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Introducing Peru
Travel alert: Heavy rains and landslides have blocked roads around Machu Picchu, with the area being declared an emergency zone. Check for the BBC for news updates or Safe Travel for updated government warnings. Protests are also common in Peru; see the Dangers & Annoyances section for further details.
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Clinging to the Andes, between the parched coastal desert and the lush expanse of the Amazon rainforest, Peru offers such a wide range of experiences that it can be difficult to choose between them. Solemn pilgrimages honor gods both Christian and indigenous. Neon-lit discos get jam-packed with reveling youth. Ancient ruins divulge prehistoric secrets. There are museums to visit, lakes to ogle, waves to surf, labyrinthine cities to explore.
This is a country where practices run deep – 5000 years, to be exact. Yet it is a place continuously energized by fresh influences. In Peru, you can groove to African beats, admire impressive Catholic churches and examine indigenous textiles inspired by pre-Columbian tradition.
Meanwhile, prepare to send your vision (and camera) into overdrive. Peru is home to snow-capped mountains, giant sand dunes, flocks of brightly hued tropical birds, postcard-perfect volcanoes and rocky Pacific outcroppings inhabited by argumentative sea lions.
And let's not forget the food – a bounty of sublime concoctions made from ingredients native and contemporary. You'll need weeks to savor the vast selection of delicacies: from rare strains of potato to guinea pig to succulent ocean mollusks.
Welcome to Peru – it's going to be one tasty trip.
Make it happen
Ready to go? These recommended tours make it easy:
- the Classic Inca Trail hits all the highlights, including Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley
- the Peru Raft, Bike & Hiketour is perfect for those who want a bit of outdoors action
- Peru Panorama exposes you to the country’s best vistas and cultural experiences, including the Inca Trail and Lake Titicaca
Last updated: Feb 8, 2010
Tips & articles
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Kuélap: Machu Picchu alternative
3 February 2010
photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Machu Picchu may be closed to visits for several months, but you...
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Extreme cuisine: top 10 ‘exotic’ tastes
28 January 2010
Part of travel is coming up against local foods that might raise your eyebrows. Here we take a global...
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Classic Train trips
21 January 2010
Hand the porter your luggage, climb aboard and relive the golden days of railroading on these spectacular...
Peru
Our Top Picks For Peru
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1 Lake Titicaca
Home to floating islands and singular cultures, the world's highest navigable lake is, literally, breathtaking
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2 Arequipa
The 'White City' is a colonial-era jewel within reach of smoldering volcanoes and deep canyons
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3 Lima
Peru's sprawling capital has expansive museums, thumping nightlife and some of the continent's most spectacular food
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4 Río Amazonas
Isolated villages, remote rainforest and well-equipped wildlife lodges can be found on South America's greatest river
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5 Máncora
Warm water and rippin' waves attract surfers, kitesurfers and sun worshipers all year long
Fast Facts about Peru
- Native varieties of Peruvian potatoes
almost 4000
- Famous for
Machu Picchu, Shining Path, Nazca Lines, guinea pigs as culinary delicacy rather than pets, pisco, pan pipes (zampoña), Mario Vargas Llosa, llamas
- He said it
Since it is impossible to know what's really happening, we Peruvians lie, invent, dream and take refuge in illusion. Because of these strange circumstances, Peruvian life, a life in which so few actually do read, has become literary - Mario Vargas Llosa
- Navigable tributaries in the Amazon Basin
8600km
- Head of state
Alan Garcia Perez
- Number of taxis in Lima
one in every seven cars
- Population
28.2 million
- Average daily visitors to Machu Picchu
2500
- Estimated hectares of coca production
56,000
- Languages spoken
Spanish, Quechua (official languages), Aymara, many Amazonian languages
Related Groups
Our favourite Peru Blogs (beta)
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Corvacho: Gusto for the Tastiest Bits (Chicken Feet, Pig's Ears and More)
Blog: Jamón, jamón: Alice's Gastronomic Adventures - 5 February 2010
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Kuélap: Machu Picchu alternate
Blog: Lonely Planet blog - 3 February 2010
Machu Picchu may be closed to visits for several months, but don’t cancel your Peru trip just yet. In Peru’s less-visited northern highlands, the country’s second-most thrilling archaealogical site, Kuélap, is still open. Rain is not an issue up here. ‘It was sunny yesterday, it’s sunny today,’ Alicia from Chachapoyas Tours in nearby market town [...]
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Packing your Backpack: Survival Of The Fittest
Blog: AlpacaSuitcase - 14 January 2010
We made a brief stop in Los Angeles over the holidays to see family and pick up some things that we couldn’t find in South America. As we secured visas, acquired needed immunizations and H1N1 shots, we also had an opportunity to re-evaluate what we were carrying in our backpacks. It was interesting to note which items stayed in the backpack and which items didn’t survive. Having recently been in the Galapagos, I immediately thought of Charles Darwin and his idea of Natural Selection.
