279 Best Sights in Peru

In the Winaymarka section of Lake Titicaca, near the Bolivian border, are the Aymara-language islands of Anapia and Yuspique. This off-the-beaten-path, two-day trip can be done with a tour operator or on your own, but, due to logistics, using an operator is probably best. There islands are home to 280 families, very few of whom speak English or even Spanish.

The trip usually begins in Puno, where you board a bus for two hours to the village of Yunguyo, near Punta Hermosa, and then catch a sailboat for a 1½-hour ride to the flat but fertile Anapia. On arrival, hosts meet visitors and guide them back to their family's home for an overnight stay. The day is then spent farming, tending to the animals, or playing with the children. It also includes a hiking trip to the nearby and less populated Yuspique Island, which is home to 100 wild vicuñas. Here, the women cook lunch on the beach, typically fresh fish with huatia (potatoes cooked in a natural clay oven and buried in hot soil with lots of herbs).

After returning to Anapia, you'll experience traditional family life with evening activities such as music or dance. You can do this trip on your own for about S/350 by following the itinerary and taking a water colectivo from Punta Hermosa to Anapia. Public transportation to the islands only runs on Thursday and Sunday.

The main attraction of the small town of Andahuaylillas, 8 km (5 miles) southeast of Pikillacta, is a small 17th-century adobe-towered church built by the Jesuits on the central plaza over the remains of an Inca temple. The contrast between the simple exterior and the rich, expressive, colonial baroque art inside is notable: fine examples of the Escuela Cusqueña decorate the upper interior walls.

The ceiling is the church's special claim to fame, leading it to be referred to as the Sistine Chapel of America.

If you've made it to the Sacred Valley, you've likely seen your share of woven garments. But it's worth swinging by this fair-trade shop just down the road from the Plaza de Armas on the way to the ruins. All the extremely high-quality goods are produced as part of the Awamaki weaving project, which supports a cooperative of Quechua women from the Patacancha Valley. The organization also has a variety of cultural tours and other offerings, including homestays and weaving courses, all of which you can find out about at the shop.

This pathway leading down to the "baths"—Barranco's beaches—is shaded by leafy trees and lined with historic architecture. Once the route local fishermen took to reach their boats, it's now a popular promenade at night, when boleros and ballads can be heard from the adjoining restaurants. At the bottom of the hill, a covered wooden bridge takes you across a busy road, the Circuito de Playas, to a promenade containing beaches and restaurants. A short walk to the north is Playa Barranquito; Playa Agua Dulce is half a mile south.

About 6 km (4 miles) east of downtown Cajamarca are these pleasant hot springs, which flow into public pools and private baths of varying levels of quality, as well as some spa facilities such as a sauna with its attendant massage tables. Each service has a separate price, though everything is quite inexpensive. The central bath, the Pozo del Inca, is where Atahualpa was relaxing when he received news of the conquistadors' arrival in 1532. It's an intact pool with a system of aqueducts built by the Incas and still in use today. Be sure to check out the volcanic pools in the center of the complex, but don't touch! The temperatures can reach 70ºC (160ºF).

Don't forget to bring your swimsuit and a towel.

A ceremonial arch at the corner of Jirones Ucayali and Andahuaylas marks the entrance to Lima's compact Chinatown, which consists of 10 square blocks of markets and chifas (Peruvian-Chinese restaurants). Of the latter, the best are Chifa San Joy Lao, which dates from 1927, and Salón Capón and Wa Lok on Jirón Paruro.

A favorite stop on the tour circuit, this family-run bodega produces wines and some of the region's finest pisco. Tour guides are happy to show you a 300-year-old section of the distillery that's still in operation. If you're here in March, try to catch the annual Fiesta de Uva, when the year's festival queen tours the vineyard and gets her feet wet in the opening of the grape-pressing season. The excellent on-site restaurant and bar are open for lunch after a hard morning's wine tasting; there's also live music on weekends. If you don't want to drive, take a colectivo taxi from near the Plaza de Armas.

One of the more enjoyable alcohol-making operations to visit in Ica is owned by Elar Bolívar, who claims to be a direct descendant of the liberator Simón Bolívar himself (some locals shrug their shoulders at this). Regardless, Elar's small, artisanal operation includes a creepy collection of shrunken heads (Dutch tourists, he says, who didn't pay their drink tab), ancient cash registers, fencing equipment, and copies of some of the paintings in Ica's regional museum. The question is, who really has the originals: Elar or the museum? As part of your visit, you can taste the bodega's recently made pisco, straight from the clay vessel. The pisco is so-so, but the atmosphere is priceless. Some organized tours include this bodega as part of their itinerary. It's not a safe walk from town, so take a cab if you come on your own.

This venerable bodega dates back more than 200 years to colonial times, making it the oldest institution of its type in Lunahuaná. The owners pride themselves on still using artisanal techniques to produce their wines and piscos, and eagerly expostulate to visitors on the minutiae of oenology and liquor distilling. A 45-minute tour culminates in a free tasting; you can also visit the bee colonies where the winery makes honey. The bodega is located in Catapalla, a 15-minute taxi ride from Lunahuaná. While you're there, snap a few selfies from the puente colgante (hanging bridge) that spans the Río Cañete.

