Peru Tours - Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley & Inca Heartland

Peru rewards travellers who take their time

Peru is a country of altitude and contrast. The Pacific coast sits at sea level, the Andes rise sharply behind it, and the Amazon spreads east into one of the densest stretches of rainforest on the continent. Most visitors travel a well-established route between Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu, and for good reason: the four together trace the arc of Peruvian history from the Pacific port cities to the high Inca heartland, and the distances are manageable when the days are not rushed.

Lima, the Pacific coast capital

Lima is where most international flights land. It sits at sea level, which makes it a sensible place to begin before climbing into the Andes, but it is also a city worth a couple of days of its own. The historic centre, founded by Pizarro in 1535 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991, holds colonial palaces, baroque churches, and the catacombs of San Francisco. Miraflores, on the cliffs above the ocean, has green parks and long coastal views. Barranco, the artistic district next door, is quieter, with murals, cafés, and a slow drift towards the sea at sunset.

Thirty kilometres south of the city, on the desert edge of Lima’s last green valley, is Pachacamac, the great pre-Inca and Inca oracle. Walking the site in chronological order, from the earliest coastal pyramids of around 200 AD up to the Inca Temple of the Sun, makes the highland sites at Cusco and Machu Picchu much more legible.

The food is reason enough to stay a couple of nights. Ceviche, fresh fish cured in lime and chilli, is the dish most associated with the city, but lomo saltado carries the Chinese influence that runs through Peruvian cooking, and ají de gallina, creamy chicken with yellow pepper and Andean cheese, belongs to an older tradition. A pisco sour belongs on the table somewhere. A morning with a chef in a working market, choosing ingredients and then cooking the dishes yourself, is the most direct way into the cuisine.

Cusco and the altitude of the Andes

A short domestic flight, just over an hour, lifts travellers from Lima to Cusco, which sits at 11,150 feet in the Peruvian Andes. The altitude is real, and a slow first day is wise. Cusco was the capital of the Inca empire, and the city still reads that way: cobbled streets, colonial churches built directly on Inca foundations, and stretches of original stonework where perfectly interlocking blocks have held without mortar through centuries of earthquakes.

The Sacred Valley, lower and gentler

Thirty kilometres north of Cusco, the Sacred Valley drops to around 9,186 feet, which is easier on the body and a more comfortable base for the days before Machu Picchu. This was the agricultural heartland of the Incas. Pisac has an archaeological complex on the ridge above the town and a Sunday market in the square below. Ollantaytambo, further down the valley, is the best-preserved Inca town in Peru, its original street grid still in use beneath a sun temple cut into the hillside above.

Machu Picchu, approached by train

Machu Picchu sits at 7,972 feet on a narrow ridge above the Urubamba River. It was built in the middle of the fifteenth century as a royal estate, abandoned within a century, and survived intact because the Spanish never found it. The approach by train from Ollantaytambo runs through a deepening canyon to Aguas Calientes, the small town at the base of the ridge. Entry is by timed circuit and must be booked well in advance; all bookings are handled through trusted local partners on the ground.

Before you travel: visas and entry

Most nationalities, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union, do not need a visa to visit Peru as tourists, and may stay for up to 90 days. Entry is now registered digitally when your passport is scanned on arrival, so there is no paper card to keep. Confirm the current rules for your own nationality before you travel.

• Migraciones, the official Peruvian immigration authority
• Tourist entry information, Peruvian State portal