2 weeks in Peru itinerary and trip planning

Perú is a very big and diverse country with lots of interesting places that are worth visiting. It is probably one of the most beautiful countries I’ve visited, full of diverse landscapes and a super interesting culture. This is a complete itinerary to spend 2 weeks in Peru.

Peru trip organization

Before you start planning your itinerary, I recommend that you make a list of the places that you want to visit. Machu Picchu is certainly a must visit but Perú has many places that are as amazing as this wonder of the world.

Make a list of your priorities and then start discarding places. In my case for example, visiting the Colca Valley was a must. In order to visit Colca I had to left out of the itinerary the Uros Floating Islands.

Once you have the list of places that you want to visit, you have to see how you are going to move between those places.

If you’re wondering what to pack for your trip read: The ultimate Peru packing list

How to get around in Peru

Peru is a really big country and the distances between the places are big. Therefore, it is important that you plan the itinerary taking into account the transport between cities. There are many transportation options so it is a perfect trip to organize by yourself.

Here are some options of how to get around Peru:

• Plane: The main cities of Peru are connected by plane. It is not the cheapest option but it is the fastest. There are two Peruvian airlines: Viva Air and Star Peru. I didn’t use them so I don’t really have an opinion on them. For internal flights I always used Latam.
• Bus: The cheapest option to travel around Perú are buses. There are several companies that connect the whole country. One of the most known bus companies is Cruz del Sur and it’s the one I used during the trip. The service is good and the seats are very comfortable.
• Car: Another option if you want to have more independence is to rent a car. My boyfriend and me rented a car through rentalcars.com to visit the Colca Valley area and the experience was amazing. Peruvians are a bit crazy when driving and in general the traffic in cities like Lima is heavy but for more isolated places like the Colca Valley, renting car is a great idea.

Accommodation in Peru

You will find many accommodation options in Perú: cheap hotels, hostels, Airbnb apartments, luxurious hotels… In general you’ll always find availability, but if you are planning to travel during high season (from May to August), it is best to book the accommodation in advance.

Documents for visiting Peru

Nationals from most countries don’t require a VISA to visit Peru for tourism purposes. If you’re from US, Canada, Australia, Mexico, South Africa, Germany and more (see complete list here) you don’t need a VISA, you just need a passport valid at least six months.

Citizens from most countries in Africa and Asia need a tourist VISA for visiting Peru. Check out the complete list of countries that require a VISA here.

2 weeks in Peru itinerary

This is the itinerary of my trip to Perú. The idea is that you use it as an example and adapt it to your needs taking into account the number of days available or your preference of places to visit.

• Day 1: Arrival in Lima

It is most likely that your trip starts in Lima as it is where most international flights arrive. Lima Airport is located in the area of Callao and although it isn’t far from downtown, Lima traffic can be terrible, especially during peak hours. I recommend that you don’t plan any important things for this first day.

Most of the accommodation in Lima is in the neighborhood of Miraflores which is very nice and full of restaurants to eat.

• Day 2: Lima

The capital of Peru is very nice and I recommend you stay at least 2 days. In my case I opted to visit Lima one day at the beginning of the trip and one day at the end.

The first day you can visit Miraflores where you find beautiful parks and spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean. You can also visit the historic center of Lima where the Plaza de Armas and several of the oldest buildings in the city are located.

Another site that we visited on the first day was Parque de la Reserva, a park with water fountains and games for children.

For more info about Lima read: Things to do in Lima in 3 days

• Day 3: Lima → Cusco

The idea of this day is to take a flight to Cusco in the morning. Cusco is located almost at 3400 m above sea level, so many people are affected by the famous altitude sickness (dizziness, nausea, headache, etc.). So the best thing is to leave this day free to rest, walk around the city, maybe go to some market or historical site but don’t make any big plan.

In my trip, there was a problem with the flight so we had the whole morning free in Lima, and we used this time to tour the area of Callao where the historic port of Lima is located. We arrived in Cusco in the afternoon and visited the Plaza de Armas.

• Day 4: Cusco. Visit Pisac.

Cusco is a beautiful city, and there are many places to visit in the city or around it. My recommendation is to stay in Cusco at least 5 days.

This day we decided to visit Písac, located about 30 km from Cusco. Many people visit Písac as part of the Sacred Valley tour, but we wanted to visit Písac at our pace so took a van from Cusco To Písac and visited it by our own.

In Písac you will find the archeological site which is one of the most incredible places in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. In addition to this you can visit the Pisac market which is perfect to buy handicrafts, ponchos and other beautiful things.

• Day 5: Sacred Valley

The Sacred Valley of the Incas is composed of several archaeological sites of the region and it is something that you can’t miss on a trip to Perú.

The easiest way is to visit the Sacred Valley is to take a day tour from Cusco, which usually includes roundtrip transportation, and lunch.

In our case we toured the rest of the Sacred Valley (Písac is also part) by taxi, to have more independence and stay as long as we wanted in each place.

