Five ideas for guided tours in Peru

• Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

  Arequipa cannot hide the fact that it was for a long time the home of the Spanish rulers. We will enjoy walking through its streets and discovering its most famous tourist sites. Let’s start with the very lively Plaza de Armas where the largest cathedral in the country is located, with walls made of white volcanic stone. Inside, you will admire its splendid stained glass windows, visit its museum and on the roof admire a 360° view of the surroundings. Very close, you arrive at the gates of the largest monastery in the world, the Santa Catalina convent dates from 1549. You enter a kind of intra-urban village with a bewitching calm and an uncommon beauty with gardens and its buildings framed by walls of a sparkling blue and red. Arequipa is also the starting point to venture to the Colca Canyon. It will take you four hours to drive to Chivay and then another hour on the trail to reach the valley and the beginning of the hikes. The spectacle is of all beauty and by raising the eyes to the sky, you will have the chance to admire the flight of the Condor of the Andes.

• Lake Titicaca

  Straddling the border with Bolivia, Lake Titicaca is 190 kilometers long and is the highest navigable lake in the world, reaching more than 4,000 meters in places. The main city from where we will leave for any excursion is Puno, famous for its folkloric festival of Virgen de la Candelaria gathering every year in May about 50.000 dancers coming from all the surrounding villages. Several visits are possible to have different aspects of the lake.
  – Floating islands of Uros: they are 80 small islands built from reeds that grow in the waters. They are called totora. It takes 25 minutes to get there from Puno. To see other artificial islands less touristic go to the Titinos islands.
  – Taquile Island: to reach this agricultural island, it is advisable to go to the hilly Peninsula of Capachica and to spend one night or more in the beautiful village of Llachon. You will then leave by boat to reach Taquile and walk through the paths to Mulsina Pata and its 360° panorama.
  – Sillustani: just 30 kilometers from Puno, the hill forms a funerary site of circular tombs dating from the 13th century. Apart from the historical attractions of the site, it reigns especially in this secluded place an atmosphere of serenity and impressive quietude.

• Cuzco and the Sacred Valley

  Leave to the discovery of the splendors of the old civilizations in the heart of the sacred valley, where appears Cuzco, the sublime. The ancient central city of the Incas is located at 3 400 meters of altitude. It will be for sure one of the obliged stops of your trip. Above all, try to stay there for a few days to soak up its flavors and colors. To begin, venture to the San Pedro Market and the San Blas neighborhood with its narrow streets and white stone houses, it is in these places that you will feel the soul of the city. All day long, the Plaza de Armas has a different atmosphere with the huge baroque basilica of La Merced next to it.
  There are many Inca ruins, the most notable is located at the top of the city where the fortress of Sacsayhuaman is enthroned. It will offer you the best point of view.
  Leaving the urban center and less than an hour by car, you can make beautiful excursions in the sacred valley. To go to Pisac to visit its archaeological ruins, Chinchero and its workshops of weavers or to the salinas of maras where the salt is extracted from the very salty water tables coming from the rock to be recovered in more than 4 000 basins arranged in plateaus.

• Machu Picchu

  Who has not heard of this almost magical name and dreamed one day to go there. Then know it, the mythical treasure of Machu Picchu will not disappoint you and better still it could exceed all your expectations. The lost city perched in the top of the Urubamba Valley at more than 2400 meters of altitude goes back to the XV century of the Inca emperor Pachacutec. The easiest way is to take the train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes the terminus (4 hours of journey). For the more adventurous, the Inca Trail is a 3 to 5 day hike. One can choose to leave from Ollantaytambo, a village with a great charm halfway along the path. The site is very big and the number of visitors limited, so it is a real happiness to venture through the vestiges of the historical empire in the middle of the tropical forest with its Pyramid of Intihuatana lined with greenery, the ancient royal residence, the Temple of the Sun or its long stone wall that separates the agricultural zone. The indications and information on the places are very rare so we strongly recommend you to be accompanied by a tourist guide of Peru and so to know better all the secrets of the ancient religious sanctuary.

• Lima

  There are great chances that you will arrive or leave by Lima during your trip to Peru. Take the time to stop and spend a few days there, you will not be disappointed. You will be able to distinguish there the traces of the old civilizations but also of the print of its Spanish colonizers. The old city is characterized by its baroque monuments, its cathedral and its monastery San Francisco around the Plaza Mayor, the museum of Larco traces its history. In the Miraflores district, you will go to rest in the pleasant gardens of the Kennedy Park where you will cross multitudes of cats and then, you will direct towards El Malecon, this coastal walk extends on 10 kilometers in top of a cliff in front of the Pacific Ocean. It is a popular spot for paragliding enthusiasts. Continuing on, you will enter the bohemian and artistic district of Barranco by its Bridge of Sighs, the Puente de los Suspiros. Now, for your evenings and your choice of restaurant, make your choice; the Peruvian capital has a worldwide reputation for its gastronomic quality.