Arequipa
This 17th-century mansion once owned by Arequipa’s founder, Garcí Manuel de Carbajal, has been restored with original furnishings and paintings, and even…
Arequipa
This 17th-century mansion once owned by Arequipa’s founder, Garcí Manuel de Carbajal, has been restored with original furnishings and paintings, and even…
Lima
Innocuously tucked on a side street by the post office, Casa Aliaga stands on land given in 1535 to Jerónimo de Aliaga, one of Pizarro’s followers, and…
South Coast
Located just 1.5km from town, these large carvings in the mountainside show a collection of llamas or alpacas and are attributed to Tiwanaku settlers who…
North Coast
Sporting a pleasant malecón (boardwalk), a long, honey-brown beach and slightly muddied waters, this little village is just 20 minutes from Chiclayo…
Templo de Pomata Santiago Apóstolo
Lake Titicaca
This Dominican church is totally out of proportion with the town of Pomata that it dominates, in terms of both size and splendor – dramatically located on…
Lima
About half-a-dozen blocks west of the Plaza San Martín, on a traffic-choked thoroughfare, you'll find the Museo de la Cultura Peruana, a repository of…
Arequipa
The ornate Casa Ricketts has served as a seminary, archbishop’s palace, school and home to well-to-do families since it was built in 1738. Today it is the…
North Coast
What was once the longest pier in Peru has a storied history. Constructed between 1870 and 1874, it initially clocked in at a whopping 743.4m in length…
North Coast
The Chan Chan site museum near the Palacio Nik An contains exhibits explaining Chan Chan and the Chimú culture. It is on the main road, about 500m before…
Lake Titicaca
Chucuito’s principal attraction is the Templo de la Fertilidad. Its dusty grounds are scattered with large stone phalluses, some up to 1.2m in length…
Iglesia y Monasterio de Santa Catalina
Cuzco
This convent houses many colonial paintings of the escuela cuzqueña (Cuzco school), as well as an impressive collection of vestments and other intricate…
South Coast
This local landmark just south of Playa Yumaque was once a majestic natural arch that jutted out into the sea but was destroyed by the 2007 earthquake…
Lima
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the five pedestrian blocks on Jirón de la Unión, from the Plaza de Armas to Plaza San Martín, were the place to…
South Coast
Patriotic like everything in Tacna, this museum above the town library broadcasts a grand, somewhat triumphant, air. Huge canvases depicting key moments…
South Coast
El Castillo de Forga was built in 1908 on a crag between two of the beaches just south of the city center by a rich arequipeño (inhabitant of Arequipa) in…
North Coast
A more modern set of ruins than the nearby pre-Hispanic sites, this rough, dilapidated fishing village is organic, pungent, powerful and quite entrancing…
Trujillo
Iglesia de Santo Domingo is an interesting church near the Plaza de Armas. The original church, built in the 16th century, was one of the first…
Aguas Calientes
Weary trekkers soak away their aches and pains in the town’s hot springs, 10 minutes’ walk up Pachacutec from the train tracks. These tiny, natural…
Trujillo
Known simply as ‘La Catedral,’ this bright, canary-yellow church fronting the plaza was begun in 1647, destroyed in 1759, and rebuilt soon afterward. The…
Gremio de Pescadores de Puscana
South Coast
This is quite a scene at any time of day with oil-skinned fishermen battling with huge whale-sized fish while snappy-beaked pelicans inspect their work…
Huaraz & the Cordilleras
Small three-room museum with a modest collection of ceramics and pre-Inca objects framed by a historical trajectory of the Conchucos area (in Spanish). A…
Lake Titicaca
In the small square beside the Plaza de Armas, the town hall is recognizable by its murals depicting Lampa’s history – past, present and future. Inside…
Huaraz
The Museo Regional de Ancash houses one of the most significant collections of ancient stone sculptures in South America lined up in a garden out back…
Arequipa
Originally built in the 16th century, this church has been badly damaged by several earthquakes. It still stands in its sillar (white volcanic rock)-brick…
South Coast
Have a peek inside Catedral Santa Catalina, which houses the body of 18th-century St Fortunata, whose hair and nails are said to be still growing. The…
Arequipa
This stylized baroque house built in 1730 is named after the 200-year-old mulberry tree in its central courtyard. Owned by the bank BCP since 2003 it is…
Museo de la Universidad Nacional de San Agustín
Arequipa
One of many small university-run museums in Arequipa, this one’s a little more esoteric than most with themes jumping between archaeological remains,…
Lake Titicaca
Staff at the shop opposite this museum, two blocks west of the Plaza de Armas, will give you a Spanish-language guided tour of the museum’s small but…
South Coast
The small, musty Museo de Zela provides a look at the interior of one of Tacna’s oldest colonial buildings, the Casa de Zela. Here you can see some period…
Trujillo
The Iglesia del Carmen and its charming monastery is home to an impressive Carmelite museum – the Pinacoteca El Carmen – but visiting is a real mission…
Cuzco & the Sacred Valley
The huge Inca gate of Rumicolca is built on Wari foundations. The cruder Wari stonework contrasts with the Inca blocks. It’s interesting to see indigenous…
Trujillo
The Iglesia de la Compañia and surrounding monastery were constructed by Jesuits in the 1630s and originally took up the entire block just off the Plaza…
Trujillo
Named after a former president of Peru, this beautiful 18th-century corner manor is home to a collection of well-worn art and period furnishings, but its…
Huaraz
Mirador de Retaqeñua is about a 45-minute walk southeast of the center and has great views of the city and its mountainous backdrop. Unfortunately,…
Puno
Puno’s baroque cathedral, on the western flank of the Plaza de Armas, was completed in 1757. The interior is more spartan than you’d expect from the well…
Cuzco
Housed inside a bank, this privately owned museum of contemporary art houses a diverse, thoughtful collection of painting and sculpture ranging from the…
Lima
Nestled among condominium towers and sprawling high-end homes, the simple Huaca Huallamarca is a highly restored adobe pyramid, produced by the Lima…
Lima
On-site chocolate production is the draw of this ‘museum’ selling fondue and fair-trade hot cocoa. French-owned, it is well known for organic chocolate…
Arequipa
The historical trajectory of both Arequipa and Peru is showcased in this educational, if unexciting, museum, split into different rooms dedicated to…
Cañón Del Colca
These hot springs, a more basic version of La Calera in Chivay, are a 30-minute walk down to the river from the plaza. The early-bird opening time is…