How I’d Experience Peru: 8 Days Beyond the Highlights
The sun beating makes it look warm but the altitude and wind add a chill that this fleece helps protect!
If Peru is on your bucket list, I’m sure it is because you want to see Machu Picchu.
After all, it is one of the Wonders of the World.
But I can confidently say, after leading a group of women through Peru, that Machu Picchu wasn’t even necessarily the best part…
Some of the moments we talked about afterward as our favorites were completely different:
Feeding llamas over an incredible lunch
Learning how traditional textiles are dyed, in some ways you would NEVER imagine 😂
Sandboarding through the desert… because who even knew there was a desert like this in Peru?!
Trying foods we would never normally order
Having a local hotel owner spontaneously gather our group together for a blessing
Going out with our guides because somewhere along the way… they stopped feeling like “the tour guides” and started feeling more like friends
THAT is the Peru I want you to experience.
So instead of giving you another giant checklist of attractions, I want this guide to help you actually experience Peru a little more deeply.
Throughout it, I’ll give you:
PLAN IT
What I would actually book and how I would structure the trip so you don’t have to figure everything out yourself.
GET CURIOUS
Something to notice, ask or learn while you’re there.
TRY IT
A little challenge to push you slightly outside of your normal travel routine.
REFLECT
One question to help you actually process and remember the experience.
Because my favorite trips aren’t just about seeing somewhere.
They’re about coming home knowing something you didn’t know before — and maybe feeling something you didn’t even realize you were looking for.
BEFORE YOU GO: PREPARE FOR PERU
Peru is one of those places where preparation really DOES make the trip easier — and this is coming from someone who loves to wing a lot of trips. 😂
Within ONE trip, you can experience:
coast
desert
high-altitude cities
mountains
valleys
completely different temperatures
So my biggest packing advice is:
Don’t pack for Instagram. Pack for what you’re actually going to DO.
For me, that meant:
layers
comfortable shoes
clothes I could actually move in
things I could rewear
a small backpack/fanny pack
and outfits that could handle a lot of different temperatures
I already have a full packing guide breaking down exactly what I packed for Lima, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and Cusco.
Before you leave, I would also make sure you know:
What will the weather be like in each region?
What elevation will I be sleeping at?
What currency does Peru use?
How much cash should I carry?
What Spanish phrases might actually be useful?
What do I need to know about altitude?
What emergency information should I have saved?
What does my travel insurance actually cover?
YOUR PRE-TRIP CHALLENGE:
Learn at least five useful Spanish phrases before you arrive.
Not because everyone expects you to speak Spanish.
But because even TRYING changes the interaction.
A little “Buenos días,” “gracias,” or “¿qué recomienda?” goes such a long way.
OPTIONAL EXTENSION: LIMA + HUACACHINA
After doing this trip, I actually think Lima works best as an optional extension rather than something everyone absolutely NEEDS inside of a one-week Peru itinerary.
If your main goal is to experience what I personally think makes Peru so special, I would prioritize:
Cusco + Sacred Valley + Machu Picchu.
BUT.
If you have extra time?
Lima gives you a completely different side of Peru — and it gives you access to one of the most unexpectedly fun days of our entire trip.
🌊 PARACAS + HUACACHINA: THE RIDICULOUS ADVENTURE DAY
We started our group trip with an absolutely ridiculous day.
Like…
5 AM pickup ridiculous.
We drove down the coast to Paracas, saw sea lions and other marine animals, did a Pisco tasting, and then ended the day in Huacachina riding dune buggies through the desert and sandboarding down massive dunes.
With a gorgeous sunset.
Was this ambitious for Day 1?
YES.
Would I do it again?
Also yes. 😂
It actually became one of our first major bonding experiences as a group.
Everyone was scared and excited together.
People were encouraging each other through the dune buggy ride.
People who were nervous to sandboard were cheering each other on.
And suddenly a group of women who barely knew each other that morning already had a whole adventure together.
