Peru is one of those places where the reputation undersells the reality. The altitude hits harder than you expect. Lima's food scene is wilder than you'd guess. And the history — not just Machu Picchu but the Sacred Valley, Cusco's layered stones, the whole Inca civilization laid out in the landscape — is the kind of thing you spend the whole trip processing. Here's what I'd tell any group before they land.
Arrive at Machu Picchu's Sun Gate at sunrise — not the main entrance
The main entrance to Machu Picchu opens at 6am. Tour groups flood it by 9am. The Inti Punku — the Sun Gate at the top of the Inca Trail — offers a completely different approach. If you're not hiking the full Inca Trail, take the bus to the main citadel and hike up to the Sun Gate from inside the site. Be up there before 7am. You'll look down on Machu Picchu from above, often still in mist, with almost no one around. The single best view of the whole site, and almost nobody knows to do it.
Do the Sacred Valley before Machu Picchu
Most itineraries treat the Sacred Valley as a quick stop on the way to Aguas Calientes. That's backwards. The Valley deserves at least two full days. Ollantaytambo's fortress is more impressive than most people expect. Pisac market on a Sunday is the real thing. The salt pans at Maras and the circular terraces at Moray — an agricultural laboratory the Inca built to mimic different climate zones — are puzzles that put everything you'll see at Machu Picchu in proper context. See the context before the centerpiece.
Eat at Central or Maido in Lima
Lima has one of the most exciting restaurant scenes in the Western Hemisphere right now. Central, consistently ranked among the world's best, and Maido, exceptional Peruvian-Japanese cuisine, both require reservations months ahead — book before you book your flights. If you can't get in, Kjolle by Central's chef Pía León is excellent. Don't eat hotel food in Lima. Not when the city has this.
Hire a private guide in Cusco — and ask about the underground
Cusco's Plaza de Armas and cathedral are magnificent. But the most interesting thing about Cusco is in its walls. The Spanish built their colonial city directly on Inca foundations — and you can see exactly where one ends and the other begins by how the stones are cut. A good private guide will show you the difference, take you to alleyways the tours skip, and explain why Inca stonework survived the earthquakes that brought the colonial buildings down. Budget four hours minimum.
Spend a night on Lake Titicaca's floating islands — with a family, not a tour
Lake Titicaca's floating Uros Islands are real and genuinely fascinating — communities built on platforms of reed, maintained continuously. They've also become heavily commercialized in a way that can feel uncomfortable. The better version: arrange through a local operator to stay overnight with a Taquile Island family. Eat what they eat, sleep in their home, wake up to the lake at altitude before the morning mist lifts. Bring a guide who speaks Quechua. That context makes everything different.
Give the altitude two full days before you try to do anything physical in Cusco. The coca tea is not a placebo. Slow down, drink water, and let the country come to you rather than rushing through it.
Written by
Jenn
Founder of Memorable Travel & Adventures. Jenn has personally traveled to every destination in this journal. She plans trips to all of them.
