Americas
Peru
Ancestral cultures and wild nature
My suggestions for Peru take us from the cosmopolitan gastronomy of Lima to the desert and sea of Paracas, through the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, ending in the Amazon rainforest.
Peru is explored in layers: first the coast, with Lima markets where you learn the ingredients before cooking them; then the highlands, cities of carved stone and an altiplano that takes your breath away above four thousand meters. The Colca Canyon brings condors to eye level; the coastal desert, dunes crossed by buggy before sunset. Cusco and the Sacred Valley hold the most recognizable part of the trip — Machu Picchu at dawn, salt pans that shine like a mirror, Inca terraces still farmed just as they were centuries ago — but the real turn comes when you head down into the jungle, where the pace changes completely: canoe departures at dawn, macaws eating clay on the riverbank, nights with a flashlight searching for frogs. It's an itinerary for those who won't settle for just one Peru and want to experience all three at once — coast, highlands, and jungle — unhurried between one and the next.
Datos del viaje
Experiences
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Peruvian cooking with a local chef
A traditional market, a private cooking class, and lunch with what you just prepared.
View experience: Peruvian cooking with a local chef
The day begins at a traditional market in Lima, touring stalls of fruit, tubers, and fish with a chef who explains the origin and use of each native ingredient — many of them unknown outside Peru. From there it moves to a private cooking class, where representative dishes of Peruvian cuisine are prepared step by step, and ends with a lunch of everything cooked, in a relaxed, unhurried setting, designed to understand why Peruvian cuisine is considered one of the most complete on the continent.
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The Sacred Valley and its communities
Terraced salt pans, Inca terraces, and textile workshops in villages that live as they did centuries ago.
View experience: The Sacred Valley and its communities
The Sacred Valley concentrates some of the most singular pieces of Inca engineering: the Maras salt pans, thousands of evaporation pools on a hillside still worked just as they were centuries ago, and the circular terraces of Moray, a kind of experimental agricultural laboratory that made use of the different microclimates at each level. The visit is rounded out in villages like Chinchero, where local weavers show the full spinning and dyeing process with native plants, a textile tradition passed down from generation to generation.
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Machu Picchu by panoramic train
The climb to the citadel with the first light of day, before the groups arrive.
View experience: Machu Picchu by panoramic train
The ascent to Machu Picchu is made with the first light of day, before the groups that head up later from Aguas Calientes arrive. The citadel, still wrapped in low mist on many mornings, is explored unhurriedly with a guide who explains both the engineering of the construction and the hypotheses — never entirely settled — about its original purpose. The access train, with panoramic-roof carriages, is already part of the experience: the landscape of the Urubamba canyon unfolds without interruption throughout the journey.
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Amazon: canopy towers and giant otters
A jungle lodge, canopy observation towers, and canoeing at dawn among giant otters.
View experience: Amazon: canopy towers and giant otters
Several days staying at a lodge deep in the Amazon rainforest, accessible only by river. Canopy observation towers let you see the treetops from above, at the level where much of the wildlife that's never seen from the ground actually lives. Dawn canoe trips search for macaw clay licks — clay walls where dozens of birds come to eat minerals — and groups of giant river otters, one of the most threatened and least-seen predators of the Amazon basin.
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Altitude, condors, and desert
The condor's flight over the Colca, buggy rides on the dunes, and the Rainbow Mountain.
View experience: Altitude, condors, and desert
A day devoted to the extremes of the Peruvian landscape: first, the flight of the condor over the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest on the planet, where these birds glide on thermal currents just meters from the viewpoints. Then, a radical change of scenery toward the coastal desert, with buggy rides across towering dunes and sandboarding descents. For those seeking even more altitude, the ascent to Rainbow Mountain, over five thousand meters, offers mineral stripes that change tone with the light of day.
Itinerary ideas
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11 days
Essential Peru
Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu
View itinerary idea: Essential Peru
Lima as the gateway, Cusco to acclimatize and explore the Inca city, and several days in the Sacred Valley and its agricultural rhythm, with Machu Picchu as the trip's great highlight.
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16 days
From the Andes to the Altiplano
Lima, Paracas, Arequipa, Colca Canyon, Titicaca, Cusco, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu
View itinerary idea: From the Andes to the Altiplano
A route from coast to altiplano: Lima and Paracas with the Nazca Lines, the white city of Arequipa and the condor flight over the Colca Canyon, Lake Titicaca, and a long final stretch between Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu, with free time to explore Pisac and the area around Cusco independently.
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18 days
Andes and Amazon
Lima, Arequipa, Titicaca, Cusco, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Amazon
View itinerary idea: Andes and Amazon
The same Andean axis — Arequipa, Colca, Titicaca, Cusco, Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu — extended with several days in the Peruvian Amazon, closing the trip with the contrast between the heights of the Andes and the lowland jungle.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to travel to Peru?
From May to September, in the dry season of the highlands. Peru's meteorological service places the dry period between April and August and the most frequent rains between January and March. The coast, highlands and rainforest have very different climates, so I adapt the route to your month of departure.
How long should a trip to Peru last and how long does it take to get there?
Between 13 and 17 days lets you combine Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu without racing, with time to acclimatise to the altitude. There is a direct flight from Spain of 12 to 13 hours, operated by Iberia. It is a trip with a lot of content, so the pace matters.
Do I need a visa to travel to Peru with a Spanish passport?
Not for tourism. The maximum stay is whatever the officer sets on entry, normally 90 days, within a maximum of 183 days. Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns that overstaying leads to fines and penalties. As of November 2026; check its official page before travelling.
Which vaccinations should I consider for travelling to Peru?
No vaccines are compulsory. Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends yellow fever if you plan to visit rainforest areas, and it should be given at least ten days before travel to be effective. Typhoid, tetanus, polio and hepatitis A and B are also advised. Book an appointment in good time. As of November 2026.