→ BOOK THE PARACAS + HUACACHINA TOUR WE USED
WHAT I WOULD PACK FOR THIS DAY
Sunglasses.
Workout pants or leggings.
A comfortable shirt.
Small backpack or fanny pack.
Water.
Layers because the temperature changes.
And MOST IMPORTANTLY:
A BANDANA.
The sand gets everywhere.
GET CURIOUS
This is such a good day to actually LOOK around because you travel through completely different landscapes.
Ask yourself:
Why is this part of Peru so dry?
Why can you see penguins and sea lions off the coast here?
How is there an oasis sitting in the middle of the desert?
What exactly IS Pisco and why is it such a big part of Peruvian culture?
And if you see the mysterious Paracas Candelabra from the boat…
Ask:
WHO MADE THAT?!
Because people still aren’t completely sure.
And that is the kind of random travel mystery I LOVE.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Do ONE thing that makes you slightly nervous.
For us, that was sandboarding.
The discomfort became part of the bonding.
Some of the best travel memories happen right after:
“Wait… are we really doing this?”
🍋 LIMA FOOD DAY
If you have another day in Lima, I would definitely make food part of it.
One of my favorite things about Peru is how much history you can discover just through eating.
On our food experience, we tried:
unfamiliar fruits
ceviche
different meats
Peruvian dishes
ingredients I had literally never seen before
And personally…
I do NOT really eat fish at home.
So even trying ceviche became a little comfort-zone challenge for me.
But I decided this trip was going to be about trying things.
And I was so glad I did.
My favorite dish ended up being:
Ají de gallina 😍
And I think my favorite fruit was chirimoya because it was SO sweet.
→ BOOK THE LIMA FOOD TOUR WE DID
GET CURIOUS
Instead of only asking:
“Do I like this?”
Ask:
“WHY does this dish exist here?”
Peruvian food has so many different influences.
Indigenous traditions.
Spanish influence.
African influence.
Chinese immigration.
Japanese immigration.
Different environments around the country producing completely different ingredients.
Food can tell you SO much about a place.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Order ONE thing you would normally avoid.
Just one.
A fruit you’ve never heard of.
A dish you can’t pronounce.
Something outside your normal comfort zone.
Then ask yourself:
What did I try today that surprised me?
DAY 1: HEAD TO THE SACRED VALLEY
THIS is where I would start the main Peru trip.
Instead of flying into Cusco and immediately rushing around sightseeing, I would head toward the Sacred Valley.
First of all, the landscape starts changing almost immediately.
And second, the Sacred Valley sits lower than Cusco, so it can also be a nice way to ease into the altitude.
But what I love most about this area is how many things make you stop and think:
HOW DID PEOPLE LEARN TO LIVE HERE?
MORAY
When you arrive at Moray…
DON’T immediately Google what you’re looking at.
Seriously.
Look first.
Ask yourself:
What does this look like to me?
Why would someone build terraces like this?
What could they possibly have been doing here?
Then listen to your guide and learn about the theories behind how the Incas used this area.
TODAY’S MINI CHALLENGE:
MAKE A GUESS BEFORE THE GUIDE TELLS YOU.
I think travel becomes SO much more interesting when you’re actively trying to figure things out instead of just waiting for someone to give you information.
Look.
Guess.
Ask.
Then learn.
MARAS SALT MINES
Then you arrive somewhere that basically makes you think:
WHY IS THERE SO MUCH SALT HERE?!
Hundreds and hundreds of little salt pools built into the mountainside.
And again…
Don’t just photograph them and move on.
Ask:
Where does all this salty water come from?
How long have people been harvesting salt here?
How does the water actually turn into salt?
Who owns all these little pools?
This is what I mean by traveling deeper.
You don’t need a lecture.
You just need to stay curious enough to ask the next question.
🦙 MOUNTAINVIEW EXPERIENCE
Okay.
THIS.
One of the biggest surprise hits of our entire trip.
