Peru Recommendations

I noticed you said that you love to hike. I love to hike, too, and have gone on two long-distance hikes in Ireland and one in the UK. I have not hiked in Peru but have friends who have hiked the famed Inca Trail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Trail_to_Machu_Picchu. I saw their photos, and they were quite nice. If you Google "Inca Trail," the names of a bunch of tour companies will come up. Maybe they can suggest a day trip for you.

Coincidence because I am also musing about a Peru trip in near future (I have been before).
One tip I can offer is to begin your trip in the Sacred Valley--go there directly from Cusco airport to spend a few days acclimating to altitude before heading up to Cusco for your stay there. Get all the info on avoiding altitude issues, what to bring with you, etc...some hotels in Cusco have oxygen piped into the rooms, if you are nervous about this..

I'm not sure you can totally eliminate s tay in Lima due to flight connections, or at least that's what I've been reading in my early research. I think I will plan a couple of days there at the end of the trip (concentrating on restaurants) before flying, in my case, back to the US.

We are going to Peru for about 2.5 weeks (≈18 days) in April 2027. I'm about 90% finished with planning and booking things, and have been intensively investigating details for a while. There is indeed a lot to see (way more than we will have time for). From what I've seen, Lima is worth a stop, so we're giving it a day or two before moving west and then south, with a few days in/around Arequipa, then heading up (literally) to spend the remainder of our time (about 10 days) in/around the Sacred Valley, including (of course) Machu Picchu and finishing up in/around Cusco.

Don't underestimate the impact of the elevation, many people who fail to acclimate get altitude sickness. Machu Picchu is around 8000 feet, the Sacred Valley is around 9,000 feet, Cusco (which apparently kicks many tourists to the curb) is over 11,000 feet. We are starting our trip at sea level (in Lima) and at each stage of the 18-day trip we gain some elevation, so I'm hoping by the time we reach Sacred Valley we are fairly well adjusted to the thin oxygen. I'm planning a hike on our second-to-last day that's at around 13,000 feet, and I expect it to be...challenging.

Peru does look incredible. I'll try to post a trip report after we get back (after April). Have fun planning.

We had a wonderful trip to Peru part organized ourselves Arequipa, Cuzco and Lima and part through Mountain Lodges of Peru. We did their 5 day Lares hiking trip. They took such good care of us. Friends went with them a few years after and also raved. https://www.mountainlodgesofperu.com/explore-experiences/
Understand they also offer other travel agent services if you want any further assistance. But we found it easy enough to do ourselves with hotels and a few days with private guides we arranged in the other locations.
And do take the altitude seriously. We spent 3 days in Cuzco before the hiking and took meds and were glad we did.

Lima is actually one of my favorite places in Peru, a country I've visited eleven times over the past two decades, but I'm realistic enough to know that for most tourists, it won't compete with Peru's many other wonders. (But on almost every trip, I've spent several rewarding days in Lima, taking in all it has to offer.) Since you will have only ten days -- and if they include the days you fly in, and then out, only eight "full" days -- you won't be able to manage a lot more than Cusco and the "sacred valley." (As mentioned above, be aware of high-altitude issues.)

But Arequipa should also be feasible within your short trip, and if you can fit it in, definitely worth while. In addition to the beautiful city itself, consider places in the vicinity, like the the Quebrada [canyon] de Culebrillas and the Colca Canyon.

Suggest you also at the many posts about Peru, here is a search for the past two years. Many suggestions for you to get started:

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=2y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=peru&utf8=%E2%9C%93

We have visited Peru three times, twice on a cruise and once we toured inland.
Lima is worth three days, then fly to Cusco. DO NOT use it as a base, take a tour that includes the Sacred Valley in route to AMAZING Machu Picchu.

We used Peru Agency.com for our tour of Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Saved lots of cash compared to some tour companies outside of Peru. We had a private guide/driver and excellent local guides. Stayed in a hotel in Cuzco that was a former mansion, 300 years old.

