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Peru

⭐️ Best for: Hiking, Bucket list adventure & History

⚠️ Difficulty: Moderate

💰 Budget: £-£££

Itinerary

2 weeks

Lima (3 days)    >>   Paracas (2 days)    >>    Cusco (7+ days)

​3 weeks +

Lima (3 days)    >>    Huacachina&Paracas (4 days)    >>    Cusco (7+ days)    >>    Huaraz (4-5 days)

Places

Cusco

This city sits at an altitude of 3,399m & is the capital of the Inca Empire.

A huge bucket list trek I got to tick off! It took an 18 hour overnight bus from Ica to get here.

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Things to do:

  • Inca Trail (Trexperience - a Peruvian owned company) - 2/3/4/5 day treks​​

  • Machu Picchu day trip

  • Rainbow Mountain day trip 5,036m - hike or ATVs

  • Salkantay multi day trek - 4/5 day treks

  • ​Day trips to Humantay Lake or Saqsaywaman ruins

  • Chocolate making workship (Choco Museo)

  • 25m bungee jump or slingshot (Action Valley)

Maccu Picchu

🛏️ Where I stayed:

Viajero Hostel

  • Nice, however the dorms were not spacious considering everyday someone's packing or unpacking for a trek

  • Very sociable with a bar & small restaurant

  • Different events every night, but you can hear the music from the dorms

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Los Portales (hotel)

  • Comfy & clean rooms rooms (ideal after 4 days of trekking)

  • Breakfast included & they have a restaurant with room service

  • 10 minute walk from the main plaza.

🍴 Where I ate:

  • Parada Vegana (Vegan) - Food & atmosphere were nice

  • Vida Vegan Bistro (Vegan) - Food was good but upset my stomach A LOT the day after

  • Green Point (Vegan) - Meh

  • Carpe Diem Cucina Italiana - Very good vegetarian options

Helpful Tip:​

  • Check out my complete guide for the Inca Trail

  • The Inca trail gets booked up in advanced so plan ahead, the Salakantay trek is more readily available

  • Get to Cusco a few days before your trek to adjust to the altitude

  • Don’t go straight to rainbow mountain after flying in from sea level, I recommend going after your trek

  • The overnight bus from Ica helped me get over the altitude sickness so by the time I arrived in Cusco I was fine

  • For day trips to Machu Picchu, opt for the Panoramic Vistadome train - you don't regret it

Cusco
Huacachina

Huacachina

Dune

Huacachina is a desert oasis village just 4 hours away from Lima. Most people do a day trip here but I spent 3 days wonderful days here!

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Things to do:​

  • Sand boarding/skiing/bodyboarding - my new favourite activity

    • Different providers offer a different version of the activity​

    • My hostel = bodyboarding

    • Peru Dream Travel = sandboarding (like snowboarding)

  • Dune buggy ride (included in sandboarding experiences)

  • Sunset on the dunes

  • Pedalo in the oasis

  • Day trip to Nazca lines

🛏️Where I stayed:

Bananas Adventure Hostel Huacachina - I loved this hostel!

  • Dorm & en suite bathroom were very clean, modern & spacious

  • Had its own pool & bar/restaurant

  • More chilled compared to other hostels in the area

  • Breakfast was included & there were quite a few options

  • Party hostels - Wild Rover & Viajero.

🍴Where I ate:

  • Bananas Adventure Hostel Restaurant - Has veggie options

  • Wild Olive Trattoria - Italian restaurant with good food & lots of veggie options

Helpful Tip:​​

  • Bodyboarding is the easiest option & sandboarding is easier than sand skiing (as someone who's never snowboarded)

  • When bodyboarding, I recommend wearing clothes you don't mind getting dirty (including shoes) as you'll have sand all over you. I'd also recommend wearing sunglasses & a buff (sellers everywhere) to wrap around your nose and mouth because the sand will fly straight into your face.

