Peru: A Historian, Photographer and Culinarian’s Dream

Peru is a multicultural nation filled with traditions, fantastic gastronomy, and outstanding nature reserves. Peru’s city-style, vibrant nature, furthermore, the world’s heaven to potato lovers mark the trail to a higher calling.

Lima: Wanderlust and Gastronomy

Lima serves up enormous, modern-city energy with surfing culture and a side of seriously legit ceviche. You’ll love exploring the Barranco neighborhood and shopping for local jewelry and accessories in its stylish boutiques. 

Enjoy a guided sightseeing tour to Lima’s most attractive and essential sites. Such includes the “City of Kings.” Visit Lima’s Historical Center, passing by Plaza San Martin, Plaza Mayor, the Government Palace, the City Hall, the Banco Central de Reserva Museum. This represents Peruvian art dating from ancient times to the 21st Century and the Santo Domingo Convent.

Stop at Larco Herrera Museum for an excellent overview of Peru’s ancient past. The museum holds the best private collection of pre-Columbian art in the country. Additionally, you will have the chance to tour this old Hacienda House in the Pueblo Libre district. It is built upon a pre-Incan sacred site (Huaca), housing the private collection of a great Peruvian scholar: Don Rafael Larco Hoyle.

As the sun falls, be a part of a trendy gourmet route that showcases the best of Peru’s diversity with mouth-watering menus. These were created especially for you by internationally acclaimed local chefs.

Try a variety of Amazonian appetizers at an award-winning restaurant specializing in dishes from the jungle. Make your exotic ceviche from the Amazon, taste a cocktail made with fruit straight from the Amazon. Have the chance to enjoy a gourmet Peruvian dinner amid illuminated pre-Incan ruins at la Huaca Pucllana. Tour the colonial, bohemian Barranco district.

Never miss Mercado 28!

The first food hall, or gastronomic “market” in Peru, Mercado 28 is a complete gastronomic experience. With 17 stands of food, as well as a full bar with Peruvian craft beers, wine, and cocktails, you can try classic Peruvian dishes as well as international favorites or relax at the end of your day with coffee, drinks, or dessert in a comfortable and friendly environment.

Cuzco awaits!

Cuzco will greet you with its typically cooler, sunnier climate, colonial buildings, and laid-back vibe. You can sit on its Plaza de Armas and people-watch for hours. Recently everyone I know who has returned from Peru wished they had spent more time in Cuzco. It’s not just a stopover city, but a beautiful historical area unto its own and deserves the dignity of time.

En route to the Sacred Valley, visit the Pisac Market. This is the place of reunion for all region artisans to get together and exchange or buy and sell their products.

The Sacred Valley is a must-see spot en route to Machu Picchu. Its landscapes are like nothing you’ve ever experienced: The Andes rise to form a masterpiece backdrop for the color palettes of the salt pans and terraced crop circles at Maras and Moray. What’s so special about potatoes? The creamy, buttery, super-delicious potatoes from Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba’s. Peruvians grow more than 3,000 varieties of potatoes.

Private Farm Chic Lunch for the Foodie in You

Further into the Sacred Valley, reach working Hacienda Sarapampa, a vivid expression of the culture of corn farming from its beginnings in ancient Peru until today.

“Sarapampa” is a word from the Quechua language meaning “cornfield.” The variety is grown in the Giant White Corn, a unique combination of its exceptional characteristics and size.

Enjoy the countryside five-course gourmet lunch hosted by the landowners of the Hacienda, full of anecdotes about the hacienda life, the culture of corn, and the legends that surround the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

The last stop is at the Inkariy Museum, learn about the most important cultures of pre-hispanic Peru throughout 10,000 years of civilization.

Chinchero Village, Maras Saltpans & Ollantaytambo Fortress

Set off in the direction of the Sacred Valley to the town of Chinchero, an authentic Andean village with lots of character, we will find the colonial church that houses an extensive collection of painting from the Cusqueñan School of Art.

Continue your journey through the Sacred Valley of the Incas to the salt fields of Maras and its seemingly never-ending terraces, where salt extracted from springs is stored. 

A Luxurious Picnic

Experience an unexpected lunch in the middle of nowhere, unique views (lakes, mountains), in private services. Select from different picnic spots – Chincheros, Urcos, Pisac, Maras, Huaypo lagoon, Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, or Sacsayhuaman located in stunning natural settings in the Sacred Valley or Cusco.

Enjoy rustic, country Andean fare that includes dishes made from the local ingredients. You won’t see anyone else in the fields around you. Enjoy the views of the valley while sipping a  hot coffee.

Visit the Inca fortress and citadel of Ollantaytambo. The town of Ollantaytambo is referred to as a “Live Inca Town”. Inhabitants still live according to customs and traditions inherited from their ancestors. Take a journey through its straight streets with perfectly laid stones that feature a canal for water to run through the town.

The Ancient Incan Citadel

Go on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to see Machu Picchu. Feel the clouds drifting through its jagged peaks and take in its enormity and the physicality of those crazy Inca stairs in person. As you walk this ancient highway towards the sanctuary of Machu Picchu, know that you will be following in the footsteps of the Incas and that you will witness firsthand their incredible feat of engineering that united their vast empire. 

Peru’s colors, textures, and flora are a photographer’s dream. Moreover, I think about the women’s outfits a lot. And their braids. And I’m still in awe of the civilization that once thrived here.

Looking for a unique, top-notch, and a lifetime experience in Peru specially designed for exclusive travelers? Check out this itinerary where you can explore one of the New 7 Wonders of the World: Machu Picchu; and experience the highest navigable lake: The Titicaca Lake.

Finally, do you need a perfectly designed itinerary to Peru? Click here to schedule, and we’ll chat soon! 

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