At the junction of the valley road leading from Pisac with the Chinchero road back to Cuzco, Urubamba is an unappealing but necessary transit hub. Although it has little of historical interest, it’s surrounded by beautiful countryside and makes a convenient base from which to explore the extraordinary Salinas and terracing of Moray, and to [...]
Only 30km from the Ecuadorian border, Tumbes is in a uniquely green part of coastal Peru, where dry deserts magically turn into mangroves and an expanse of ecological reserves stretches in all directions. It’s also the springboard for trips to the excellent and popular beaches of Máncora, two hours further south.
Stand in the right spot and the glamorously colonial streets of old Trujillo look like they’ve barely changed in hundreds of years. Well, OK, there are more honking taxis now – but the city still manages to put on a dashing show with its flamboyant buildings and profusion of churches. Pizarro founded Trujillo in 1534, [...]
Tingo María (Tingo for short) is as different as it can be from other cities and towns in the Andes. This languid, humid and warm university and market town lies in the ceja de la selva, and while it has its back to the mountains its feet are firmly planted in the lush vegetation of [...]
The beautiful Río Urubamba valley, popularly known as El Valle Sagrado (the Sacred Valley), is about 15km north of Cuzco as the condor flies. The star attractions are the lofty Inca citadels of Pisac and Ollantaytambo, which preside over its undulating twists and turns, but the valley is also packed with other Inca sites, as [...]
Not many independent travelers make it to Tarma and then linger. It is a pleasant, laid-back town surrounded on all sides by scrubby, brown dirt mountains and lies on the important route linking the capital Lima with its nearest jungle neighborhood – a steep drop down the ceja de la selva (eyebrow of the jungle) [...]
Tarapoto straddles the base of the Andean foothills and the edge of the vast jungles of eastern Peru. A sweltering rainforest metropolis, it dips its toe into the Amazon Basin while managing to cling to the rest of Peru by the umbilical cord of a long paved road back to civilization. From here you can [...]
At the tail end of the Panamericana, almost 1300km southeast of Lima, the hectic border outpost of Tacna is Peru’s southernmost city and the capital of its department. It is situated about 40km from the Chilean border and was occupied by Chile in 1880 after the War of the Pacific, until its people voted to [...]
The road to Bolivia via Lake Titicaca’s southern shore passes through several bucolic villages, notable for their myriad colonial churches, busy market days and stunning views. Traveling this route is an easy way to get a relatively untouristed peek at the region’s traditional culture. If you start early enough, you can visit all of the [...]
Peru’s southern coastal desert is refreshed by palm oases and spanned by a ribbon of pavement, the Carretera Panamericana (Pan-American Hwy), which slices all the way through the country from Ecuador to Chile. It’s the best overland route to Arequipa, Lake Titicaca and of course, Cuzco. Yes, you guessed it: this is the start of [...]