Beautiful mountains.
Amazing food.
Llamas.
Alpacas.
Basically my dream combination. 😂
We fed them, took approximately one million pictures, ate one of our favorite meals of the whole trip and just enjoyed being there.
My biggest complaint?
WE NEEDED MORE TIME.
If I do this trip again, I’m absolutely building in more time here instead of rushing off to the next thing.
GET CURIOUS
Your extremely important Peru homework:
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LLAMA AND AN ALPACA?!
Because I promise you will be asked this at some point.
Try to figure it out while you’re actually standing next to them.
Bonus challenge:
See if you can correctly identify which one is which by the end of the trip. 😂
DAY 2: EXPERIENCE LIVING ANDEAN CULTURE
One of my biggest takeaways from this trip was that I LOVE experiences where you actually get to participate.
I struggle a little with traditional walking tours sometimes because my brain gets distracted.
But give me something to MAKE?
Something to TASTE?
Something to TRY?
I am IN.
Which is why I loved our experience with Andean Colors.
ANDEAN COLORS
Here we learned about:
traditional weaving
natural dyes
Andean food traditions
Pachamanca
local culture
llamas and alpacas
Instead of just buying a beautiful textile and saying:
“Oh wow, pretty!”
you actually get to see some of what goes into making it.
And some of the ingredients used for the natural dyes were…
let’s just say VERY surprising. 😂
GET CURIOUS
Ask:
Where do these colors actually come from?
How long does it take to make one piece?
Which traditions are ancient?
Which traditions have changed over time?
How does tourism affect the preservation of these practices?
And pay attention to how different it feels to understand HOW something was made before you decide whether you want to buy it.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
DON’T JUST WATCH.
Participate.
Try weaving.
Ask a question.
Taste something.
Attempt the technique.
Interact.
The things we actually DID were consistently some of the experiences our group remembered most.
DAY 3: MACHU PICCHU!!!
Okay.
Obviously.
We made it.
Machu Picchu.
The bucket-list moment.
The Wonder of the World.
The place everyone asks you about when you say you’re going to Peru.
And YES.
It is absolutely incredible.
But here is my biggest piece of advice:
Don’t make Machu Picchu the ONLY reason you came to Peru.
Because after this trip, I realized some of our favorite memories happened everywhere ELSE.
That actually made Machu Picchu even better because it became one amazing piece of the trip instead of the whole trip.
We went later in the afternoon, which worked really well for our group.
I would always check the latest ticket/circuit rules before planning your visit because those can change.
GET CURIOUS
Yes, learn who built Machu Picchu.
But also ask:
WHY HERE?!
Seriously.
Look around.
You’re surrounded by mountains.
How did people build something this enormous in this location?
How did they manage water?
Why was this site important?
Why did it eventually become such an enormous international symbol of Peru?
PHOTO CHALLENGE
Get the iconic picture.
Take approximately 500 if you need to. 😂
We literally did a mini photoshoot.
BUT.
Then:
PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY FOR FIVE MINUTES.
Just stand there.
Look around.
Actually experience the fact that you are standing at Machu Picchu.
REFLECT
What blows your mind more:
Machu Picchu itself…
or
the fact that people managed to build it HERE?
DAY 4: DON’T SKIP OLLANTAYTAMBO
One of the places our group unexpectedly loved was Ollantaytambo.
And not because we did some giant bucket-list activity there.
We just…
EXISTED there.
We walked around.
Explored the streets.
Shopped.
Went out together.
Had drinks on a rooftop balcony.
And it ended up being one of those really lovely travel memories.
This is exactly why I am now obsessed with putting MORE free time into trips.
Because sometimes you don’t need another tour.
You need TIME.
PLAN IT
Stay in Ollantaytambo instead of treating it purely like somewhere you pass through on your way to Machu Picchu.
Give yourself actual free time.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
FOR ONE HOUR, DON’T GOOGLE WHAT TO DO.
