have purchased your tickets to Machu Picchu well in advance - at least several weeks before visiting.
Machu Picchu is an Inca citadel, built in the 15th century atop an Andean ridge and never discovered by Spanish conquistadors following its abandonment, or by anyone else, until American Hiram Bingham’s rediscovery of the site in 1911.
There is so much to see here: the Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock, a formidable site overview, the Incas’ ceremonial baths and a triumvirate of temples including the Temple of the Three Windows, which prettily frames the mountains behind, and the Temple of the Condor with its condor head carving.
The list above is just covering the ruins, but many adventurous tourists like to take on the hikes up one of the two mountains flanking the complex. Top choice is the more precipitous mountain of Wayna Picchu, which limits its visitor numbers, but the higher mountain is Cerro Machu Picchu, which yields even better views.
To do justice to seeing the ruins and to take in one of the two viewpoints, allow at least five to six hours.
When you’re ready to go, head back down to Aguas Calientes (it will likely be mid-afternoon).
A section of the ruins
The view of the surrounding mountains from within Machu Picchu
The site shrouded in typical mist/fog
Evening
Train back to Ollantaytambo (or another night in Aguas Calientes)
This evening you need to choose whether you want to just stay in Aguas Calientes again or head back down to Ollantaytambo. It's really just a question of how early you think you'll get to Machu Picchu and how opposed you are to packing your bags again and taking another train ride.
Personally, I find Ollantaytambo to be a far more pleasant place than extremely touristy Aguas Calientes. It's a real town, it's beautiful, it has good restaurants, and most tourists just visit on day trips, so it's blissfully quiet and peaceful at night.
An evening wander in Ollantaytambo (if you choose to head back)
If you choose to head to Ollantaytambo (I very much think you should), go for dinner close to the Plaza de Armas and enjoy a walk around the lovely little stone center.
As you wander, you’ll hear the quiet babble of running water all around you; the town has a series of open irrigation canals that run along the sides of streets. It’s incredibly atmospheric, especially when surrounded by the Andes’ towering peaks. Enjoy it.
The town's ruins are also very atmospheric in the end of day light, so I’d recommend walking over to see them and snap some photos. You'll be visiting them tomorrow morning.
Overnight in Ollantaytambo (or Aguas Calientes)
Day 8 - Ollantaytambo, Maras, Moray, and back to Cusco
Today is a chance to enjoy another day in the Sacred Valley, visiting wonderful Inca archaeological sites and local villages.
You'll start off with an early morning visit to Ollantaytambo before the crowds arrive, and then depart for Chinchero and its surroundings, where you'll visit Maras and Moray. The day will end in Cusco for the evening.
For more advice on visiting Cusco and the Sacred Valley, see our guide to Cusco and Sacred Valley travel guide.
The Ollantaytambo ruins. Photo: PsamatheM, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Morning
Ollantaytambo ruins
After an early breakfast, take a few hours to explore the mighty Ollantaytambo ruins, comprising a temple and fortress complex distinguished by flurries of steeply-shelving terraces that cascade down green mountainsides. The ruins were interestingly the site of one of the Inca’s relatively few victories over the Spanish conquistadors in 1536.
The site opens at 7:00 am and I very much recommend getting there as early as possible so that you can enjoy the ruins without any of the crowds. If you go in before 8:00 am, you’ll often have the entire site to yourself, which makes a visit so much more enjoyable.
Most tours to Ollantaytambo depart from Cusco and visit Pisac in mid-morning. After a stop for lunch, they then arrive to Ollantaytambo in the early afternoon. This means that as long as you visit in the morning, you'll beat most of the crowds.
After you visit the main ruin complex, I also recommend a walk up to the lesser-explored Pinkuylluna ruins on the opposite hillside. These ruins receive a fraction of the visitors and they offer great views over the main archaeological site and Ollantaytambo town. Entrance to them is free and they're accessed by a trail right at the edge of town.
For a detailed guide to visiting Ollantaytambo on your own, look here.
I'd plan on spending around 2 hours exploring the main ruins, and another hour or two if you also visit Pinkuylluna.
The main ruins seen from the street in town. Photo: Laslovarga, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ollanta town seen from atop the main ruins (Pinkuylluna ruins on the hill in the distance)
The ruins of Pinkuylluna. Photo: Juan Carlos Caceres Ccahua, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsUNC
Late morning and afternoon
Transfer to Cusco, stopping in Chinchero, Maras, and Moray
From Ollantaytambo, hire a driver to spend the late morning and afternoon with you as you visit more of the Sacred Valley while transferring from Ollantaytambo to Cusco.
