Machu Picchu, Machupicchu District

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Best time to travel: May-Sept
Walk difficulty: Hard
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Protected area that includes the archaeological site of Machu Picchu and its surrounding environment
  • 15th-century Inca citadel located in a cloud forest, founded in 1450 and abandoned in 1572, at the time of the Spanish conquest

Humantay Lake, Machu Picchu

Best time to travel: April-Oct
Walk difficulty: Hard
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Striking glacial lake known for its challenging hiking trail, steep peaks & snow-capped mountains

Huascarán, Huascarán National Park

Best time to travel: April-Oct
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • Mountain in the Peruvian province of Yungay, situated in the western Andes
  • The highest southern summit of Huascarán (Huascarán Sur) is the highest point in Peru, and in all of the earth’s Tropics
  • Huascarán is the fourth highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere and South America

Mirador from Tres Cruces to Santa Isabel, Manú National Park

Best time to travel: April-Nov
Walk difficulty: Hard
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • National park and biosphere reserve located in the regions of Madre de Dios and Cusco
  • It protects a diverse number of ecosystems including lowland rainforests, cloud forests and Andean grasslands

Sacred Valley, Cusco Region

Best time to travel: June-mid Sept
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Valley in the Andes of Peru, located in the present-day region of Cusco
  • The Sacred Valley was incorporated slowly into the incipient Inca Empire during the period from 1000 to 1400 CE
  • Machu Picchu is its most famous archaeological site
  • The Chanapata civilization first utilized this area starting at around 800 BCE because of the rich soil used for agriculture
  • The Incan Empire ruled this area until the arrival of the Spanish

Colca Canyon

Best time to travel: March-June
Walk difficulty: Hard
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru,
  • With a depth of about 3300 – 6600 ft, it is one of the deepest canyons in the world
  • The Colca Valley is a colorful Andean valley with pre-Inca rooted inhabitants, and towns founded in Spanish colonial times, still inhabited by people of the Collagua and the Cabana cultures
  • The local people maintain their ancestral traditions and continue to cultivate the pre-Inca stepped terraces, called andenes

Nazca Lines, Nazca Desert

Best time to travel: Jan-March, Dec
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$$

  • Group of geoglyphs made in the soil of the Nazca Desert in southern Peru
  • They were created between 500 BC and AD 500 by people making depressions or shallow incisions in the desert floor, removing pebbles and leaving differently colored dirt exposed
  • The width of the lines varies considerably, but over half are slightly over 13 inches wide
  • Some of the Nazca lines form shapes that are best seen from the air, though they are also visible from the surrounding foothills and other high places
  • Scholars differ in interpreting the purpose of the designs, but in general, they ascribe religious significance to them