Compare your options before. you decide.
My Son later did Peru with Gate 1 Travel and said it was a good tour, they also visited some other places.

We used Ollantaytambo as our Sacred Valley base and enjoyed it. We flew into Lima, spent the night, flew to Cusco the next morning, and then had an airport transport straight to Ollantaytambo.

After several days in the Sacred Valley (including Machu Picchu) we traveled to Cusco. Cusco was very nice, but my 18 year old son got quite ill from altitude sickness. He was in great cardiovascular health prior to the trip, so I was surprised that he was the one the most affected. The issue resolved as soon as we traveled back to a lower elevation.

We spent a couple of nights in Miraflores in Lima at the end of the trip. That area of Lima was nice enough that I often think about going back for a more extended stay.

I guess my main advice is to have a plan for the Cusco altitude. Some people advocate Arequipa -> Sacred Valley -> Cusco to acclimatize, but also have a plan for if it hits you (medical coverage, travel back to lower elevation, etc.).

I plan all of our trips and was going to organize one based in Ollyantambo and Cusco. I got overwhelmed by logistics and we went with an OAT group. It was our first group tour. We went to most of the things I would have planned. Our guide and the other travelers were wonderful. It was nice to be taken care of and having the guide explain what we were seeing. I had read that you could hire independent guides at some of the sites but I didn't see any. We booked our own airfare and flew from Cusco to Maldonado and had an excellent visit to the Amazon (not booked through OAT).

Above, "CL" suggests looking at other Peru posts in this forum, and while that is a good idea, I would take this a step further, and suggest checking a completely different forum -- I would recommend the Peru section of the travel forum on the Fodors site (www.fodors.com). You don't need to "sign in" just to read entries; and as of now (I just checked), near the top of the list of Peru forum entires you will find what I consider to be a masterpiece of trip reports, titled "Our beautiful trip to Peru in September 2024." I think anyone with in interest in Peru travel will enjoy scrolling through the many professional-quality photos in this report, which covers Lima, Arequipa, the "sacred valley," and Puno. (And no, I'm not its author!)

Also, it was stated above that Lima is "worth" three days. Actually, I would consider Lima to be inherently worth a lot more to those with sufficient interest in Peru's history and culture, though I realize that few tourists have that interest, or have the time in shorter trips to spare for Lima. (Among my several Peru trips, none of them longer than two weeks, I've managed up to five full days in Lima, without ever running out of things to see or do.)

Hi Regina- I'm an expat living in Lima- 10 days is a amount of time for a taste of Peru. You could thoroughly explore the Sacred Valley in that time (there is a lot to see) or you would have time to add on Arequipa or something else if you'd like.

I've enjoyed living in Lima (especially for the food scene), but it's definitely skippable on a short trip. As others have recommended, going directly to the Sacred Valley is the way to go. Once you land in Cusco, try to get to lower elevation as quickly as you can- it's about a 2 hour drive to Ollantaytambo, which is a good base for a few days. Then you could move on from there to Aguas Calientes/ Machu Picchu and work your way up back to Cusco. Cusco needs 2-3 nights. Book your Machu Picchu tickets before you book anything else, because they can sell out quickly for your preferred routes. I'd suggest going to MP twice- one in the afternoon the day you arrive, and one early the next morning. If you get a 6am or 7am ticket, it's magical without the crowds. Don't linger in Aguas Calientes- one night is fine to maximize your MP.

This would be a good time of year for the Amazon, on Puerto Maldonado or Iquitos are both easy flights from Cusco. I haven't been to Puno yet (I've lived here about a year). Another option would be to fly into Chachapoyas and go to Gocta Falls with a day trip to Kuelap (haven't been here yet but am going next month, and I've heard great things). Kuelap is still being excavated and is about 1000 years older than Machu Picchu.

The Sacred Valley is a highlight but there's a lot to see. Peru is also very easy to do independently- it's safe if you stick the tourist routes and has good tourism infrastructure. This woman lives in Cusco and I've found her blog very helpful: https://heatherjasper.com/