Along the way, I'd recommend making three stops: the pretty town of Chinchero, the salt pants of Maras, and the archaeological site of Moray.
You'll probably take around 5-6 hours to do all of this, so you'll be arriving to Cusco in the evening.
Learn about traditional textiles in Chinchero
A little over 1 hour from Ollantaytambo is the small village of Chinchero. Known to the Incas as the birthplace of the rainbow, today Chinchero is most famous for its excellent textile production. You can see demonstrations of traditional weaving techniques being done at the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales in the town center, but there are other cooperatives as well.
The town itself is small, but full of pretty colonial architecture. There are also Inca ruins and a lovely church. The surrounding countryside is lovely too and you have some nice short hikes nearby.
I didn't include a hike, but if that sounds more interesting than textiles and the archaeological sites, here are some options: trail to Huchuy Qosqo (full-ish day hike) Poc Poc waterfalls (about 2 hours).
Maras salt pans
From Chinchero, it'll take you about 40 minutes to get to Salineras de Maras, one of the most impressive ancient sites in the Sacred Valley.
Salineras are salt pans, and here a thermal spring at the valley top feeds into 3000-odd salt pans (wells), scattered down the valley slopes, from which salt has been extracted since at least Inca times. It’s a bizarre, impressive and refreshingly different site from the region’s myriad other ruins.
Spend an hour or so looking around here.
Moray
From Maras, it's another 30 minutes to Moray, an ancient archaeological site that is like no other in the Sacred Valley.
You’ve almost certainly already seen photos of the site, but it’s made up of a series of circular terraces shelving up from a depression in the ground, increasing in size as they get closer to ground level.
What exactly Moray was is up for debate, but one commonly offered theory is that the terraces were a sort of agricultural testing ground for growing crops from around the Inca empire in a single location. The different levels may have mimicked growing conditions and altitudes of different areas in the empire.
Give yourself 1-3 hours to look around the site.
If you haven't eaten yet, you could enjoy a fantastic meal at Peruvian celebrity chef Virgilio Martinez’s delightful Mil restaurant which is right on the edge of the ruins.
Maras salt pans
An aerial view of the ruins at Moray. Photo: McKay Savage from London, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Evening
Arrival to Cusco
From Moray, it's a 1.5-2 hour drive back to Cusco. So, depending on how many of the sites you visit and how long you spend at each, figure that you'll be arriving to Cusco sometime in the evening. If you do everything, I think 6:00 pm is probably a realistic arrival time.
An evening wander in the center and dinner
Once you've checked into your hotel, walk out into Cusco's lovely historic center, making your way straight for the Plaza de Armas. This is a great spot for people watching, and it's surrounded by two of Cusco's most iconic sights, the Cathedral and the Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus (a church).
I'd go for a walk from here, heading over towards Plaza Regocijo (i.e. staying on flat ground) and then grab dinner nearby. A few personal favorites are Morena, Cicciolina, and Nuna Raymi.
Overnight in Cusco
Day 9 - Cusco
A stunningly preserved colonial gem and the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, Cusco is a highlight of any trip to Peru.
Today you’ll dedicate the entire day to enjoying the city.
For detailed info on the city, read our guide to Cusco.
Cusco's Plaza de Armas (main square)
Morning
Check out the historic center
Cusco’s colonial center is fairly compact, all centered around the Plaza de Armas, the main square. The square is ringed by 3 different churches and a series of lovely colonial buildings with wooden balconies and porticoes.
In the square, be sure to enter the 16th and 17th-century cathedral, which has a terrific collection of escuela cuzqueña (Cusco school) art – a style that combines classic European religious themes with indigenous Peruvian motifs. Be sure to check out the painting of The Last Supper which looks pretty standard until you notice that cuy (guinea pig - a traditional local meal) is being served as the Disciples’ main course.
The Iglesia de la Compañia de Jesus is also on the square and worth entering.
If you head uphill from the square, you can walk up Calle Triunfo, a lovely street lined with buildings whose foundations feature original Inca foundations of massive stones. You’ll pass by the famous 12-sided stone and should make a detour to visit pretty Plazoleta Nazarenas, a pretty square flanked by colonial mansions (now converted into luxury hotels) and three decent museums - the Museo de Arte Precolombino, the Inca Museum and Museo Machu Picchu. Of the 3, I consider the pre-Columbian art museum to be the best.
