Language · 11 published
Country guide
Peru is 1,285,216 square kilometres arranged in three long bands: an arid Pacific coast, the Andes behind it, and Amazon rainforest east of the mountains. Which band a city sits in decides nearly everything about visiting it — Lima, the capital, is a coastal city under grey winter cloud, Cusco sits high enough in the Andes to cost a first day doing nothing, and Iquitos in the rainforest has no road connecting it to the rest of the country. It is the third largest country in South America. The distances between those three worlds are why itineraries here are counted in flights rather than in bus rides.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · SSMTour Travel Editor
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Corminos · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photograph · gertrudis2010 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
135 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
Centro Histórico del Cusco
The Historic Centre of Cusco is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed core of Peru's former Inca capital. It encompasses the original Inca street grid, surviving stone walls, colonial-era churches, and public plazas built atop and around Inca foundations.
Plaza Mayor de Lima is the historic square at the core of Lima's World Heritage-listed centre. UNESCO identifies the surrounding historic centre as the colonial core whose monuments and urban fabric express Lima's role as a major Spanish American capital.
San Blas Quarter, known locally as Barrio de San Blas, is a historic neighbourhood in Cusco, Peru. It occupies a steep hillside above the city centre and retains narrow lanes from the Inca era.
Malecón de Miraflores
Miraflores Boardwalk, or Malecón de Miraflores, is a sequence of clifftop parks and promenades along Lima’s Pacific edge. The route links gardens, viewpoints, paved walking paths, and recreational spaces above the Costa Verde.
The Puente de los Suspiros is a wooden footbridge in Lima's Barranco District, a coastal neighborhood known for its bohemian character. The bridge spans a narrow ravine and has become an emblematic landmark of the area.
Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI)
The Lima Art Museum, known locally as Museo de Arte de Lima or MALI, occupies the historic Palace of the Exhibition in Lima, Peru. The building itself constitutes a significant landmark, constructed for the 1872 Lima International Exhibition.
Basílica y Convento de Santo Domingo
The Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo is a significant colonial religious complex in Lima's historic centre.
Iglesia de San Blas
Iglesia de San Blas is a small parish church in the historic San Blas quarter of Cusco, Peru. It sits within the UNESCO-listed Historic Centre of Cusco.
Costa Verde is Lima's coastal corridor, a strip of land along the Pacific Ocean connecting multiple districts including Miraflores, Barranco, and Chorrillos. The area is defined by its dramatic high-cliff landscape that drops to beaches below.
Calle Loreto
Calle Loreto is a narrow pedestrian passage in central Cusco, Peru, notable for preserving a substantial section of original Inca stone wall along its eastern flank.
Islas Palomino
The Palomino Islands are a small archipelago off the coast of Callao, Lima's principal port city.
Plaza Regocijo is a colonial-era public square in the historic centre of Cusco, Peru.
La Punta is a compact peninsula district within the constitutional province of Callao, adjacent to Lima.
Plaza San Blas is the public square within Cusco's traditional San Blas neighbourhood, not the neighbourhood as a whole, San Blas Church, or a market.
Plaza Nazarenas is a quiet historic square in Cusco's upper old city. It connects several significant cultural sites including the Museo de Arte Precolombino (MAP) and Casa Concha.
Ciudadela de Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel situated on a mountain ridge approximately 80 kilometres northwest of Cusco. The archaeological complex stands at an elevation that creates dramatic cloud-forest surroundings.
Teatro Municipal del Cusco
Cusco Municipal Theatre, or Teatro Municipal del Cusco, is a city-run performance venue in Cusco’s historic urban core. It belongs to the city’s public cultural life and provides a setting for performances and events.
Museo de Sitio Bodega y Quadra
The Bodega y Quadra Site Museum is a house museum in Lima's historic centre built over excavated colonial remains. It preserves and displays archaeological evidence of early Lima's everyday material culture beneath a historic residential structure.
Casa de Aliaga
Casa de Aliaga stands as one of Lima's oldest continuously inhabited colonial houses, located near the historic Plaza Mayor in Peru's capital.
Huayna Tauqaray
Wayna Tawqaray, also called Huayna Tauqaray, is a lesser-known Inca archaeological site near the south-eastern edge of Cusco’s urban area.
