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Peru has a huge variety of sights that are impossible to see in under two weeks. Most people will start and end their trip in Lima. We flew LATAM from JFK, putting the kids at the front of coach and my husband and I sat in First, celebrating his 50th birthday. You can find my review of LATAM Business Class here.

While I didn’t find there is much to see in Lima, it is definitely worth a couple of days for the food alone. We also chose to go to the jungle because we thought it would be fun for the kids, and then obviously no trip to Peru is complete if you haven’t seen Machu Picchu. We planned our itinerary keeping in mind the altitude and the best way to acclimate.

Fun Fact about Peru: Peru is the 2nd largest copper producer in the world.

Lima

Necessities during the winter: Some days were cool and some days warm, so be prepared for either.

Upon our arrival in Lima, we were met by transportation that I had arranged through the Westin, where we would be staying for the night. The hotel let us check in at 9am, which was wonderful. (You can find my review here.) After getting settled, we headed Barranco, a cute, artsy area. There we opted for a free walking tour in Barranco. Our guide clearly loved what he did. He was lively and entertaining and we enjoyed our 2 hour tour.

Throughout our visit, we had views of the costa verde, aka the green coast, where the green cliffs meet the ocean. Since Lima is more of a desert, the green coast was planted to prevent erosion of the steep cliffs. It is located between the Miraflores and Barranco neighborhoods. Our free walking tour guide said it is where rivers meet the ocean.

Barranco is filled with great street art and art galleries.

It is also home to the Whisper Bridge (unfortunately closed when we visited), aka The Bridge of Sighs. The bridge crosses what was once a river and the path is now the way down to the ocean. Supposedly, if you can walk across the bridge while holding your breath, your wish will come true. The fable says that the daughter of a rich merchant lived nearby and fell in love with a street cleaner. Her father forbade the relationship and locked her in her room. All she could do was look out of her window at the bridge and sigh each time she thought of her lover.

There are cool bars and coffee shops in this district. One place were we were taken on the walking tour was a colonial mansion that had been turned into a bar called Ayahuasca. If you are into the bar scene, this place is a must!

Something I saw multiple times around Lima were recycling areas. I’m not sure why they wouldn’t put it in something a little more enclosed, but it was nice to see it was being used.

A Peruvian friend then introduced us to one of the coolest places we ate at in all of Peru: La Picanteria. You can find my restaurant reviews here. We spent our last couple of days in Lima as well, staying at the JW Marriott. This time I used a private taxi service to and from the airport. They were half the cost of the hotel service and were just as professional and prompt.

We found the downtown area to be quite busy with locals and government buildings. The main square in Lima is called the Plaza de Armas, where Francisco Pizarro founded Lima. Pizarro is now interred in the Cathedral. The square is bordered by government buildings, including the Government Palace and the Basilica Cathedral de Lima. The entire square was closed while we were there because the President of Peru was having meetings and the police were monitoring for protests.

Inside the Basilica is worth a look. Each chapel is different and they all seem to represent different styles, such as Renaissance, Baroque, Gothic and Neoclassical.

Amazon – Puerto Maldonado

Necessities: It’s hot and humid. Bring a small personal fan, insect repellant, long pants for women, men, boys and girls and long sleeve shirts like this one.

One of the things we noticed during our domestic flights in Peru were a lack of snow capped peaks due to global warming and deforestation. It was definitely disappointing. The Amazon absorbs at least 25% of carbon dioxide from our planet. Put simply, it cleans the air we breathe and we really need it to help fight climate change.

We chose Puerto Maldonado over Iquitos due to the quality of hotels. Inkaterra has a few properties there that are very nice and by booking directly, I didn’t have to make an immediate deposit and still received the best rate. You can find my review here. They picked us up at the airport and took a bus full of guests to a boat for a 30 min ride up river. The lodge is located on the banks of the Madre de Dios River a headwater tributary of the Amazon, flowing to the Bolivian border and beyond. The jungle is extremely humid, which means mosquitos. I wore long sleeves and pants every day. This shirt is moisture wicking and these pants are thin and quick dry. I also had 3 different fan types and I used them all. You can get a small one, one that hangs around your neck or a slightly larger one to blow on your face as you fall asleep. At least that is what I do! I was told Dec/Jan is the least humid time to visit although not by much. The lodge plans your excursions and I participated in most, but not all, of what was offered.

