279 Best Sights in Peru

An easy drive from the Sechín area, this small beach is a low-key base for exploring Casma's ruins. Though it turns into a ghost town in winter, the weather and the locals brighten up considerably in summertime. The stony beach is cradled by a perfectly round cove surrounded by brown hills, and with its fleet of fishing boats and hypnotically lapping waves, it's a peaceful spot to lie back as you look out over the Pacific. Amenities: food and drink; toilets. Best for: sunset; swimming.

This main square occupies the same location where Pizarro had his dramatic encounter with Atahualpa, and though all traces of Inca influence are long since gone, it's impressive to stand on the spot where Latin American history began. Today, the fountain, benches, and street vendors make the square a nice place to hang out.

Huancavelica's main gathering spot is a showcase for some of the town's delightful colonial architecture. Besides the cathedral, there are several buildings with Spanish-style arcades and balconies as well as a 19th-century fountain surrounded by park benches where you can relax and soak in the sun.

This pretty square is a prime spot for people-watching in Huaraz. The cathedral looks splendid when lit up at night, and tiendas artesanales (artisanal kiosks) border the central fountain.

Brightly colored buildings and expansive, grass-edged walkways make this one of the most charming central plazas in Peru. Fronted by the 17th-century cathedral and surrounded by the colonial mansions that are Trujillo's architectural glory, this is not, despite claims by locals, Peru's largest main square, but it is one of the nicest. Catch it right, and you might see a free performance of la marinera, the country's coquettish national dance, beneath the plaza's triumphal statue.

This grassy plaza one block northeast of the Plaza de Armas is dedicated to Miguel Grau, a Peruvian naval officer in the 19th century. But the attraction isn't the bust of him erected there: rather it's the sweeping view of the Río Madre de Dios, the rainforest that lines its banks, and the sweeping Billinghurst Bridge that crosses its latte-brown waters.

This spectacular plaza is unlike any other in the city. It's surrounded on three sides by neocolonial buildings dating from the 1920s, the pale facades of which are lit at night, when the plaza is most impressive. Presiding over the western edge is the Gran Hotel Bolívar, a pleasant spot for a pisco sour. Even if you're not thirsty, you should step inside for a look at its elegant lobby. At the plaza's center is a massive statue of José de San Martín, the Argentine general who brought about the independence of Argentina, Chile, and Peru from Spain.

About 3 km (1½ miles) north of downtown Iquitos, at the end of Avenida La Marina, is this muddy beehive of activity with a large open-air market where vendors sell everything from jungle fruits to grilled suri (palm grubs). Boats of all shapes and sizes populate the riverbank, and seedy bars are perched over the water on wooden posts. You can hire a boat to take you to the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm.

This tiny hot spring a few blocks west of the Plaza de Armas flows from a rocky outcrop into a stone well. It's said the spring magically appeared during a visit from St. Toribio de Mogrovejo, the second Archbishop of Lima and a zealous missionary to Peru's Natives. More interesting than the well is the view of the city from the hilltop.

Also known as the Boza and Solís House, the Prefectura is tucked into a two-story, 1740 casona histórica (historic mansion). Local independence-era heroine María Prado de Bellido was held prisoner in the Prefectura's storeroom until her execution by firing squad in 1822. The balcony opens out onto a lovely view of the Plaza de Armas.

This romantic wooden walkway over the tree-shaded Bajada de los Baños has been the site of countless lovers' trysts. The name translates as "Bridge of Sighs," and while there's nothing Venetian about it, it has inspired a host of criollo songs, most famously Chabuca Granda's legendary hit of the same title from 1960.

About a one-hour drive southeast of Chachapoyas are the ruins of Purunllacta, one of countless unexcavated sites that dot the Chachapoyas landscape. With pre-Inca agricultural terraces, dwellings, ceremonial platforms, and roads extending for more than 420 hectares (1,038 acres), but few tourists, this can be a restful spot to commune with the high jungle. It's also somewhat mystifying, as you receive no explanation whatsoever as to what you're seeing. To get here, drive to the town of Cheto and ask for directions. From the town, it's a one-hour walk uphill to the site. Few people even know about this area, so don't be frustrated if you have to ask more than once for guidance.

Run by a local couple on family property, this sanctuary about a one-hour drive north of Chachapoyas centers around the marvelous spatuletail hummingbird, one of the Peruvian Amazon's rarest and most iconic species. The supremely vain males have long tail feathers shaped ... well, like spatulas, and this is one of the few spots where this gorgeous but endangered animal can reliably be seen. The best times to go are dawn and dusk. The owners have fitted out the reserve with picnic tables and a swimming hole, and the Cajuache waterfall is just a short humming-flight away.

Covering approximately 4,144 square km (1,600 square miles), the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Communal Reserve is larger than the state of Rhode Island. It comprises an array of ecosystems that includes seasonally flooded forests, terra firma forests, aguaje palm swamps, and oxbow lakes. It holds a wealth of biological diversity, including more than 600 bird species: cocoi herons, wire-tailed manakins, and blue-and-yellow macaws among them. It is also home to 13 primate species, including the rare saki and uakari monkeys. The government manages the reserve in coordination with local people (they still hunt and fish here for food but have reduced their impact on its wildlife.) The Tahuayo River Amazon Research Center provides employment and supports education and health care in those communities, which has strengthened their interest in protecting the environment.

