279 Best Sights in Peru

This pre-Inca site, 16 km (10 miles) southwest of Cajamarca, is surrounded by a large rock outcropping where you'll find petroglyphs left by the ancient Cajamarcans. There are also petroglyph-adorned caves, as well as a 3,000-year-old network of Andean aqueducts. The site, discovered in 1937 by the famous Peruvian archaeologist J.C. Tello, may have been designed to direct the ample water from the mountains into the drier area of Cajamarca, where there was a large reservoir. Amazingly, more than 8 km (5 miles) of the ancient aqueduct are intact today. Guided tours (required) cost around S/35 and take about four hours.

Constructed in 1900, this little lighthouse at the north end of Parque Antonio Raimondi, a short walk north from the Parque del Amor, has been guiding ships for more than a century. On sunny weekends, the large green space that surrounds it is one of the most popular spots in Miraflores, with paragliders floating overhead and bicyclists and skateboarders rolling along the ocean-view malecón. Children of all ages play on the lawns and playground.

Head down the path to the left of La Ermita church and you'll come upon El Mirador, a scenic lookout with a splendid view of Lima's coastline all the way out to the port of El Callao. It's especially attractive at night, when you can see an illuminated cross and Christ statue on the promontory in Chorrillos to the south. There are also several good bars here, plus local criollo musicians who'll sing you "La Flor de la Canela" for a small tip.

Though people generally come to Huanchaco for the beach, one of Peru's oldest churches, El Santuario de Huanchaco, affords a nice side trip. Originally built on a Chimú ruin around 1540, the church was moved to a hilltop overlooking the village in 1603 to encourage attendance at mass among the local Indigenous inhabitants. Legend holds that the statue of Nuestra Señora del Socorro (Our Lady of Help) housed in the church was being transported to Peru from Spain when, suddenly, a terrible storm struck. The panicked sailors prayed to the Virgin's image, and the waters were miraculously calmed.

The restored Victorian iron ship was built in Birmingham, England, in 1861. It was subcontracted by the Peruvian Navy to patrol the waters of Titicaca, so it was dismantled and its 2,766 pieces and two crankshafts were loaded onto a freighter and shipped to the Pacific coast port of Arica, which was then in Peru but which today belongs to Chile. Mules and porters carried the pieces 467 km (290 miles) through the Andes Mountains to Puno. The journey took six years, and it was Christmas Day 1870 before it was reassembled and launched on Lake Titicaca. Now a museum, it's docked at the end of a pier by the Sonesta Posada del Inca Hotel. After remaining idle for 40 years, the vessel took a trial run in 1999 after volunteers rebuilt its engine.

Inaugurated in 1912, Desamparados Station was the Lima terminal for one of the continent's first railways, which upon completion stretched from the port of Callao to the Andean city of Huancayo. The station was named for a Jesuit church and monastery that stood next door at the time of its construction but that have since been demolished. It now houses the Casa de la Literatura Peruana (House of Peruvian Literature), with exhibits on national writers and a reading library. It's well worth stepping inside to admire the building's elegant art nouveau interior, especially the stained-glass skylight. These days the station also serves as the departure point for luxury rail trips to Huancayo.

The Sunday market (feria dominical) attracts artists and shoppers from all the nearby mountain towns. It's a good place to browse for local crafts—though you'll get better quality (and sometimes better prices) in the villages.

Commissioned in 1747 to defend Lima against pirate attacks, this hulking citadel was once the largest Spanish military installation in the Americas and played a decisive role in Peru's turbulent history. During South America's wars of independence, its firepower was such that it forced the liberator José de San Martín to scuttle his plan for a sea invasion of Lima in favor of a land attack; later, in 1866, it was used by newly independent Peru to repel a Spanish flotilla bent on reconquering the former colony. Today the fortress continues to be one of Lima's most darkly imposing sights. Visitors can walk the ramparts and look out over the harbors of El Callao, or climb the Torreones del Rey y de la Reina, twin towers that became torture chambers for the prisoners shackled there. If you're a fan of the paranormal, the nighttime tours here are genuinely creepy.