End the morning by making your way to Qorikancha, once the most important temple in the entire Inca world and now a Dominican monastery. Visit the site and then walk over to the San Pedro Market to see the different foods, plants, medicinal products, and more being hawked by vendors.
Grab lunch either in the market, or at any of the countless good restaurants nearby.
Cusco's Plaza de Armas and cathedral
Qorikancha. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Afternoon
San Blas neighborhood
Leaving Cusco's main historic core (and flat ground) head up into the pretty neighborhood of San Blas. On the way
Visit the Iglesia de San Blas which has a beautifully carved wooden pulpit, browse the shops and vendors around the adjacent square (Plaza San Blas), and, energy permitting, climb the many steps up to Limbus Restobar for a drink on its terrace, offering incredible views over the city.
Then, just wander the neighborhood’s pretty pedestrian streets at random, enjoying the tranquil and scenic atmosphere.
How about a massage?
After such a busy 8 days, I think a massage might be in order. Cusco is full of good spas and massage parlors, so whether you're feeling sore from all the activitiy or just feel like pampering yourself, stop by a spa for a little "you” time!
Enjoy the view from San Cristobal church
On the NW edge of town, the San Cristobal church offers splendid views over the city and mountains. Towards the end of the day, I often like to grab a taxi and head up here to soak up the view.
San Blas
San Blas
The view from San Cristobal church
Evening
Take it easy and soak up the atmosphere
This evening, I’d recommend taking it easy and just soaking in Cusco’s pleasant and lively high-altitude atmosphere. Walk around the lit up streets, meander in squares, and have a great dinner at one of the city’s many excellent and cozy restaurants.
If you didn’t make it to Limbus Restobar in San Blas earlier today, having a drink on the terrace after dinner and watching the city lights sparkle beneath you is a very atmospheric way to end the day.
Overnight in Cusco.
Day 10 - Cusco to Puno (Lake Titicaca)
You have 3 different options for how to get from Cusco to Puno, but all of them pass through an open, windswept terrain known as the Altiplano (high plateau). The journey is beautiful, but long.
We have a Lake Titicaca travel guide if you want to research more in depth.
A train track running through the Altiplano
Today is purely a travel day and you’ll be passing through the windswept and fairly barren Altiplano (high plains) on your way to Puno and Lake Titicaca. The journey is pretty, albeit a bit monotonous.
Puno is the jumping-off point for exploring the islands on Lake Titica, one of the planet’s highest navigable bodies of water, South America’s largest lake, and one of Peru’s best places to discover ancient indigenous cultures and traditions.
Puno itself is an almost entirely nondescript and modern city that sprawls along the shores of the lake. Walking down its main street, Jiron Lima, is pleasant enough, but there’s not much of interest in the town itself. The reason to visit is really just because it’s the base for visits to Lake Titicaca.
Even so, it is known as Peru’s folkloric capital - you have both ethnic Quechua and Aymara peoples here (in addition to others) - and interesting cultural events, almost all of them accompanied by parades featuring organized dance groups, happen all throughout the year. So be sure to check with your hotel if anything is going on, or just head down to the main street in the evening and see for yourself.
Morning & Afternoon
Travel to Puno
Today, it’s time to head south on a long journey to Puno, a city on the shores of Lake Titicaca.
For getting to Puno from Cusco, you have 3 options: luxury train, tour bus, or standard (but comfortable) long distance bus. I typically just recommend the standard bus, but with a reputable company like Cruz del Sur.
Whichever option you choose to, you’re going to take the majority of the morning and afternoon doing it, so you might as well embrace it and enjoy the journey as much as possible.
The options are headlined by one of Peru’s and South America’s few remaining long train journeys, courtesy of either the PeruRail Titicaca train or the Belmond Andean Explorer. Both trains follow the same route, which runs across the altiplano along one of the world’s highest regularly-used set of tracks and train stations.
These are both luxury trains (the Belmond even more so) and prices for the journey are as steep as the altitudes you’ll be passing through. Nonetheless, if you have the budget for them, they’re a pleasure.
Of the two companies/routes, PeruRails ten-hour train journey, departing Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, is the only feasible option for this itinerary. The Belmond Andean Explorer is far more expensive and departs much less frequently.
