Language · 11 published
Country guide
Peru is 1,285,216 square kilometres arranged in three long bands: an arid Pacific coast, the Andes behind it, and Amazon rainforest east of the mountains. Which band a city sits in decides nearly everything about visiting it — Lima, the capital, is a coastal city under grey winter cloud, Cusco sits high enough in the Andes to cost a first day doing nothing, and Iquitos in the rainforest has no road connecting it to the rest of the country. It is the third largest country in South America. The distances between those three worlds are why itineraries here are counted in flights rather than in bus rides.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Corminos · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photograph · gertrudis2010 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
19 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
Malecón de Miraflores
Miraflores Boardwalk, or Malecón de Miraflores, is a sequence of clifftop parks and promenades along Lima’s Pacific edge. The route links gardens, viewpoints, paved walking paths, and recreational spaces above the Costa Verde.
Costa Verde is Lima's coastal corridor, a strip of land along the Pacific Ocean connecting multiple districts including Miraflores, Barranco, and Chorrillos. The area is defined by its dramatic high-cliff landscape that drops to beaches below.
Calle Loreto
Calle Loreto is a narrow pedestrian passage in central Cusco, Peru, notable for preserving a substantial section of original Inca stone wall along its eastern flank.
Islas Palomino
The Palomino Islands are a small archipelago off the coast of Callao, Lima's principal port city.
La Punta is a compact peninsula district within the constitutional province of Callao, adjacent to Lima.
Casa de Aliaga
Casa de Aliaga stands as one of Lima's oldest continuously inhabited colonial houses, located near the historic Plaza Mayor in Peru's capital.
Huayna Tauqaray
Wayna Tawqaray, also called Huayna Tauqaray, is a lesser-known Inca archaeological site near the south-eastern edge of Cusco’s urban area.
Jirón de la Unión is a historic pedestrian corridor through central Lima. Peru’s official tourism inventory classifies it as architecture and urban space, specifically a pedestrian promenade, and places its route between Jirón Trujillo and Paseo de los Héroes Navales.
Calle del Medio is a central pedestrian street in Cusco's historic core, providing a direct historic connection from Plaza de Armas into the old-city commercial fabric.
Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco
The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Cusqueñan weaving traditions. Founded to support indigenous textile arts, the center operates as a cultural institution and social enterprise.
Paseo de Aguas is an eighteenth-century water promenade in Lima's Rímac district. The heritage site presents colonial landscape design through a public walkway centred on historic hydraulic features.
Plaza de Toros de Acho
The Plaza de Toros de Acho is the historic bullring of Lima, situated in the Rímac district. Constructed in 1766, it stands as one of the oldest surviving bullrings in the Americas.
Wanchaq
Wanchaq District is a working urban district south of Cusco’s historic colonial core. Its character comes from everyday commerce, local movement, transport connections, markets, and streets used by residents.
Puente de Piedra
The Puente de Piedra, or Stone Bridge of Lima, is a colonial-era bridge spanning the Rímac River in Peru's capital. It serves as a historic connection between Lima's historic centre and the Rímac district.
Valle Sagrado de los Incas
The Sacred Valley of the Incas, locally Valle Sagrado de los Incas, is the Urubamba River corridor northwest of Cusco. This broad valley between Pisac and Ollantaytambo served as a vital agricultural, spiritual, and administrative zone for the Inca Empire.
Biblioteca Nacional del Perú
The Biblioteca Nacional del Perú is Peru's national library and principal documentary institution. Headquartered in the San Borja district of Lima, it serves as the country's central repository for published works, manuscripts, and historical records.
Urubamba is a town in Peru’s Sacred Valley of the Incas, between Cusco and Machu Picchu. It sits beside the Vilcanota River at a lower elevation than Cusco and works particularly well as a practical base for exploring the valley.
Refugio de Vida Silvestre Los Pantanos de Villa
The Pantanos de Villa Wildlife Refuge, known locally as Refugio de Vida Silvestre Los Pantanos de Villa, is a protected wetland area situated within the metropolitan boundaries of Lima, Peru.
Estadio Nacional del Perú
The Estadio Nacional del Perú is Peru's principal football stadium and a major civic landmark in Lima.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
Ten to fourteen days can combine Lima, Cusco and the Sacred Valley with one additional region. Altitude adjustment and rail or road transfers need their own time, so compressing the Andes and Amazon into the same short visit is unwise.
Peru’s Migraciones authority publishes admission information. Passport, nationality and permitted-stay rules must be checked for the actual traveller, and any border or immigration form should come from the government service.
Lima is the principal air hub, with domestic services to Cusco, Arequipa and other gateways. Intercity buses cover many routes, and selected tourist trains serve the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu area.
May to September is the broad dry-season window for many Andean routes. Lima’s coastal conditions and Amazon rainfall follow different patterns, so an itinerary spanning regions needs separate forecasts and access checks.
Peru uses the sol (PEN). Current acceptance and withdrawal charges are Not recorded here; confirm whether an operator expects soles, cards or advance payment before leaving a major city.
Peru records 105 for police and 116 for fire services. Type A and C sockets use 220 V; national tap-water guidance is Not recorded, so obtain local advice.