Head northwest of Tarma 28 km (17 miles) to Palcamayo, then continue 4 km (2½ miles) west to explore the Gruta de Huagapo limestone cave system, a national speleological area and the deepest caverns yet discovered in South America. Guides live in the village near the entrance and can give you a short basic tour, but you'll need full spelunking equipment for deep-cavern explorations. Numerous tour operators in Tarma offer day trips to the caves and the surrounding villages. It is also possible to arrive at the caves independently by taking a colectivo at the corner of Jirón 2 de Mayo and Jirón Puno.

Dating from 1684, this is one of the oldest working distilleries in the Americas. For the past few years, the historic hacienda has been continually upgraded, now that it is the home of the internationally famous Pisco Portón. Master distiller and pisco celebrity Johnny Schuler designed the distillery so that it would move liquid only through the natural forces of gravity, which allows for small-batch distillation and control over every bottle. On the guided tours, you’ll see several traditional pisco-making methods on the estate, from the large wooden press to the gravity-fed channels. You’ll also see the modern additions, such as the roof garden that was planted to offset the carbon dioxide emissions created during fermentation, as well as a water-treatment system to recycle water from distillation into a source of irrigation for the vineyards. Tours end with, of course, a tasting. With prior notice, the distillery can set up lunch in the vineyard or caballos de paso horseback rides. Reservations are essential.

Cajamarca is famous for its dairy products, and you can experience this industry up close at this charming farm outside town. In addition to sampling the farm's cheeses and sweet manjar blanco, you can visit an artificial lake and check out Peru's biggest all-clay church. The highlight is the "calling of the cows," in which Rosa, Betsy, and Flor answer to their names as they line up to return to their pens. It's the perfect experience for kids of all ages.

Filled with intriguing symbolic carvings, the restored Huaca Arco Iris, or Rainbow Pyramid, stands out against its urban backdrop. Named for its unusual rainbow ornamentation (the area rarely sees rain), it's also known as the Huaca El Dragón, or Pyramid of the Dragon, because of the central role dragons play in the friezes. This structure, built by the early Chimú sometime around 1100, also has a repeating figure of a mythical creature that looks like a giant serpent. On the walls, mostly reconstructions, you'll see what many archaeologists believe are priests wielding the knives used in human sacrifices. Half-moon shapes at the bottom of most of the friezes possibly indicate the Chimú worshipped the moon at this temple. You can also climb the ramps up to the top of the platform and see the storage bins inside.

This mud-brick pyramid, thought to be a place of worship, predates the Incas. It was first constructed around 200 BC and later inhabited by the Lima culture, a pre-Hispanic civilization that occupied the Rímac River valley between AD 100 and 700. Painstakingly restored on the front side, it seems out of place among the neighborhood's upscale homes and apartment buildings. Here you'll find a small museum with displays of objects found at the site, including several mummies. From the upper platform you can take in views of San Isidro.

Also known as Huánuco Viejo, this 2-square-km (0.8-square-mile) complex was formerly the capital city of Chinchaysuyo, the northern portion of the Inca Empire. The town was constructed in the late 1400s, during the reign of Túpac Yupanqui, and served as an important administrative outpost for the region. Here the Incas would temporarily house agricultural products en route from the Pacific coast to Cusco, as well as settle disputes among the vassal tribes their generals had overrun. When you visit, you'll find temples, storage areas, and kanchas (single-room structures encircling an open patio), all built around a central ushnu, or platform. Note the trapezoidal double-jamb doorways—an Inca hallmark. The site is near the small village of La Unión, a S/50 taxi ride from Huánuco.  During the last week of July, the Fiesta del Sol (Sun Festival) takes place at the ruins.

The ruins of this pre-Hispanic fort are minimal, but they conceal a violent history. The Huarco were a tiny seaside kingdom that resisted the incursions of the Inca Empire in the 15th century. After four years of fruitless attempts to subdue them, in 1470 the Inca ruler, Túpac Yupanqui, hit upon a stratagem: feigning a desire for peace, he tricked the unsuspecting Huarco into descending to the sea en masse to solemnize a would-be truce in a water ceremony. Then, in their absence, the wily Inca proceeded to seize the Huarco fortress, which he used as a base to subjugate the ill-fated tribe. Today, you can still pick out a few Inca trapezoidal niches among the ruins' crumbling walls, which overlook a precipitous cliff. There's also a museum in Cerro Azul with artifacts that tell the Huarcos' tragic story.

