Peru itinerary, day by day

From Lima to Lake Titicaca by way of Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu: the map, the experiences worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

🗓️ 7, 10 or 14 days📍 4 stops☀️ Best time: May to September (dry season)

Machu Picchu · Photo Joaquín Garduño / Pexels

Route map (numbers = order of the stops).

Peru in 7 days

3 stops · 17 things to do · flight + train

1Lima

Days 1-2

A coastal capital founded by Pizarro in 1535. The colonial centre is UNESCO-listed, and the kitchens are the best on the continent.

🎟️ Worth booking

Food tour: ceviche and pisco3h · from €55
Three hours of eating across Lima, from the raw fish counters to the anticucho grills and a pisco sour at the end.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Historic centre and the Larco MuseumHalf day · from €30
The colonial core on foot, then a museum whose pre-Columbian gold and ceramics run to tens of thousands of pieces.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Miraflores, on the cliff above the Pacific · Parque del Amor and the clifftop promenade · Barranco, street art and galleries · Plaza de Armas

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Pariwana Hostel (€16 a night) · Mid-range: Casa Andina Premium Miraflores (€110 a night) · Luxury: Belmond Miraflores Park (€320 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Cevichería Barra Maretazo | Peruvian Food ↗ ★ 4.9 · 2615 reviews
Maido ↗ ★ 4.7 · 5000 reviews · €€€€
Kauza Restaurante - Miraflores ↗ ★ 4.7 · 2482 reviews
Kjolle ↗ ★ 4.7 · 1191 reviews · €€€€
XOMA Gastronómico ↗ ★ 4.7 · 997 reviews

Photo Alvaro Palacios / Pexels

✈️ Domestic flight · 1h20 · Lima → Cusco

2Cusco and the Sacred Valley

Days 3-5

The Inca capital, at 3,400 m. Inca stonework still carries the colonial squares, and the road into the Sacred Valley starts here.

🎟️ Worth booking

City tour and the Sacred ValleyFull day · from €45
Cusco in the morning, then Pisac and Ollantaytambo, where the Inca terraces are still farmed.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Rainbow MountainFull day · from €50
A hard day hike to Vinicunca at 5,200 m, where mineral layers stripe the ridge. Go only once you have acclimatised.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Plaza de Armas · The San Blas artists' quarter · Sacsayhuamán, from outside · San Pedro market

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Pariwana Cusco (€15 a night) · Mid-range: Palacio del Inka (€210 a night) · Luxury: Inkaterra La Casona (€400 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

KUSYKAY Peruvian Craft Food ↗ ★ 4.9 · 11817 reviews · €€
Yaku Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.9 · 6771 reviews · €€
Ofrenda Peruvian Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.9 · 5877 reviews
Chull's Peruvian Cuisine & Craft Beer ↗ ★ 4.9 · 2490 reviews · €€
Casa Cusqueña Restaurante ↗ ★ 4.9 · 1270 reviews

Photo Janeth Charris / Pexels

🚆 Train PeruRail · 3h30 · Sacred Valley

3Machu Picchu

Days 6-7

A fifteenth-century Inca city at 2,430 m, unknown to the outside world until 1911. Cloud fills the valley below it most mornings.

🎟️ Worth booking

Machu Picchu entry with a guideHalf day · from €70
Timed entry to the citadel with someone who can read the stonework. Tickets are capped daily and sell out.
Book on GetYourGuide →
The Vistadome panoramic train3h30 · from €120
Three and a half hours through the Urubamba gorge, in a carriage with windows in the roof.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The village of Aguas Calientes · The hot springs · Viewpoints over the citadel

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Supertramp Hostel (€25 a night) · Mid-range: El MaPi by Inkaterra (€120 a night) · Luxury: Belmond Sanctuary Lodge (€900 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Mapacho Craft Beer Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 8650 reviews · €€
Chullos Restaurant Machupicchu ↗ ★ 4.8 · 6409 reviews · €€
Chef House Restaurant - Machu Picchu ↗ ★ 4.8 · 3826 reviews · €€
Green House ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1432 reviews
Pueblo Viejo Machupicchu Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1424 reviews

Photo Joaquín Garduño / Pexels

Peru in 10 days

4 stops · 21 things to do · flight + train

1Lima

Days 1-2

A coastal capital founded by Pizarro in 1535. The colonial centre is UNESCO-listed, and the kitchens are the best on the continent.