Palacio Municipal de Lima
The Municipal Palace of Lima, known locally as Palacio Municipal de Lima, serves as the city hall of Peru's capital. It stands on the historic Plaza Mayor, the foundational heart of Lima's colonial grid.
Jirón de la Unión is a historic pedestrian corridor through central Lima. Peru’s official tourism inventory classifies it as architecture and urban space, specifically a pedestrian promenade, and places its route between Jirón Trujillo and Paseo de los Héroes Navales.
Mercado Central de Lima
The Central Market of Lima, known locally as Mercado Central de Lima, stands in the historic centre of Peru's capital. It functions as a major municipal food market serving everyday commerce.
Calle del Medio is a central pedestrian street in Cusco's historic core, providing a direct historic connection from Plaza de Armas into the old-city commercial fabric.
Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco
The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Cusqueñan weaving traditions. Founded to support indigenous textile arts, the center operates as a cultural institution and social enterprise.
Palacio Arzobispal del Cusco
The Archbishop's Palace of Cusco, known locally as Palacio Arzobispal del Cusco, stands on Hatunrumiyoc street in the historic centre. The site represents significant architectural layering, incorporating the former Inca Roca palace beneath colonial structures.
Paseo de Aguas is an eighteenth-century water promenade in Lima's Rímac district. The heritage site presents colonial landscape design through a public walkway centred on historic hydraulic features.
Sacsayhuamán
Sacsayhuaman, known locally as Saqsaywaman, is an immense Inca ceremonial and defensive complex situated on a hill above Cusco.
Choquequirao is a remote Inca archaeological site situated in the Vilcabamba mountain range of the Cusco region. Often called the sister city of Machu Picchu, it remains far less visited due to its isolated location.
Plaza de Toros de Acho
The Plaza de Toros de Acho is the historic bullring of Lima, situated in the Rímac district. Constructed in 1766, it stands as one of the oldest surviving bullrings in the Americas.
Wanchaq
Wanchaq District is a working urban district south of Cusco’s historic colonial core. Its character comes from everyday commerce, local movement, transport connections, markets, and streets used by residents.
Tampu Mach'ay
Tambomachay is an Inca archaeological site on the northern outskirts of Cusco, Peru. It functions as a ceremonial water shrine, featuring finely engineered stone channels, aqueducts, and waterfalls that demonstrate sophisticated hydraulic engineering.
Plaza Santa Ana
Santa Ana Square is a historic public plaza in the upper part of Cusco’s colonial centre. It sits beyond the busiest circuit around Plaza de Armas and offers a quieter view of the city’s traditional neighbourhood fabric.
Centro Histórico de Lima
The Historic Centre of Lima, locally Centro Histórico de Lima, is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed colonial core of Peru's capital. Founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535, it preserves a substantial ensemble of Spanish colonial architecture, religious buildings, and civic structures.
Puka Pukara is a small Inca archaeological site situated on the northern outskirts of Cusco, Peru. Its Quechua name translates to Red Fortress, referencing the distinctive reddish hue of its stonework.
Palacio de Gobierno
The Government Palace of Peru, known locally as Palacio de Gobierno del Perú, serves as the official residence and principal workplace of the President of Peru.
Moray is an archaeological complex near Cusco in Peru’s Sacred Valley. Its defining feature is a group of circular agricultural terraces cut into a natural depression.
Iglesia de Santa Ana
Santa Ana Church is a colonial parish church in Cusco’s Santa Ana neighbourhood, within the Historic Centre of Cusco, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Plaza Limacpampa is a public square in upper-central Cusco. It works mainly as a connecting space between San Blas, Qorikancha, Avenida El Sol, and nearby modern commercial streets.
Puente de Piedra
The Puente de Piedra, or Stone Bridge of Lima, is a colonial-era bridge spanning the Rímac River in Peru's capital. It serves as a historic connection between Lima's historic centre and the Rímac district.
Museo de Arte Italiano
The Museum of Italian Art, known locally as Museo de Arte Italiano, is a compact state museum in Lima, Peru. It holds the distinction of being unique in the country for its focused collection of twentieth-century Italian art.