A sunny brick archway welcomes you to this large, pleasant winery, which has been producing fine wines, pisco, and sangría since it was founded by the Picasso brothers in 1857. A former monastery and now the largest winery in the valley, it's a popular tour-bus stop, so come early to avoid the groups. Tours in English or Spanish take you through the vast pisco- and wine-making facilities at the industrial-sized production center before depositing you in the tasting room. It's not safe to walk here from downtown Ica, so if you don't have your own vehicle, take a taxi.

Inside a walled, 4-square-km (1½-square-mile) precinct west of the Nazca Lines lies an ancient ceremonial site. In it, five adobe pyramids, the highest of which stands at about 21 meters (69 feet), tower above a network of 40 mounds, with a bevy of rooms and connecting corridors. This is Cahuachi, which archaeologists had previously supposed to be the Nazca capital, but which current studies suggest was actually a pilgrimage destination for inhabitants of Peru's Southern Coast. Built by the early Nazca culture, the site has been called the region's "theocratic capital" and is estimated to have existed for three or four centuries before being abandoned around AD 500. Also visible nearby are grain and water silos, as well as several large cemeteries outside the precinct walls. La Estaquería, with its mummification pillars, is nearby. Tours from Nazca, 18 km (11 miles) to the east, visit both sites for around S/50 with a group and take three hours.

Thanks to an urban rejuvenation projected initiated by locals in 2020, this narrow San Cristóbal’s stairway strewn with hanging potted plants, murals, and flowers has become Cusco’s most celebrated Instagram spot. Come for a stroll and to partake of the famed photo op. You can also enjoy artisanal ice cream from El Descanso del Borrego, a shop tucked in the middle of the stairway, or stop by Taller Leon, where artisans carve beautiful and intricate wooden furniture and frames. 

Situated in front of the Río Shulcas, the Capilla de la Merced is a national monument that marks where Peru's constituent assembly met in 1839 to draw up the country's fifth constitution. This document helped to centralize power in the fledgling nation and so promote the growth of its political institutions. The church's neocolonial design is a 20th-century addition, and the product of a 1940 earthquake that damaged many buildings in Huancayo.

It’s the oldest city in the Western Hemisphere, predating the pyramids at Giza by some 400 years. Archaeologists say it’s revolutionized their ideas about the very nature of Homo sapiens. Yet this vast pyramid complex in Peru's Supe valley remains largely unknown, to tourists and locals alike. Discovered by archaeologist Ruth Shady Solis in 1994, Caral is one of the most astonishing sites in the Americas, since it marks one of only six spots on earth where humans crossed what scholars call "the great divide"—i.e., where civilization itself began. When you go, you'll find excellent signage in Spanish and English, as well as informed docents to guide you through this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walking amid its crumbling pyramids and sunken plazas, it's impossible not to imagine a priest in his headdress and tunic, arms hieratically outstretched over the fire pit before him.

The site is some 220 km (120 miles) north of Lima and not easy to find; taking an all-day tour is the best way to visit.

Inaugurated in 1897, this regal Beaux-Arts structure looks more like a palace than a post office. At one time, locals deposited letters in the mouth of the bronze lion by the front doors, while Lima's stamp aficionados met below the building's arcades every Sunday to share their collections. Postal service from the building has been suspended since the COVID pandemic, but the edifice is still worth a visit to glimpse a great example of Lima's fin-de-siècle architectural style.

You'll find a bit of everything in this spot, which may leave you feeling like you've seen it all before. Colonial building? Check. Escuela Cusqueña paintings? Check. Ancient pottery? Check. Inca mummy? Check. This is the colonial childhood home of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the famous chronicler of the Spanish conquest and illegitimate son of one of Pizarro's captains and an Inca princess. Inside the mansion, with its cobblestoned courtyard, is the Museo de Historia Regional, with Cusco School paintings, pre-Inca mummies—one from Nazca has a 1½-meter (5-foot) braid—ceramics, metal objects, and other artifacts.

This branch of Banco BBVA Continental is unlike any financial institution you've been in. Go through the central courtyard and up to the small gallery on the right. Peruse the current exhibition—anything from modern to traditional works of art—while marveling at the wrought-iron window arabesques that hint at the mudéjar style in vogue among Peru's elite in the 18th century.

Continue to the back, taking in the chandeliers, the rococo gold mirrors, and the small fountain, and imagine how, in the main salon, Trujillo's republicans plotted their country's independence from Spain, which was declared here on December 29, 1820.

If you're of a literary bent, pause to muse on the exhibit dedicated to César Vallejo, Peru's greatest poet. Conclude by peeking at the glass case on the left as you leave, which contains the royal charter from King Carlos V authorizing Trujillo's foundation in 1537. Note that the house was closed for repairs as of this writing, but it should reopen late in 2024.