🎟️ Worth booking

Food tour: ceviche and pisco3h · from €55
Three hours of eating across Lima, from the raw fish counters to the anticucho grills and a pisco sour at the end.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Historic centre and the Larco MuseumHalf day · from €30
The colonial core on foot, then a museum whose pre-Columbian gold and ceramics run to tens of thousands of pieces.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Miraflores, on the cliff above the Pacific · Parque del Amor and the clifftop promenade · Barranco, street art and galleries · Plaza de Armas

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Pariwana Hostel (€16 a night) · Mid-range: Casa Andina Premium Miraflores (€110 a night) · Luxury: Belmond Miraflores Park (€320 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Alvaro Palacios / Pexels

✈️ Domestic flight · 1h20 · Lima → Cusco

2Cusco and the Sacred Valley

Days 3-5

The Inca capital, at 3,400 m. Inca stonework still carries the colonial squares, and the road into the Sacred Valley starts here.

🎟️ Worth booking

City tour and the Sacred ValleyFull day · from €45
Cusco in the morning, then Pisac and Ollantaytambo, where the Inca terraces are still farmed.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Rainbow MountainFull day · from €50
A hard day hike to Vinicunca at 5,200 m, where mineral layers stripe the ridge. Go only once you have acclimatised.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Plaza de Armas · The San Blas artists' quarter · Sacsayhuamán, from outside · San Pedro market

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Pariwana Cusco (€15 a night) · Mid-range: Palacio del Inka (€210 a night) · Luxury: Inkaterra La Casona (€400 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Janeth Charris / Pexels

🚆 Train PeruRail · 3h30 · Sacred Valley

3Machu Picchu

Days 6-7

A fifteenth-century Inca city at 2,430 m, unknown to the outside world until 1911. Cloud fills the valley below it most mornings.

🎟️ Worth booking

Machu Picchu entry with a guideHalf day · from €70
Timed entry to the citadel with someone who can read the stonework. Tickets are capped daily and sell out.
Book on GetYourGuide →
The Vistadome panoramic train3h30 · from €120
Three and a half hours through the Urubamba gorge, in a carriage with windows in the roof.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The village of Aguas Calientes · The hot springs · Viewpoints over the citadel

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Supertramp Hostel (€25 a night) · Mid-range: El MaPi by Inkaterra (€120 a night) · Luxury: Belmond Sanctuary Lodge (€900 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Joaquín Garduño / Pexels

🚌 Scenic bus · 7h · or 1h flight

4Lake Titicaca · Puno

Days 8-10

The highest navigable lake on earth, at 3,812 m. The Uros build their islands out of reeds, and Quechua villages ring the shore.

🎟️ Worth booking

The Uros floating islands and TaquileFull day · from €40
A boat day on Titicaca: the reed islands first, then Taquile, where the men knit and the women weave.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Lake Titicaca · Puno harbour · The Sillustani tombs, from outside

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Inka's Rest Hostel (€12 a night) · Mid-range: GHL Lago Titicaca (€165 a night) · Luxury: Sonesta Posadas del Inca Puno (€120 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Pizzas D’Richety ↗ ★ 5 · 188 reviews
BIANCA PIZZA ↗ ★ 4.8 · 741 reviews
PIZZCO pizzas & drinks ↗ ★ 4.8 · 415 reviews
Chaquena Restaurantes ↗ ★ 4.6 · 165 reviews
Mojsa Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.4 · 1622 reviews · €€

Photo Gu Bra / Pexels

Peru in 14 days

4 stops · 21 things to do · flight + train

1Lima

Days 1-3

A coastal capital founded by Pizarro in 1535. The colonial centre is UNESCO-listed, and the kitchens are the best on the continent.