Nature Walk

This is a one hour walk around the property. I definitely needed bug spray to walk around the property. My favorite is badger balm which is a little greasy, but the stick version is great because it isn’t too messy and works well. I also used Cutter skinsations on my face for this trip. I am honestly not sure it it worked or if it was the fan that kept the mosquitos away from my face. Maybe both! Regardless of the mosquitos, walking around the property was a treat due to the monkeys in the area.

We saw a lot of ants around the property. Fire ants take over trees as a host. We also learned that strangler figs grow from seeds that are dropped from bird or monkey poop. As the strangler fig grows, it strangles the tree and ultimately kills it.

Night Boat Ride

We set off well past dark on the hunt for caymans, which are similar to alligators. We did see one young cayman, but we also saw a hillside of capybara, which are the largest rodents on earth. They looked to me like a cross between a rat and a pig.

Lake Sandoval

This is an excursion that begins with a 6am departure. Note that there is not a lot of shade on the lake, so early is best if you want to be on the “cooler side”. After a short boat ride, there is a long walk to the lake with a large variety of flora and fauna. We saw at least three different types of monkeys, as well as an Ironwood tree, strongest in jungle, this one is young at 80-100 years. Even a strangler fig would have trouble killing this tree.

Lake Sandoval is a safe haven for Giant Otters, a carnivorous mammal and the largest of all otters, growing up to 6′ long. They are also called Lobo del Ria or River Wolf and as a group they can kill a cayman or an anaconda. They have been provided a protected area of the lake and forest since they are an endangered species. The closer we got to them, the faster they retreated. Fun fact: Each otter eats about 8lbs of fish per day and the shape of their neck is their “fingerprint”.

We also saw some cayman and a few interesting birds.

Canopy Walk

My kids really enjoyed the canopy walk. It’s a short walk in the jungle to a tower that you must climb up, which would not be easy for someone who is out of shape. Then there are seven bridges you walk across. We did not see any animals here, but it was still fun to be at the tops of the trees.

It rained a bit as we returned back to our lodge, providing us with a beautiful rainbow.

Medicinal Plants

This excursion was more interesting than I expected. The only downside were the mosquitos, so make sure you wear repellant.

La Cachuela Clay Lick

There was nothing planned for our last morning in the Amazon, so my husband and I requested to visit the La Cachuela clay lick for an extra charge of about $250 for 1-4 people. It was a very early morning, but was well worth it. The sunrise was incredible, the birds were awesome and the breakfast and wine that came with it were great. It all made getting up at 4am very worth it. It took an hour to get there because of dense fog and only about 40 minutes to return. Apparently the birds come to the clay lick for less than 30 minutes, every single morning. There is another clay lick that has a larger number of macaws. If we ever return, I now know a guy!

Acclimatizing

I brought Diamox with me, prescribed by my doctor. I didn’t take it until the end of my trip when I would be at the highest altitudes. My husband was told to take something called Sorojchi pills that can be purchased in local pharmacies. Someone else recommended electrolyte tablets that are added to your water, which I purchased here in advance. But honestly, the number one thing you can do to help is to drink water. My kids struggled with this so they had a harder time acclimating. Don’t bother with the little oxygen shots that you can find in some stores. They only help for a minute and you really need to acclimate, which those just delay.

Sacred Valley

Necessities: Dramamine, electrolyte tablets and lots of water

When we left the Amazon, we flew to Cusco at an altitude of about 11,200 feet. After reading multiple comments about altitude, we chose to go directly to the Sacred Valley to acclimate a little easier at roughly 9,000 feet. The drive took about 90 minutes. What we were not prepared for were the switchbacks, which were intense. Unfortunately nobody had taken dramamine. Luckily our hotel was amazing and helped us with the cleanup. We stayed at Tambo Del Inka, Tambo meaning a place to rest in Quechua. It is located on the Urubamba River, a tributary to the Amazon. My review of the hotel is here. During our short visit, we had the opportunity to feed and cuddle with a four month old alpaca named Chaska. Turns out, Chaska is a fairly common name for alpacas and means star.