As with many colonial mansions in Trujillo, this 1709 casona is now owned by a bank. Unfortunately, however, Scotiabank—the proprietor—has churlishly elected to close off the building's interior to the public, meaning visitors must rest content with observing the august portal with its scallop-shell crown and the grillwork on the projecting, Lima-style balcony. Still, the colossal edifice hints at the opulence of Trujillo society in its heyday.

One of the oldest architectural landmarks from the Arequipa baroque period was named for the ancient mora (mulberry) tree growing in the center of the main patio. One of the town's most unusual buildings, it now houses the Banco Sur, but it's open to the public. Over the front door, carved into a white sillar portal, is the Spanish coat of arms as well as a baroque-Mestizo design that combines puma heads with snakes darting from their mouths—motifs found on Nazca textiles and pottery. The interior of the house is like a small museum, with alpaca rugs, soaring ceilings, polished period furniture, and a gallery of colonial-period Escuela Cusqueña (Cusco School) paintings. Originally a lovely old colonial home, it was bought in the 1940s by the British consul and fully restored in the early 1990s.

This attractive Spanish colonial home was built in 1888. Ask the guard for a tour, and you'll enter through a pretty courtyard and an ornate set of wooden doors to view rooms furnished with period antiques and Escuela Cusqueña (Cusco School) paintings.

Joaquín López Antay was Ayacucho's most renowned maker of retablos; this lovely museum pays homage to his work. Biographical displays, explications of the retablo-making process, and on-site classes make this a must-visit for art lovers. You can also buy finished works in the museum shop.

A pair of balconies with celosías—intricate wood screens through which ladies could watch passersby unobserved—grace the facade of this rambling mansion dating from the 1760s. Step inside, and the downtown traffic fades away as you stroll across the stone courtyard and admire the elegant neoclassical salons and galleries. Peru's Catholic University, which administers the landmark, uses it for changing folk-art exhibitions, but the real reason to come is for a glimpse into a colonial-era home. As of this writing, the house was undergoing structural renovations but was expected to have reopened by late 2024.

The house retains many of its original neoclassical and Second Empire furnishings.

Across from the Iglesia Merced, one block from the Plaza de Armas, you'll see the colonial-style Casa Ruiz de Ochoa. The stately 17th-century doorway mixes European and Indigenous emblems in a cardinal example of mestizo style; over it, you'll see a stone carved with a double eagle, the coat of arms of the Hapsburg Empire. Climb up to the second floor for a bird's-eye view of the cobbled patio.

This small museum and art gallery, sometimes called Casa Ricketts, was built in 1738 and is now the Banco Continental. Look for the elaborate puma heads spouting water. Inside you'll find colonial paintings, ornate Peruvian costumes, and furniture.

A monumental, exquisitely carved wooden door supplies a fitting prelude to this restored neoclassical mansion. First built in the mid-1500s, the house was considered the most splendid in Trujillo and served as a pied-à-terre for mayors, viceroys, and other dignitaries throughout the colonial era. From 1824 to 1826, Simón Bolívar stayed here when not on one of his campaigns, donating the ornate 18th-century desk and a good deal of the silverware that still graces the lavish salons. The mansion was rebuilt in the mid-1800s, taking on the stately contours it exhibits today. Don't miss the fine rococo furniture, or the pre-Columbian ceramics just off one of the interior patios.

The house is owned by Peru's Central Bank; simply inform the guard you'd like to go inside and look around.

To see where a lifelong obsession with the Nazca Lines can lead you, head to the former home of the German anthropologist who devoted her existence to studying them. There's little explanatory material here among the pottery, textiles, mummies, and skeletons from the Paracas, Nazca, Wari, Chincha, and Inca cultures, so don't expect any grand archaeological revelations. What you'll see instead is the environment in which Maria Reiche lived and worked. A scale model of the lines is behind the house; her grave lies not far away. Take a taxi to the Km 421 marker to reach the museum, which is 28 km (17 miles) from town.

Unlike the other mansions, Casona Iriberry has religious overtones. Small scriptures are etched into its structure, exemplifying Arequipa's Catholic roots. The back of the house is now the Centro Cultural Cháves la Rosa, which hosts some of the city's most important contemporary arts events, including photography exhibits, concerts, and films. The front of the compound is filled with colonial-period furniture and paintings.

Built in the late 16th century and now part of the cultural center for San Cristóbal de Huamanga University, the Casona Velarde Álvarez is one of the oldest mansions in Peru. The colonial-era architecture includes portales (stone arches) in front and a monkey-shaped stone fountain in the courtyard.  On the left side as you enter, you'll see the remains of Inca stone walls discovered during restorations in 2003.

Below the village of Cotahuasi is the valley of Piro, the gateway to the canyon, which is close to this 150-meter-high (492-foot), three-tiered, 10-meter-wide (33-foot) waterfall.

Sipia Falls is the most-visited attraction in the entire canyon.

Begun in 1799, Huancayo's cathedral presents the odd juxtaposition of a stark, neoclassical facade and a Renaissance-style dome modeled on Brunelleschi's for the Santa Maria del Fiore basilica in Florence. The church is similar to other Andean temples in that it's been rebuilt numerous times; thus, while the sandstone masonry of the frontage is mostly original, the bell towers date from the 1920s.