🎟️ Worth booking

Food tour: ceviche and pisco3h · from €55
Three hours of eating across Lima, from the raw fish counters to the anticucho grills and a pisco sour at the end.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Historic centre and the Larco MuseumHalf day · from €30
The colonial core on foot, then a museum whose pre-Columbian gold and ceramics run to tens of thousands of pieces.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Miraflores, on the cliff above the Pacific · Parque del Amor and the clifftop promenade · Barranco, street art and galleries · Plaza de Armas

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Pariwana Hostel (€16 a night) · Mid-range: Casa Andina Premium Miraflores (€110 a night) · Luxury: Belmond Miraflores Park (€320 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Alvaro Palacios / Pexels

✈️ Domestic flight · 1h20 · Lima → Cusco

2Cusco and the Sacred Valley

Days 4-7

The Inca capital, at 3,400 m. Inca stonework still carries the colonial squares, and the road into the Sacred Valley starts here.

🎟️ Worth booking

City tour and the Sacred ValleyFull day · from €45
Cusco in the morning, then Pisac and Ollantaytambo, where the Inca terraces are still farmed.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Rainbow MountainFull day · from €50
A hard day hike to Vinicunca at 5,200 m, where mineral layers stripe the ridge. Go only once you have acclimatised.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Plaza de Armas · The San Blas artists' quarter · Sacsayhuamán, from outside · San Pedro market

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Pariwana Cusco (€15 a night) · Mid-range: Palacio del Inka (€210 a night) · Luxury: Inkaterra La Casona (€400 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Janeth Charris / Pexels

🚆 Train PeruRail · 3h30 · Sacred Valley

3Machu Picchu

Days 8-9

A fifteenth-century Inca city at 2,430 m, unknown to the outside world until 1911. Cloud fills the valley below it most mornings.

🎟️ Worth booking

Machu Picchu entry with a guideHalf day · from €70
Timed entry to the citadel with someone who can read the stonework. Tickets are capped daily and sell out.
Book on GetYourGuide →
The Vistadome panoramic train3h30 · from €120
Three and a half hours through the Urubamba gorge, in a carriage with windows in the roof.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The village of Aguas Calientes · The hot springs · Viewpoints over the citadel

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Supertramp Hostel (€25 a night) · Mid-range: El MaPi by Inkaterra (€120 a night) · Luxury: Belmond Sanctuary Lodge (€900 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Joaquín Garduño / Pexels

🚌 Scenic bus · 7h · highlands

4Lake Titicaca · Puno

Days 10-14

The highest navigable lake on earth, at 3,812 m. The Uros build their islands out of reeds, and Quechua villages ring the shore.

🎟️ Worth booking

The Uros floating islands and TaquileFull day · from €40
A boat day on Titicaca: the reed islands first, then Taquile, where the men knit and the women weave.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Lake Titicaca · Puno harbour · The Sillustani tombs, from outside

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Inka's Rest Hostel (€12 a night) · Mid-range: GHL Lago Titicaca (€165 a night) · Luxury: Sonesta Posadas del Inca Puno (€120 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Gu Bra / Pexels

Hotel prices are per room per night, activity prices per person, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide): we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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Good to know before you go

🍽️ What to eat

Ceviche: raw fish cured in lime juice and chilli, eaten at lunch and rarely after.
Lomo saltado: beef stir-fried with chips and rice, a Chinese inheritance.
Ají de gallina: shredded chicken in a creamy yellow chilli sauce.
Cuy: roast guinea pig, the Andean dish to try once.
Pisco sour: the national cocktail, sharp under a head of foam.

⚠️ What to avoid

Gain altitude slowly: Cusco stands at 3,400 m and the first day is the hard one.
Bottled water only, and be wary of ice.
Take licensed taxis or use an app, and agree the fare before you get in.
Book Machu Picchu and the train months ahead: entry is capped every day.

Plan this trip

📒 The free printable Peru guide→ 🗓️ Best time to visit Peru, month by month→ 🎟️ What to book before you go→

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