Plaza San Martín is a monumental republican square in Lima's historic centre. It forms the southern anchor of the historic-centre walking route, connecting visitors to the broader colonial and republican urban fabric.
Valle Sagrado de los Incas
The Sacred Valley of the Incas, locally Valle Sagrado de los Incas, is the Urubamba River corridor northwest of Cusco. This broad valley between Pisac and Ollantaytambo served as a vital agricultural, spiritual, and administrative zone for the Inca Empire.
Museo del Palacio Arzobispal de Lima
The Archbishop's Palace of Lima stands on the eastern side of Plaza Mayor, the historic heart of Peru's capital. Its ornate façade and carved balconies form one of Plaza Mayor's defining architectural edges.
Huaca Pucllana is a pre-Inca adobe pyramid and ceremonial complex situated in the Miraflores district of Lima, Peru. Constructed by the Lima culture between 200 and 700 CE, it served as an administrative and religious center.
Pisaq
Písac is a town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, approximately one hour northeast of Cusco. The settlement sits at a lower elevation than the city, making it a common destination for visitors adjusting to altitude.
Museo Larco
The Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera is Lima's leading museum for pre-Columbian art and archaeology. Founded by Rafael Larco Hoyle in 1926, it occupies an eighteenth-century vice-royal mansion in the Pueblo Libre district.
Fortaleza del Real Felipe
The Real Felipe Fortress, locally named Fortaleza del Real Felipe, stands as Callao's monumental colonial fortress and ranks as the strongest military-history site in the Lima metropolitan area.
The Ausangate Circuit is a multi-day trekking route encircling Nevado Ausangate, the highest peak in the Cusco region at approximately 6,384 metres.
Plaza de Armas del Cusco stands as the historic main square of Cusco, Peru, occupying the ceremonial heart of the former Inca capital. Spanish colonial architecture now dominates the space, with arcades, churches, and portals surrounding the open plaza.
Biblioteca Nacional del Perú
The Biblioteca Nacional del Perú is Peru's national library and principal documentary institution. Headquartered in the San Borja district of Lima, it serves as the country's central repository for published works, manuscripts, and historical records.
The Pedro de Osma Museum is a cultural institution located in the Barranco district of Lima, Peru. It occupies a refined historic mansion that serves as both architectural heritage site and exhibition space.
Palacio Torre Tagle
Palacio de Torre Tagle is a historic palace in Lima, Peru, recognised as a canonical example of Lima Baroque domestic architecture.
Q'enqo Grande
Q'enqo Grande is the principal and larger section of the Q'enqo archaeological complex near Cusco, Peru. This Inca site features ceremonial passages and altar-like rockwork carved from living stone.
Zona Histórica Intangible del Morro Solar
Morro Solar is a headland located in the Chorrillos district of Lima, Peru. It rises above the Pacific coastline and serves as a prominent geographical landmark for the southern part of the city.
Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú
The Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú is Peru's oldest and largest state museum. It houses extensive collections spanning the nation's archaeological and historical heritage.
Urubamba is a town in Peru’s Sacred Valley of the Incas, between Cusco and Machu Picchu. It sits beside the Vilcanota River at a lower elevation than Cusco and works particularly well as a practical base for exploring the valley.
Convento de Santo Domingo de Guzmán
The Convent of Santo Domingo stands on the Qorikancha complex in central Cusco.
Huaca Huallamarca is a restored adobe pyramid located in the San Isidro district of Lima, Peru. The site functions as both an archaeological monument and a site museum.
Catedral de Lima
The Lima Cathedral Basilica, known locally as Basílica Catedral de Lima, stands as the principal cathedral of Lima and anchors the historic Plaza Mayor. This colonial-era basilica serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lima.
Campo de Marte
Campo de Marte is a large central civic park in Lima, Peru. It functions as a significant public green space within the urban environment, serving both ceremonial and recreational purposes for the city.
Parque de la Exposición
Parque de la Exposición, known in English as Exhibition Park, is a central public park in Lima, Peru. Established on land used for the 1872 International Exposition, it serves as a cultural and recreational hub connecting several important institutions.
Casa Museo José Carlos Mariátegui
The José Carlos Mariátegui House Museum is the preserved final residence of Peru's most influential twentieth-century political thinker and writer.
