25 BEST THINGS TO DO IN PERU [WHAT, WHERE, WHEN]

Best things to do en Peru in 7 days

As they may not have another opportunity to travel to South America anytime soon, many visitors to Ecuador would like to combine their trip with the cultural highlights of Peru. Therefore we developed the Peru Lima - Cusco Cultural Highlights Tour, featuring 25 best things to do in Peru.

What to do in Peru

This module provides a fantastic program for visiting the most famous cultural highlights of and what to do in Peru. At the same time it serves as the Lima hub function for the Peru National Parks Tour. This module is the baseline for our National Parks Tour Module and our Galapagos National Park Module, each components of the Top 20 Things to do in Peru. The Manu module can be taken at the beginning and the end of your visit to Cusco, while the National Parks Tour is usually taken after your visit to Cusco and surroundings.

Day 1

1. Transfer from the airport to your hotel, 1-2 blocks away from the sea-side Parque del Amor Park. Located in the up-scale neighborhood Miraflores, Paragliders take off from the coastal cliff, right in front of the Marriott hotel;

2. Depending on your arrival time, we like to take you to the Plaza de las Armas in the late afternoon, when on sunny days, the Palace and the Cathedral are at their best;

3. Dinner may be taken in the center, so that you may walk back to the Plaza at night to enjoy the buildings in the splendor of their evening illumination;

4. Return to your hotel behind Parque del Amor.

Day 2

5. Morning walk along the highlights of old town Lima with its gorgeous colonial churches, palaces, manors and streets;

6. Lunch somewhere in old town Lima;

7. Visit of one of the Huacas - pre-colonial pyramids;

8. Visit of the Larco Museum with a fantastic Pre-Colombian collection - debatably the best in the country;

9. Barranco neighborhood, with countless taverns and restaurants the ideal neighborhood to have dinner and an evening-stroll along the pedestrian street descending to the sea;

10. Spend the night in the hotel behind Parque del Amor.

Day 3

11. Transfer to the airport on your way to Cusco and from there to your hotel;

12. Stay in one of our favorite lovely colonial mansion boutique hotels with a central patio (may not always be available) in old town Cusco, 2 blocks away from the Plaza de las Armas;

13. Depending on departure time, a morning excursion in Lima or afternoon excursion in Cusco;

14. Suggested: Take an evening stroll in beautifully illuminated Cusco and walk into any restaurant to have dinner;

15. Spend the night at your boutique hotel.

Day 4

Explore Historical Cusco. With its combined Inca and colonial cultures, Cusco requires a full day's visit.

16. In the morning a guided walk, and;

17. In the afternoon: wandering around on your own to soak up centuries of culture and lose yourself in one of the Indian art markets;

18. Spend the night at your boutique hotel.

Day 5

19. A full day's excursion exploring the Sacred Valley;

20. In the late afternoon you will be dropped of at the train station of Ollantaytambo, from where a quality train takes you further down into the Sacred Valley until you reach the end station AguasCalientes, a small town stuck between the river and the steep mountain on which Machu Picchu is built;

21. You will stay at a hotel in the main (pedestrian) street, where you will be surrounded by countless pleasant restaurants;

22. If you like, upon arrival, you can take a 10-minutes walk to the hot springs and take a soaking in one of the volcanic baths and/or have a massage before dinner.

Day 6

23. Early in the morning, take the bus up the mountain to Machu Picchu World Heritage Site (?20 minutes), before the crowd gets there;

24. A guided excursion along through Machu Picchu sacred citadel;

25. Pending availability, hike Huayna Picchu Mountain, towering over the actual site of Machu Picchu. Only a limited number of tickets per day are sold and availability is not guaranteed;

26. In stead of taking the bus, walk down through the cloud forest of Machu Picchu Reserve watching birds and plants;

27. Take the late afternoon train back to Ollantaytambo, where a transportation is waiting for you to take you back to Cusco.

Day 7

Airport transfer for your flight Cusco - Lima from where you can board your international flight.

Special adjustments may be needed to accommodate your international flight itinerary as to include all, or most of the best things to do in Peru.

BEST THINGS TO DO IN PERU [WHAT, WHERE, WHEN]