Around Iquitos are large tracts of protected rainforest, of which Allpahuayo Mishana is the easiest to get to, since it is just 27 km (16 miles) southwest of Iquitos via the road to Nauta, making it possible to visit on a day trip. It isn't a great place to see large animals, but it is a good destination for bird-watchers. Scientists have identified 475 bird species in the reserve, including such avian rarities as the pompadour cotinga and Zimmer's antbird. It is also home to several monkey species.

This reserve is at the center of the Peruvian puna, a high-altitude swath of the Andes which, at 3,900 to 4,500 meters (12,792 to 14,760 feet), is one of the highest regions in the world inhabited by humans. Its boundaries begin about 10 km (6 miles) north of the town of Junín along the shores of the lake of the same name, which, at 14 km (9 miles) wide and 30 km (19 miles) long, is Peru's second largest, after Lake Titicaca. Most visitors arrive via day tours from Tarma, but anyone traveling overland from Huánuco via Cerro de Pasco will pass through the parkland.

Flat, rolling fields cut by clear, shallow streams characterize this cold, wet region between the highest Andes peaks and the eastern rainforest. Only heavy grasses, hearty alpine flowers, and tough, tangled berry bushes survive in this harsh climate, although farmers have cultivated the warmer, lower valleys, turning them into an agricultural oasis of orchards and plantations. The mountains are threaded with cave networks long used as natural shelters by humans, who hunted the llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas that graze on the plains. The dry season is June through September, with the rains pouring in between December and March.

The reserve is also the site of the Santuario Histórico Chacamarca (Chacamarca Historical Sanctuary), an important battleground where republican forces under Simón Bolívar triumphed over the Spanish in August 1824. The battle consisted entirely of hand-to-hand combat, without firearms, and the routing of the Spanish cavalry by patriot forces virtually assured Peru's independence, which came in December of the same year at Ayacucho. A monument marks the victory spot. The sanctuary is within walking distance of Junín, and several trails lead around the lake and across the pampas.

Bird fans stop here to spot Andean geese, flamingos, and other wildlife on day trips from Tarma.

Several types of South American camelids thrive at this vast nature reserve of desert, grass, and flamingo-filled lakes. Indeed, you might see herds of beige-and-white vicuñas, llamas, and alpacas all grazing together on the sparse plant life of its open fields. Wear good walking shoes for the uneven terrain, and bring binoculars. Also bring a hat, sunscreen, and a warm jacket, as the park sits at a crisp 3,900 meters (12,795 feet). The reserve is 35 km (22 miles) north of Arequipa, just beyond volcano El Misti. If you're headed to Colca Canyon or Puno from Arequipa, you have to pass through the reserve to get there, but tours really just rush through the area, stopping only at the Laguna de Pampa Blanca for a glimpse of wild vicuñas. If you hire private transport, you can visit the cave paintings at Sumbay and spend some time to properly hike across this barren expanse. The Toccra interpretation center, with detailed information in English and Spanish on the area's flora and fauna, is located 2½ hours from Arequipa and is open to the public from 9 to 4.

To build these extraordinary chullpas (funerary lodges), the Chachapoyas people had to first carve a recess into a limestone cliff and then haul bricks and mortar onto a narrow ledge to raise the walls and roofs. Next they painted the mausoleums red and white, and finally they sealed their deceased dignitaries' bones inside. That they were able to do this just inches from a 300-foot drop to the canyon floor is mind-boggling. Visitors today can still make out the cross-shaped windows and painted pictographs in the tombs, which from a distance look like toy cottages. The site is a worthy companion to the Karajía sarcophagi. To get to the remote location, by far the best option is to take a tour from Chachapoyas; the mausoleum is frequently included as a stop on trips to Leymebamba.

At Rumicolca, an enormous, 12-meter-high (39-foot-high) gate dating from the Wari period stands a healthy walk uphill from the highway. The Inca enhanced the original construction of their predecessors, fortifying it with andesite stone and using the gate as a border checkpoint and customs post.

This four-room museum on Chacha's Plaza de Armas offers informative exhibits on the Chachapoyas culture. Sarcophagi, funerary bundles, ceramics, mummies: the artifacts help to dispel at least some of the mystery surrounding "the people of the clouds." There's also information about both Kuélap and the region's flora and fauna.

The main attraction in the small lakeside town of Pomata is this church, built of pink granite in the 18th century and containing paintings from the Cusco School and the Flemish School. Its Mestizo-baroque carvings and translucent alabaster windows are spectacular, and the altars are covered in gold leaf. Pomata is also famous for fine pottery, especially for its toritos de Pucará (bull figures).

