Inca heritage and living Andean cultureTerraces still farmed, royal estates on cloud-forest ridges, and Quechua communities for whom none of this is history.See Inca heritage journeys
Alex.travel
I design journeys to places of power for those who want to travel deeper
Travel deeper to Peru
Three countries live inside one border: a desert coast fed by ocean fog, an Andean spine where Quechua towns still farm Inca terraces, and the cloud forest where the Amazon begins.
Designer's note
The Peru I want to show you
Peru punishes trips that treat altitude as a formality and rewards the ones that treat it as the itinerary's backbone. Build the ascent as a gradient and the whole country opens up.
Alex
Journey designer
I design private Peru journeys around altitude, season and the people who still farm the terraces.
- 01Lima - Arequipa - Colca - Titicaca
Climb in steps, not jumps
Lima at sea level, Arequipa at 2,300, the canyon at 3,300, the altiplano at 3,800. Each step gives the body time, and each one is worth seeing anyway.
- 02Valley first - Cusco after
Sleep low before you go high
The Sacred Valley is 600 metres below Cusco. Sleeping there first is the single change that most improves how people feel on the high days.
- 03Permits - February closure
Book the trail before anything else
Inca Trail permits are capped and sell out months ahead, and the trail closes every February. That date fixes the rest of the itinerary.
Three ways into Peru
Canyon condors, altiplano lake and the terraces above the valley
Watch condors rise out of the Colca, cross the altiplano to Titicaca's island communities, and walk the terraces the Inca cut above the Urubamba.
Southern Highlands
Colca Canyon
Condors on the morning thermals, above terraces that have been farmed continuously for fifteen centuries.
Altiplano
Lake Titicaca
A cold blue inland sea at 3,810 metres, with island communities older than the Inca.
Cusco and the Sacred Valley
Sacred Valley
Warmer and lower than Cusco, terraced by the Inca, and the smartest place to sleep first.
Peru is the country travellers most often under-plan. The standard visit lands in Cusco, spends four days on the Machu Picchu circuit, and leaves believing it has seen the country. What it has seen is one valley.
The line that actually explains Peru runs west to east: a desert coast where civilisations grew without rain, an Andean spine where Quechua towns still farm Inca terraces, and the cloud forest where the Amazon begins. Three countries inside one border.
The altitude is what people plan worst. Cusco sits at 3,400 metres, and arriving there directly from sea level before a trek is how trips get ruined. Given three weeks the ascent can be built as a gradient rather than a shock, and the days that look slow on paper are exactly the ones that make the high passes possible.
When to go
Best time to visit Peru
May to September
The Andean dry season
High passes openCold, bright mornings above 3,000 metres and reliable trekking weather. This is the only dependable window for the high passes and the Inca Trail, and the reason most of the route is planned around it.
- Temp
- Near freezing at dawn to about 20 °C by day in the highlands
- Crowds
- Cusco and Machu Picchu busy
- Good places
- Cusco · Sacred Valley · Colca Canyon · Lake Titicaca
December to March
Highland rains, open coast
Inca Trail closed in FebruaryHeavy afternoon rain across the highlands makes the high roads unreliable and closes the Inca Trail every February. The desert coast and the Amazon stay workable, so the journey changes shape rather than stopping.
- Temp
- Mild but wet inland; warm and humid in the Amazon
- Crowds
- Quietest months inland
- Good places
- Lima · Arequipa
Questions
Peru travel questions
Q01How many days does Peru really need?
Eighteen days is the shortest version that does not rush the altitude. Twenty-four allows the Inca Trail, the Amazon descent, and rest days around both.
Q02When is the Inca Trail closed?
Every February, for maintenance. Permits for the rest of the year are capped and typically sell out several months ahead.
Q03How bad is the altitude?
Cusco is at 3,400 metres and the highest pass on the route is 4,900. Built as a gradient over several days it is manageable for most people; arriving straight from sea level and trekking immediately is not.
Contact
Plan it with me
Every journey is planned individually; there is no fixed departure calendar.
Plan a Peru journey