Walk.
Turn down a street that looks interesting.
Stop somewhere.
Get a drink.
Sit on a balcony.
Talk to someone.
Follow your curiosity.
GET CURIOUS
Look at the town around you.
You have:
ancient Inca structures
modern homes
tourism
local life
mountains
all occupying the same space.
Ask yourself what it must feel like to actually LIVE somewhere people from around the world travel to see.
DAY 5: CUSCO — PLEASE DO LESS
If I planned this trip again, this is one of the biggest things I would change.
MORE FREE TIME.
Cusco is SO much better when you have room to wander.
Go sit in a café.
Walk through the streets.
Visit the market.
Watch what’s happening in the plaza.
Shop.
Pet approximately 47 dogs.
Eat something.
Get lost.
I think I originally fell into the trap of:
We’re here! We need to DO EVERYTHING!
But more itinerary does NOT automatically make a better trip.
PLAN IT
Give yourself at least a half-day — preferably a full day — with very little planned.
And make sure your hotel is somewhere CENTRAL.
That is something I would absolutely change next time.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Ask someone:
“If you had a completely free afternoon in Cusco, what would YOU do?”
Not:
“What are the tourist attractions?”
What would THEY do?
Then see where the answer takes you.
REFLECT
At this point in the trip, ask:
What has surprised me most about Peru so far?
Because I guarantee something will be completely different from what you pictured before arriving.
DAY 6: TAKE A COOKING CLASS
One of my absolute favorite experiences of our entire trip.
The Marcelo Batata cooking class.
THIS is my kind of activity.
We learned.
We cooked.
We made Pisco sours.
We used real fire.
We turned everything into a competition.
And after making the Pisco sours first…
let’s just say the competition may have gotten slightly more entertaining. 😂
→ BOOK THE BEST CUSCO COOKING CLASS
WHY I LOVE EXPERIENCES LIKE THIS
You’re not just watching Peru.
You’re participating.
You’re learning something you could technically bring home with you.
And you’re having FUN while doing it.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Pick ONE thing you learn to make and try recreating it after you get home.
Because I love when a trip follows you home in little ways.
Food is one of the easiest ways to do that.
DAY 7: HISTORY + WHATEVER YOU STILL FEEL CURIOUS ABOUT
This is where I would keep some flexibility.
We visited Sacsayhuamán, which is absolutely fascinating.
Those rocks alone are enough to make you go:
HOW DID THEY DO THIS?!
We also incorporated an animal sanctuary experience.
Would I automatically pack this entire day again?
Probably not.
At this point in the trip, I would rather see how everyone is feeling and choose between:
more history
Sacsayhuamán
an animal experience
more Cusco
more free time
GET CURIOUS
Look at the stones at Sacsayhuamán.
Seriously LOOK at them.
How do pieces that enormous fit together like THAT?
What tools did people have?
What do we actually know?
What are historians still debating?
Travel gets so much more fun when there are questions without perfectly neat answers.
DAY 8: END WITH A LITTLE ADVENTURE
We ended our trip with Rainbow Mountain.
And here’s where I’m going to be very real:
I don’t know if I would automatically do it again.
It’s beautiful.
But it’s also:
high altitude
physically demanding
a long day
popular/crowded
So if I redesigned this trip, I would compare other options like:
Palccoyo
Humantay Lake
an Ausangate-area hike
and choose the experience that makes the most sense for the group.
MY BIGGER TRAVEL RULE:
Do not do something JUST because Instagram told you that you have to.
Ask:
Is this experience actually worth the time, money and energy for ME?
This applies to basically every destination in the world.
FINAL CHALLENGE
Choose something in nature that feels slightly challenging but still exciting.
Maybe that’s a hike.
Maybe it’s altitude.
Maybe it’s simply doing something you didn’t think you could do at the beginning of the trip.
End on a:
WAIT… I ACTUALLY DID THAT?!
kind of moment.