High on a hauntingly beautiful peninsula in Lake Umayo is the necropolis of Sillustani, where 28 stone burial towers represent a city of the dead that both predated and coincided with the Inca empire. The proper name for a tower is ayawasi (home of the dead), but they're generally referred to as chullpas, which are actually the shrouds used to cover the mummies inside. This was the land of the Aymara-speaking Colla people, and the precision of their masonry rivals that of the Inca. Sillustani's mystique is heightened by the view it provides over Lake Umayo and its mesa-shaped island, El Sombrero, as well as by the utter silence that prevails, broken only by the wind over the water and the cries of lake birds.

Most of the chullpas date from the 14th and 15th centuries, but some were erected as early as AD 900. The tallest, known as the Lizard because of a carving on one of its massive stones, has a circumference of 8.5 meters (28 feet). An unusual architectural aspect of the chullpas is that the circumference is smaller at the bottom than the top. To fully appreciate Sillustani, it's necessary to make the long climb to the top; fortunately, the steps are wide, and it's an easy climb. Some schoolchildren will put on dances. If you take photos of mothers and children and pet alpacas, a donation of a few soles will be appreciated.

Everyone comes to town for the Nazca Lines, but a more contemporary spot that's also worth visiting is the studio of Tobi Flores. His father, Andrés Calle Flores, years ago discovered Nazca pottery remnants in local museums and started making new vase forms based on their pre-Columbian designs. Today, the younger Flores hosts a funny and informative talk in his ceramics workshop, and afterward you can purchase some beautiful pottery for reasonable prices. It's a quick walk across the bridge from downtown Nazca; at night, take a cab.

Ancient fountains preside over this tranquil and secluded spot, which is commonly known as "El Baño del Inca," or Inca's Bath. The name actually means "cavern lodge," and the site is a three-tiered huaca built of elaborate stonework over a natural spring, which is thought to have been used for ritual showers. Interpretations differ, but the site was likely a place where water, considered a source of life, was worshipped (or perhaps it was just a nice place to take a bath). The huaca is almost certain to have been the scene of sacred ablutions and purifying ceremonies for Inca rulers and royal women.

Better known as the Temple of Fertility or Temple of the Phallus, this structure doesn't quite meet the dictionary's description of a temple as a stately edifice. Rather, it's an outdoor area surrounded by pre-Inca and Inca-made stone walls that block the view of a "garden" of anatomically correct phallic stone sculptures. Each 1-meter (3-foot) penis statue points toward the sky at the Inca sun god or toward the ground at Pachamama (Mother Earth). From ancient times through today, this site has been visited by women who sit for hours on the little statues believing that doing so will increase their fertility. Don't miss this curious detail: turn toward the left side of the enclosure and look up at the top of Santo Domingo church's bell tower—it has a phallus, instead of a cross, perched on its very top.

Only half a mile away from Qenko is this lesser-known Inca temple ruin that's dedicated to fertility (its main cave is believed to represent a woman's womb). One of the rocks on the exterior of the cave has a semicircular moon shape from which the temple takes its name. Even if it's not much visited by tourists, locals flock here for the beautiful views of Cusco and the mountains from its top, and it shouldn't be missed, especially given that admission is totally free. 

Close to the Plaza de Armas, the Plaza de San Francisco is a local hangout. There's not a lot to see in the plaza itself, but if you've wandered this way, the Templo de San Francisco church is interesting for its macabre sepulchers with arrangements of bones and skulls, some pinned to the wall to spell out morbid sayings. A small museum of religious art with paintings by Escuela Cusqueña artists Marcos Zapata and Diego Quispe Tito is in the church sacristy.

Begun in 1548, the Templo de Santo Domingo is now a national monument. Legend holds that the first bells ringing out Peru's independence from the Spanish after the Battle of Ayacucho were sounded here. The church's unusual facade displays a mix of late Gothic and Renaissance architectural elements, along with mudéjar (Moorish-inspired) accents such as the slender wooden posts along the upper gallery. The interior features a sumptuous altarpiece coated in pan de oro (gold leaf). 

Austere from the outside, this incredible 1588 church takes the prize for most eccentric interior decoration. Thousands of mirrors cover the interior, competing with the gold-laminated altar for glittery prominence. Legend has it that the mirrors were placed inside in order to tempt locals into church. Built in old Inca style, using stone looted from Inca ruins, this is a great example of the lengths that the Spanish went to in order to attract Indigenous converts to the Catholic faith.

The little square in San Blas has a simple adobe church with one of the jewels of colonial art in the Americas—the pulpit of San Blas, an intricately carved, 17th-century, cedar pulpit that is arguably Latin America's most ornate. Tradition holds that the work was hewn from a single tree trunk, but experts now believe it was assembled from 1,200 individually carved pieces. Figures of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Henry VIII—all opponents of Catholicism—as well as those representing the seven deadly sins are condemned for eternity to hold up the pulpit's base. The work is dominated by the triumphant figure of Christ. At his feet rests a human skull, not carved, but the real thing. It's thought to belong to Juan Tomás Tuyrutupac, the creator of the pulpit.