Alternatively, tourist buses such as the Inka Express service, also cover the Cusco to Puno route in about the same amount of time and they are a far cheaper, though less spectacular option. These buses stop off at several sights along the way, such as the beautiful church in Andahuayillas.
Whether you opt for the train or tourist bus, lunch is included with both experiences.
Finally, for the cheapest option, you can also take a standard direct bus (no touristic stops or lunch), which runs the route in 7-8 hours. Many buses will stop at a roadside rest stop (which may or may not have a simple restaurant) about halfway through the journey.
Late afternoon and evening
Arrival to Puno
For this itinerary, I'm assuming you'll take the bus.
So, most buses depart Cusco between 8:00 and 9:00 am, meaning you'll probably be arriving to Puno sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 pm.
On arrival to the bus station, get a taxi to your hotel and check in. From there, you have two options: leave town straight away with a taxi or tour to see the Sillustani archaeological site, or (my recommendation) take things easy and see a little bit of Puno.
Visit Sillustani (if you really want to…)
Sillustani is a collection of ancient chullpas or funerary towers, likely erected by the pre-Columbian Colla culture to remember their dead. Some of the towers are almost 40 feet tall and the effect, backed by wild Andean plains (altiplano) and a lake that attracts a variety of birdlife is impressive: it’s the Titicaca shoreline’s most impressive ancient site.
Tours here take around three hours, with about half of that being out-and-back travel time (45 minutes each way).
If you don’t want to go with a tour, you can also just hire a taxi driver in town to take you out to the site and wait til you’re ready to head back to town.
Take a look around Puno (my recommendation)
If you want to stay in Puno, then take things slow and go for a wander around town to get some insight into this city that bills itself as the folklore capital of Peru.
A great place to start is at the little Museo de la Coca y Costumbres, where you can learn about the importance of the coca plant to Andean culture and see many traditional regional costumes - worn both in daily life by indigenous peoples here and at festivals. It's small, so you can visit in 30-60 minutes.
There’s not a ton to see in Puno as the city is pretty nondescript, but go for a walk down the main street (Jiron de Lima), take a peak at the docks if you want, or climb the 620 steps (or take a taxi) to the Kuntur Wasi viewpoint for a gorgeous view over the lake.
Dinner on Jiron Lima
Jiron Lima is Puno's main street and where you'll find most of the city's best restaurants. La Casona is always a solid option.
A view over Puno
Day 11 - Lake Titicaca: Uros islands and Isla Taquile
Enjoy a day on Lake Titicaca exploring the floating Uros Islands and lovely Taquile island.
At the end of the day, you'll be taking an overnight bus to Arequipa, thereby maximing your remaining two days to see the city and Colca Canyon.
We have a Lake Titicaca travel guide if you want to research more in depth.
Today, take an early morning ferry boat or join an organized tour for the highlight of any Lake Titicaca trip: visiting the islands in the middle of the lake.
You’ll visit the Uros floating islands which are close to Puno and then Isla Taquile, which is significantly further away.
To support tourism that benefits the communities here, it is best (and perfectly straightforward) to go independently. That said, it is easiest to just arrange a full-day tour with a local operator. This also gives you the advantage of having a guide who will explain things to you.
Boats to both Uros and Taquile leave regularly from Puno’s little port, beginning at around 6:00 am. You can book as part of an organized tour (with the option to also visit Taquile) or just take a standard “ferry”.
Also always ask about boat return times as schedules change frequently.
While on the islands, be sure to ask before taking photographs of the people, and take some snacks/drink with you for the long boat rides.
Morning and afternoon
Islas Uros (Uros Islands)
Your first port of call should be the Islas Uros – human-made islands constructed from the tortora reeds that grow on the lake. The reeds are also used to build the island houses and make the islanders’ boats.
The Uros Islands are floating islands made from a reed that grows in the lake. The Uros people - a distinct ethnic group - have lived on them for centuries. Originally inhabitants of the mainland, the Uros fled to these islands as a way to escape subjugation by the ascendant Inca empire.
Now, some people continue to live on the islands, practicing semi-traditional ways of life while others actually live primarily on the mainland, coming out to their homes on the islands to cater to visiting tourists. Visits are quite touristy, but it’s still an entirely unique thing to see and do and you should.
Isla Taquile
After finishing your tour of the Uros Islands, either continue with your tour group to Taquile island (or take another ferry out there).
Boats to Taquile take about 1.5 hours from the Uros Islands or Puno’s port. On arrival, be sure to check return boat times to Puno, which change frequently.