After one night at Tambo, we went to Ollantaytambo to catch the train to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu. You can find my review of Inca Rail here. This hotel change is the only mistake I made on the trip. Had I known how amazing Tambo del Inka would be and how underwhelmed I would be at our hotel in Aguas Calientes, I would have stayed at Tambo. It would have also given us an extra day to explore the Sacred Valley.

Aguas Calientes

There was very little that was nice about this town that seemed manufactured solely for tourists. There were an abundance of stalls to purchase things, but were told everything would be priced lower in Cusco. In addition, the noise of the trains is really loud and begin early in the morning until end mid-evening. The grounds of our hotel were beautiful, so we just stayed there, except for when we went to Machu Picchu. I had heard that the hot springs are often dirty, so we chose to avoid them.

Machu Picchu – one of the Wonders of the World

Necessities: It is cold in winter, but the sun is hot if it makes an appearance. There are also mosquitoes, so be prepared with insect repellant.

Everyone (other than the hikers) has to take the bus to the citadel. This road also has crazy switchbacks, but the drive is very slow and relatively painless. Once you get there, it is advisable to use the bathroom for 2 sol. Once you enter, there are no bathrooms and you could be up there for more than three hours. There is a place to get some food if you need, but you cannot eat inside. There is also a Belmond Hotel at the entrance but it is quite small and extremely expensive.

Nobody can prepare you for the lush beauty that is Machu Picchu. There is actually a mountain called Machu Picchu that you can hike to the top in about three hours. I was told it wasn’t the easiest, although children can do it. The famous citadel next door just happened to take on the name too. When you look at the citadel, you see another mountain called Huayna Picchu that is also hikeable, but far more difficult. If I wasn’t traveling with children, I would have liked to hike one of them, but I chose my sanity instead. Regardless, we were on Circuit 2 which begins with stairs that took us almost 20 minutes to climb. It was on the colder side when we arrived at the site, in fact, the sun was warm, but the air was cold. Make sure you have warm pants and a long sleeve top if you are traveling during their winter (June/July). There are also mosquitoes here, so bring your repellant!

Machu Picchu was “discovered” by Hiram Bingham in 1911, a treasure hunter and professor at Yale. However, a German man, Augusto Bern, was here in the 1870s and made a map of the area. He was followed by Agustin Lizárraga from Cusco, who wrote his name in charcoal on the site. Legend has it that they both remained silent about their discovery because they had found gold there.

So why was Machu Picchu built? Most people believe that it was built for the Incan Emperor, Pachacuti, to teach, learn and worship. There is a section of the citadel that was clearly meant for royalty. But there were over 600 people who lived here, so who were they? Aside from staff, they were educators and students. The Incans wanted to learn and took suggestions from all the surrounding areas. And why was it built there? The way the land was shaped, the presence of water and the abundance of stone in natural quarries made it easy to build on. Farming was done on the natural terraces of Machu Picchu. The Incas built around and up on them to ensure proper drainage and also to protect the mountain from erosion and landslides. When the Spanish invaded, the Incas fled Machu Picchu and burned all access in order to protect it. If that is true, they did a good job because the Spanish never found it.

It is important to note that our guide said a lot of the information about Machu Picchu that you find on the internet is incorrect and to only trust information written by John Verano.

Maras, Moray and Chinchero

We combined our transfer to Cusco from the Ollantaytambo Train Station with an afternoon tour of Maras, Moray (the ay makes an I sound) and Chinchero

Maras

Maras is a salt mine (more like salt pans) that was discovered 2000 years ago but was just a white mountain at the time. When the Incas conquered Killke, they introduced terraces for agriculture, which is still in use today. Fun Fact: Sal (salt in English) is where the word salary comes from. Salt was very expensive and was used as currency long ago.