Some places that you can’t miss: Chinchero, Moray, Salineras de Maras and Ollantaytambo. If you are going to take a tour, make sure it includes these places.

As we had the train to Aguas Calientes from Ollantaytambo the next morning, we decided to finish our tour in Ollantaytambo and spend the night here. We left our luggage at the hotel in Cusco, and took only a backpack.

• Day 6: Ollantaytambo → Aguas Calientes

To get to Machu Picchu, you first have to go to Aguas Calientes, the village at the base of Machu Picchu. There are three ways to get to Aguas Calientes: Inca trail, by train or by taking a combi to Hidroeléctrica and then a 3 hour walk.

In my case I opted for the train as I was invited by PeruRail to experience the Vistadome train. You can read my experience at PeruRail’s Vistadome here. Obviously the cheapest option is to hike from Hidroeléctrica.

Aguas Calientes is a tourist town with restaurants and hotels. There is not too much to do really, rather than rest for the next day to finally visit Machu Picchu.

• Day 7: Machu Picchu. Night in Cusco

Probably the most anticipated day of the entire trip. For visiting Machu Picchu it is really important that you buy the tickets in advance, especially if you go in high season.

Machu Picchu is an incredible place and you will need several hours to tour the whole complex. We took the first visit at 6 AM and it was the best decision, as we had almost the whole day to explore the citadel.

Complete information on Machu Picchu here: How to visit Machu Picchu on your own

After visiting Machu Picchu, we took the train back to spend the night in Cusco.

• Day 8: Cusco

Again in Cusco, take this day to the city. Some places in Cusco that you can’t miss are: Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral of Cusco, the neighborhood of San Blas, San Pedro Market and Mirador de San Cristóbal.

For more info about Cusco read: Best things to do in Cusco

This day you can also visit the ruins of Sacsayhuamán, an archaeological site located on the outskirts of Cusco.

• Day 9: Cusco. Rainbow Mountain

The Vinicunca mountain, also called Rainbow Mountain, was one of the places I most wanted to visit on my trip to Peru.

The simplest way to go is to take a tour, as the base of the mountain is about three hours from Cusco and there is no public transport to get there. You leave Cusco around 4:30 AM and return around 3 PM. Click for more info about the tour to Rainbow Mountain.

• Day 10: Cusco → Arequipa

The best thing is to take one of the first flights of the day to the city of Arequipa. You can also opt for taking a night bus the evening before.

In my case I arrived to Arequipa in the morning and went straight to get the car we’d rented at rentalcars.com to visit the Colca Valley. The car journey between Arequipa and Colca is about 3 hours. If you don’t want to rent car, there are also buses and tours that visit Colca Valley from Arequipa.

In Colca there are several villages where you can stay. In our case, we decided to take a relaxing day staying at the amazing Colca Lodge Hotel. You can read all about my experience at this hotel here.

• Day 11: Colca

As I said, Colca Valley was one of the places I wanted to visit the most and this was because I really wanted to hike the Colca Canyon. This canyon is one of the deepest in the world! You can hike to the bottom of the canyon, where there are some places to spend the night.

We basically spent this whole day hiking and resting at the canyon.

If you are not interested in trekking, you can explore other areas of the Colca valley like Cabanaconde, Chivay, etc.

• Day 12: Colca

This day we started at 5 AM to climb from the bottom of the canyon before the sun hit hard. Then we visited the Mirador del Cóndor where you can see Andean condors fly Incredibly close!

We spent the rest of the day at Colca Lodge, resting our legs after the trekking.

• Day 13: Arequipa

Arequipa is one of the most beautiful cities in Perú. It is surrounded by volcanoes and its constructions are characterized by being made with a white stone of volcanic origin.

If you spend one day in Arequipa, it is enough to see the city’s main attractions. Some of the places that you can’t miss are: Plaza de Armas of Arequipa, Santa Catalina Monastery and the Yanahuara viewpoint.

That night we took the night bus from Arequipa to Ica (11 hs trip).

• Day 14: Huacachina Oasis

The Huacachina Oasis is one of Peru’s most popular sites. This place is unique in the world and it is located about 10 min from the city of Ica, which you can easily reach from Lima.

The Oasis is small but there are several hotels and restaurants. The most popular activity in Huacachina is the buggy and sandboard tour in the desert. Other than that, there isn’t really much more to do so 1 or 2 days are enough.

• Day 15: Lima

This day we took one of the first buses from Ica to Lima (4 hours trip). We arrived to Lima at noon and went to visit one of the areas that had remained pending: Barranco neighborhood.

We saw the sunset in Miraflores, said goodbye to the delicious Peruvian food and prepared to take the plane back to Buenos Aires the next morning.

Obviously there are many interesting places in Perú that aren’t in this itinerary but it is possible to explore some of the most important places in Perú in 15 days.

Other Peru posts:

• The ultimate Peru packing list + downloadable checklist
• How to visit Machu Picchu on your own
• Taking the Vistadome train to Machu Picchu
• Huacachina buggy and sandboard tour
• Rainbow Mountain tour from Cusco

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