Placid and pretty Isla Taquile is further out into the lake and it’s a hilly, rocky island inhabited mostly by ethnic Quechua people. It’s beautiful and the views over the lake are amazing. It’s a lovely place to walk around, with steep terraces shelving up to a conical hilltop.
The island is famed for its production of high quality textiles (which can be purchased from the cooperative in the island’s main square) and many visits can include a lunch at a local family’s home which often entails a meal of trout from the lake, weaving demonstrations, and sometimes traditional dancing.
The best walk is the climb up to the viewpoint in the middle of the island giving incredible views of the lake backed by Andean peaks.
Expect to spend 2-3 hours here.
One of the many Uros islands. Photo: PsamatheM, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Farming terraces on Isla Taquile and the lake beyond
Evening
Dinner in Puno
Once back in town sometime in the early evening, check out of your hotel and get a heart dinner.
Overnight bus to Arequipa
You have a few options for overnight buses to Arequipa, but I always recommend choosing a longstanding and reputable bus company. My go-to is, as always, Cruz del Sur.
Buses typically depart around 10:00 pm, getting you into Arequipa between 5:00 and 6:00 am. These are sleeper buses with large and comfortable reclining seats, so it's a fairly comfortable journey.
Day 12 - Arequipa
Your second to last day in Peru is dedicated to exploring the delightful colonial city of Arequipa, home to some of Southern Peru’s finest sights, including the colorful and wonderful Monasterio de Santa Catalina, a 16th-century monastery.
Have a look at our guide to Arequipa for more advice on visiting.
Arequipa looks starkly different from both Lima and Cusco (as well as other Andean cities) and it also has historically been somewhat separate from the rest of Peru, both politically and geographically. The city’s defining feature is its white stone construction. The stone, called “sillar”, is volcanic in origin and gives the city an elegant, almost glistening aesthetic.
Dominating the horizon are a series of volcanoes, and the city feels more desert-like than what you’ll see as you head into the Andes.
Arequipa is simply a pleasant place to wander around, and this enough is reason to visit, but it is also the jumping off point for visits to Colca and Cotahuasi canyons.
Morning
Your overnight bus should have you arriving fairly early in the morning into the delightful colonial city of Arequipa, which will be your base for the next two nights.
On arrival, deposit your luggage/check in to your accommodation (ideally, you’d stay in the Unesco-listed city center) and then set off on foot within the city for some exploring.
Go for a walk in the city center
First up, head to the central Plaza de Armas, where you will see the spectacular cathedral – the only one in Peru to occupy an entire city block – made out of white stone.
Pasaje Catedral behind the cathedral has lots of good (if touristy) places for coffee and breakfast, or you could visit a quality nearby café like Coffee Roaster – Kaffeehaus on Calle Melgar a couple of blocks further out.
Museo Santuarios Andinos
Easily occupying your time between now and lunchtime will be Museo Santuarios Andinos, where the highlight is gazing at the mummy ‘Juanita’, a body almost perfectly preserved in the ice from the Inca Empire’s heyday in the 1450s. Expect to spend an hour or two in the museum.
San Lazaro District
Before lunch also make some time to walk around the pretty San Lazaro district which is just off of the historic center. It’s very photogenic.
Arequipa's cathedral
Afternoon
Lunch at a Picantería
Lunch in Arequipa is an experience in itself, as it is the center of the must-try picantería culture: cheap, set-menu communal restaurants where diners all sit together at long tables, sampling local specialties like ocopa (cooked potato doused in spicy, creamy sauce) and rocoto relleno (stuffed peppers). Try La Nueva Palomino picantería in Yanahuara district (take a taxi here).
Monasterio de Santa Catalina
After this iconic experience, head to arguably the city’s premier sight, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina, a mighty colonial monastery dating from 1580, full of beautiful cloisters and offering many interesting insights into how the nuns lived their lives.
Mirador de Yanahuara
Round off the afternoon with a pre-sunset walk up to Mirador de Yanahuara, a viewpoint offering a panorama of the historic city center, with the 19,100-ft El Misti volcano rising spectacularly behind. For a treat to accompany the view, the square behind the viewpoint often has a vendor or two selling queso helado, a local ice cream. It’s wonderful.
El Misti Volcano seen from the Yanahuara viewpoint. Photo: Véronique Debord-Lazaro, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Evening
The historic center has some great venues for eating out. These days, even celebrity chefs have been attracted to Arequipa. The famed-restaurateur Gastón Acurio now has a restaurant here, Chicha, where the menu mainly reflects the cuisine likely to have dominated meals in Inca times (alpaca carpaccio, ceviche, river prawns). It’s expensive, but fantastic.