This ruined temple was built by the pre-Inca Huari culture and later occupied by the Huancas between AD 800 and 1200. It comprises stone cells where captives were held prior to being sacrificed to the huamani (local deity), as well as underground conduits to bring water to the precinct. You can still see the sacred spring that flows through the channels; according to legend, it was this rivulet that spawned the foreparents of the Huanca people. Several mummies have also been discovered at the site. The ruins are near the district of Huari, which has a little museum on its main square with ceramic figures, pottery, and a few bones and skulls.

Some 8 km (5 miles) north of Huaraz, this small archaeological site contains a Huari mausoleum that may date from as far back as the 6th century AD. Each story of the crumbling three-tiered structure has several rooms; the edifice as a whole resembles the much larger temple at Chavín de Huántar. There are also a small museum, basic bathrooms, and a limited restaurant. Some 800 meters (2,600 feet) southeast is the complex of Ichic Huilcahuaín, which comprises 15 chullpas, small towers used as tombs for the elite, that likely date from around AD 700. You can reach both sites by taking a bus from the corner of Jirón 13 de Diciembre and Jirón Cajamarca in Huaraz.

The 1713 Church of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph may be smaller than some of El Centro's other sanctuaries, but inside is a feast for the eyes. Retablos representing various saints rise from the main altar and line both walls. Originally a convent for nuns of the Capuchin Poor Clares, this is the only church in Lima to retain its original baroque ornamentation, untouched by earthquakes or changing artistic fads.

Representative of 17th-century religious architecture, this complex was built by the Jesuits in 1573, and its bone-white buildings incorporate many decorative styles and touches—the detail carved into the sillar arcades is spectacular. The side portal, built in 1654, and main facade, built in 1698, show examples of Andean Mestizo style, with carved flowers, spirals, birds—and angels with Indian faces—along gently curving archways and spiral pillars. Inside, Capilla St. Ignatius (St. Ignatius Chapel) has a polychrome cupola and 66 canvases from the Cusco School, including original 17th-century oil paintings by Bernardo Bitti. Hike up to the steeple at sunset for sweeping views of Arequipa. The former monastery houses some of the most upscale stores in the city and contains two cloisters, which can be entered from General Morán or Palacio Viejo. The main building is on the southeast corner of the Plaza de Armas.

With its ornately carved facade, this Jesuit church on the Plaza de Armas gives the Catedral a run for its money in the beauty stakes. The Compañía, constructed by the Jesuits in the 17th century, was intended to be the most splendid church in Cusco, which didn't sit too well with the archbishop. The beauty contest between the churches grew so heated that the pope was forced to intervene. He ruled in favor of the Catedral, but, by that time, the iglesia was nearly finished, complete with a baroque facade to rival the Catedral's grandeur. The interior is not nearly so splendid, however, although it's worth seeing the paintings on either side of the entrance depicting the intercultural marriage between a Spanish conquistador and an Inca princess. Tourists are admitted to masses under the condition that they participate in them; start wandering around and taking photos, and you'll be shown the door.

Nothing about this colonial-era church could be called restrained. Take the pink-and-gray stone facade, for instance: done in an over-the-top style known as churrigueresco, it piles on twisty Solomonic columns, geometric cornices, a scalloped entryway, and an arms-outstretched statue of the Virgin that gestures down at worshippers below. The interior is no different. The main altar has a stunning monstrance and a silverwork medallion from the 16th century, while the intricately carved choir stalls, dating from the 1700s, have images of cherubic singers. You could lose yourself for hours contemplating the layer upon layer of detail in this stunning temple.

Don't miss the grave of Fr. Urraca, a Lima saint said to have been tempted by the devil within these very walls.

Disfigured by the violence of Peru’s history—earthquakes and war—this church, or more specifically, its magnificent facade, remains one of the summits of religious art in the New World. Carved in stone in 1710 in the churrigueresco style (a Spanish variant of the baroque), it’s crowded with images alluding to the life of St. Augustine, who is depicted stamping out heresy on the cornice above the main door. Inside, look for the macabre masterpiece La Muerte (Death), by the great 18th-century Indigenous sculptor Baltasar Gavilán. As of this writing, the church was closed for restoration work on the atrium's protective railing, but this project should be finished by late 2024.

