Peru Discovery Guide

Peru holds one of the world's most recognisable ancient sites, but Machu Picchu is a single landmark in a country spanning coastal desert, the Andes and Amazon rainforest, often within the same day's travel. Lima's food scene anchors regions that feel genuinely distinct, from Cusco's Inca and colonial layers to Arequipa's volcanic white city, and the Quechua communities of the highlands are not a historical footnote -- weaving, farming and language remain everyday life there.

The main travel issue

The clear months and the crowded months are the same ones: the Andean dry season runs May to September, and June to August is when prices and queues peak at exactly the sites people fly in for.

The solution

Take the April-May or September-October shoulder, when the weather still holds, and fly the long legs rather than bus them. Book the Machu Picchu train early: no road reaches the site, and the trains are the only way in. The British advisory's two exclusions are the VRAEM and a 20km band south of the Putumayo, with the Amazon River itself and the triple-border towns excepted — neither touches the standard southern circuit.

• Ancash
• Arequipa
• Cusco Region
• Lima Province

If you travel slowly: give the highlands at least a week and build in acclimatisation. Altitude punishes tight itineraries, and the Sacred Valley at 2,800 metres is a better first base than Cusco at 3,400.

If you want the essentials: Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, with Lima at either end for the food. Machu Picchu requires timed tickets booked well in advance and they do sell out.

If you’re after local character: go to a highland market town on market day — Pisac, Chinchero — when people come in from the surrounding communities to trade rather than to sell to visitors.

If you want to go past the obvious: the north is barely visited: the Moche pyramids and royal tombs near Trujillo and Chiclayo, and the cloud-forest fortress of Kuelap, which predates the Inca.

Peru’s Andean cultures were not replaced by conquest, and the country’s character comes from what continued underneath it.

Quechua as a living language

In the southern highlands Quechua is spoken at home and in markets, and many older people speak it in preference to Spanish. It is taught in schools and appears in official use.

Agriculture at altitude

Andean farming works terraces and vertical ecological zones, growing thousands of potato varieties and grains like quinoa and kañiwa. The Inca terraces still in use are agricultural infrastructure rather than ruins.

Textiles that carry information

Weaving communities maintain distinct patterns, and a garment signals where its wearer is from. Cooperatives around Cusco have revived natural dyeing and pre-Hispanic techniques deliberately.

Festivals that merge two religions

Corpus Christi in Cusco, Qoyllur Rit’i on the glacier, and Inti Raymi all combine Catholic and Andean practice. Participants do not treat these as separate traditions.

Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail now operate under strict, permit-based daily visitor limits specifically because of past overcrowding -- book well in advance, and consider one of the several alternative trekking routes if the classic trail is full.

Choosing licensed local guides and porters, and confirming operators follow fair-wage standards, supports the mostly Quechua highland communities whose labor makes the trek possible -- porter welfare has been a real, documented concern with some lower-cost operators.

The Peruvian Amazon, particularly around Madre de Dios, faces real pressure from illegal logging and gold mining -- choosing certified ecotourism lodges directs tourism revenue toward conservation instead.

Peru's dramatic range of elevation and climate means the right season depends heavily on where you're going. The dry season in the Andes and Amazon (May-September) is the most popular time to visit Cusco, Machu Picchu, and the highlands generally -- clear skies and reliable trekking conditions, though also the peak season for crowds and prices, especially June-August.

The wet season (November-March) brings regular rain to the highlands and jungle, and the Inca Trail itself closes entirely each February for maintenance -- alternative routes to Machu Picchu remain open, though conditions are muddier and views less reliable.

Peru's desert coast, including Lima, runs on a nearly opposite pattern -- a mild, often overcast "winter" (June-September) and a warmer, sunnier period the rest of the year, largely independent of the Andes' own wet/dry cycle.

The Amazon lowlands stay warm and humid year-round, with the driest, most accessible months roughly May to October -- the rainy season brings higher river levels, which can actually improve access to some remote lodges by boat.

Relative cost index vs country average

Check every note you are handed

The currency is the Peruvian sol (PEN) and the US dollar is widely accepted. The problem is that counterfeit currency in both sol and US dollars is a growing and serious problem, and counterfeit bills are widely distributed — including by banks, casinos and local stores. That is the unusual part: the normal advice to stick to official channels does not fully protect you, so look at what you are given wherever you are given it.

Avoid moneychangers on the street, who may carry counterfeit currency or work with pickpockets. Credit card and ATM fraud also occurs: use machines in well-lit public places or inside a bank or business, avoid readers with anything irregular about them, cover the keypad, watch your card when someone handles it, and check statements afterwards.

Two costs to plan for

Medical care is paid at the point of use. Clinic, hospital and evacuation expenses can be costly and the provider often expects immediate cash or card payment, or confirmation of payment from an insurance company — and a serious problem in a remote area may require evacuation to the nearest adequate facility inside the country.

Taxis are not metered, licensed ones included, so the fare is agreed in advance — and drivers may not have change, or will keep driving until they can get some.