Museo Panteón Nacional de los Próceres
The Panteón de los Próceres is a former Jesuit church in Lima that now functions as Peru's national memorial to heroes of Peruvian independence.
Museo Oro del Perú
The Gold Museum of Peru and Arms of the World is a private museum in Lima housing collections assembled by Miguel Mujica Gallo. It displays pre-Columbian gold and silver artifacts alongside a substantial arms collection from various periods and regions.
Catedral del Cusco
The Cusco Cathedral, locally named Catedral Basílica de la Virgen de la Asunción, stands as the preeminent colonial religious monument in Cusco, Peru. It dominates the historic Plaza de Armas, the city's central square.
Casona de San Marcos
The Casona of San Marcos is the historic main building of the National University of San Marcos, located in central Lima, Peru. Its local name is Casona de San Marcos.
Quinta de Presa is an unusual Rococo country house located in the Rímac district of Lima, Peru. It stands as one of Rímac's most significant surviving viceregal residences, representing an important architectural heritage from the colonial period.
Quinta Heeren is a rare nineteenth-century residential compound located in Lima, Peru. It preserves original streets, gardens, and eclectic republican-era architecture within its boundaries.
Huchuy Qosqo is an Inca archaeological complex situated on a hilltop above the Sacred Valley near Cusco, Peru. Its name translates from Quechua as Little Cusco.
Teatro Municipal de Lima
The Municipal Theatre of Lima, known locally as Teatro Municipal de Lima, stands as the principal performance venue in Lima's historic centre. This restored early-twentieth-century theatre represents a significant cultural landmark within Peru's capital city.
Alameda de los Descalzos is a historic promenade in Lima's Rímac district. This tree-lined walkway dates to the colonial era and served as a ceremonial route connecting important religious and civic sites.
Piedra de los Doce Ángulos
The Twelve-Angled Stone, known locally as Piedra de los Doce Ángulos, is a celebrated polygonal stone embedded in the Hatunrumiyoc wall in central Cusco. It forms part of a historic Inca wall that demonstrates imperial masonry techniques.
Huaca Florida
Huaca La Florida is a monumental early pyramid located in the Rímac district of Lima, Peru. It stands as one of the oldest major ceremonial constructions in the Rímac valley, representing significant pre-Columbian architectural achievement.
Huaca San Marcos is a large truncated pyramid and a principal surviving monument of the Maranga archaeological complex. It is located on the campus of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Peru.
Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús
The Church of the Society of Jesus, known locally as Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, is a Jesuit church located on the eastern side of Plaza de Armas in Cusco, Peru.
Museo Naval del Perú
The Naval Museum of Peru, locally known as Museo Naval del Perú, is a national maritime museum located in Callao, the historic port district adjacent to Lima.
Basílica Menor de la Merced
La Merced Church and Convent, known locally as Iglesia y Convento de La Merced, stands in Cusco as a significant colonial religious complex. The basilica and convent together form one canonical visitor destination.
Refugio de Vida Silvestre Los Pantanos de Villa
The Pantanos de Villa Wildlife Refuge, known locally as Refugio de Vida Silvestre Los Pantanos de Villa, is a protected wetland area situated within the metropolitan boundaries of Lima, Peru.
Iglesia de Las Nazarenas
The Sanctuary and Monastery of Las Nazarenas is a significant religious complex in Lima, Peru. It serves as the home of the Lord of Miracles image, a revered crucifix that has become central to the city's largest religious tradition.
Lomas de Lúcumo is a highly seasonal coastal-hill ecosystem at Quebrada Verde in Pachacámac, southeast of central Lima. Peru's official tourism inventory records 1,597.36 hectares across the Quebrada Verde, Guayabo, Picapiedra and Manchay sectors.
Parque Alberto Andrade Carmona
Love Park, known locally as Parque del Amor, is a public park situated on the clifftops of Miraflores, a coastal district of Lima, Peru. It forms part of the Miraflores boardwalk, a pedestrian route tracing the Pacific coastline.
Museo Nacional del Perú
The Museo Nacional del Perú, commonly known as MUNA, is Peru's flagship national museum. It stands near the Pachacamac archaeological complex southeast of central Lima.
