We spent two weeks in Peru in the spring of 2026. We covered a lot of ground in that relatively short time. One of our guides told us that most Americans come for a single week. I’m not sure how you could see what we did in less time so, if you plan to visit, make the most of it and come for a bit longer.
We began (after an overnight at the Lima airport hotel) in the Sacred Valley where we spent two days to acclimate, then descended to Machu Picchu, traveling on the Hiram Bingham train line. After discovering Machu Picchu and hiking the mountain, we returned to the Sacred Valley and then journeyed across the high plains to Cusco, the capitol of the Inca Empire.
After a day or so in Cusco, we boarded the Andean Explorer train (post coming soon) and traveled to Lake Titicaca and the Colca Canyon on it. It was the thing that drew our eyes to Peru and we were not disappointed. Five stars, two thumbs up, 10 out of 10!
We relaxed in the Colca Canyon, taking in the Andean Condors at Condor Cross then traveled to Arequipa, Peru’s White City for a day and back to Lima for a final night and a tour on our last day in the country (post coming soon).
Our experience made us yearn to return to South America, and soon! If you plan to travel to Peru, check out our travel tips here (post coming soon).
Blue dots on the map above indicate where we visited. We flew from Lima to Cusco then drove to the Sacred Valley, took the train to Machu Picchu and back and then drove again back to Cusco. We took a train from Cusco to Lake Titicaca and almost all the way to Arequipa, got off and drove to the Colca Canyon and then on to Arequipa. We flew back to Lima from Arequipa.
The Traveling Ridleys 