Things to see in Peru

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The Inca Trail

Peru Map

Peru Attractions

If there’s one place in South America brimming with ruins of ancient civilisations and a wealth of fascinating and awe-inspiring attractions, it’s Peru.

Boasting wonders such as Maccha Pichu, the Colca Canyon, Nazca lines, the Coricancha Inca Ruins and Pisco, it’s no wonder Peru is fast becoming one South America’s most popular tourist destinations.

The best time of year to visit Peru is between March and April when the weather is warm and humidity levels are low.

Getting around Peru is fairly cheap and easy with plenty of internal flights operating on an almost daily basis and an affordable and reliable public transport system. It’s advisable to fly between cities when possible or rent a car and explore all this mystical country has to offer yourself.

Plaza Mayor and Plaza San Martin

A long pedestrian street crowded with shoppers, vendors and sightseers connects Lima's two main plazas to each other. The heart of the old town is centred on the striking Plaza Mayor, or Plaza de Armas, gracefully colonial with its bronze fountain and old street lamps.... see full details

Museo de la Nación (National Museum)

The superb anthropological and archaeological National Museum contains excellent exhibits tracing the history of Peru’s ancient civilisations and provides an outstanding overview of the archaeological richness of the country. It is the city’s largest and the country’s most important museum and the chronological layout guides... see full details

Church of San Francisco

The most spectacular of Lima's colonial churches, San Francisco is a striking white and yellow building with twin towers and a stone façade. It was one of the few buildings to survive the devastation of the 1746 earthquake and is famous for its underground... see full details

Pisco

Pisco is a small port and fishing village, best known for its fiery white grape brandy of the same name. It also boasts the origins of one of the major ancient civilisations in Peru, the Paracas culture, who left an astounding collection of... see full details

Nazca

Nazca is a small desert town, named for the Nazca civilisation that came after the Paracas culture, and it is a major attraction due to the mysterious presence of the lines and diagrams etched into the surrounding desert floor. It also has some... see full details

Coricancha Inca Ruins

Coricancha is a Quechua word meaning 'Golden Courtyard', but the Inca stonework is all that remains of the ancient Temple of the Sun, which was the most important temple in the Inca Empire, dedicated primarily to Inti, the Sun God. The walls and... see full details

Sacsayhuamán

Of the four ruins near Cuzco, Sacsayhuamán is the closest and the most remarkable. Its proximity to Cuzco and the dimensions of its stones caused it to be used as a quarry by the Spanish conquistadors, providing building material for their colonial buildings in... see full details

The Sacred Valley (Urubamba River Valley)

Known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas, this fertile valley of breathtaking beauty, stretching between the villages of Pisac and Ollantaytambo, is coursed by the winding Urubamba River, watched over by ancient Inca ruins perched high on the hilltops above, and sprinkled with... see full details

Machu Picchu

The ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is regarded as the most significant archaeological site in South America and one of the finest examples of landscape architecture in the world. Nestled high in the towering Andes Mountains on a saddle between two peaks is... see full details

The Colca Canyon

The most popular excursion from Arequipa is to the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest canyons in the world, and twice the depth of Arizona’s Grand Canyon. The Colca valley is extremely picturesque, dominated by huge mountains, with little villages and a distinctive traditional... see full details

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