PERU

Peru is a unique destination. Its living culture, impressive history and diversity of natural resources make a visit there a truly unforgettable experience. From Cuzco to Lake Titicaca, walking at Machu Picchu of the Incas, or traveling through the jungle or over the Nazca Lines, discover a new adventure in each of its attractions to experience a really different holiday.
Coming to Peru is like taking a hundred trips in one. Rich in pre-Inca and Inca archaeological treasures, biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as traditional customs, artistic performances and the best cuisine in the region. Peru lets the traveler experience not only cultural tourism, but a huge range of possibilities in community, adventure, or ecological tourism as well as other special interest travel.

Its attractions are revealed through the country's variety of natural regions: a vast desert coastal strip running from north to south, the Andes with their impressive peaks and glaciers, and the stunning Amazon jungle, rich in animal and plant species, many of them endangered and many others, unique in the world. In a single vacation, you can see the many different faces of Peru.

Peru invites you, with a pisco sour or a glass of sweet chicha morada, to enjoy the best beaches, the landscape of valleys and Andean mountain peaks, the majesty of the flight of the condor, the imposing view of Machu Picchu and the magic of Incan Cusco, while discovering the sounds of the Amazon or simply relaxing before the stunning Lake Titicaca. Whether on the coast, the mountains or the jungle, discover a culture and history that continue to live through the joy and warmth of its people.

Discover a country with a thousand attractions and experience a vacation that will be forever etched in your memory.

Peru is located in the central-western portion of South America, occupying a total area of 1,285,215 sq. km. and 200 miles of territorial sea. It is divided into 3 distinct regions:

The coast, a narrow desert strip that, at its widest point, is 180 km. wide. Here we find destinations such as the Nazca Lines and Paracas.

The sierra, with the Andes Mountains crisscrossing the territory and making a geography as diverse as the plains surrounding Lake Titicaca and the heights of Machu Picchu.

The jungle, dominated by the exuberance of the Amazon.

History

In Peru we experience living History because its customs and traditions persist over time. Peru's rich past reaches back to the earliest civilization in the entire American continent, millennia before the development of the Inca culture and the height of cities such as Cuzco. Bandurria, north of Lima, is more than 5,000 years old (contemporary to Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies), therefore it is the earliest society recorded in the Americas.

Later, different cultures developed throughout Peru, such as the Paracas, Nazca, Mochica, Tiahuanaco and the most known and representative of all - the Inca culture – that, during its period of greatest expansion, came to take up the territory of present-day Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. Its huge buildings are just an example of the grandeur of this society. Citadels such as Machu Picchu and Choquequirao, as well as many other archaeological sites, many located in the city of Cuzco and its surroundings, are just examples of the level of development and knowledge in architecture and engineering of the Incas.

With the coming of the Spanish to Peru in the sixteenth century, the Viceroyalty of Peru was established in the name of the Spanish Crown, making it the most important colony of the Spanish Empire in America, due mainly to the riches that were to be extracted from its mines.

In 1821, General José de San Martín proclaimed the independence of Peru, but the Viceroyalty continued to operate until 1824, when the Viceroy José de la Serna surrendered to the forces of Antonio José de Sucre following the Battle of Ayacucho.