This 16th-century church has survived numerous natural disasters, including several earthquakes that cracked its cupola. Inside, near the polished silver altar, is the little chapel of the Sorrowful Virgin, where the all-important Virgin Mary statue is stored.

On December 8, during Arequipa's Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Virgin is paraded around the city all night atop an ornate carriage and surrounded by images of saints and angels. A throng of pilgrims carry flowers and candles.

Visit the adjoining convent (S/10) to see Arequipa's largest painting and a museum of 17th-century religious furniture and paintings.

This strikingly asymmetric Franciscan church boasts a white-stone, Renaissance-style facade, complete with unusual ornamental scrollwork and a majestic triumphal arch over the doorway. The church was originally built in the late 17th century but had to be reconstructed in the 18th after a 1746 earthquake knocked down one of its bell towers. The 11 towering retablos inside are justly renowned.

Begun in 1699, this Franciscan temple stands proudly on the Plaza de Armas as a worthy rival to Cajamarca's cathedral. The church was originally denominated "La Iglesia de los Indios," in contradistinction to the whites-only basilica; yet ironically, it's the Indigenous inhabitants who may have had the last laugh—many consider San Francisco's design to be even more splendid than that of the "Iglesia de los Españoles" across the way. Especially noteworthy are the diamond-point ornaments that stud the facade, in a local variation on the plateresque motifs used on Spanish Renaissance palaces; every point is hand-carved with floral designs, which mirror the vines entwining the Solomonic columns. 

Inside the church, you'll find some eerie catacombs and a small museum of religious art.

Curiously, San Francisco is the only temple flanking the plaza with finished bell towers. Construction on the latter was begun in the 18th century but had to be suspended due to legal disputes for almost 200 years. The towers were finally completed in 1958.

This intriguing church is a tiny précis of Peruvian colonial history. When the Spanish colonized the Americas, they typically built their churches on the former sites of Indigenous temples, in a show of religious triumphalism. Here, during the consolidation of the colonial empire in the late 1500s, they left the original 15th-century Inca structure almost entirely intact, and then erected a church on top. Today's churchgoers thus look out through Inca trapezoidal openings during mass, while the pagans' triangular niches house images of Catholic saints.

The Jesuits built three churches in rapid succession on this corner, inaugurating the current temple in 1638. It remains one of the finest examples of early colonial religious architecture in Peru. The facade is remarkably restrained, but the interior shows all the extravagance of the era, including a series of baroque retablos thought to be the best in the city. The one dedicated to St. Francis Xavier soars to an apocalyptic culmination, with carved saints and angels towering over the viewer. Also notable are the canvases by Bernardo Bitti, who arrived on these shores from Italy in 1575 and influenced an entire generation of painters with his style. In the sacristy is The Coronation of the Virgin, one of his most famous works.

Don't miss the side aisles, where gilded arches lead to chapels decorated with beautiful hand-painted tiles.

This humble colonial church was Huancavelica's first house of worship. Built by Dominican friars in 1593, it still retains the portal of red volcanic stone that is its most striking feature. Inside, the ornate baroque altarpiece belies the rustic facade: legend holds that the church's most celebrated sculpture, La Virgen Forastera (the Foreign Virgin), was brought all the way from Quito, Ecuador, at the end of the 16th century.

The Iglesia La Merced was built circa 1566 in a simple Renaissance style with Romanesque accents, reportedly at the behest of the missionary friar Diego de Porras. Colonial treasures here include a silver tabernacle, paintings of the Cusco School, and the images of the Virgen Purísima and the Corazón de Jesús that were gifts from Spain's King Philip II.

Fronting a landscape of steep, grassy mountain slopes, the Iglesia San Cristóbal was erected in 1542, making it the first local church built by Spanish settlers. Inside is a valuable collection of colonial-era paintings and baroque wood sculptures of San Agustín, the Virgen de la Asunción, and the Virgen Dolorosa. Sadly, the church's three-tiered bell tower collapsed in 2014; reconstruction work commenced in March 2024.