After dinner, head to Avenida Dolores, 2.5 miles south of the Plaza de Armas, which is a great place for a lively local night out with plenty of salsa clubs. But be warned – your trip to the Cañon de Colca starts early tomorrow, so don’t stay out too late!
Overnight in Arequipa
Days 13 & 14 - Colca Canyon
For you last couple of days in Peru, head deep into Colca Canyon, one of the deepest in the world.
You'll spend 2 days hiking, admiring soaring condors, relaxing in thermal baths, and taking in scenery totally distinct from what you've seen so far.
Colca Canyon. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Although Colca Canyon can be visited on a day trip from Arequipa, it's a really long day and you don't get to see enough of the canyon for it to be worth it, in my opinion.
A 2-day tour (what you're doing) is common and provides a nice introduction to the region. If you could squeeze an extra day or two into your trip, you'd find that 3-4 days here is even more rewarding as it would let you get deep into the canyon, go hiking, and see some of the interesting towns that are scattered throughout it.
Similarly to with visiting Tambopata, what exactly you'll do on your 2-day tour depends on the tour operator you book with. Arequipa is full of local agencies that arrange these tours and they vary somewhat from company to company.
Some tours have no hiking, while others are 2 full days of trekking in the canyon. Others combine driving and sightseeing by vehicle with 1 or 2 shorter hikes. There are a handful of different options.
Having said that, most of the tour options you'll find are remarkably similar. Here's what to expect from a non-hiking tour:
Day 1 (day 13 of your trip)
You start off with a morning drive from Arequipa towards the town of Chivay, deep in the canyon. As you leave Arequipa's city limits, you'll pass along the edge of the Reserva Nacional de Salinas y Aguada Blanca, where you'll be able to spot vicuñas and perhaps Andean foxes on a starkly beautiful volcano-dotted tract of protected Andean plain.
Both on the way to the canyon and once actually within it, you'll make a weaving journey stopping at different viewpoints to enjoy some truly spectacular panoramas. Keep in mind that you'll actually be climbing quite a bit in altitude today, typically getting as high as Paso de Patapampa, which sits above 16,000 feet.
Most tours will get to the town of Chivay, your base for the night, by some time in the afternoon or early evening. You'll often have enough time to go for a walk or short hike near to town and/or relax at the local thermal baths.
Chivay is in a very scenic location, so even if you decide to just hang out for the evening, you'll be doing it with some great views.
Overnight in Chivay
Near to Chivay. Photo: Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chivay. Photo: Murray Foubister, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Day 2
On the morning of your second day, most tours will have an early start and bring you straight to the Cruz del Condor viewpoint. Here, you have a large area with walking paths where, if you're lucky, you'll get to spot magnificent condors gliding on the air currents rising from the canyon floor.
After visiting the viewpoint, you'll normally be taken to visit a couple of towns within the canyon, like Yanque and Maca. These tiny villages have been inhabited for well over a thousand years and aside from being pretty and picturesque, it's fascinating to visit places that are so far from the rest of society and civilization.
After visiting the towns, you'll usually stop for lunch and then head back to Arequipa on the roughly 4-hour drive, arriving sometime around 5:00 pm.
Overnight in Arequipa
The Cruz del Condor viewpoint
An Andean Condor
The church in the town of Yanque. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Day 15 - Departure day
From Arequipa, you have over a dozen non-stop flights to Lima every day, operated by at least 3 different airlines and flights take just 1.5 hours.
This means that you'll usually have no trouble getting to Lima's airport in time to catch your international flight to return home.
Safe travels!
Things to consider when planning a Peru itinerary
Before getting into this itinerary, I’ve tried to cover some of the main topics I imagine you’re wondering about. I can’t cover everything in just a few paragraphs though, so for more a more comprehensive overview of how to plan a trip to Peru, have a look at our Peru travel guide.
When to visit
Here’s a quick overview of my preferred time to visit Peru as well as a few tips on visiting at other times of year. For a detailed overview, you can read our guide to visiting Peru in every season.
Dry season
For most visitors, coming to Peru during dry season (May through November) is the right choice. In the Andes, you’ll get warm days with crisp evenings, and you won’t have to worry about rain washing out trails or making sightseeing impossible.