Museo Histórico Regional
The Regional Historical Museum of Cusco, known locally as Museo Histórico Regional del Cusco, occupies the Casa Garcilaso, a key historic residence in the city.
The Inka Museum, known locally as Museo Inka, occupies the colonial Admiral's House in Cusco. As a university museum, it provides what is considered the city's strongest broad introduction to Inca material culture.
The National Museum of Peruvian Culture is a Lima institution dedicated to Peru's popular arts and traditional culture. Established under government cultural auspices, it occupies a purpose-built site in the capital.
Lugar de la Memoria
The Place of Memory, Tolerance and Social Inclusion, known locally as LUM, is a museum in Lima dedicated to documenting and reflecting upon Peru's internal armed conflict from 1980 to 2000.
Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Lima
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Lima, known locally as Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima or MAC Lima, is Lima's principal purpose-led contemporary-art museum.
InkillTanbo
Inkilltambo is a restored Inca ceremonial and agricultural complex situated on the urban edge of Cusco, Peru. The site represents a significant archaeological zone that combines religious and farming functions typical of Inca landscape engineering.
Museo de La Electricidad
The Museo de la Electricidad is a small science and technology museum located in Barranco, Lima. It documents the history of electrification in Peru and the development of historic urban transport systems.
Museo de Arte Religioso
The Museum of Religious Art occupies the former palace of Inca Roca, a significant noble residence in the Inca imperial capital. The building later passed to colonial religious authorities and was adapted for ecclesiastical use.
Museo de Sitio y Santuario Arqueológico de Pachacámac
Pachacamac Archaeological Sanctuary is a major pre-Columbian archaeological site located southeast of Lima, Peru. The complex was a significant religious and pilgrimage center for multiple Andean cultures over approximately 1,500 years, from around 200 CE through the Inca period.
Estadio Nacional del Perú
The Estadio Nacional del Perú is Peru's principal football stadium and a major civic landmark in Lima.
Iglesia La Ermita de Barranco
La Ermita Church of Barranco is a historic religious structure in the Barranco district of Lima, Peru. Its local name is Iglesia La Ermita de Barranco.
Teatro Nacional del Perú
The Gran Teatro Nacional del Perú stands as Peru's principal modern performing-arts venue, located in the San Borja district of Lima.
Ollantaytambo Archaeological Park is a monumental Inca fortress-temple complex and living town in the Sacred Valley of the Cusco region. The site preserves one of the most intact examples of Inca urban planning, with original street grids still inhabited.
San Sebastian
San Sebastian Church, Iglesia de San Sebastián, is a historic parish church in Cusco’s San Sebastián district. Its setting extends the city’s religious and architectural story beyond the compact tourist centre.
Iglesia de Santa Clara
Santa Clara Church, or Iglesia de Santa Clara, is a colonial-era church in Cusco’s historic centre, close to San Pedro Market.
Mercado de San Pedro
San Pedro Market, known locally as Mercado Central de San Pedro, is Cusco's principal covered public market. Located near the historic centre, this large iron-roofed building houses hundreds of vendors across multiple aisles.
Larcomar is a shopping and entertainment complex integrated into the cliffs of Miraflores, a district of Lima, Peru.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
Ten to fourteen days can combine Lima, Cusco and the Sacred Valley with one additional region. Altitude adjustment and rail or road transfers need their own time, so compressing the Andes and Amazon into the same short visit is unwise.
Peru’s Migraciones authority publishes admission information. Passport, nationality and permitted-stay rules must be checked for the actual traveller, and any border or immigration form should come from the government service.
Lima is the principal air hub, with domestic services to Cusco, Arequipa and other gateways. Intercity buses cover many routes, and selected tourist trains serve the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu area.
May to September is the broad dry-season window for many Andean routes. Lima’s coastal conditions and Amazon rainfall follow different patterns, so an itinerary spanning regions needs separate forecasts and access checks.
Peru uses the sol (PEN). Current acceptance and withdrawal charges are Not recorded here; confirm whether an operator expects soles, cards or advance payment before leaving a major city.
Peru records 105 for police and 116 for fire services. Type A and C sockets use 220 V; national tap-water guidance is Not recorded, so obtain local advice.