Paracas

Paracas

I did a day trip to Paracas (available from Lima & Huacachina) which was an hour drive from Huacachina and included a variety of activities:

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  • Boat trip around the Ballestas Islands - sea lions, penguins & the Candelabra geoglyph (pictured)

  • Paracas National Reserve - view of the cliffs & the 'Red Beach' which is famous for its red sand

  • Free time at another beach

  • Lunch at a local restaurant in a small town

Paracas
Huaraz
Laguna 69

Huaraz

The city sits at an altitude of 3000m & is an 8 hour bus journey from Lima.'Off the beaten track' with great hiking & less tourists.

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Things to do:

  • Laguna 69 hike

    • The lake is part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

    • Starts at 3900m, peaks at 4600m

    • Takes about 3-4 hour

  • Laguna Parón

  • Santa Cruz trek - multiday hike

🛏️Where I stayed:

Makalu Lodge ​

  • Staff were great at helping you plan your activities & cooked breakfast for you in the morning (which is included)

  • Dorm beds were really comfortable & warm

  • Hostel was very clean

  • About a 20min walk from the centre

🍴Where I ate:

  • Pizza Bruno - Italian restaurant with good food & veggie options

Helpful Tip:​

  • I'd recommend staying a night or two before attempting any high altitude hikes, especially if your body is not used to those conditions...I learnt the hard way

Lima

Lima

Known as the culinary capital of South America. Not much going on here & I mainly used Lima as a base to get to other places in Peru.

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Things to do:​

  • Cooking class (Luchito's Cooking Class) - offers vegetarian and vegan alternative to dishes

  • Day trip to Huacachina & Paracas

  • Day trip to Palomino Islands to see sea lions, herons and penguins

  • Scuba diving (Pacific Divers) - not much but saw quite a few octopi

  • Restaurants

Cooking Class Peru

🛏️Where I stayed:

Pariwana Hostel

  • Clean but the dorms & en suite bathrooms were quite small

  • Nice bar/chill out space on the roof but I found it hard to socialise here

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Viajero Barranco Hostel

  • Huge hostel, has it's own bar accessible to non guests, huge dorms (but the one I was in had no windows or natural light)

🍴Where I ate:

  • Asianica Street Food (Vegan) - Serves veganised versions of traditional Peruvian dishes

  • Central Restaurante - Ranked as one of the world's best restaurants, recommend booking in advance

  • Seitan Urban Bistro (Vegan)

  • Mamalola - Italian restaurant with veggie options

What to watch out for:​

  • Pickpockets

Transport

  • Domestic flights are available between Lima and Cusco

  • Peru can be easily navigated by bus

  • Readily available, safe, cost effective and comfortable, if you don't mind the long hours

  • Booked all my buses through the BUSBUD app - Cruz del Sur had recliner seats & provided a snack bag for longer journeys

  • Peru Hop is a popular bus company which provides the support of a local guide on top of a safe, flexible bus service.​

  • Uber was safe and easy to use in Lima

  • In Huaraz & Cusco, InDrive was the better option

  • To get from Huacachina from Ica bus station I used a local taxi (cash only)

Safety

  •  I felt safe walking around alone in Peru
     

  • Exercise the same caution you would in any busy city when in Lima

Practical Tips

  • Language: Spanish, Currency: Sol
     

  • Areas of high altitude (Huaraz and Cusco) were cold whereas areas closer to sea level (Lima and Huacachina) were very hot so pack with all climates in mind
     

  • Almost everywhere takes card in Peru & I only needed cash in Huaraz & for local taxis & occassionally on the Inca trail

More To Try

  • Salakantay Trek - 5 day trek alternative to the Inca Trail that also ends in Machu Picchu

  • Lake Titicaca - You can hike, go on boat tours or visit small islands

  • Colca Canyon - South America's largest canyon where you can hike to viewpoints, visit natural hot springs & archeological sites.

  • Causa - Layered potato based dish with a mayonnaise based filling

  • Picarones (popular Peruvian dessert) - Fried sweet potato & anise fritter, served with a spiced syrup (chancaca)

  • Ceviche - Peru's national dish made with a citrus marinated protein, chilli and coriander.

  • Pisco Sour - Made with Peruvian Pisco, lime juice, Angostura bitters, syrup & egg whites

  • Chicha Morada - Made from Peruvian purple corn

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