THE THINGS I WOULD 100% REPEAT
After actually doing this trip with a group, these were the experiences that stood out most to me:
🦙 Mountainview Experience
Amazing meal + mountains + llamas.
Yes.
🏔 Staying in Ollantaytambo
Do not just pass through.
🧶 Andean Colors
Especially the weaving, natural dyes and Pachamanca.
👋 A REALLY GOOD LOCAL GUIDE
Our guide Marco became such an important part of the experience.
Having someone local who is fun, knowledgeable and genuinely connects with the group changes EVERYTHING.
🔥 Marcelo Batata cooking class
Interactive.
Delicious.
Funny.
Easy yes.
🏜 BONUS: HUACACHINA
If you have the extra time, the dune buggy/sandboarding experience was SO much fun.
🏛 MACHU PICCHU LATER IN THE DAY
I loved our experience going later in the afternoon and would absolutely explore doing this again depending on the latest entry rules.
WHAT I WOULD CHANGE NEXT TIME
This part is almost more important than what I would repeat.
I would:
LET PEOPLE SLEEP.
Fewer brutal early mornings.
BUILD IN WAY MORE FREE TIME.
Because spontaneous moments ended up being some of our favorites.
SHORTEN SOME TOURS.
More doing.
Less standing around listening.
STAY MORE CENTRALLY IN CUSCO.
You want people to easily explore on their own.
GIVE MOUNTAINVIEW MORE TIME.
We did NOT want to leave.
POSSIBLY REPLACE RAINBOW MOUNTAIN.
With something that feels equally special but works better for the group.
CREATE REAL TIME TO JOURNAL.
I love reflection prompts, but you cannot give people reflection questions after filling every single minute of their day.
Lesson learned. 😂
MY EXPLORE WITH EDIE PERU CHALLENGE 🇵🇪
If you ignore everything else I say in this entire guide…
DO THESE FIVE THINGS:
1. TRY ONE FOOD YOU WOULD NORMALLY SAY NO TO.
You might discover your new favorite thing.
2. DO ONE THING THAT MAKES YOU SLIGHTLY NERVOUS.
For us: sandboarding and paragliding.
3. ASK ONE LOCAL PERSON FOR A RECOMMENDATION.
And actually consider taking it.
4. LEAVE HALF A DAY COMPLETELY UNPLANNED.
Something interesting will probably happen.
5. ASK YOURSELF THIS EVERY NIGHT:
🌹 ROSE
What was the best part of today?
🌵 THORN
What was difficult?
🌱 BUD
What am I now curious or excited about?
AND AT THE END OF THE TRIP…
Don’t just ask:
“What was my favorite place?”
Ask:
“What moment keeps coming back into my head?”
Because after our trip, it wasn’t only Machu Picchu.
It was:
Helping each other sandboard down a dune.
Laughing while cooking.
Feeding llamas.
Petting every dog we saw.
Getting to know our guides.
Dancing the Macarena everywhere we went.
Drinks on a random rooftop.
And one unexpected blessing after a long travel day.
Those are the moments that turned an itinerary into OUR trip.
And honestly?
That’s the whole reason I love traveling.
WANT HELP PLANNING YOUR OWN PERU TRIP?
I’m a travel advisor, which means I can help you create the version of Peru that actually works for YOU.
Maybe you want:
beautiful boutique hotels
private transfers
great local guides
adventure
a little luxury
a LOT of good food
and experiences that actually help you connect to the place
You do not have to travel exactly like I do.
I can help you find your version.
WANT TO COME WITH ME NEXT TIME? 👀
I’m planning more Explore With Edie group adventures built around exactly this kind of travel:
local experiences
adventure
curiosity
connection
a little bit of getting outside your comfort zone
and hopefully coming home with new friends
→ JOIN MY FUTURE GROUP TRIP LIST
And you can always follow the chaos/adventures over on:
Instagram: @edie_explores
See you somewhere interesting. 🌎
— Edie
