Two Weeks in Peru: The Ultimate 14-Day Itinerary

Two weeks in Peru opens up possibilities beyond the Golden Triangle of Lima–Cusco–Machu Picchu. Add the Amazon, Lake Titicaca, and the Nazca Lines and you have one of the world’s great travel experiences — different ecosystems, ancient civilisations, and landscapes of extraordinary scale.

Days 1–2 – Lima

Day 1: Arrive and go straight to Lima’s food — the city is South America’s undisputed culinary capital. Miraflores and Barranco are the most visitor-friendly neighbourhoods. Dinner at Central, Maido, or Astrid y Gastón (book ahead for the top tier). Walk the Malecón cliffs at sunset.

Day 2: Barranco neighbourhood in the morning — the Bridge of Sighs, gallery streets, and the MATE photography museum. Larco Museum in the afternoon for the finest pre-Columbian collection in South America. Street food evening at Surquillo Market.

Days 3–4 – Nazca & Paracas

Day 3: Bus south to Ica/Nazca (4–5 hours). Take a small plane over the Nazca Lines — geoglyphs carved into the desert by the Nazca civilization between 500 BCE and 500 CE. From the air: a spider, hummingbird, monkey, and dozens of geometric lines stretching for kilometres. The origin and purpose remain debated. Disorienting and extraordinary.

Day 4: Drive to Paracas on the Pacific coast. Take a boat to the Ballestas Islands — called the “Poor Man’s Galapagos”: thousands of Humboldt penguins, sea lions, pelicans, and Andean condors on dramatic offshore rock formations. Afternoon: the Paracas National Reserve (red sand desert meeting the Pacific — extraordinary desert-meets-sea landscape).

Fly or bus back to Lima for your Cusco flight.

Days 5–7 – Cusco

Day 5: Arrive in Cusco (3,400m). Acclimatise — walk slowly, drink coca tea, avoid alcohol. Visit Coricancha and the Cathedral in the afternoon. Light dinner and early bed.

Day 6: Morning trek up to Sacsayhuamán (arrive early before tour groups). Afternoon: explore San Blas (artisan quarter), Mercado San Pedro (for breakfast and local snacks), and the neighbourhood of San Blas with its colonial mansions and surviving Inca stonework.

Day 7: Day trip to the Maras salt pans (thousands of terraced salt pools in active use since Inca times, minerals drawn from a salt spring) and Moray (mysterious concentric circular Inca terraces, possibly an agricultural laboratory testing crops at different temperature gradients). Both are extraordinary and largely crowd-free.

Days 8–9 – Machu Picchu

Day 8: Train from Cusco or Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, then bus up to Machu Picchu. Full afternoon exploring the citadel — Temple of the Sun, Intihuatana stone (the “hitching post of the sun”), and the Temple of the Three Windows. Walk up to Sun Gate (Inti Punku) for the aerial view.

Day 9: Return at 5:30am for sunrise — extraordinary, misty, and transcendent on clear days. Optional: hike Huayna Picchu (the mountain behind Machu Picchu — steep, dramatic views, limited permits — book months ahead) or take the trail to the Inca Bridge (30 min, spectacular cliff path).

Return to Cusco by evening.

Days 10–11 – Amazon (Puerto Maldonado)

Fly from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado (30 min) — gateway to the southern Amazon. Stay at an eco-lodge in the Tambopata National Reserve — one of the most biodiverse places on earth.

Day 10: Boat along the Amazon tributary to your lodge. Afternoon: guided walk through primary rainforest — howler monkeys, capybaras, caimans in the river, and extraordinary birdlife including macaws.

Day 11: Dawn canoe on an oxbow lake for giant river otters (Tambopata has one of the world’s densest populations) and caimans. Visit the Macaw Clay Lick (thousands of macaws and parrots descend to eat mineral-rich clay) at dawn — one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles.

Days 12–13 – Lake Titicaca

Fly or bus from Cusco to Puno on Lake Titicaca (3h30m bus through Andean altiplano at 3,800m). Lake Titicaca is the world’s highest navigable lake — 3,812m, 190km wide, on the Peru-Bolivia border.

Day 12: Boat to the Uros Floating Islands — artificial islands woven from totora reed by the Uros people, who have lived this way for centuries. Then continue to Amantaní Island — stay overnight with a local family (organised through tour operators) for a genuine community tourism experience.

Day 13: Walk Amantaní’s hills for views over the lake, then boat to Taquile Island — known for its extraordinary textile tradition (UNESCO-listed). The men knit; the quality is exceptional. Return to Puno.

Day 14 – Puno to Lima & Departure

Fly Lima (via Cusco or direct). If time before departure: Sillustani — pre-Inca funerary towers (chullpas) on a peninsula above a highland lake near Puno. More ancient and less visited than any site on the Inca trail.

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Practical Notes

Altitude: Cusco and Titicaca require careful acclimatisation. Take an extra day if possible. Diamox (acetazolamide) prescription medication helps some people — consult a doctor.

Machu Picchu tickets: Book months ahead at machupicchu.gob.pe. Huayna Picchu permits sell out instantly for peak months (June–August).

Amazon lodges: Book at least 6–8 weeks ahead for good Tambopata lodges. Prices range from €80–250/night all-inclusive.

Best time: May–September (dry season) for Machu Picchu and the highlands. December–April wetter but lush — the Amazon is excellent year-round.