The water that fills into these salt pools comes from melting glaciers. It passes through the mountains and turns into salt water. When the Incas built the terraces, they put in little water channels that trickle down to all the pools. All the salt is excavated by hand using ancient methods. When the glacier is gone, the water will no longer fill the salt mine and their existence will end.

It must have been easy for archaeologists to determine this area was was once part of the ocean. There are small seashells EVERYWHERE, and my children enjoyed finding them.

Moray

These terraces were built by the Incas for agricultural research. They were used to investigate and experiment with different crops and also to domesticate and adopt plants for use. There were not many wild animals in the area, so agriculture was vital to their survival. The terraces were all built to filter water out, so you will never find water standing here. While it is no longer in use, it is quite fascinating to see the Incas ingenuity first hand.

Chinchero

Chinchero is the highest town in the Sacred Valley at 12,500 feet (even higher than Cusco) and is known for textiles. That means shopping!! Our guide for the afternoon took us to a weaving cooperative where you can watch a demonstration of the entire process, from the moment the alpaca is sheared to when garments are weaved. This includes how they clean and color the wool and how they turn the wool into thread.

Cusco

We did another free walking tour in Cusco. There appeared to be many and they all seemed similar. The tour really just helped me get a lay of the land. Beginning at the Plaza de Armas, there is a large metal statue in the center that is dedicated to the first Incan Emperor.

Walking toward the San Pedro Market (from the Plaza de Armas) there is a large arch. It was built in 1836 and the statue at the top stands for freedom. Peru became independent from Spain in 1821.

The huge San Pedro Market is a destination in and of itself. It is well organized into sections such as souvenirs, meat, fruit and dining, reminding me a bit of Morocco. This is the place to go for the best prices on trinket type souvenirs. Don’t forget to negotiate. The best I did was about 20% off.

One of the things I enjoyed the most in Cusco was wandering the streets that led up the hill, away from the Plaza and the Market. It’s a cute part of the city with little shops, restaurants and tiny hotels. There were also a lot of steps so you will probably need to take it slow.

Saqsaywaman

You can take a 15 minute taxi ride to the hill overlooking the valley of Cusco to visit the ruins of Saqsaywaman (pronounced Sack-sigh-waman). We arranged for a taxi through our hotel and paid about 60 sol and had the driver wait for us while we explored. Because of its strategic position, the site is believed to have been built by the Incas for military purposes. The stones here are limestone.

Palccoyo Rainbow Mountain

This day trip is really best after spending a few days in Cusco so you are as acclimated as possible. My family had been in the Sacred Valley for a few days, but only in Cusco for about 36 hours, but I think a little more time would have made the trip easier. I used Into Peru for this excursion, primarily because they offered a private service that I felt was important since I was traveling with my children. It also meant we were able to start at 7am instead of 4am like many of the other groups. You can read my full review here.

As much as Machu Picchu is a lush beauty, Rainbow mountain is a very dry beauty. These mountains were unearthed as the glaciers have melted. Most people travel to the Vinicunca Rainbow Mountain, which is a 3 hour round trip hike. The alternative rainbow mountain, located in Palccoyo, is about 90 minutes roundtrip if you hike to Rock Forest at the very top of the mountain. The total hike is about 750 feet but feels like you just ran a marathon when you start the climb. You can see some rainbow mountains from the parking lot and since there are multiple, the more you walk, the more you see, including the Ausangate Glacier at about 21k feet above sea level. My kids only made it a little beyond the top of the stairs before they turned around. Our driver stayed with them, providing me an opportunity to continue. Had they walked further, they would have been able to take pictures with more alpacas. Note that it is very cold, but the sun is hot. I wore these pants plus a new alpaca sweater and an Arc’teryx jacket similar to this one on this hike.

On the return, you can stop at a place to view three bridges crossing the same river, but built during three significantly different times in history.

Peru is a very large country with so much to see. I encourage everyone to explore it but leave it as you find it, if not better.