In the Amazon, even dry season can still be wet, but you won’t get rain all day, meaning you’ll still be able to head out and enjoy nature.
This is peak season however, so you should expect higher prices and crowds in places popular with tourists.
Keep in mind that this advice is not true for the coastline, which is often shrouded in mist during these months.
Shoulder season
To get still good weather, but with fewer crowds, focus on the months of September and October. Both because North Americans’ and Europeans’ summer breaks are over and because dry season is starting to give way to rainy season, this is a sort of shoulder season. I think it’s an ideal time to visit because weather is still mostly good, and there are far fewer other tourists in the country.
Rainy season
Visiting in the low season (November to April - with the exception of mid-to-late December which gets quite busy again), can be a good idea if you’re prepared for some potential trade offs. Prices are low, crowds are sparse, and everywhere feels a bit more relaxed and authentic.
However, the potential for rain does mean that you’ll likely have days where sightseeing is not terrible pleasant, views will be obscured by fog, rain, and mist, and you may have days get washed out and activities cancelled. If you have a flexible schedule, this shouldn’t be an issue.
This is also an ideal time for Amazon cruises as water levels are high, everything is green and lush, and wildlife are out in abundance.
December to May is also the perfect time for visits to the Peruvian coast because days are typically clear and sunny, free of the grey skies and mist that are typical almost all the rest of the year.
Where to go on a first trip
If it’s your first time visiting Peru and you have two weeks, I think that the absolute must-visits are Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Arequipa and Colca Canyon. Outside of these 4 destinations, I think that where you should choose depends on what interests you.
Lake Titicaca is very interesting if you’re interested in indigenous culture and handicrafts/textiles, but it’s a long journey from anywhere else in Peru and you need at least 3 days for it.
Arequipa is a lovely and elegant city that also serves as the gateway to two of the Americas deepest canyons: Colca and Cotahuasi. Here, you can hike, enjoy hot springs, and watch condors glide majestically in the skies above you. But there are also volcanos, verdant valleys, and much more to do beyond just this. I’d want at least 5 days to explore this part of Peru.
Peru’s South Coast is home to some fabulous natural places like the Paracas Nature Reserve and Huacachina sand dunes, as well as the Nazca lines and vineyards outside of Pisco. It’s a wonderful place to visit for those who like deserts, adrenaline sports, and history, but travel times between these places are far and overland travel, typically by bus (and including a night bus) is the only way to get between them. It’s an area very popular with backpackers.
The Peruvian Amazon is a world entirely its own and fascinating for practically anyone, but especially nature lovers, birdwatchers, and anyone interested in plant-based medicine and indigenous cultures. However, you really need 3-5 full days to experience any of the region (focusing either on the area around Iquitos or Puerto Maldonado), so it’s not something you can do in just a day or two.
The Central Highlands offer stunning scenery, amazing hiking, and authentic local culture without the trappings of mass tourism, but they are remote and travel to them is harsh.
Huaraz and the high Cordilleras are a dream for hardcore hikers, trekkers, and mountain climbers. The views and panoramas are astonishing for anyone, but it’s not a destination I recommend visiting unless you want to hike.
Then we have Northern Peru which I think you should look at as two separate parts: coastal desert and interior cloud forest. On the coast, you have incredible ruins from pre-Inca civilizations like Chan Chan and Caral, some nice beach towns, and a few interesting coastal cities. Inland, the cloud forests guard little-visited treasures like the ruins at Kuelap and the Gocta waterfall.
For more inspiration on where to go, check out our guide to 19 beautiful places in Peru.
How to get around
On any extended trip to Peru you will invariably wind up using multiple different types of transportation. While you can make most trips work almost entirely with overland travel, if you’re trying to see many different places and are tight on time, you will need at least a few domestic flights, a couple of long-haul bus rides, and either a few organized tours or private transfers.
While you can find some direct flights between cities in Peru, know that most flights between smaller places will involve a layover in Lima. Cusco is an exception to this, and you can usually find direct flights to places like Arequipa, Puerto Maldonado, and Juliaca (for getting to Puno and Lake Titicaca).
Trains are not a viable form of transportation in Peru, although there are a few tourist trains that make journeys like Cusco to Machu Picchu and Cusco to Lake Titicaca and even on to Arequipa. These journeys tend to be luxury options though and extremely expensive.
For overland travel, you should almost always plan on taking a bus. There are many private bus companies that run routes all over Peru, with Cruz del Sur being one of the largest and most reputable. When you book with a reputable and higher-end bus company, buses usually have large, lie-back seats, and they are safe and fairly comfortable.
Another option for those traveling overland is to book with Peru Hop, a tourist bus that makes stops along a common southern route (part of which this itinerary takes) between Lima and Cusco. You can get off in different stops, stay for however long you want, and then catch any of their buses when they next pass through the destination you’re in. It’s quite touristy and very much a backpacker type of service, but it’s reasonable and convenient.
More Two Week Peru Itineraries
The above itinerary provides a good introduction to Peru and covers a lot of the “must-visit” places for any first trip. However, Peru has countless wonderful places to visit and no single itinerary is going to be right for everyone.
To give you some more ideas on what you could do with two weeks here, we’ve put together a host of other sample itineraries. They’re short, but they give you something to start thinking about!
Two week outdoors-focused itinerary with Amazon and Inca Trail
If your main goal for visiting Peru is to get out into nature and you want to do one of the multi-day hikes to Machu Picchu, I think you should focus on the Cusco area and Amazon. The hikes take 3-5 days, so you don’t really have time to add in another part of the country.
Day 1: Explore Lima
Day 2: Lima to Puerto Maldonado and into the Amazon. Afternoon arrival to lodge.
Day 3: Amazon hiking, boating, and wildlife spotting in/around Tambopata reserve
Day 4: More Amazon
Day 5: More Amazon
Day 6: Flight from Puerto Maldonado to Cusco and enjoy an evening in the city
Day 7: Full day to enjoy Cusco
Day 8: Sacred Valley - Sacsayhuaman and Cusco archaeological sites and then Chinchero, Maras, and Moray
Days 9-11: Inca Trail Hike finishing at Machu Picchu
Day 12: Sacred Valley - leisurely visits to Ollantaytambo and Pisac without the crowds
Day 13: Free day in Cusco: enjoy the city or take a day trip
Day 14: Return to Lima
Two week southern highlights with Amazon and Arequipa
This itinerary is a variation on the detailed itinerary in this article, but we’ve removed the South Coast section and cut down on the time in Cusco in order to make a very short trip to the Amazon possible.
Day 1: Explore Lima
Day 2: Lima to Puerto Maldonado and into the Amazon
Day 3: Amazon
Day 4: Amazon
Day 5: Puerto Maldonado to Cusco
Day 6: Enjoy Cusco
Day 7: Sacred Valley - Sacsayhuaman, Maras, and Moray
Day 8: One-day Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu
Day 9: Sacred Valley visit en route to Cusco (Ollantaytambo and Pisac), evening in Cusco
Day 10: Bus from Cusco to Puno (Lake Titicaca)
Day 11: Uros Island and Lake Taquile day trip
Day 12: Puno to Arequipa
Day 13: Enjoy Arequipa
Day 14: Colca Canyon day trip
Two week trekking itinerary with some highlights
If you're an experienced hiker and you want to enjoy some of Peru’s most incredible mountain landscapes, you have to spend time in Huaraz and the Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash. Huaraz is Peru’s outdoors adventure capital and you have a great collection of day treks as well as multi-day hikes.
Because of the extremely high altitude here, you need to give yourself at least 5 days for acclimatization and hiking. The itinerary below is all day treks, but you could also do an 8-12 day thru hike on the Santa Cruz trek…
Day 1: Enjoy Lima
Day 2: Morning flight from Lima to Huaraz, acclimatize in town in the afternoon and get set up for hikes/tours.
Day 3: Acclimatize in Huaraz in the morning and take a short acclimatization hike to Laguna Wilcacocha near town.
Day 4: Laguna 69 day hike
Day 5: Lake Rajucolta hike
Day 6: Laguna Paron day hike
Day 7: Flight from Huaraz to Cusco (layover in Lima), afternoon and evening in Cusco
Day 8: Relax day in Cusco - have a massage and see the city
Day 9: Sacred Valley - Chinchero, Maras, and Moray
Day 10: 1-day Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu (overnight in Pisac)
Day 11: Return to Cusco, visiting Pisac and Ollantaytambo en route. Evening in Cusco
Day 12: Morning flight to Arequipa, afternoon in town
Day 13: Arequipa to Colca Canyon. Overnight in Chivay
Day 14: Full-day hiking in Colca Canyon
More Peru travel info
For more advice on planning your trip to Peru, have a look at some of our other guides and itineraries!
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